...Before taking on this project you must have at least some basic knowledge of Image Magick and GifWorks and how they both work. Along the way you will discover there are many different shapes and sizes of jewelry and gems you can make, this page only covers the basics you need to know to get you started on your own creating.

...we will start by making the gem... you will need a background to start with but it MUST be in gif format.. if it's a jpg take it and convert it... keep in mind that SOME backgrounds have a gif extension but the format may not be that of a gif (just because it has the extension doesn't mean it was properly converted) and remember not ALL backgrounds will look nice so you will have to experiment with different colors and textures.. I chose one from Couchpapa's and it was a jpg and I had to take it to Image Magick and convert the format... to convert a jpg is simple, go to Image Magick and enter the url of the background where indicated, click "view", then at the top of the page click "output", check off "gif" in the jumpbox for your format, click "output" then transload..

this is my background of choice

this background is 100x100 pixels in size, after playing around with many backgrounds I found out that working with backgrounds that are completely square worked best... now take the background to GifWorks, in the FIRST jumpbox to your far left, under "file" click on it to open it up then scroll down to "open image" then click again, that will make an address field show up to enter your background in (if your file isn't a true gif here is where it will matter.. nothing will show up and you will have to convert it or choose another background and come back)... enter the url in the address line then click "fetch image"... after your background comes up, click the "effects" jumpbox (which is the 4th one over) to open it up then scroll down to "Sphere" and click again...

here is what we have so far isn't it pretty!?

now click on the "edit" jumpbox, scroll down to "resize" and click again.. click on the check mark beside "constrain porportions" to make the check mark disappear.. now delete the numbers and put "30" as your width and "50" as your height... here is your gem! .. now wasn't that easy? ...

click on the very first jumpbox "file" to open it scroll down to "Save" and click... you will get a temporary url to transload or upload or you can use GifWorks transloader...

now you need the casing to hold the gem :-)

we will start with a basic black base 150x150 in size... you can click on mine and take it if you want...

take the black base and place it in the url field at Image Magick and click "view"...

at the top of the page click "annotate" and just like with all my tutorials only change the following fields and leave the rest alone

Text: p (this is your words) [lower case letter p was used]

Gravity: West (this is the location you are placing the text)

Font: PC Ornament (this is the type of dingbat font you chose)

Fill Color: #eee687 (this is the INSIDE color of your text)

Stroke Color: #8b6914 (this is the OUTSIDE color of your text)

Pointsize: 100 (this is the size of your text - generally 100 is small for a dingbat but large for a font)

Stroke Width: 1 (this is the thickness of the OUTSIDE color line)

Click "annotate"

your result should look like this

now you keep turning the square clockwise and add a piece of the jewelery casing on each side until all sides have a piece...

at the top of the page click "transform"

change the following ONLY

red radio button on: rotate right (this will turn your image to the right on it's side once)

Click "transform"

this is what your result should look like

at the top of the page click "annotate"

the attributes should be exactly what you filled in before for the first side of the casing but if they aren't, fill them in again with the exact info..

Click "annotate" ...

this should be your result

see where we are going with this? adding a piece then turning it, adding another then turning.. etc etc...

at the top of the page Click "transform"

red radio button: rotate right

Click "transform"

two more sides to add

at the top of the page click "annotate", enter same info click "annotate" ..

one more side

at the top of the page Click "transform"

red radio button: rotate right

Click "transform" ..

at the top of the page click "annotate", enter same info click "annotate"

that wasn't so bad now was it?

at the top of the page click "output"

Format: check gif

Storage Type: single file

Click "output"

now transload or upload the casing

now you need to take your casing AND gem BOTH to Image Magick

enter the url to the casing and click "view"

we are going to shrink the casing a little, I think it looks better being a little smaller...

at the top of the page click "resize"

Image Size: 80%>

red radio button: scale* (this will reduce the image by 20%)

click "resize"

here is your casing now

at the top of the page click "composite"

url field: enter the gem url

change the following attributes ONLY

Gravity: center

click "composite"

the final result should look like this

for the silver look use #cccccc for the Fill Color & #333333 for the Stroke Color

now this wasn't as hard as you thought it would be was it? ... there are so many possibilities with this.. if you would like to see some Jewelry Things I made, go Here ... if you want to know what all the PC Ornaments are go Here ... and if you want to try something a little different try Printorn Dingbats (you can print out the page and take it with you :-) .. just in case you need some good backgrounds I suggest Lisa's Backgrounds and Emma's Backgrounds, they are both easy to navagate and offer a huge selection :-) have fun everyone! :-)