Paint Shop Pro 7 for Dummies

Contents

Introduction

What Can You Do with this Book?

Is This the Book for You?

How Is this Book Organized?

Part I: Getting the Picture

Part II: Painting the Picture

Part III: Improving Appearances

Part IV: Changing and Adding Content

Part V: Taking It to the Street

Part VI: The Part of Tens

Shortcuts and Conventions in this Book

Part I: Getting the Picture

Chapter 1: Introducing Paint Shop Pro

Firing Up Paint Shop Pro and Finding What You Need

Operating Toolbars, Palettes, and Windows

Unrolling and moving toolbars, palettes, and windows

Enabling and disabling toolbars, palettes, and windows

Knowing and customizing toolbars

Meeting the tools of the Tool palette

Hobnobbing with the status bar

Confronting the Color palette

Saluting the Tool Options window

Bowing to the Layer palette

Nodding to the Histogram window

Electing Your Rulers

Getting on the Grid

Aligning Objects to Guides

Viewing and Zooming Your Image

Zooming the image in the window

Using an Overview Window to stay oriented

Filling your screen with your image

Working on several images at once

Undoing and Redoing

Chapter 2: Starting, Opening, and Saving Image Files

Starting an Image from Scratch

Choosing the right image size

Choosing adequate image resolution

Choosing the color of your new image's background

Selecting the best image type (color depth)

Discovering Time-Saving Commands for Image Files

Opening Image Files

Saving Your Image

Using Native and Foreign File Types

Paint Shop Pro files (PSP)

BMP

TIFF

GIF

JPEG

PNG

Using vector file types (drawing files)

Fixing Files Where Some Paint Shop Pro Features Don't Work

Reading or Storing Notes about a File

Browsing and Organizing Files Using Tiny Pictures

Obtaining Images from the Web

Chapter 3: Capturing Pictures from Paper, Camera, or Screen

Scanning into Paint Shop Pro

Getting the most from your scanning software

Forever plaid: Scanning printed images

Getting Images from a Digital Camera

Configuring Paint Shop Pro for your camera

Downloading and opening photos

Talking TWAIN to your camera

Capturing Images from Your PC Screen

Quick captures with the Print Screen button

Selective captures with Paint Shop Pro's capture features

Part II: Painting the Picture

Chapter 4: Choosing Colors, Styles, and Textures

Choosing Paint

Choosing a basic or recently used color

Choosing a color from your picture

Choosing a Color More Precisely

Precise color using the color wheel

Additional shades of basic colors

Very precise color adjustments -- by the numbers

Storing Custom Colors to Use Again

Working with 256 Colors or Fewer

Working with Style -- Beyond Plain Paint

Choosing a style

Choosing gradients

Painting with gradients

Choosing and making patterns

Applying a Texture

Chapter 5: Fundamental Painting, Spraying, and Filling

Choosing the Tool for the Job

Using Basic Artist's Tools: Paint Brush, Airbrush, and Eraser

Painting with the Paint Brush or Airbrush tool

Erasing with the Eraser tool

Controlling Strokes, Sizes, Shapes, and Spatters: Tool Options

Using convenient controls in the Tool Options window

Making lines wider or narrower: Size

Shaping clicks, lines, and line ends: Shape

Painting with a softer or harder edge: Hardness

Making paint thinner or thicker: Opacity

Getting speckles of spray: Density

Making lines more or less dotty: Step

Scribbling to make paint thicker: Build Up Brush

Chalk, crayon, and other media

Brushing snowflakes and other custom shapes

Coloring within the Lines by Using Selection

Replacing Colors

Filling Areas

Filling a selected area with solid color

Filling with a gradient, pattern, or texture

Blend modes

Chapter 6: Painting with Pictures

Cloning Around

Setting clone brush options for your specific needs

Extending lawns or other textured areas

Cloning Aunt Kate

Painting with Picture Tubes

Basic tubing 101

Basic tubing 102: Worms, grass, music, and fire

Adjusting basic tube behavior

Advanced tubing: Stroke-sensitive behavior

Making your own picture tubes

Part III: Improving Appearances

Chapter 7: Retouching Touchy Spots

The Friendly Finger of the Retouch Tool

Adjusting your retouch stroke

Softening

Smudging

Lightening or darkening

Other modes

The Scratch Remover Tool

The Red-eye Remover

Reconstructing the pupil

Outlining problem pupils

Replacing pupil and iris

Chapter 8: Finessing Photos with Effects

Using Effects' Adjustment Dialog Boxes

Correcting Lighting Color

Correcting Contrast and Brightness

Intensifying (or Dulling) Colors

Removing JPEG, Moire, and Other Patterns

Unearthing JPEG artifacts

Don't want no moire

Unlacing your interlacing

Rubbing Out Scratchiness

Clarifying the Details

Unfading the Faded

Correcting for a Specific Color

Sharpening, Edge Enhancing, or Blurring

Sharpening

Edge Enhancing

Blurring

Removing Noise (Speckles)

Chapter 9: Creating Artsy Effects

Try 'em On: Browsing the Effects

3D: Holes, Buttons, and Chisels

Artistic and Other Effects: Simulating Traditional Media

Example 1: Topography

Example 2: Brush strokes

Geometric Effects: Curls, Squeezes, and Waves

Example 1: Page curl

Example 2: Wave

Illumination Effects: Sunbursts, Flare, and Spotlights

Sunburst

Lights

Reflection Effects: Mirrors and Patterns

Kaleidoscope

Pattern

Texture Effects: Bumpy Surfaces from Asphalt to Weaves

Relating texture effects to the Color palette's textures

Using texture effect controls

Example 1: The fur texture effect

Example 2: The texture texture effect

Common Adjustments

Chapter 10: Adjusting Color by Bits

Mastering the Color Illusion

Understanding why the trick works

Applying the trick: Combining two primaries

Adding the third color for pastels or grays

Fiddling with the three values

Using Hue, Saturation, and Lightness

Primary Color Channels

Color Depth/Number of Colors

Checking your image's color depth

Increasing color depth to use more tools

Reducing color depth for speed, size, or special effects

Saving and restoring a palette

Chapter 11: Laundering Your Image for Brightness, Contrast, and Color

Using the Adjustment Dialog Boxes

Making adjustments

Proofing or previewing your adjustments

Getting Brighter, Darker, or More Contrasty

Laundering Lights, Mediums, and Darks Separately

Laundering for Lightness, Color Intensity, and Hue

Lightness: Brightening without bleaching

Saturation: Getting more or less intense

Hue-ing and crying

Altering an Overall Tint

Going Gray with a Tint: Colorizing

Going Totally Gray or Negative in One Step

Using More Sophisticated Color Adjustments

Levels

Curves

Posterize

Threshold

Part IV: Changing and Adding Content

Chapter 12: Getting Bigger, Smaller, and Turned Around

Getting Sized

Proportioning

Dimensioning

Avoiding degradation

Trimming (Cropping) Your Edges

Dragging the Crop tool

Cropping by precise pixel positions

Cropping to an existing selection

Cropping out nothingness

Getting Turned Around, Mirrored, or Flipped

Rotating

Mirroring and flipping

Taking on Borders

Achieving a Particular Canvas Size

Chapter 13: Selecting Parts of an Image

Selecting an Area

Selecting a rectangle or other regular shape

Selecting by outlining: The Freehand tool

Selecting by color or brightness: The Magic Wand tool

Modifying Your Selection

Moving the selection outline

Adding to or subtracting from your selection

Expanding and contracting by pixels

Growing -- fixing imperfect selections

Selecting all areas of similar color

Feathering for More Gradual Edges

Antialiasing for Smoother Edges

Hiding the Selection Marquee

Selecting All, None, or Everything But

Saving Selections

Saving the selection as a selection file

Saving a selection as an alpha channel

Restoring a saved selection

Avoiding Selection Problems in Layered Images

Chapter 14: Moving, Copying, and Reshaping Parts of Your Image

Floating, Moving, and Deleting Selections

Cutting, Copying, and Pasting from the Windows Clipboard

Cut and copy

Paste

Pasting to create a new picture: As New Image

Pasting onto an existing image: As New Selection

Pasting without background: As Transparent Selection

Pasting to fit: Into Selection

Pasting for maximum flexibility: As New Layer

Making Background or Other Colors Transparent

Resizing, Rotating, Deforming, and Perspective-izing

Preparing for deformation

Doing the deformation

Applying or abandoning the deformation

Chapter 15: Layering Images

Putting Layers to Work for You

Getting Layers

Calling a Pal for Help: The Layer Palette

Creating A New, Blank Layer

Working On Layers

Seeing, Hiding, and Rearranging Layers

Pinning Layers Together: Grouping

Using Layers to Separate or Combine Images

Combining entire images

Separating image parts into layers

Copying, cutting, and pasting with layers

Copying entire layers from one image to another

Blending images by making layers transparent

Blending images in creative ways

Creating and Using Adjustment Layers

Creating an adjustment layer

Choosing the type of adjustment layer you need

Applying adjustments only to certain areas

Using Vector Layers

Merging Layers

Chapter 16: Adding Layers of Text or Shapes

Keeping Track of Objects and Layers

Adding and Editing Text

Creating, placing, and editing text

Creating text with fancy fills and outlines

Bending text to follow a line or shape

Straight, single lines

Freehand lines or shapes

Connecting dots

Connecting dots with curved lines

Picking at Your Nodes

Using Dashedly Stylish Lines

Choosing an existing style

Making your own style

Alternative line ends: Caps

Saving your style

Adding Preset Shapes

Dragging a shape

Creating custom shapes

Changing Colors and Other Properties

Controlling Your Objects

Selecting and grouping vector objects

Deleting, copying, pasting, and editing

Positioning, arranging, and sizing by hand

Positioning and sizing objects automatically

Chapter 17: Masking Layers

Putting Masking to Work for You

Creating a Basic Show All Mask

Painting, Editing, and Viewing the Mask

Choosing your paint

Painting and filling

Drawing, shapes, and text

Making a mask from an image

Controlling the Mask

Disabling, enabling, or de-linking the mask

Saving, deleting, and merging a mask

Part V: Taking It to the Street

Chapter 18: Printing

Fitting Your Print to the Paper

Printing an Image

Printing Browser Thumbnails

Printing Collections or Album Pages

Fooling with the pictures and layout

Saving and re-using your layout

Printing at Different Speeds or Qualities

Speed, size, and ink

Printer and image resolution

Printing Color Separations

Chapter 19: Creating Web Images

Making Images Download Faster

Exporting Images for the Web

Choosing features and file types

Creating GIF files

Creating JPEG files

Doing Common Webbish Tricks

Creating buttons

Matching image colors to HTML colors

Creating Interactive Web Pages from Graphics

Creating an image map

Creating image slices

Entering the links

Saving and reloading your work

Outputting the result

Making rollovers

Chapter 20: Animating in Animation Shop

Getting to Know Animation Shop

Using Animation Shop windows and controls

Saving and opening animations

Making Instant Text Banners

Making Quick Animations from Your Images

Building your animation with the Animation wizard

Creating frames by inserting transitions

Creating frames by inserting image effects

Creating frames by inserting text effects

Applying Effects to Existing Frames

Working Frame-by-Frame

Starting from scratch

Managing and adding frames

Working on frames in Paint Shop Pro

Creating Animated GIF Files for the Web

Part VI: The Part of Tens

Chapter 21: Ten Perplexing Problems

Grayed-out Tools

Grayed-out Menu Commands

Image is Wrong Size Inside or Outside Paint Shop Pro

Tool or Command Doesn't Do Anything

Paint Doesn't Come Out Right

Brush Stroke is Wrong Size or Too Fuzzy

New Text Appears When You Try to Change Text

Text or Shape Comes Out the Wrong Color, Texture, or Pattern

Magic Wand Tool Doesn't Select Well

Tool Works, But Not Like You Want

Chapter 22: Ten Fast Fixes for Photo Failures

Rotating Right-Side Up

Getting the Red Out

Photos without Enough Flash

Photos with Too Much Flash

Revealing Dark Corners

Removing Unwanted Relatives

Adding Absent Relatives

Zapping Zits

Making Gray Skies Blue

Making Colors Zippier

Appendix