Opening Files, Acquiring Images

Bringing images into Paint Shop Pro is possible through any hardware that Windows sees - including digital cameras through USB or other interface, scanners (using "Twain"), and screen capture.

All images for this documentation were produced using the screen capture option. Screen captures are simply snap-shots of your monitor's display.  The <Prnt Scrn>key will also give a screen capture (you then select "Edit/Paste/...as new image"), though it will not include the "cursor" (mouse pointer). Under "Capture Setup," select "Full Screen" if you're unsure of what you want, though "Window" (the selected window at the moment of capture only) is usually sufficient. 

"Hot Key" captures are easier to manage  - you take a "snapshot" at the instant things are right using a single keystroke. If the keystroke is one your environment uses, Paint Shop Pro allows you to choose another, though <F12> (the default) is usually pretty safe. A delay timer makes multiple captures quicker. The number of screen shots you can take is limited only by available memory, and is quite large.

You can, of course, open existing images as well, using "File/Open." If you use "All Files" as the "Files of type" designation, you'll see all image files. If you attempt to open a file of an unsupported format (such as a Word document), you'll get an error message.

Paint Shop Pro also offers a "Browse" method, which gives a small preview of all of the files in a given folder for easy selection. This is helpful in Windows9X, though Windows2000 shows previews of all images automatically as you click on them.

Once you've opened your picture . . . if you intend to work extensively with your image - adding text, or layering images - take time now to "Save As..." Select "Paint Shop Pro Image" as your "Save as type." This file format will be very large, and will not be readable by any other software, but it retains all of your editing decisions and layers intact, so you can go back and make changes later. The advantage of this will be clear in a bit.