Raster and Vector Layers

On the left hand side of this palette you will notice the 3 coloured circles that are touching each other .  This tells you that it's a "Raster" layer.  

So, what *is* a Raster layer?  Well, it's usually the one that is used most often - it's the one that you use for everything other than making text, drawing your own pictures or using the preset tools in PSP.  Most of the layers you work on will be "Raster" layers.

Now that we know what a Raster layer is, we are going to talk about another type of layer... the "Vector" layer.

Go back to your floating "layers palette" and single left click on the layer that isn't your Jester hat - for me, that's layer 1.  That layer should now be highlighted.

Now we are going to put some text on this layer so that we can make it a "Vector" layer.

Go over to your palette on the left with all your tools in it and click on the text tool

Your cursor has changed into a crosshair with an "A" in the bottom right hand corner... whenever you see this cursor it means that your text tool is active.

Single left click anywhere in the space above your Jesters hat

The "Text Entry" dialogue box will appear.  This is where you put all the information you want PSP to know so that it can make your text for you.

Choose any font and size you like - click on the arrows next to the font name and size to get more fonts and sizes, single click to choose the font and size you would like.  

Make sure that the "Kerning" and "Leading" are both set to 0 and that the box next to "Auto kern" is unchecked.

Underneath that, you can choose to have your text in bold, in italics, underlined or with a line through the middle.  You can also choose if you want it left aligned, centered or right aligned.

Now go over to the left hand side and the "Styles" and "Texture" boxes should look familiar - they do the same things as they do in the main workspace in PSP except that anything you choose in here will only apply to the text you put in the box.

Choose the colour, gradient or pattern of your choice - the "Stroke" sets the outline of the text and the "fill" sets the colour of the font.

Now go over to your text box and single left click in it.  Type in the text you would like to appear at the top of the Jesters hat (you may have to put the font, size and colour/gradient/pattern back in if it changes)

In the circles (and square) underneath the text box, you need to make sure that "Vector" and "Antialias" are both checked.  You need to check the "Vector" so that PSP knows that you want a vector layer (if you checked either of the other 2 it would put your text on a "Raster" layer) and the "Antialias" stops the edges of the text from "bleeding" (it makes the edges nice and crisp and clear instead of having the edges all over the place and blurry)

Underneath the "Antialias" box there's a button that has an eye and an arrow on the left of it.  This lets you see a preview of how your text will look so you can change it if you need to.  Make sure that the eye (preview) button is selected (down)

This is what I have chosen for my settings - I have put a red circle around the things you need to look out for and keep the same on yours - everything else you can change.

If you aren't sure what your text will look like and you want to see it before you get rid of this box, just single left click and drag the titlebar of this dialogue box so that you can see the text on your image.  

Don't worry about where your text is for the moment, just check to see how it looks and make sure the text will fit on your image.  If you want to change anything you can do it now.

When you are happy with all your settings, click on "OK"