This tutorial was
written by Jemima ~ November 2002
with the assistance of my PSP7 Manual.
If you don't have
PSP7 an evaluation copy can be obtained HERE
PSP7 TOOLS AND
THEIR FUNCTIONS
As you can see
Paint Shop Pro has many Tools to work
with to help you create your
graphics. What we'll do here is take
them in 4 sections and explain their
functions.
In this first
section we'll explain the first 7 tools
in the diagram below
From left to right they are:
ARROW; ZOOM;
DEFORMATION; CROP;
MOVER; SELECTION and FREEHAND (or Lasso)
 The ARROW tool
When you increase the magnification
of an image level for detail work,
you may find that the entire image
may no longer fit in the image
window. If you are only working on a
section of the image it may be more
convenient to keep the image at the
higher zoom level but not increase
the size of the window.
When using the ARROW tool to move
around the image it changes to a
'hand' when you click your mouse
enabling you to drag the image to the
area on which you wish to do the
detailed work.
 The ZOOM
tool
As you edit an image, there are times
you'll need to zoom in on your work
for increased accuracy. You can do
this by varying the ZOOM level. To
Zoom in on an image, click on the
ZOOM tool and left click in the area
you wish to magnify. The
magnification increases by one level
each time you click the image. You
can also zoom in by left clicking and
dragging your moise to create a
rectangle around the area you want to
magnify.
To Zoom out
right click the image. The
magnification reduces by one level
with each click.
If you have
zoomed in on an image to the
individual pixel level and you want
to return to normal viewing quickly,
you can also use the menu to return
your image to normal size by....
clicking on
View >>>>> Normal
Viewing.
 The DEFORMATION tool
  
This tool is used to rotate, resize
and reshape and distort
layers, floating sections and images.
To use the DEFORMATION tool, the image
must contain a layer.
you may need to 'promote' the
background to a layer.
(This function is found in the LAYERS
menu
and will be discussed later in the TOOL
OPTIONS section)
When you click on the DEFORMATION tool
button
'handles' and 'guides' appear on the
image.
(The small squares)
Place your cursor on the area (handle) to
be deformed,
the cursor will change shape.
To 'DEFORM' your image you can
do one or more of the following:
Resize vertically by dragging the
centre top and bottom handles.
Resize
horizontally by dragging the
centre left and right handles.
Rotate by dragging the
centre bar.
Change
perspective by pressing
<Ctrl> while dragging any of the 4
corners
Apply a 'skew' by pressing
<Shift>
while dragging any of the 4 corner
handles.
Distort (move the corner)
by pressing <Ctrl> + <Shift>
while dragging any of the 4 corner
handles.
To apply the
deformation, either click the APPLY
button on the
Tool Options palette, or double click the
image.
To cancel a deformation, click the Cancel
button on the
Tool Options palette.
 The
CROP tool
To use the CROP tool, you select the area
of the image that
you wish to keep. The area outside the
rectangle is deleted
 
To use the CROP
tool, click on the button
Place the cursor over the image at
the corner of the area
you wish to keep. Press the left
mouse button and drag.
A rectangle appears.
Whn the rectangle covers the area to
be saved,
release the mouse button.
Double left click inside the
rectangle
and the outside area will disappear.
 The MOVER tool
The MOVER tool is used to reposition
a Selection or Layer.
Click on the Tool, then Left Click
and drag on the Floating selection or
on the area of a layer that contains
image data. To move a non-Floating
selection, activate the tool, Right
click and drag in the selection. Your
cursor will change to the mover icon
when it is possible to move the part
of your image your cursor is over.
 The SELECTION
tool
The SELECTION tool allows you to make
rectangular, square, ellipse and
circular selections. You can
pre-determine the size of square and
rectangular selections by double
clicking on the tool and entering
coordinates. When you make a circular
or ellipse selection,
always have "antialias"
checked.
This softens the edges.
The picture above shows the use of
the "ellipse' selection.
The picture above shows the use of
the "rectangular' selection,
If you crop a
selection with antialias selected,
you will end up with spare pixels
around the edges.
When you use the selection tool to
select an image on a transparent
layer, you can "snap" the
selection outline to the graphic by
clicking inside the selection with
the selection tool active.
  
You can move a selected object by
clicking inside the selection and
dragging the object.
 The FREEHAND
or LASSO tool
The FREEHAND or LASSO tool enables
you to make 'irregular' selections.
This tool is very useful for
selecting parts of images in order to
either - create tubes, delete that
section from an image or copy and
paste to another image. These are
only a few of the possibilities.
Above is the
original image showing
the marching ants around the leaf
Above is a close-up of the leaf
(copied and pasted as a new image)
after using the lasso tool with
NO Feather and NO Antialias checked
Notice the jagged edges
Above is a close-up of the leaf
(copied and pasted as a new image)
after using the lasso tool with
Feather = 1 and Antialias CHECKED
Notice the SMOOTH edges
SECTION 2 (NOT LINKED
YET)
TUTORIAL INDEX
Copyright
© 2002 PSP Artistry
All rights reserved.
Unless specifically made available
for download,
no graphics or text may be removed
from this site for any reason
without written permission from PSP
Artistry
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