Raindrop Pictures

Finished Result:

1) Choose a picture you want to raindrop-ise
This is one of Brian Froud's Fairys

2) You need to make a mask. New Image: any dimensions as its square and black bg.

3) Make a white circle smack bang in the middle, soften the edges so they are not pixelated. Make sure there is no more than 1-2 pixels between the circle and the edge of the image.

4) Image: Deformations: Perspective horizontal: 90

5) Now you have a pointy circle, rotate it 45 degrees left.

6) With a medium grey (and very carefully) draw inside the white area a thickish (7-10, depends on the size of the image) curved line that spans the top of the pointy bit and curves around to the bottom.

7) Soften again to get rid of any jaggie bits.

8) Save this image so you can use it again. This is your raindrop mask.

9) New image: Same as before.

10) Masks: New: From Image: *mask image* : Create mask from: Source Luminance.

11) Click the fill tool: Pattern: *Your chosen picture* : Opacity 100: Tolerance: 200

12) Fill your masked image.

13) Masks: Edit. Masks: View.

14) With the magic wand ( feather 1) select the area around the raindrop and save the selection.

15) Delete the mask (merge with layer). And merge all layers.

16) Choose a darkish bg colour that matches your picture. Load the selection, invert it. Image: Cutout: Background Colour: Opacity 100: Blur 10: Horizontal -1: Vertical -1.

17) And thats just about it!

Variations.

You don't have to use a picture at all, when you come to fill use a sunburst gradient with a dark and light colour (the light one positioned at the top with the pointy but)

This is with a Pool Shadow:

1 - 200
2 - 200
3 - 0
4 - 0
5 - 0
6 -150
7 -200

And this with the biohazard filter.

Vector - 44
Spread - 160
Symptoms - 205

And good old Hot Wax Coating!