Tutorial 01

	Most award plaques have a base made of wood and typically rectangular in shape. I chose a background sample from a Corel clipart collection and resized the tile to 100x123 pixels.
	The layer was then beveled using a freeware plug-in designed to make buttons. The trick is to keep the bevel large enough to be seen, but small enough to keep the proper perspective and realism.

» CREATE THE METALLIC GOLD PLATES
The next step is to add the main gold area and name plate. To give the impression that these areas are metallic, some work needs to be done to our colors (the color "gold" simply doesn't look like a metal surface).

There are actually a number of steps required to achieve the effect. It is easier to create separate files for each element so that substitutions can be made for color size, etc. Depending on the base color, other metallic surfaces can be simulated. In this case, a brushed metallic was desired.

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	Create a white layer the desired size of each plate. Select an area about 3-5 pixels wide, the full height of the layer. Fill the selection with the desired color. Light tan works well in simulating brushed gold.
	Add noise to the selected area (Filter>Noise>Add Noise). A setting of about 14 is good for this size, but make sure "monochromatic" is selected.
	Now choose Free Transform (Edit>Free Transform) and drag the middle anchor past the edge of the canvas on both sides of the selection. Continue stretching and sliding the selection horizontally until the desired effect is achieved. When complete, crop the entire canvas.
	A lighting filter will now complete the effect (Filter>Render>Lighting Effects). Experiment with different values to achieve the desired result. Repeat the entire process to create the lower name plate or copy a portion of the one you just created for a separate layer.

» ADD TEXT AND MAIN IMAGE
Now it's time to add the words and images to the award graphic. Because this is a plaque, we hope to create an illusion of engraved words on the metal surface and a slightly embossed stag image.

Create the words in two layers to ensure flexibility in spacing for the stag image.

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	The upper words establish the program name and the font represents a Gaelic feel. Uncial in 12pt type was used. The color should by a darker tone within the same range as the background. Light olive (#666633) works well with gold.
	Now emboss the text layer to complete the illusion of an engraved surface. (Layer>Effects>Bevel & Emboss) In this example, "Pillow Emboss" was used with a 120º angle, depth of 3 and blur of 2.
	Repeat the process for the lower word and set approximate spacing. This can be fine-tuned after the center image is placed in the next step.
	Add the main image and center it, making sure that the antler portion of the head is not obscured by text.
	Slightly emboss the layer using the previous commands. Make sure that "Set Global Angle" is unchecked and the finished product matches the angle of your original light source on the metal plate.  Drop the image beneath the text (Layer>Arrange>Send Backward).
	Add the "category" text in a sans-serif font to ensure readability over the image. Apply embossing techniques as before.

» CONSTRUCT THE PLAQUE AND ADD DETAILS
Since you have created separate files for the individual elements, we now have to combine these into a master file that will become the final award image.

In these steps, we construct the award plaque and add details to complete the overall illusion.

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	Using the file created to form the beveled wood base, drag the other completed layers. Set the main plaque first to establish center and allow for adequate spacing below.
	Now add the name plate. Link these two layers and align with the upper plate (Layer>Align Linked>Horizontal Center).
	We prefer to attach our plates with screws instead of glue. In a separate file, create a 1-square pixel image the same color as the text and emboss the layer. Drag copies of that image to the four corners of the main plate and on each side of the name plate.
	Since the plates have a certain thickness, we have to add a shadow to simulate this depth (Layer>Effects>Drop Shadow). The plates are fairly thin, so don't overdo it here. A distance of 2 and a blur of 2 works well.
	The image is now complete and ready for personalization. Choose a readable font when rendered (Verdana works well) and size based on need. Optimize the image and save as a jpeg file (the wood and brushed surface detail may be lost as a gif file).