LESSON 1
A Quick Look at some of the things you can do with Paint Shop Pro Photo X2
Paint Shop Pro Photo enables you to create, modify, combine, and optimize digital images. You can then save the images to print later or use online on your website or on a hand-held device such as an iPod, Blackberry or BlueTooth etc.
PSPP's tools let you move, color, stylize and even add text to your images. You can optimize photographs or turn into interesting works of art with just a couple mouse clicks!
For this Intro class we will be covering the very basic functions of Paint Shop Pro Photo X2. The focus is on the workspace, tools, palettes and a general overview of the entire program including some of the newest features! Let's look at just a few of the things that Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 is capable of doing for us to simplify our work load!
Edit and Manipulate Photos
As the name implies, Paint Shop Pro Photo can perform more than just one task. You can use the program to make subtle changes, such as adjusting the color in a digital photo or scanned image, or you can use its filters to make your snapshots look like a professional took them. In the example here, the first flower looks dark, undefined and has little or no definition in the flower petals or the glass vase. By simply adding an adjustment layer to the image we were able to bring out the definition of the glass, brighten the flower petals and improve the overall appearance of the image.
Picture Painting
Paint Shop Pro Photo X2's painting features make it a super illustration tool as well as a photo editor. You can apply colors or patterns to your images with a variety of brush styles. In addition you can use the programs typographic tools to add fancy letters and words to your images. You can also create geometric shapes which is great for making buttons and banners for your "up and happening" website.
Combining Images for a Collage/Composition
You can combine different images or different elements of an image in Paint Shop Pro X2. Your compositions can include photos, scanned images/art, text or anything else you might have saved on your hard drive as a digital image. Just like with the previous example, using only layers and few of the most basic tools you can create a collage (aka composition). By utilizing the layers feature you place each element on it's own layer and then you are free to customize them independently of the other layers.
Below is a simple example that you can do in about 5 minutes. You can see that the hands and people were two separate images with no text. Combing the layers, adding some simple shapes and then using the Text tool we created an image beautiful enough to frame and hang on the wall.
Continued...