Clio Wired (History 696)

Photoshop Elements, while probably the most unintuitive application I have ever had the displeasure to bang my head against, is more robust than people give it credit for.

1. File>New>Blank File...>Make it 1000x800 pixles for ease of building your shapes.

2. Use the Rectangular Marquee tool to draw a box floating in the middle of your blank play space.

3. Fill it with a soft, neutral color using the Paintbucket.

4. Using the Draw Shape tool, draw a rectangle coming off the right of your filled selection, aligned to the top and bottom, going to the edge of the screen.

5. Making sure your new shape is selected (it will also be on a different layer from your back wall - that's OK), use Image>Transform Shape>Skew to stretch the upper right and lower right corners up and down, respectively, to give some perspective to your right wall.

6. Edit>Copy that shape, then Edit>Paste it. Using the Shape Selection tool, drag your new copy and line the corners up with the left side of your back wall.

7. Image>Transform Shape>Free Transform. A little box with an angle to the left and a degree sign to the right will appear. Type "180" in that box, and your shape will flip over for you. Then, simply drag it over to look like a left-hand wall.

8. Use Google Images to find a picture of some carpet. I'm not kidding. Once you save the image you choose to your computer, open it in Photoshop Elements. Use the Rectangular Marquee tool to select a portion of this carpet image, then Edit>Define Pattern from Selection... Name the pattern something like "carpet," and go back to your room project.

9. On the Background layer (containing your back wall), use the Rectangular Marquee tool to select the lower portion of your image - below the wall. Then get the Paintbucket tool, switch Fill: Foreground on the upper toolbar to Fill: Pattern, select your carpet pattern, and fill in the floor. Don't worry about filling in over your right and left walls - they're still on their layer.

10. Now the fun part. Select your Background layer (it should now have the back wall and your carpet.) Go to Filter>Render>Lighting Effects, and play around with the lighting tools. Once your done, you can save that particular lighting effect. Name it, apply it to your background. Now your back wall and ground is lit.

11. Select the layer with your right and left hand walls, Layer>Render>Lighting Effects, and apply the saved lighting effect from the step above. Voila, you have a blank, lit room!