Paint Shop Pro - The Editing Environment

General:
Formats
Relative Size
Color and Format

Microsoft Tools:
Photo Editor
Image Composer - The Working Environment
Image Composer - Colors and Effects
Image Composer - Layers and Sprites

Paint Shop Pro:
Introduction
Opening/Acquiring
Editing
Layering
An insertion example
A lettering example
Saving

Images Applied:
The Web
PowerPoint (animations)

Elsewhere on this site:
General Instructional Technology
Presentation/Web
Imaging
Sound
Video
Home

Paint Shop Pro:

The Editing Environment

All pictures opened or acquired show as individual windows in the work area of Paint Shop Pro, accessible through the "Windows" menu. There are the usual display options there, and clicking on any picture (or selecting it in "Window") brings it to the front. Before doing anything with a picture, it is advisable to "Save as..." and select "Paint Shop Pro" (.psp) format - see Saving for details, and all your saving options.

Tool bars: As in any Windows application, you can customize your access to everything Paint Shop Pro has to offer through the "View/Toolbars" menu item. Some (i. e., "Standard," "Tool Palette") can be attached to the side or top, while others (i. e. "Tool Options") are permanently free-floating - you can close them, move them, but they cannot be attached. To access many of the tool options, simply right- click on any tool on the toolbar. One of the options is "Tool Options" which gives a large number of ways to customize tools. Several of the most useful tools are listed below, with parameters you can change.

Image properties: Pixel size (see Image Size if you need help with pixel dimensions of images), number of colors, and file size for any selected image can be found in the lower right-hand corner of the workspace window. In this case, " . . . 16 million" means that the image is not a GIF. If you select the "Save copy as...." option (see Saving), the new file will have the same dimensions, but the rest will be different depending on the format you chose - re-open the image in its new format to see.

Color, and the Color Toolbar - GIFs: Although a GIF is limited to 256 colors, it need not be the same 256 colors for every image. The color palette - the colors present in this image - is displayed on the color tool bar to the right of the image (see lower image at right), and can be edited by going to "Colors/Edit palette" or double-clicking on the "Foreground Solid Color" swatch at the top of the color toolbar. By double-clicking on any entry in the palette, you can edit it - change the color associated with it, which will change the old color to the new color in the original image. Controlling color is much simpler when there's only 256 of them!

Color, and the Color Toolbar - Other formats: JPGs and other file types (see upper image at right) don't need a color palette, since all colors are available all of the time. Of course, there may be fewer than 16 million present in the image (see menu item "Colors/Count colors used" to see), but you don't have to make space for a new one in a palette.

Below is a list of the most frequent tools, what they do, how to use them, and what tool properties are available to change.

*Tool*	*What it does*	*How to use it*	*Available properties*
	Selects a given area, and deletes the rest. The image's dimensions are reduced, but not resolution.	Drag from corner to corner. Minor adjustment possible after frame appears.	few . . .
	Move all objects on a given layer, or selected using the selection tool.	Click on it, click on object, drag to new location.	None. Automatically appears after certain operations.
	Select a portion of the image for moving, copying/cutting, filling with color. The "FreeHand" tool is just below it, which allows you to select oddly-shaped areas or objects.	Click on it, drag from corner to corner.	Select shape, feather edges.
	Just like a regular paint brush, only more so!	First select a color by double-clicking on the "Foreground . . . " swatch. Click on it, paint by dragging. Precise work is easier if you change the "View/Zoom..." settings.	Brush size, shape, sharpness, density.
	Allows you to replace every occurrence of one color with another.	First select colors by double-clicking on the "Foreground . . . " swatch (new color), and the "Background..." swatch (color to be replaced). Click on the tool, then draw on the image by dragging (replaces the selected color only). To replace all instances, double-click anywhere in the picture.	Same as Paint Brush, but also allows you to adjust tolerance - how close a color must be before it's replaced.
	Removes image color	Exactly the same as paint brush, except it removes color	See Paint Brush
	Spray-paints color - same as paint brush, but intentionally less precise.	First select a color by double-clicking on the "Foreground . . . " swatch. Click and drag to paint.	Same as paint brush, but also includes "Slashs" as brush shapes.
	Fills an entire image, or selected portion of an image, with a selected color.	First select a color by double-clicking on the "Foreground . . . " swatch, Double-click on the image or selected area, solid color appears.	Can select blend and color matching, effects (see below)
	Insert text	Select tool, click anywhere in image, fill in text, select font, click OK.	Font, font color, effects (see below)
	Draw free-hand	First select a color by double-clicking on the "Foreground . . . " swatch, select line type, click at vertices of line drawing.	Line types and formats
	Draw pre-set shapes	Select shape, drag from one corner to another.	Squares, arrows, clip-art, etc.

Styles and Textures: A "Style" is a stock method of applying color - gradients, polka-dots, etc. It works with any of the above tools that apply color. To select a style, click on the right-arrow, then click on one of the styles. The paintbrush (solid color) is the default. To change the characteristics of the style, double-click on the style swatch to open the properties box. Textures works the same way..