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Corel Paint Shop Pro X4

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Corel Paint Shop Pro X4 Empty Corel Paint Shop Pro X4

Post  Sheilsoft Sat Oct 15, 2011 3:29 pm

Folks,

As discussed at earlier meetings, for the time being, as a club, the graphics application we are going to use for demonstrating photographic image processing and creative techniques will be Corel Paintshop Pro version X4.

It just makes it easier when describing various techniques and tools, that we all use or have access to a common application. Of course there are many equally good photo/graphics apps out there from shareware to Adobe Photoshop, and many of the techniques we are going to discuss will be able to be used and adapted. For the purposes of our tutorials though I am recommending members should download the trial version of PSP X4 which can be downloaded here...

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1208530085925#versionTabview=tab1&tabview=tab7

Another reason I can recommend this app is that for many years I have worked with Corel to develop scripts, particularly for use as photographic and creative art effects. These are normally sold seperately, but am happy to pass these on to club members here. Scripts are like macros, and are photo effects created by recording many tool and effect settings into a one click option. These can be run individually to give a certain effect, or in conjunction with other scripts... and of course like any other PSP action can be Undone simply.

1) To start with, download and install Paint Shop Pro X4.

2) When you run PSP you will find there are 3 distinct screens... Manage/Adjust/Edit.

3) For the time being, we are going to concentrate on EDIT mode. You can customise PSP to always launch in Edit mode by doing the following...
Click on File/Preferences/General Program Preferences/Default Launch Workspace and click Edit.

4) When you run PSP (PaintShop Pro) you will see a line of tools along the top menubar, many of which are not, at the moment, useful to us. I have created a 'workspace' file which, when added to the program, will get rid of some clutter on the menu and place useful tools on the menubar, which we'll go on to discuss at meetings & on the forum. Using this workspace 'should' mean that everyone's screen looks the same, and commonly used tools are in the same place.

You can download my 'Workspace' file here...
http://www.sheilsoft.com/private/workspace.zip

Download & unzip it into the My Documents/Corel Paintshop Pro/14.0/Workspaces folder.

Then load it by starting PSP, and selecting from the menu File/Workspace/Load... where you should see it there to load.

When you reload PSP you should see the new tools/buttons on the menubar, and should also see a new 'Scripts' menubar to the top right of the existing menu items (immediately right of the 'Merge all Layers' tool). This toolbar looks like a dropdown menu (with a list of scripts) and some buttons to the right. This will become quite a useful feature. Using scripts, you can load an image, then by selecting a script and running it (click the triangular Run button), the script will apply a whole host of stages that were recorded as a script.

5) As mentioned above, I am happy to offer my scripts for use by club members. You can download the full scripts collection here...
http://www.sheilsoft.com/private/ssoftscripts.zip

Download & unzip them into the My Documents/Corel Paintshop Pro/14.0/Scripts-Restricted folder.

When you now run PaintShop Pro, these scripts should appear in the dropdown menu of the Scripts menubar. All my script names are prefixed with Ssoft...

Also, before running any scripts for the first time, ensure the button on the scripts menubar (2 along from the triangular 'Run' button) which when you hover the mouse over says 'Toggle Execution Mode', is not active. ie it shouldn't be surrounded by light grey... if it is, click to de-activate. This will stop scripts from stepping through every step of the recorded script.

You can see a short description of each of my scripts by visting my website... http://www.sheilsoft.com/psp.htm



A lot to do and take in, but a good starting point if all interested members can achieve the above installations.

Rgds,
Howard Very Happy


Last edited by Sheilsoft on Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:45 pm; edited 1 time in total
Sheilsoft
Sheilsoft

Posts : 235
Join date : 2011-09-11
Age : 71
Location : Los Llanos del Peral, Almeria

http://www.sheilsoft.com

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Corel Paint Shop Pro X4 Empty Re: Corel Paint Shop Pro X4

Post  Sheilsoft Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:44 pm

Folks,

As detailed in another post, PSP X4 was updated recently to SP1.

I have therefore amended the club 'workspace' file for this version (sets up the appearance of PSP so everyone's interface looks the same for tutorials etc).

Click the 'Workspace' link above in the original post to download this latest version.

NB This will only work if you have downloaded and installed the free PSP X4 SP1 update.

Rgds,
Howard
Sheilsoft
Sheilsoft

Posts : 235
Join date : 2011-09-11
Age : 71
Location : Los Llanos del Peral, Almeria

http://www.sheilsoft.com

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Corel Paint Shop Pro X4 Empty Re: Corel Paint Shop Pro X4

Post  Sheilsoft Mon Dec 12, 2011 12:07 pm

Folks,

One of my gripes with the X4 version of PSP was that when you opened a new image, it loaded in it's own new tab, and you had to click between tabs to see each image. In previous versions I liked to load two or more images/photos, which you could view side by side... and could even clone from one to the other.

I've just found that you can disable this tabbed viewing, not from Preferences (I looked everywhere!), but from 'Window' on the main top menu... click on this and untick 'Tabbed Documents'... simples! Rolling Eyes

Getting to like X4 much better now!

Rgds,
Howard Very Happy
Sheilsoft
Sheilsoft

Posts : 235
Join date : 2011-09-11
Age : 71
Location : Los Llanos del Peral, Almeria

http://www.sheilsoft.com

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Corel Paint Shop Pro X4 Empty Re: Corel Paint Shop Pro X4

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