Paint Shop Pro

1. Know what version of Windows that you have.
2. Be sure that Paint Shop Pro is not open.
3. Go to File >> Preferences >> File Locations.
4. Find the plugins option and note the exact location of the plugins. If you have a lot of programs that can potentially use the *.8BF filters, create a central one, as in this screenshot. It is under My Documents.
5. Make a Plugin folder specific to the one that you are installing. This will help with your general 'housekeeping'. Otherwise, it can get quite cluttered.
6. Be sure that you know the name of the filter so that you know what you are looking for in the program.
7. Open up Paint Shop Pro and use it. Most often, it will be under Effects >> Plugins.

1. Open your image into Paint Shop Pro.
2. Create a copy by holding down CTRL + P or go to File >> Copy.
3. Click on File >> Paste... However with Paste, there are a few options:
   • Paste as New Image
   • Paste as New Layer
   • Paste as New Selection
   • Paste as Transparent Selection
4. Paste a copy (New Image) for when you want to change the file. In this way, you can preserve the original. Always work on a copy of your original image.
5. Paste as a new layer when you want to create a mask or make partial changes to an image. Make the changes to the new layer and merge it to the background image.

1. Choose your image that you want to apply the tool to. For your first attempt, you probably want it to have some solid defined lines until you are more familiar with it.
2. Be sure that the entire image is in the screen. Having to scroll around with the mouse when trying to make the selection creates a lot of difficulties.
3. Click on the selection tool. You may see a wand, a lasso, or the 'marching ants' icon. Select the lasso. It's the 'Freehand Selection' option.
4. Go to the selection dialog boxes at the near top of the screen. Go to Selection Type and then click on Smart Edge.
5. Pick a starting point, click on it and keeping along the edge of your subject, find another point and select it. As long as you stay somewhat close to the edge of the subject, the lasso tool will maintain it. It's ok if it isn't perfect. It can be fixed later.
6. Continue this until your subject is completely surrounded. Double click on the beginning/end point.
7. Refine the image. Sometimes, vague color separations cause your 'lassoing' to be less than accurate. To fix that, do the following.
8. Click on Selections >> Invert. This inverts the selection.
9. Go to Selections >> Edit Selection. What you will see then, is, the mask that is covering everything but the strawberry.
   • Your strawberry should now look like this.
10. Select a brush to edit the mask with. You will want to have two colors for your background and foreground; black and white. What you are trying to accomplish is making the strawberry with its mask look cleaner.
11. If you want to check your progress, go to Selections >> Edit Selections and click on it again. Then you will be able to see what your actual selection looks like.

1. Choose your image. You want one that is not overly complicated. You are going to be taking the picture and breaking it down to two colors; black and white. A complex image is not a good idea here.
2. Open it up in Paint Shop Pro.
3. Click on Layer >> New Raster Layer and create a new layer. This is what you will be drawing on.
4. Click on the background layer in the layer dialog box and then move over the slider bar so that your image becomes more transparent.
5. Click on the Paint Brush icon and select Paint Brush. Adjust the size until it is appropriate for what you are doing. Try drawing a stroke and, if you don't like the way it looks, undo (CTRL Z) it.
6. Be sure that your primary color is black. It will print the best when you print it for coloring.
7. Zoom in and start drawing on your image. Don't try to do it all at once. Take your time and do it stroke by stroke.
8. Do this all the way around the image. For the first time around, use a 'thicker' brush, keeping in mind the perspective of the image. For this flower, the brush is set for 9 for the outer part of the page.
9. Once you have your image about the way you want it, Fade the photo layer to where you don't see it, or barely see it. Whichever way works for you.
10. Using the magic wand, select the outline. Be sure that all of it is selected.
11. Click on Selection >> Modify >> Expand. Expand it for an appropriate amount for your project. This image selection was expanded by 3 pixels.
12. Click on the bucket tool and fill in the expanded selection. Zoom in to make sure you are filling it in completely.
    • When filling in the selection, if you click on the black, the selection won't fill in. You need to be sure that you are clicking between the black and the selection.

Creating the first layer

Bubble letters are created using Paint Shop Pro (which has a good selection of tools for drawing bubble letters with a computer mouse and keyboard). Starting out with the elliptical tool, the artist draws an ellipse on the screen. The artist creates a new layer for the ellipse shape by clicking on the "Layer" button (the dialog box opens). By clicking on the caption, the artist is able to change the name of the layer (If the artist is going to draw the letter C, the artist would name the layer "C").

Nodes

A preset shape tool is accessed from the Tools panel to create closed shapes. Each tool has a certain number of nodes. The nodes have control arms that appear on the sides of the drawing shape. By moving a control arm, the artist is able to manipulate the curve of the drawing shape on both sides of a node. This curve is what gives the letters a bubble shape. Manipulating the curve on both sides of a node is important for creating different letter shapes. For example, some nodes are asymmetric (creates the same degree of curve on both sides of the node), while others are symmetrical (creating a different degree of curve on both sides of the node). Bubble letters are easily created using the ellipse tool because all bubble letters are roughly elliptical.

Outline

Bubble letters can have any kind of outline with respect to the size of the letters. The smaller the bubble letters, the thinner the outline must be. By contrast, large bubble letters can have any size of outline. The size of each bubble letter's outline is measured by the software in pixels. A Size 3 pixel outline is considered thick.

Fill Color

The fill color for each bubble letter may be any color. To add patterns or gradient to the fill color of bubble letters, the artist selects the style from the drawing's Vector properties. The artist double-clicks on the "Layer" button, and again double-clicks the "Sub-layer" button to open the Vector properties dialog box.

Transforming the Shape

The ellipse shape is changed by right-clicking on it with the mouse pointer. A side out menu appears, and the artist selects "Convert to path." One node at a time is selected and moved to create the shape of the letter. The elliptical outline gives the letter its bubble shape. The artist clicks on a node and adjusts the handles to change the curve of the drawing shape. In order to make holes in the drawing shape (bubble letter "A," for example, has a hole near the top), the artist selects the ellipse tool, then sets the Tool options to "Circle." A circle is then drawn where a hole in the shape is needed in order to create an alphabet letter.

Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop are the most widely recognized digital photo editing software programs available. Both programs are used by professional and amateur photographers. With similar editing commands in both packages, the choice between them can be difficult.

Photoshop

Cropping photos, adjusting exposure, sharpening images and removing blemishes are common editing tools found in both programs. Advanced users can colorize black and white images, erase unwanted backgrounds in photos, change an object's color and combine images for a montage.

Paint Shop Pro

Photoshop is far more expensive but it has become the industry standard for professionals. The steep learning curve is minimized by a multitude of books, online support and tutorials, and training seminars offered by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). Plus, Photoshop can be integrated with all of Adobe's software products.

Considerations

Paint Shop Pro's lower price and intuitive menus make it an attractive package for the amateur or occasional user. Books and tutorials are available, and fixing images can be done automatically or by manually changing a photo's parameters.

Incidentals

Both packages are available for Windows-based PCs and Macs. They are updated as needed and new versions are usually released every two years. Current owners of either package can purchase new version upgrades at an even lower cost.

Photoshop Elements

Photoshop will likely continue its dominance among professional photographers because of its vast array of tools. Paint Shop Pro will always appeal to the casual photographer thanks to its cost. However, Photoshop's inexpensive little brother, Photoshop Elements, may eventually convert some Corel users to Adobe's products.

Paint Shop Pro 8 is an older version of the graphics software program that was distributed by Jasc. Since then, Corel has distributed new versions of the software, such as Paint Shop Pro Photo XI and X2, which have new features. Still, Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8 has all the features you need to edit your photographs and scans.

Getting Started

To get started editing your photos in Paint Shop Pro 8, click "Browse." This button looks like a file cabinet and is located in the toolbar at the top of the interface. On the left side of the browse window, navigate the folders on your hard drive where you have images stored. Double click the image within the browse window to open it.

Most photographs and scans are in very high resolution when they are first created. To work with them effectively, you must reduce the resolution to a more manageable size. To do this, click "Image," and then "Resize." If you plan to publish your images on the web, change the "Pixels Dimensions," so that the image is no more than 600 pixels on its longest side. If you will be printing your image, change the "Print Size" so that the dimensions are 4-by-6, 5-by-7 or 8-by-10 inches. If you cannot get these exact standard photo dimensions in the resize window, then resize the one end of the image to the largest dimension and crop the image on the other end to the smaller dimension.

It is important to lighten and brighten an image whether it seems too dark or not. Click "Adjust" and "Brightness and Contrast." Select "Brightness/Contrast" from the menu. Adjust the numbers in the dialogue box and preview your image by clicking the button with the image of an eye. Use the "Clarify" menu option instead if your image seems to have too little definition. Then select "Adjust," "Hue and Saturation" and "Hue/Saturation/Lightness" to fix problems with the color in your images. Beside "Edit" select the color you wish to change. If you want to change the overall color in an image, select "Master." Then move the sliders and click the preview button until your image looks right. Moving the "Saturation" slider will get you the best results in most cases. Most images need some increase in color saturation, although many images need a decrease in saturation, especially in the reds, the magentas and the yellows.

Use the "Crop" tool in the toolbar to change the framing of your image. Select an area by clicking and dragging your mouse over the image. Then click the blue check mark to complete the crop.

If your picture seems distorted, you may need to use the lens correction tool. The most common type of distortion makes the image look as if it is bulging forward and is caused by taking a picture from too short a distance. To resolve this problem, click "Adjust," "Lens Correction" and "Fisheye Distortion Correction." Set the "Field of View" to between 30 and 40 and press the preview button. Look at the image to see if the lens distortion has been corrected. Adjust the numbers until the image looks correct.

Advanced Tools in Paint Shop Pro 8

The advanced tools in Paint Shop Pro take a little more work to use but are effective at improving your images. The select tool has several different functions. The regular selection tool defaults to selecting in a rectangle. In the Tools Options Palette at the top of the screen, you can also choose a different selection type, such as a square, an ellipse or a circle. Use the "Freehand Selection Tool," which looks like a lasso, to select irregularly shaped objects or areas within an image. You can also use other selection types with this tool, such as "Point to Point" and "Smart Edge" to make your freehand selection more easily and automatically. Use the "Magic Wand" tool to select an area automatically that is of a certain brightness or color value. Raise the "Tolerance" to make Paint Shop Pro select a larger area, or lower it to restrict the areas that you select. Press "Shift" while selecting to add to your selection and press "Control" to remove areas from the selection.

Another useful tool is the clone tool. Click on the tool that looks like two small people with an arrow. Right-click on the area you wish to copy. Then left click to draw on the intended destination. You can also clone images from one picture to another. However, the images should about the same size and should have the same basic color balance and lighting.

When you first start working in Paint Shop Pro, the "Magic Wand" is a tool to learn right away. Once you get the hang of the Magic Wand, you can save a lot of time and work when it comes to selective editing, which is the process of making only one object in your picture active so that it can be edited.

Selecting the Magic Wand

The Magic Wand tool appears with Paint Shop Pro's other standard editing tools on the toolbar panel on the left side of the PSP screen. The tool is actually shaped like a wand, with a sparkling light at the end. Click on the arrow next to the tool and when the menu pops out to the side, select "Magic Wand" from the list. The tool is now active and ready for use.

Setting Mode and Tolerance

When you select the Magic Wand the corresponding toolbar will appear on the screen just below the main toolbar. This toolbar allows you to set the "Match Mode" and "Tolerance" levels, details that make the Magic Wand more effective.

"Match Mode" tells the program the method the tool should use in making its selections. If you choose the "Color" mode, the Magic Wand considers all pixels of the same color to be a part of the same object. If you want to work on a white cloud in a blue sky, this is a good mode because the Wand will differentiate the white from the blue.

"Tolerance" determines how exact you want the Magic Wand tool to be. With a low tolerance level, the wand will only select those pixels that are very close in color to the color you first clicked on. A higher tolerance level will give the wand more flexibility in choosing pixels. It can be a difficult setting to master, because most objects have some color variation and shadowing. Trial and error is the best way to get it right.

Make a Selection

To use the Magic Wand to select an object, click on the object in the image. If your settings are correct, you will see a dotted line around the edges of the object. If the lines are not perfectly lined up on the object's edges, adjust the "Tolerance" and try clicking the object again. You may have to do this a few times to get it exactly right. Once the object is selected, you can change the color or add effects and only the selected object will chang.

Paint Shop Pro is a popular software used for editing digital photos. The program is filled with the standard tools for digital photo correction, including color and lighting adjustment tools, a red-eye tool and resizing options. Easy makeover tools allow users to enhance the appearance of their subjects by removing skin blemishes, eliminating wrinkles and whitening teeth. While Paint Shop Pro also includes drawing tools that make it possible for users to add effects and text to images, the main focus is on correcting and enhancing the original image.

Color Swap

If you want to change a color in a photograph, it doesn't have to be painted over pixel by pixel. It only takes a few clicks to completely replace a color in Paint Shop Pro. Go to the "Learning Center" palette and click "Retouch and Restore." Choose "Color Changer." This will bring up the "Materials" palette. Select the color that you want to use as replacement color. For instance, if you want to change a yellow raincoat in a photo to green, choose the green color. Use the "Tolerance Control" on the "Tool Options" to determine how the color is replaced. The lower the number, the more carefully the color is replaced. If you set the control at "1," it will replace only the exact color that you clicked on, so if the raincoat has any shadows or slight color variations, those places will not be replaced. It is best to start your "Tolerance Control" out at a number somewhere in the middle, such as "50." You can always "Undo" the replacement and choose a new "Tolerance Control" if the color replacement was too much or too little. Once the new color is set, simply click on the color that you want to replace on the photo; in this example the raincoat and all instances of that yellow will be replaced with green.

Depth of Field

By employing depth of field, you can have a perfectly focused object in the front of your image while leaving the background out of focus. This technique draws attention to the main subject. If you haven't quite gotten the depth of field feature down on your camera, you can add it to your photos in Paint Shop Pro. To adjust depth of field, go to the "Adjust" option on the "Learning Center." When the "Adjust" box opens, choose "Advanced Adjustments." "Depth of Field" is one of the options. The Depth of Field tool will open with your photo displayed twice, in "Before" and "After" boxes. To create depth of field, choose either the circular or rectangular marquee tool in the "Area of Focus" section. Use the tool to draw an outline around the part of the photo in the Before box that you would like to keep in focus. This will keep this part of the photo in its original state. Slide the blur slider to blur the background, and watch the changes take effect in the photo in the After box.