You can visit our Web site for tips and support information on Paint Shop Pro, Animation Shop, and other Jasc Software products by selecting Jasc Software Online>Jasc Software Web Site from the Help menu.
Paint Shop Pro includes an integrated thumbnail browser that allows you to preview images before opening them. To use it, select File>Browse.
Animation Shop, a powerful and easy-to-use program for creating animations, is included with Paint Shop Pro. To use it, just select File>Jasc Software Products>Launch Animation Shop.
The function of each tool on the Tool palette and toolbars is described at the bottom of the Paint Shop Pro window whenever the cursor is over the tool.
To display the name of a tool, hold the cursor over the tool; a Tool Tip will appear.
Press the <Tab> key to hide and/or view all the floating palettes.
Press <C> to display and hide the Color palette.
Press <H> to display and hide the Histogram.
Press <L> to display and hide the Layer palette.
Press <O> to display and hide the Tool Options palette.
Press <P> to display and hide the Tool palette.
Press <T> to display and hide the toolbars.
Press <W> to display and hide the Overview Window.
Press the <Shift> + <Ctrl> + <T> keys to center all the floating palettes and toolbars.
To prevent a toolbar or palette from docking when it is positioned near the edge of a window, hold down the <Ctrl> key while moving it.
The Histogram, Overview Window, Tool Options and Layer palettes automatically roll-up to their title bars to provide more screen space. Position your cursor over them to roll them down as needed.
Customize toolbars to show only the buttons you want in whatever order you like by right-clicking on the toolbar you wish to modify and choosing Customize.
To save the current program layout and toolbar customization, choose File>Workspace>Save. The saved workspace can then be reloaded at any time by selecting File>Workspace>Load.
Use the Window>New Window command to open a new view of an open image. The zoom factor can be adjusted in either window to allow you to see how the image appears at different zoom levels while editing it.
The Recent Colors dialog box displays 10 basic colors and the 10 most recently used colors. Open it by right-clicking a color box.
To quickly define custom colors in the Jasc Color Picker, right click and drag from any of the basic colors or the Color box to any of the Custom color squares, and release the mouse key.
You can display rulers and a grid on every image by choosing them from the View menu.
To quickly create a new image with the same settings used the last time you created a new image, shift-click on the new image button on the Standard toolbar.
Double-click on a ruler to change the Grid and Guide Properties.
Snap-to grids and guides provide greater precision when creating or moving image content. To enable the snap-to feature in either grids or guides, select View>Snap to Grid or View>Snap to Guides.
After enabling Snap to Guides, left-click on a Ruler and drag the mouse inside the image window to create and position a new guide.
Click the Tool Selection button on the Tool Options palette to activate a tool.
Paint Shop Pro supports multiple levels of undo and redo. You can enable or disable this feature and configure settings for it by choosing File>Preferences>General Program Preferences>Undo/Redo.
To repeat the last command used, select Edit>Repeat.
To configure third-party plug-in filters for use in Paint Shop Pro, select File>Preferences>File Locations>Plug-in Filters.
To repeat the last used plug-in filter, select it from the Effects menu.
To restore the default settings in program dialogs, click the Reset button. To restore the last settings used in the dialog, hold down the <Shift> key while clicking the Reset button.
When the Proof or Autoproof buttons are selected in program dialogs, the spacebar will turn the selected button on or off.
Hold down the <Ctrl> key while changing the value in a Numeric Edit Control to limit the change to whole number increments.
Paint Shop Pro supports WinTab compliant pressure sensitive drawing tablets. Use the Cursors and Tablets tab on the Tool Options palette to select the desired pressure output settings.
Transparent areas in an image display as a checkered background. To change the colors of the checkerboard, choose File>Preferences>General Program Preferences>Transparency.
To change how color values are displayed in the Color Palette, choose File>Preferences>General Program Preferences>Dialogs and Palettes. The color values can be displayed as RGB or HSL, using either Decimal or Hexadecimal numbers.
To select a color from anywhere on screen, position the mouse over any color selection square in the program, hold down the <Ctrl> while left- or right-clicking on the desired color.
To constrain the Mover tool to affect only the active layer, hold the <Shift> key while positioning the cursor anywhere inside the image window.
In the Layer Groups tab of the Layer palette, the layer group number can be incremented by left-clicking on the group number; right-click on the group number to decrement the number.
To load program resources such as Picture Tubes, Patterns, Textures, Gradients, Custom Brushes, and Preset Shapes from multiple, user-defined locations, select File>Preferences>File Locations.
Textures can also be used as patterns by selecting File>Preferences>File Locations>Patterns, and adding your textures directory.
Use the Text, Preset Shapes, and Draw tools to create vector objects and text.
Vector objects and text can be re-edited after they have been created.
To edit the properties of a vector object, double click on it in the Layers palette.
To edit the nodes of a vector object, select it with the Vector Object Selection tool and click the Node Edit button on the Tool Options palette.
To change the type of multiple nodes, select the desired nodes, right-click, and select the desired type from the available Node Type options.
To change which node is selected, press the <Shift> key while pressing any of the keyboard arrow keys.
To move any selected nodes, press the <Ctrl> + <Alt> keys while pressing any of the keyboard arrow keys.
You can create text on a path by placing text on a vector object.
When placing text on a path, use a negative leading value to move the text away from the path.
When placing text on a path, use a positive leading value to move the text towards the path.
You can convert text to a single shape or character shapes using the Convert Text to Curves options from the Vector Object Selection tool's context menu.
You can select and edit objects from multiple vector layers using the Object Selector tool.
You can group vector objects by selecting them with the Object Selector, then choosing Objects>Group.
Selected vector objects or groups can be exported for easy reuse as a shapes library by selecting File>Export>Shape. The name of the object or group is the name that will appear in the Shape selector in the Tool Options palette.
After creating a shapes library, select the Preset Shapes tool and choose your new shape from the Shape selector in the Tool Options palette.
To draw a preset shape as it appears in the in the Tool Options palette, enable the "Retain Style" option; to draw the shape with different styles and textures, disable this option and select the desired settings in the Active Styles and Active Textures panels on the Color palette before drawing the shape.
Drawing shapes with the left mouse button draws the shape from edge to edge. Drawing shapes with the right mouse button draws from the center out.
Hold down the <Shift> key while drawing a shape with the left mouse button to constrain the proportions of a preset shape.
Hold down the <Shift> key while drawing a shape with the right mouse button to allow rotation of a preset shape while constraining its proportions.
Hold down the <Shift> and <Alt> keys while drawing a shape with the right mouse button to allow 45-degree rotation of a preset shape while constraining its proportions.
Use Adjustment Layers to apply color corrections to an image without modifying its original content.
To create an adjustment layer that will only affect part of an image, use the Freehand, Magic Wand, or Selections tools to select the desired part of the image before adding the adjustment layer.
Paint Shop Pro provides a powerful array of photo enhancement and correction functions. To use them, select Effects>Enhance Photo.
To correct the "red-eye" effect in digital photos, select Effects>Enhance Photo>Red-eye Removal.
Press the <Shift> + <Page Up> keys to increase the selected pupil size in the Red-eye Removal dialog box.
Press the <Shift> + <Page Down> keys to decrease the selected pupil size in the Red-eye Removal dialog box.
Hold down the <Alt> key and press any of the keyboard arrow keys to reposition the eye selection marquee in the Red-eye Removal dialog box.
Use the Scratch Remover tool on the Tool Palette to easily remove scratches and specks from a digital photo.
Press the <PageUp> key to increase the width of the Scratch Remover tool selection box.
Press the <PageDown> key to decrease the width of the Scratch Remover tool selection box.
Press the keyboard arrow keys to change the start point of the Scratch Remover tool selection box.
The Scratch Remover tool only functions on a background layer. If the tool is disabled and you are working on a layered image, activate the background layer or use the Layers>Merge All (Flatten) command to create a background layer.
You can drag-and-drop layers from the Layer palette onto an image to copy them to another image.
You can press <Shift> while clicking the Create Layer button on the Layer palette to create a new Raster layer without opening the Layer Properties dialog box.
You can right click on the Create Layer button on the Layer palette to display a menu with options to create a new Raster, Vector, or Adjustment layer.
To add to an existing selection, hold down the <Shift> key while using any of the selection tools.
To subtract from an existing selection, hold down the <Ctrl> key while using any of the selection tools.
To nudge a selection one pixel at a time, hold down the <Shift> key while pressing the keyboard arrows.
To nudge a selection ten pixels at a time, hold down the <Ctrl> + <Shift> keys while pressing the keyboard arrows.
To move a marquee without the selection, right-click and drag with the Mover tool.
Choose the Selections>Modify>Expand command to enlarge a selection by a specific number of pixels while retaining its original shape.
Use the Freehand selection tool with the Smart Edge selection type to create a border between two areas of contrasting color or light.
Selections can be saved with an image by saving them into alpha channels using the Selections>Save to Alpha Channel command.
You can select a portion of the current image and save it as a new custom brush tip by activating the Paint Brush, double clicking on the brush preview in the Tool Options palette, and clicking the Create button.
To easily create a mask from a selection, make your selection and then choose Masks>New>Hide or Show Selection.
You can open images by dragging their thumbnails from the Browser to the workspace.
You can drag-and-drop thumbnails from the Browser to a grey scale or true color image to insert new layers.
By holding down <Alt> before dragging a single thumbnail from the Browser, you can drag-and-drop a Browser image into Microsoft« Word or any other OLE-compliant application that accepts images.
To perform a screen capture, select File>Import>Screen Capture>Start.
To configure screen capture settings, select File>Import>Screen Capture>Setup.
You can perform more than one screen capture at a time before returning to the Paint Shop Pro window. Choose File>Import>Screen Capture>Setup and select the Multiple Captures check box.
You can place a Paint Shop Pro screen capture directly into OLE-compliant applications by using its object insertion commands to insert a Paint Shop Pro 7 Screen Capture object.
To edit an image's palette, choose Colors>Edit Palette.
When using the Color Replacer tool, you can instantly replace all areas of the color in the image by double-clicking with the mouse.
After making a crop selection with the Crop tool, you can adjust the size by clicking and dragging one of the edges.
To define precise coordinates of a crop marquee and other advanced cropping options, double-click on the Crop tool icon.
To define precise coordinates of a selection marquee and other advanced selection options, double-click on the Selections tool icon.
You can embed a digital watermark containing copyright and contact information in your image by choosing Image>Watermarking>Embed Watermark.
Undo all changes since your last save by choosing File>Revert.
You can print one or more open images on the same sheet of paper by choosing File>Print Multiple Images.
Select File>Export>Image Mapper to create image map code and content directly from Paint Shop Pro.
Select File>Export>Image Slicer to create image slicing code and content directly from Paint Shop Pro.
To preview the active image in a Web browser, select View>Preview in Web Browser.
To set a transparent background and save an image as a GIF file, choose File>Export>GIF Optimizer.
To save your current image as a Picture Tube, choose File>Export>Picture Tube.
The LZ77 compression option in the Paint Shop Pro file format is completely lossless and can significantly reduce the file size.
To save a file for use in a previous version of Paint Shop Pro, choose File>Save As, click the Options buttons in the Save As dialog box, and choose the desired program compatibility setting before saving the file.
If you often save to the same directory or file type, use File>Save Copy As.
If you would rather have Paint Shop Pro remember the last file type you used when saving a file instead of defaulting to the PSP format, select File>Preferences>General Program Preferences>Dialogs and Palettes, and enable the "Remember last type used in file save-as dialog" option.
Paint Shop Pro can automatically save temporary files to prevent lost work if a problem occurs with your computer. Select File>Preferences>Autosave Settings to enable this feature and define how often to save your work.
Select Effects>Effect Browser to preview any program effect on the active image.
If you wish to use an effect or plug-in filter and the command is disabled, select Colors>Increase Color Depth>16 Million Colors (24 bit) and check to see if the effect is now available. If the command is still unavailable, use the Freehand, Magic Wand, or Selections tools to create a selection and check to see if the command is available.
Use the Export to Paint Shop Pro feature in Animation Shop to edit frames within Paint Shop Pro and save the results directly back to your animation.
You can drag-and-drop multiple images from the Browser into Animation Shop. To create one animation containing each frame, hold down <Shift> when dropping the images.
Depending on the current setting of Animation Shop's Layered Files preferences tab, you can drag-and-drop an open Paint Shop Pro image into Animation Shop, creating either a one-frame or multi-frame animation.
While dragging and dropping frames in Animation Shop, press the <Shift> key to snap to the frame.
To export an animation from Animation Shop as a Picture Tube, select File>Export Frames>To Picture Tube.
You can obtain information about your system by choosing Help>About Paint Shop Pro, and clicking the System Info button.
You can view these tips at any time by choosing Help>Tips of the Day.
To add your own Tips of the Day, use Windows Notepad to edit the TIPS.TXT file in the folder where Paint Shop Pro is installed.
