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This tutorial is written for Paint Shop Pro 8 and Animation Shop 3.1, but it can be done in other versions if you are familiar with them.  Some items may be on different menus and use slightly different settings.  

You will need the Toadies filter set for the Ommadawn filter.  This filter is also available in  Filter Factory set V.  You can download the Toadies set from my filters page HERE.  

The gradient I have used is HERE . Extract it to your gradients folder, or you can use your own gradient if you prefer.

You will also need a tube graphic - which I assume you will have as part of your tube library in Paint Shop Pro.  You will find the one I have used on my Flower Tubes page.

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Create a new image 250 x 350, Raster, Transparent Background

 
Select the Tube tool and place your tube in the centre of the canvas.  If necessary, undo and reduce the scale of the tube so that it fits leaving a gap around all the edges - as shown. 

Use the Mover tool to adjust the position of your tube if you need to. In PSP Photo XI use the Picker tool.

Layers menu, Merge, Merge All (Flatten)

 
Effects menu, Plugins, Toadies, Ommadawn

Cell Width = 22
Cell Height = 27
Cell 'a' Sharp/Soft = 60
Cell Edges On/Off = 255

 
Layers menu, New Raster Layer

Select the Flood Fill tool

On the Options Pallet, set the following:

Match Mode = None
Blend Mode = Normal
Opacity = 100

On the Materials Pallet, set the foreground to white, solid colour and click on your canvas to fill it with white.  
* Don't Panic *

Effects menu, Plugins, Toadies, Ommadawn - same settings as before except for the Cell Edges On/Off = 0

 
Zoom into 300%

Select the Magic Wand selection tool.  On the Options pallet, set the following:

Mode = Replace
Match Mode = RGB Value
Tolerance = 75
Sample Merged = unticked
Feather = 0
Anti-Alias = unticked

Click on the black lines.

You'll get "marching ants" around all the lines.

 
close up of grid
Click on the Flood Fill tool

On the materials Pallet, set the foreground to gradient and click the sample block to set the gradient options.

Gradient = jh3 
(or gradient of your choice)
Type = Linear
Angle = 60
Repeats = 5

 

Click on the black lines to fill them with the gradient.

 


close up of grid
Selections menu, Invert

Press the Delete key on your keyboard or go to the Edit menu, Clear

 

 

 

Selections menu, Select None

Zoom out to 100% or 1:1

 
close up of grid

Selections menu, Select All

Selections menu, Modify, Contract - Number of Pixels = 15

Selections menu, Modify, Feather - Number of Pixels = 15

Selections menu, Invert

Press the Delete key on your keyboard or Edit menu, Clear.

Selections menu, Select None.   You should now have a soft edge to your grid.

 
On the Layers pallet, right click on the layer "Raster 1" and rename it "Grid 1"

Layers menu, Duplicate

On the Layers pallet, right click on the top layer and rename it "Grid 2"

Layers menu, Duplicate

On the Layers pallet, right click on the top layer and rename it "Grid 3"

Your layer pallet should now look like this

 
With Grid 3 selected on the layer pallet (as shown above)....

Adjust menu, Add / Remove Noise, Add Noise - Select Uniform, monochrome unticked and 45%.

On the Layers menu, click on the layer Grid 2

Adjust menu, Add / Remove Noise, Add Noise - Select Uniform, monochrome unticked and 48%.

On the Layers menu, click on the layer Grid 1

Adjust menu, Add / Remove Noise, Add Noise - Select Uniform, monochrome unticked and 52%.

 
Now we need to save this file - DO NOT MERGE THE LAYERS AND DO NOT SAVE AS .JPG !

File menu, Save:

If you are using PSP 8.1 or later, change the File Type to Animation when you save.

If you are using PSP 7, just save it in Paint Shop Pro format

If you are using PSP 8.0 save in Paint Shop Pro format but click the Options button and set the compatibility to PSP 7

NB: Remember where you saved the file - we will need it later.

 
Window menu, Duplicate (or Shift D)

Close the original file (the one with the saved name at the top)

Layers menu, Merge, Merge All (Flatten)

 
Layers menu, New Raster Layer

Click on the Tube tool.  Set the scale for your tube to about 10% lower than whatever scale you used the first time - with my tube I started with scale 70 and am now reducing to 60.

Click in the centre of the canvas to place the tube.

Click on the Mover tool and use it to offset the tube up and to the left or right a little. In PSP Photo XI, use the Picker tool.

Effects menu, 3D Effects, Drop Shadow

Vertical = 3
Horizontal = 1
Opacity = 50
Blur = 10
Color = Black

 
Layers menu, New Vector Layer

Add your text on this layer in whatever way you prefer.  I've added text using the same gradient as I used to fill the grid and bevelled it.

If you need help with adding text, try my beginners tutorial for text HERE - if you have PSP X use the PSP 9 tutorial.

 

 
On the Layers pallet, turn off the visibility for the Background layer (the bottom one) by clicking on the eye symbol (spectacles on PSP7).

Right click on either of the other layers and select Merge, Merge Visible.

Launch Animation Shop

File menu, Preferences, General Program Preferences - select the Layered Files tab and set as shown below.

 
Edit menu, Paste, As New Animation - you should get your text and tube on a transparent background.

File menu, Open - change the file type to Paint Shop Pro as shown below and open the file you saved earlier.

 
When you have opened the file, your screen should look something like this:

 
The file with the blurred tube should be the one selected (with a blue title bar). 

Edit menu, Delete - you should now be able to see your grid lines in front of the blurred tube.

Click on the title bar of the window with your text.

Edit menu, Copy

Click on the title bar of the window with the grid lines.

Edit menu, Select All

 
Edit menu, Propagate Paste (it doesn't look like anything happens).

Now point at your text and drag it into the frame with the grid lines, making sure you have it exactly where you want it and the tube before you let go of the mouse button.

The 2 windows will swap over which one is in front so that you can see where you are putting the text and tube.

 
Now you could just save the file, but it might loose some image quality if the optimization setting aren't right... so,

File, Optimization Wizard

On the first window, select Animated Gif (at the top) and "Create new animation..." from the bottom.  Click Next.

Check that the Quality slider is at the top (best) and then click Customize

Number of Colors = 255
Create Pallet By = Optimized Octree
Reduce Colors By = Error Diffusion

DON'T CLICK "OK" YET!

Click on the Optimization Tab

Tick the 1st, 3rd and 4th boxes.  The 2nd and 5th boxes should be clear.

Click on "OK"

Click "Next" 3 times and then click "Finish"

 
You will now have a 3rd window - your optimized animation.  Use the preview to see how this will look - it won't change in quality when it is saved as it is already optimized. Close the preview.

File menu, Save