Click the "File" menu's "New" command, then press "OK" to accept the default settings for a new canvas. Paint Shop Pro creates the canvas.

Click the tool palette icon shaped like an "A" to use the "Text" tool, then drag on the canvas to indicate where you want to place the text. Paint Shop Pro will display a dialog box in which to enter text. Click an item from the "Direction" drop-down menu above the canvas to indicate text direction. This is a new feature in Paint Shop Pro 9.

Click in the "Size" text box above the canvas, then type a number between 75 and 100 to make the text big enough to see clearly. Type some text in the text box, then click "Apply" to finalize the text.

Click the "Palettes" item of the "View" menu, then click the "Layers" item to display the "Layers" window. Notice that the highlighted item, which represents the text you typed, has an "A" icon on it. This indicates a text object, rather than a curve object. You'll use this observation to verify a successful conversion to curves in the next step.

Right-click the text you typed and click "Convert to curves," then click the "Single shape" item. This tells Paint Shop Pro to convert all characters of your text to a single curve, rather than to individual curves for each character. Notice that the highlighted layer mentioned in Step 4 now shows a shape icon instead of the "A" icon, indicating a successful conversion from text to curves.

Click the pen icon from the tool palette. Paint Shop Pro will display a series of squares outlining your text. These squares are nodes you can move to reshape the curve that your text has become. Because text does not have these nodes, the squares are another indication of successful conversion to curves.