Working With Paint Shop Pro

Exercise 5

Photos and Graphics Combined

In this exercise we will combine two photos.  One is a painting of a barn and the other is a picture of a lady.  You can achieve some very interesting effects by combining various types of graphics.  We will use three approaches to combine the photographs.  This will allow you to determine which approach you like best and to provide experience with a larger variety of the tools available with this application.  In the second part we will add some content by merely pasting some previously stored image objects into the collage.  We will also explore the use of cataloged frames.

 Learning Objectives:

a. Becoming familiar with Paint Shop Pro.
b. Using the Browse Feature.
c. Opening Multiple Images.
d. Tiling windows.
e. Introduction to Layers. 
f. Using the Cloning Tool.
g. Using Stored Image Objects.
h.  Cataloged Picture Frames.

These exercises were originally developed in Paint Shop Pro (PSP) Version 7, an attempt has been made to upgrade them to the specifics of PSP Version 8.  Some of the instructions may not be compatible with your version, or even if you have version 8 your set-up options, defaults, and preferences may be set differently.  Before you begin you should check to see that the following tool bars are turned on; "Status", "Standard", and "Tools", to do this go to the View, Tool Bars commands from the menu bar.

Part 1 - Creating a Collage 

a. Becoming familiar with Paint Shop Pro. . . .

b. Using the Browse Feature. . .

1.  Open a single application of Paint Shop Pro.

2.  From the File menu select the Browse command.

3.  Notice that the left frame is an outline of the storage devices and folders on your computer.  Select the CD ROM drive (usually D:).  From here select the folder titled "images".  The small thumbnails of the contents of the folder should appear.  This allows you to select the images you wish to open.

c. Opening Multiple Images. . . 

1.  Now you should hold down the "Ctrl" control key while you select two images.  The Ctrl key allows you to select individual multiple images.  The "Shift" key will allow you to select a range of images (i.e. from the first one you select to the last one you pick), try that also.

2.  The two images to select are e1.jpg and e2.jpg.  When you have only these two selected (i.e. highlighted) then "right" click on one of them and choose the Open command with the "left" mouse button.  

3.  This procedure, of using the right button to bring up a menu, works for a lot of applications and you can use it for objects or files.  Notice all the commands available on these pop-up menus.

4.  Check the "Window" command on the menu bar.  On the bottom of the drop down menu it should show that you have two images open and also a browse window.  You can switch between images and windows by choosing the one you desire from this menu.

d. Tiling windows. . .

1.  On the "Window" menu there are commands to "Tile" the windows either horizontally or vertically.  Click on the tile vertically command.  

2.  Notice that the three windows are displayed alongside of each other.  Click on the "x" to close the Browse window.  

3.  Now go to the window command on the menu bar and select tile vertically once again.  This time you should have only two pictures displayed side by side.

Note:  Below are various ways (steps) for placing Verna into the Barn Picture. Try the various approaches and decide which approach appeals to you.

e. Introduction to Layers. . .

1.  Start with the two tiled images.

2. With the Barn the active window. Select the Layers command from the menu bar. Select the New Raster Layer command and then click OK to accept the default values for the new raster layer.

3. A layer is analogous to placing a clear sheet of plastic over your graphic.  You can then draw and manipulate objects on this layer.  When you get the desired view you can merge this layer directly into the underlying background image.  Later you will see that you can use many layers at one time and arrange them in various orders.  Layers are very powerful tools when working with graphics.

f. Using the Cloning Tool. . .

Approach 1.

1. Now select the Clone Brush tool. On the Tool Options Palette (Tool Options Menu Bar) make the following settings. Set the clone mode to aligned, leave the Sample Merged and the Continuous boxes unchecked. Set the shape to Round, the Size to 32, and the Opacity, Density, Thickness, and Hardness values to 100. Set the step size to 1, the rotation to 0, and the blend mode to Normal.

2. Now right click on Verna and then left click and paint her into the Barn Picture. If you paint in more of the picture than desired you can always use you Eraser Tool and erase the unwanted parts. You are working on a layer so only the cloned area will be affected.

3. When you get the desired result remember to merge all visible layers and Save your result with a new name using the Save As command.

Approach 2.

1.  For additional practice start over and this time after you get the two images side by side try the following.

2. Use the rectangular selection tool and select Verna from photo e2.jpg.

3. Use the edit copy commands from the menu bar to copy the selected area of Verna to the virtual clipboard.

4. Click in the Barn Picture e1.jpg to make it your active window.

5. Use the Edit, Paste, As a New Layer commands from the menu bar to copy Verna into the Barn Picture as a new layer.  Notice how you got the new layer this time.

6. Make the Move tool active after you paste. Use this tool to position Verna in the lower right corner of the Barn Picture.

7. Select the Eraser Tool from the tool palette, and then select the Tool Options Palette. Set the Opacity, Density, and Hardness values to 100. Set Shape to round and Step to 1. Set the brush size to 15.

8. Now the new layer, which we didn’t name, should be the active layer. If this is the case you don’t need to change it.

9. Now use the Eraser tool and erase the part of the pasted image around Verna. You are left with the picture you desire.

10. There is one more step to complete. On the Layers menu select Merge and then Merge Visible. If you want to save the completed project be sure to use Save As and give it a new name such that you will still have your original e1.jpg.

Approach 3.

1. Start with the two tiled pictures as before. Select the Freehand selection tool.

2. On the Control palette select the Tools Control tab and then set the Selection Type to Smart Edge, the feather should be set to 0. No checks in Antialias or Sample Merged.

3. Now move around Verna while clicking on the edge of her at continuous points. When you get completely around to where you started, double click and this will outline your selection. 

4. Now use the Edit and Copy commands to copy Verna to the clipboard.

5. Now click in the Barn picture to make it the active window.

6. How use the Edit, Paste, As a New Layer commands from the menu bar.

7. Make the Move tool active after you paste. Use this tool to position Verna in the lower right corner of the Barn Picture.  On the Layers menu select Merge and then Merge Visible. If you want to save the completed project be sure to use Save As and give it a new name such that you will still have your original e1.jpg.

Which Approach do you like the best?  Can you think of other applications for these tools.

Part 2 - Working with Stored Images . . .

For additional experience take one of your stored collages and follow the hints below to add some stored images to the graphic collage.

g. Using Stored Image Objects. . .

1.  Open one of your stored collages of Verna and the Barn.  Follow the suggestions below to enhance the image with a butterfly, rose, and two big black cats.  Notice that the image was mirrored first.  See an example below.

2.  The "Picture Tube" tool was used to insert the extra content.  After the tool was selected the tool options was used to select the image and set it's size.  

3.  Each image was inserted on a new raster layer such that it could be repositioned and redone if the effect did not meet your expectation.  Experiment with Picture Tubes, you can even create your own.

h.  Cataloged Picture Frames. . .

1.  The final step was to add the frame from a list of ones provided.  This was done from the Image menu by selecting the Picture Frame command.  Older versions of Paint Shop Pro do not have this feature.

2.  The image shown near the top of this page had it's frame added using the crop and add borders command.  You may wish to experiment with these features.

Did we achieve our learning objectives? They were. . .

a. Becoming familiar with Paint Shop Pro.
b. Using the Browse Feature.
c. Opening Multiple Images.
d. Tiling windows.
e. Introduction to Layers. 
f. Using the Cloning Tool.
g. Using Stored Image Objects.
h.  Cataloged Picture Frames.

I hope by now you are becoming familiar with some of the more common graphics tools and that you are finding your favorites ones and things you like to do. You can probably find more approaches to accomplish the same task, like moving objects from one photo to another. In the next lessons we will introduce the concept of using layers and masks to colorize gray scale images or to change colors of objects in colored photographs.

Prepared 12/28/01
Revised 12/31/02
For Class Members use.
By: Dean Christensen