Complete Idiot's Guide to Paint Shop Pro 7

Nat Gertler is a Web site designer, a comic book creator, and the author of Easy PCs, The Complete Idiot's Guide(R) to PowerPoint 2000, and many other easy-to-follow computer books. His talent for putting visual concepts into words brought him a 1999 nomination for comicdom's coveted Eisner award.

Introduction. This Book Is Full of Good Stuff. Browsing Through the Book.Part 1: The Basics. Part 2: A Beginner's Paint Shopping Spree. Part 3: Painting Outside the Lines. Part 4: Vector Victories and Layer Lay-Ups. Part 5: Painting the World Wide Web. Part 6: Advanced Concerns. The Rest of the Book.The Language of the Book. Ack! Nowledgements! I'll Trade These Marks for Other Marks! Dedication.I. THE BASICS. 1. Test Driving Paint Shop Pro. Turning On the Ignition.Go Away, You Little Windows.Look at All Them Fancy Controls. Get a Blank Sheet. Time for a Face-Off.Getting a Head.Saving Face.We're Outta Here!2. Hellllllp! This Book Is Helpful. The Online Help System.To Pick a Topic. The Index is Indexpensive and Indexpensible. Find Every Little Word. Other Help Page Tricks.Every Button Tells a Story.Button Help with the Help Button.A Web of Help. A Tip of the Hat to the Tip of the Day.II. A BEGINNER'S PAINT SHOPPING SPREE. 3. All 16.7 Million Colors of the Rainbow. The Big Box of Crayons.Primary Colors. Picking Colors. Precise Picking for Pickier Pickers.First Blush: Your Initial Color Choices.Backgrounds: We Were All Born Young. Image Type: How Many Crayons Will We Use?Easier Choices: Picking from Fewer Colors.Getting the Right Sixteen Colors. Recycling Colors.Color Count Correction.4. The First Coat of Paint. Without the Paint Brush, the Program Would Just Be "Pro".Straight Talk About Straight Lines. Size Matters Shape Shifting. And All the Rest.An Eraser That Looks Like a Brush. 'ow to 'andle an 'airbrush. Color Recycling: Reuse Those Hues.A Quicker Picker-Upper.Color Replacing: Turning Your Blues into Roses. Retouch Me, Baby! No-Frills Fills.Fancier Fills.Circles and Arrows and Squares, Oh My!Shaping the Shape. What Is "Alias," and Why Are We Against It?Clone Brush: Nice Tool, Scary Name.Clone Alignment: Political Problem of the Future?5. Selecting and Cropping: Tools for a Picky Farmer. Selecting Rectangular Areas and Square People.Selections at Work. Smoothing Sharp Edges.Freehand Cowhand: Lasso Irregular Shapes and People.Freehand Freehand: A Tool so Great They Had to Name It Twice. The Point of Point to Point. The Smart Edge for Fuzzy People.The Magic Wand: It's Wanderful! Everything: The Unselective Selection. Muscling Up and Trimming Down Your Selection.Making a More Selective Selection. Growing Concerns. Everything but the Girl. Not Even the Girl.It's Selected; Now What?Faith Can Move Mountain Goats. Sliding Stylish Selection Shapes.Cuttin' Up and Pastin' Down. Floating Your Goats and Other Selections. Flipping and Tipping. Crop: Turn Paint Shop Pro into a Chop Shop.6. Zooming In and Moving Things About. Zoom In for a Close-Up. Zoom Out for a Far-Up. Overlooking the Overview Window Would. an Oversight. Two Views: I've Looked at Space Bunnies from Both Sides, Now. Getting the Most Space for Your Image. Pinpointing Particular Pixels Precisely.The Rulers: Kings of the Screen. Grid: A Street Map for Your Picture.What Colors Do I Lean On?7. Becoming a Player with Layers. Layers: We Don't Mean Hens. Why Use Layers?Reason Number One: It's Easier to Make Adjustments. Reason Number Two: Layers Are Recyclable. Reason C: Virginia Is for Lovers, but Layers Are for Tracers. Reason Seventy-Two: Layers Can Do Different Things.Be a Layer Creator.Layered Pastry: Pasting in a Layer. Accidentallayerly.The Layer Palette: Layer Player Central.Which Layer Am I Working On? Which Layers Do I See? Do the Layer Shuffle. Layer Copier. Merging Emergency.Laying the Layer Down and Sliding It Around.8. Vector Frankenstein: The Science of Making Vector Objects. Vhat Are Vectors and Vhy Do Ve Vant 'em?Vectors Grow Up Well. Vectors Vary Very Well. Vectors: The Naturally Stackable Snack.The Draw Tool: Lines on the Loose.Straight Lines: Who Was That Lady I Saw You with Last Night? The Point of Point to Point. Curves Are Just Lines with Bad Posture. Freehand: It Sure Doesn't Look Like Vectors. Bezier Curves: More Bezy Than Other Curves. Dots, Dashes, and Pointy Ends: Styling Your Lines. Miters: Going Smoothly Through the Corners.The Shape of Vectors to Come. Arrangements and Marriages.Selecting Objects: The Click That Picks. Handling with Care. Things to Do with 57 Objects.Stack Cracker. Vectors, Feh! I Want Raster!9. Getting Images In. Browsing for Brilliance.Trouser Bricks...er...Browser Tricks. Taking Pictures: Swiping Images from Other Programs. Be a Master Paster. Coping with the Uncopiable. Snapping the Shot.Scannerize Your Friends and Family. DC Power: Digital Cameras Rule!Shoot the Shots In.10. Getting Images Out. Saving Your File for a Rainy Day.File Formats: Fabulous Friends, Fearsome Foes. Antique Paint Shop Pro Formats. PCX: Pretty, Compact, Xchangable. GIF: Good Idea For-the-Web. JPEG: Just Partially Eroded Graphics.Printing Worth the Paper Its Printed On.Don't Get Upset-Get Setup. Paint Print. Print a Plethora of Pictures.III. PAINTING OUTSIDE THE LINES. 11. Fun with Fills. Paintin' with a Pattern.Pattern-Putting Pieces. Pattern Pickin'. Your Own Personal Pattern. Making Your Pattern Repeatable. Saving Your Pattern.Gradients: Fading with Great Radiance.Choosing the Gradient. Gradient Adjustments-R-Us.Build Your Own Gradient and Save!Build Your Own Gradient the Harder Way.Put a Little Texture in Your Life.Be a Texture Selector.12. Fuller Brush Knowledge. Clear Talk About Opacity.Are You Tinting or Painting? Brushing Up.Brushing Inconsistently.Chalk and Charcoal Without Messy Fingers.Fancy Brush Shapes.The Real Custom Brush. Custom-Made for Other Folks.The Simple Steps of Setting Up Steps.13. Pressure-Sensitive Tablets Cure the Pressures of the Mouse. Take One Tablet.Over-the-Counter Tablets: Buying One.Pointing and Dragging, Tablet Style.Other Tablet Features.Styles from the Stylus: Nifty PSP Features.Vary Opacity: Lay It on Thick (or Thin). Vary Color: The Radiance of Casual Gradients. Vary Width: Fine and Porcine Lines.14. Picture Tubes. Picture Tubes Squirt Pictures Out.Tube Types. Tubing Downstream: Keeping It Easy.Tuning the Tube.A Subsection Just for the Selection Mode Drop-Down List.Find Your Inner Tube: Make Your Own Picture Tubes.Starting a Blank Image. Building Your Tube. Saving Your Tube. Put Your Tube to the Test.Taking the Tubes of Others15. Deformation Information. Deform Your Picture: It's Better Than It Sounds.The Deformable Versus the Undeformable.Doing the Deformation.The Tricks I Never Told You. Done Deforming.Perspective Perfection. Perspective That Ain't so Square.16. Special Effects. Getting Affection for Effects.Making Any Old Image an Old Image.Options That Affect Effects.Preview: Your Future Is Told. Setting the Settings. Presenting Presets.One Hundred and One Effects (Give or Take Three).Blur Menu. Sharpen Menu. Edge Menu. Noise Menu. Enhance Photo Menu. 3D Effects. Artistic Effects. Geometric Effects Menu. Illumination Effects Menu. Reflection Effects Menu. Texture Effects Menu.Browsing Effects with Glee (and Your Mouse).17. Color Inspection, Correction, and Rejection. Wash That Color Away.Shades of Grey...or Blue or Green or Whatever.Color Tuner.Brightness and Contrast, Darkness, and Dimness. Reduce Reds, Grow Greens, and Blow Away the Blues. Grading on Curves.Color Replacement.Hue Map Tips (That's "Spit Pa Me Uh", Spelled Backward).Cooler Color Creators.Ooh, Pretty Colors. Channel Mixer-Upper.Other Color Tools.IV. VECTOR VICTORIES AND LAYER LAY-UPS. 18. Upgrading Shapes. Node Editing.Pick Your Nodes. Erode Your Nodes. Explode Your Nodes. Taking a Different Angle. Adding the Missing Link. Ending Editing.Properties: The Real E-State of Your Vector.All Vectors Should Be Named "Eric". Custom Styling for Your Lines.Group-De-Doo! Get Back the Shape You Had in High School.It's No Shame to Share Your Shape.19. Text Tricks. Putting Text in Context.Optional and Optimal Options. Laying Down the Text. Where Do the Words Go?Better Words: Updating Raster Text.Word Up: Improving Vector Text. Being Curvaceously Loquacious.Giving Your Text Nodes.20. Egging On Layers. It's Time to Play "Name That Layer". Transparency Lock: Locking Up Nothing.Locking Out the Eraser.Layer Opacity: Clearly Useful. Being Normal Is Not the Only Way to Blend In.Blend Modes: Chop, Puree, Liquify... The Blend Ranger: Hi-Ho Greyscale, Away!Gather Ye Layers Together.21. Playing Hide-and-Seek with Masks. What Is a Mask? Why a Mask? Mask-Maker, Mask-Maker, Make Me a Mask.From Image: It's French for "Cheese," Right?Who Was that Mask-Editing Man?Masks Off!Recycling a Mask. The Masking Link.22. The Alpha Channel: All Alphas, All the Time. What Is an Alpha Channel? Stuffing Selections into Alpha Channels. Flipping Through the Channels.Snatching Channels from Other Files.Halloween Layaway: Saving Masks. Backmasking: Getting Your Mask Back. Flush Out Your Channels.23. Layers of Adjustment. What Are Adjustment Layers?Like Masks, but Only Kinda. Why These Adjustments Look Familiar.Sunglasses On: We're Looking Closely at Brightness.A Bright Way to Make Shadows.Adjusting Adjustments.They Are Still Layers.V. PAINTING THE WORLD WIDE WEB. 24. Working Wonder on the World Wide Web. The Wonderful World of Web Graphics. Some Practical Limits.Page Grease: Keeping Your Pages Fast. Limited Color Range.The Clear Route to Transparency.Non-Rectangular JPEGs. GIF Transparency.I Explain How to Save a Copy of Your Graphic as a GIF File. Button-Making: More Fun Than Mutton-Baking.One Graphic, Many Buttons.One Graphic, Many Graphics.Rollover Buttons (and Tell Tchaikovsky the News).Fancy, Distracting Backgrounds.25. Watermarking: Staining That Protects. Watermarking? Water You Talking About?= An ID 4U. Creating Your Watermark.Frankenstein Versus the Invisible Man: Durability Versus. Invisibility.Reading a Watermark. Changing a Watermark.26. Animation Shop 101: Picture Motions. Animation Shop: The Free Movement Software.What Is Animation? You Don't Need to Draw Every Frame.Starting the Shop.To Be Picture Perfect, Be Picture Prepared. Set Forth Upon This Continent a New Animation.Adding Images (Two Images Plus Two Images Equals...). Transition: That's "No, It Is'n Art" Spelled Backward.Manual Transition Tuning. Manual Transition Tuning. Transition Completion.Effectively Inserting Effects. A Little Text About Text Effects. Don't Stop for Effects.A Range of Effect. Text on the Range.Toon-Time: Watching Your Animation. Making the Save.GIF: Gosh, Interesting File. AVI: 'at's Very Interesting.27. Animation Shop 201: Wizards and Tricks. Get Out Your Scissors: Editing Your Animation. Returning to the Paint Shop for a Touch-up. Making Motion.Simple Motion. Complex Motion.Bang-Up Banners.VI. ADVANCED CONCERNS. 28. Photo Finish. Phixing Phaulty Photos.Scanning in Scratches. No More Moire. Artifacts of the New Age: Fixing Digital Photos. Creating Captivating Captures.Gonna Wash That Red Right Outta My Eyes.Quick Eye Correction for Humans.Quick Eye Correction for Beasts. Precise Pupil Picking. Tuning the Eye. Color Clarification and Tone Tuning. Edgy Choices.Achieving Balance. A Real Frame Job.Saving Your Photos.29. Leggo My Logo. Give Your Logo a Goal.Words Versus Pictures. Finicky About Fonts.Logo Shop Pro.Resizable Advantage. Improving Your Font One Node at a Time.A Practical Example.A Hidden Meaning. An Unintended Picture.Other Things to Worry and Fret About.Limit Your Colors. Shrinkability. Faxibility. Confusability.30. Your Own Custom Paint Shop. Some References to Your Preferences.Where Are the Files Filed Away? Other Preferences.Toolin' Around with the Toolbars.Extra Toolbars. Button-Picking for Fun and Profit.Save Some Work by Saving Your Workspace. Adding Features and Filters.Plug-Ins Are Meant for Another Shop. Obtaining Plug-Ins. Installing Plug-Ins. Plugging Away.31. Digital Laundry Day: Separating Colors. Proofing Proves Useful.Be a Pro Profile File Installer. Profiling the Printing Place's Printer. Putting Proofing Profiles in Paint Shop Pro.Color Separating: Four Colors for Color Printing.Pulling the Colors Apart. Gimme an M, Gimme a C, Gimme a K, Gimme a Y.APPENDIXES. Appendix A. Installing Paint Shop Pro. Appendix B. Buttons and Menus and Mice, Oh My! Working Wonders with Windows. A Mouse in the Hand.The Point of the Pointer. Clicking's a Snap! Clicking a Button. Dragging Ain't No Drag!When You Need a Menu.Start Up the Start Menu, You Upstart! Why Don't You Drop Down and See Me Sometime? Keyboard Kwikies!Windows Don't Have to Be a Pane!Wipe Away Your Window. Seize the Size! Become a Mover and a Shaker... and a Resizer! Wiping Out the Window.Let's Rap About Dialogue!Tab: It Isn't Just for Dieters Any More! A Text Field Is the Type for Type. Drop Down and Give Me Twenty! What the Scroll Is That? Check Out the Check Box! Option Button, Option Button, Who's Got the Option Button?Speak Like a Geek: The Complete Archives. Index.