Tour of PaintShop Pro

Almost finished now!  :o)  We're going to be looking at the bar on the left hand side of the work station now... these are the tools you'll be using to make your basic image before adding effects and all sorts of other things.

This bar may look a bit daunting and confusing to start with, but the tools on here let you create all sorts of wonderful things.  I'll take each icon in turn and give you a screenshot 'cos they don't show up very clearly on the one above :o)

The Arrow Tool

If, like me, you prefer to work with your windows maximised, it's rare that you will use this tool.  If, however, you prefer to work with unmaximised windows, this tool could come in really handy for you.  It allows you to move your windows around your workspace so that they are in the order you'd like them to be and if an image goes off the edge of the window you can use this tool to click and drag to see the rest of the image.

The Zoom Tool

This is the tool to use if you need to see more detail of a particular area of your graphic.  I use it a lot when I'm making or cleaning up tubes or when I'm making a graphic with a tube and the edges of the tube come close to the edge of the graphic - I zoom in to make sure that I paste the tube in the right place so that the edges are all inside my graphic.

The Deformation Tool

If you need/want to change the size or shape of an image, this is the tool to use.  It can be a really fun tool but using this and the zoom tool together it can help with getting your image to look just the way you want it too - sometimes it really tests your patience though!  lol

  The Crop Tool

This is the tool to use when an image is too big or you just want to use a part of a graphic.  Click and drag the mouse so that there is a box around the part you want to keep - everything outside the box will be deleted.  You can change the size of the box by hovering your mouse over one of the sides of the box so that the cursor changes to a double-sided arrow and then clicking and dragging the box to the size you want it to be.

The Mover Tool

If you've added a graphic to your image and you decide you don't like it where you've placed it, you can use this tool to drag it to where you want it to be.

The Selection Tool

If you want to use just one part of an image, you can select it with this and do whatever you need to do - just click and drag a box around the part you want to use.  If you need the selection to be more accurate, you can click inside the box you've just drawn and PSP will adjust itself so that it selects the outline of the graphic inside the box.

The Freehand Tool

If the Selection Tool (above) either isn't accurate enough or it selects the wrong part of the image, you can use this tool to make the selection yourself.  Just click around the image at various points until you have got the rough shape of your selection, then click inside your selection to get PSP to tidy it up a bit.

The Magic Wand Tool

This is a wonderful little tool that also helps with selections in PSP.  This tool lets you select similarly coloured pixels instead of a whole image.  If you have a solid colour background on a graphic and you don't want the background to be there, just use this tool to select the solid colour.  If all the solid colour isn't selected, it means that there is a different colour in the way so the solid colour can't join up.  This is easy to fix.  Just hold down the control key and click in all the areas of solid colour that haven't been selected, hit delete and they will all disappear!  :o)

The Dropper Tool

If you've got a colour in your image that you want to use elsewhere but you can't get the same colour when you try and do it yourself, just use this tool.  Left click on the colour to choose the foreground colour and right click on the colour to choose the background colour.

The Paintbrush Tool

This one does exactly what it says on the tin... it lets you paint on your image in freehand.  Just click and drag this tool around and a layer of paint will follow your cursor!  :o)

The Clone Tool

This tool lets you pick up one part of an image and create an exact copy elsewhere in the image.  This is a handy tool to use if you want to take something out of a picture and you need to tidy it up a bit afterwards... just clone the bits around it so that it looks like there was never anything there to start with!  :o)

The Colour Replacer Tool

If you've painted something in your background colour and you wanted it in your foreground colour, just use this little tool to paint over it and it will replace the colour for you

The Retouch Tool

You can use this tool to smudge parts of your picture - it can make really brilliant effects and I've found it is especially good for making a fluffy type texture on animals... I've used it in my Easter Chick tutorial to make the chick appear more fluffy :o)

The Scratch Remover Tool

In scanned photo's, you know you can sometimes get those little scratches on the scanned image?  Use this tool to get rid of them :o)

The Eraser Tool

This is most useful when you are working with layers and you want to get rid of something on one of the layers.  If you are just working with a single (or background) layer, it paints the background colour wherever you use the eraser.

The Picture Tube Tool

You may have heard people/tutorials talking about things called "tubes".  They are graphics that have a transparent background that you can use in PSP.  Some tubes only have one that you use and it stays the same each time you use it and some tubes have lots of pictures in that change each time you use it - this tool lets you "paint" with the tubes that have lots of different ones.

The Airbrush Tool

Another tool that does exactly what it says on the tin... you use this tool just like you use an airbrush IRL.  As you click and drag around your image, a spray trail of paint follows you and if you stay in one place the colour becomes denser

The Flood Fill Tool

This tool lets you fill an area with either a solid colour, a gradient or a pattern.  Using this tool and the Colour Pallette is probably my most used combination in PSP.

The Text Tool

Using this tool and the Colour Pallette is how you get text on your graphic in PSP.  Choose this tool, click roughly where you want your text to be, fill in the information in the dialogue box that comes up and then hit "OK".  If your text isn't in the right place, just click and drag until you've got it where you want it 

The Draw Tool

You can use this tool to draw all kinds of things in freehand using colours, gradients or patterns of your choice - the options are endless with this and each creation is unique 'cos you draw in freehand!  :o)

The Preset Shapes Tool

PSP comes loaded with a variety of different shapes you can use to help you to get started with drawing your own images and graphics and this tool is the way to get at them!  :o)

The Object Selector Tool

You can use this tool to select something specific in your image - just click and drag a box around the things you would like to select!  :o)