Here's
a Tutorial for making graphics in Paint Shop Pro. The version I
use is PSP5, so this tutorial will use that. You can download a
free trial copy for yourself HERE.
STARTING
OUT
1.
Open up your PSP program.
2.
Go to File, New. A New Image Window like the one below will pop up.
3.
Select the size of the image you want to make and type it in the width and
height fields. It will be easiest if you do this in pixels.
Select your background color. For now, it will be easiest if you
make it white. Select 16.7 million colors.
4.
Click OK. The blank you have selected will appear.
5.
You will see 2 rectangles on the far right of the program, like
below. The top one is for a text color. The bottom one is if
you want to change the background. With me so far? OK, let's
go on.
TO MAKE
GRAPHICS WITH TEXT
1.
Click on the first rectangle, like in the picture above. The color
palette will appear. Click on the one you want to use. (The
program will give you the RGB and hexidecimal values as an added
bonus). Hit OK.
2. Click on the big "A" in the lower hand
corner of the tool bar. It is almost at the very bottom.
Put the
cursor over your blank image. A crosshair will appear on your
image. Click on the image. A fonts menu will appear. Choose
the font Name, Style and Size you want to use by clicking on each.
3.
Type your message in the box that says "Enter text here."
Hit OK. Your message will appear on the blank. Right click on
the blank to defloat the letters.
4.
To save your graphic, go to file, save as, and a menu will appear.
It is easiest to put in a floppy A disc and keep it for all the stuff you
want to save, or a folder on your desktop for all your saved images. Change the "Save as" location to 3 1/2
Floppy A, or the file you located on your desktop. Name your image anything you want, but remember what you
saved it as. Go to save as type, and select Compu Serve Graphics
Interchange (.gif) Hit save, Hit yes. Your image will be
saved. To find it again, go to any file menu, it open and
"Look". Select 3 1/2 Floppy A, or the location on your C
drive, and find the name of
your file.
That's
how to make a graphic with text on it.
TO MAKE
AN IMAGE WITH A DIFFERENT COLOR BACKGROUND
1.
Open the program. Go to the second color rectangle on the far right
of the open program. Click on it. Select the color you want
for your background. Hit OK.
2.
Go to File, New. Make the dimensions for your image as explained
above. For background color of your new image, select
"background color." Hit OK. The blank will be the
color of your bottom box, the one you selected.
TO DRAW
GRAPHICS
1. Make
your blank as directed above. Select the single brush tool from
the far left tool bar. (Look below, it's got a box around it to show
you). Click on it. The brush cursor will appear.
2.
You will be able to draw on your blank image in the color of the top
rectangle on the far right of the program (red in the example
above). Click on that rectangle at any time to change colors.
Try a few different ones. (PS Notice how the background of my blank
is blue, the color of the bottom square?)
TO
COMBINE GRAPHICS
1. Make a
new image blank as above. Open up the image you want to combine also
in PSP. There will be 2 images on your desktop. (I'm combining
Sara Schwartz's welcome mat, but
this is her copyright graphic, so you can't use this one without her
permission!)
2. Click on the
image to be added. It will highlight the top of the box. See
the blue bar highlighted below? Go to Edit, Copy.
3.
Click on the blank. It will highlight. Go to Edit, Paste, as
Transparent Selection. The graphic will now appear on your
blank. Right click to defloat it. Make sure it is positioned
where you want before you defloat it, cause once you do, you can't change
it later! (Well, you can, but not in this tutorial!)
4.
Add text as desired, following the directions above.
5. Save
the graphic as above.
If you
want to publish this to your web page, follow the directions in my tutorial
for adding graphics to your page.
