Paper Embossing (2)

What we'll do: Simulate embossing some text or a shape on paper.

There are quite a few methods for getting such an effect. In this tutorial we'll look at one fairly easy way, using PSP's Drop Shadow effect.

What you'll need: PSP9. (This tutorial can also be readily adapted for PSP8.)

Steps:

Open the image that contains your paper and duplicate the layer containing the paper. Set the Blend Mode of the duplicated layer to Luminance (Legacy)

(Note: Your layers might be labeled slightly differently from what's shown above depending on how many layers are present in your image and whether your paper is on a Background layer or a true layer.)
Choose the Text tool and select a dingbat or other text for your embossing. In the Tool Options bar, set Create As to Selection (and choose whatever other settings you want for your text).
Click where you want your text to be. Enter the text in the Text Entry box and click Apply. You'll then see the selection marquee, like this:
Invert the selection with Selections > Invert. The selection marquee then looks like this:
With the new layer the active layer, apply Drop Shadow (Effects > 3D Effects > Drop Shadow). Set Color to white, choose small positive values for the Offsets, set Opacity to 100, and set Blur to a relatively small value.
With the inverted selection still active and with the new layer still the active layer, apply Drop Shadow again. This time, set Color to Black, choose small negative values for the Offsets, and leave the other settings as they were in the last step.
Turn off the selection with Selections > None. Your embossed text will look something like this:
Optional: Adjust the Opacity of the duplicated layer.
Optional: Merge the two layers with Layers > Merge > Merge Visible. (If your image contains other layers, be sure to turn off the visibility of those other layers first, using the Visibility toggles on the Layers palette. After the merge, turn the visibility of the other layers back on.)