Hi !!!!
Welcome to Basic PSP. Paint Shop Pro is one of the easiest basic grahic programs to work with. but if you have never worked with one, you can find it quite challenging and frustrating! So lets get a few basic things outta the way then we can go on to bigger and better things!!!
Ok Lets start with the basic Icons and menus you will be useing in PSP
Your tool bar:
Each user will set his or hers tool bar up diffierently this is how mine is set, but for the most part your will be too.
Now I could sit here and I could show you how each and everything on here works BUT I am not gunna LOL, cause I would be here all YEAR.
So I will go thru just a few basic things a "PSP painter" will use.( If your here for bigger and better things then you already know all these hehehe)
Things I will key on:
* EDIT MENU * NEW ICON * IMAGE MENU * CUT ICON * COLORS MENU * TOGGEL CONTROL ICON * LAYERS MENU * TOGGEL LAYER ICON * CAPTURE MENU * SELECTION ICON * FREEHAND ICON * DROPPER ICON * PAINT BRUSH ICON * RETOUCH ICON * PICTURE TUBE ICON * TEXT ICON
EDIT MENU
Paint Shop Pro offers cut, copy, and paste commands:
Cut
Copy
Paste
It also has an Empty Clipboard command, which allows you to free the Clipboard of unwanted data, and the Empty Undo Buffers command, which empties the contents of the Undo History list.
IMAGE MENU
The image menu is where you will find all the neat things to do to your painted picture and is also where you will find your plug ins ( thats another tutorial).Take a few minutes to go thru this and play with the different functions. Remember pratice make perfect.
COLORS MENU
The Colors Menu is a menu you will use often in PSP. this is where you will define your images color depth. with most things you will be doing in PSP you will want to always start here and bring your colors up to 16 million. you will do that by selection this menu, going to the bottom and selection "INCREASE COLOR DEPTH". Increse to 16milliom/24 bit. with out doing this your tubes and other filters will not work. This menu is also where you can take a black and white photo and colorize it. You can change the brightness or darkness of a photo with in this menu also. Take a few minutes to go thru this and play with the different functions. Remember pratice make perfect.
LAYERS MENU
The layers menu is basically where you can merge the layers your working on and a few other things, I like to use it to merge my images as I work on them. As you get more familar with PSP this tool will be better utilized. Take a few minutes to go thru this and play with the different functions. Remember pratice make perfect.
CAPTURE MENU
The Screen Capture Function lets you copy all or part of your computer screen into Paint Shop Pro. Images captured from the screen are commonly called "screen snaps".
My favorite way to use this tool is:
1, Click Capture then click Set up to bring uo the below window
This Option allows you to capture just a area on the page, such as a Avatar To use this option just right click on the av then left click to send it to PSP.
Take a few minutes to go thru this and play with the different functions. Remember pratice make perfect.
Cut Icon
The cut Icon allwos you to do the same as the cut in Edit. After a section has been selected just click the cut Icon. In Other tutorials I will be showing you how to use other types of cuts to make your images look smother. Take a few minutes to go thru this and play with the different functions. Remember pratice make perfect.
Toggel Control Icon
This is the control panel that controls your setting for each tool you use.
For instance click your cut Icon. Now click on the toggel control IconYou will see the settings for the type of cut. If you have your paint brush click then you wikl see settings for brush sizes, ect..... Take a few minutes to go thru this and play with the different functions. Remember pratice make perfect.
Toggel Layer Icon
A layer is an individual level of an image. Think of it as a transparent sheet. In a multi-layered image, these sheets are placed in a stack. When you apply paint to a layer, it is like covering one of these sheets. Some layers are completely covered in paint; others contain unpainted areas. The areas you haven’t covered remain transparent, and you can see the layer underneath. You can add and delete layers, rearrange their order, and blend their pixels in a variety of ways. Until you merge the layers, they remain independent and can be edited without affecting the rest of the layers.
A newly created Paint Shop Pro image consists of one layer, the background layer. This is analogous to the canvas of a painting; every image must have at least one layer. Paint Shop Pro supports up to 64 layers per image. The actual number of layers you can create may be further limited by the amount of memory in your computer.
The layer you are editing is called the current layer. When you make a layer current, it is made visible; however, a visible current layer will be transparent if it contains no data. As you work with images containing multiple layers, make sure the appropriate layer is current before you start editing. On the Layer palette, the current layer’s Layer and Visibility buttons are "pressed in. "
Paint Shop Pro provides the Layer palette, the Layer Properties dialog box, and various commands in the Layers menu for working with layers. They contain many of the same functions; use the method you prefer.
An image must be a grey scale or 24-bit color image to contain more than one layer. You can increase an image’s bit depth if necessary.
Selection Icon
Selecting Part of an Image
You select part of an image by drawing a line around the area or (with the Magic Wand) clicking the color that you want to seSelecting an Entire Layer
To select an entire layer of an image:
1 Click the Layer button of a layer to make it current.
2 Choose Select All from the Selections menu or click
the Select All button on the toolbar. A marquee appears around the layer.lect.
Freehand Icon
Using the Freehand Tool
1 Click the Freehand tool on the Tool Palette.
2 Select Freehand as the Selection Type on the Tools Control tab and set the options.
3 If the image contains an existing selection, you can add area to it, or remove area from it:
To add area to the selection, press and hold thekey.
To remove area from the selection, press and hold thekey.
3 Point the cursor's crosshairs at any point along the boundary of the area that you want to select.
4 Press and hold the primary mouse button (the button you use most often).
5 Drag the cursor to draw the selection's boundary. The boundary can cross itself. The selection will contain any image data that is within an area enclosed by the boundary.
6 Release the mouse button. If you are holding either thekey or the key, you can release them too. If you have not returned to the starting point, Paint Shop Pro will "close" the selection by adding a straight line between the selection's starting and ending points.
Dropper Icon
The Dropper Icon is a great tool to use to get a color you want your text to be or that you want to paint with. For Instance, if you like the color of your background and you want the text to be the same color before choosing Text...Click on the dropper Icon and then click on the background. you will see your color is now the color you have choosen.
Paintbrush Icon
Use the Paintbrush to paint freehand or make straight brush strokes. The Paintbrush configuration options -- shape, size, opacity, density, hardness, and step -- are displayed on the Brush Tip tab of the Control palette. The Tool Controls tab displays the Paper Texture options.
Retouch Icon
You use the Retouch tool to apply photo retouching effects to an image.
The Retouch tool configuration options, which determine which effect is applied and how, are displayed on the Control palette. There are several Retouch modes, many of which apply the same effects as the Adjust Color commands. Use the Retouch tool when you want to paint with the effect rather than apply it to the entire image or selection.
Picture Tube Icon
Paint Shop Pro’s Picture Tube tool lets you paint with a variety of objects without having to draw them. Use one of the Picture Tubes included with the program or create your own. Each Picture Tube displays a variety of objects or an object in a variety of settings.
The Paint Shop Pro Picture Tubes are saved as ".tub" files in the Tubes folder of the program. If you use the Browser to view them, you can see that the objects are arranged in rows and columns. These rows are called cells. When you paint with a Picture Tube, you can control which object appears by changing the settings in the Selection Mode box of the Picture Tube Options dialog box.
Text Icon
You use the Text tool to add text to an image. The Text tool works a little differently than the other painting and drawing tools. The options are not presented on the Control Palette, but in a separate dialog box.
All info here is either from the PSP itself or from my personal experiance. If you find something now working for you PLEASE work with it before you seek me out (smile)
HAPPY PAINTING!!!!!
