Introduction
From the moment I was approached for this project, I’ve been excited. Paint Shop Pro is a great piece of software that’s capable of much, much more than most people use it for. The fact that you’ve picked up this book means that maybe you believe that as well. Stop for a moment and flip through to see some of the projects.... Those are all projects that you can do. In fact, you already have the most important tools needed to get through the projects in this book: the curiosity and the willingness to give it a try. I mean, that’s why you picked up this book, right?
Who You Are
You’re someone who has discovered the joy of digital photography, whether that means scanning in your 4″ × 6″ photos or using that shiny new digital camera that’s become your constant companion.
But now that you’ve started to take more photos and you’re getting better as you do, you figure there must be more. You may even be thinking that, in this day and age (it is the new millennium after all), with all the digital power around, you shouldn’t have to break into the ol’ piggy bank to pay for that “more.” And you’re right. As you’ll read in the next section, you can get started in the world of digital photo magic for almost nothing. Read on....
What You Need
Paint Shop Pro. Even the demo version will be good enough to get you started. Visit Corel.com to download a demo version.
The book that’s in your hands as you read this.
Although it’s not essential because you can get the images used in the projects from the companion website, you should have access to digital photographs. I’ll be referring to digital cameras throughout the book, but there are other ways to get digital images; you can scan your own 4" × 6" images that you shot with film, you can scan slide film, or you can have your images scanned for you.
Where You Start
If you need a little help getting started with some of the techniques, such as cloning, selections, and so on, drop by Appendix B,“Paint Shop Pro X in a Nutshell.” If you need to find some resources, take a peek at Appendix A,“Resources.” Other than that, feel free to start anywhere. There is no set progression. The projects stand alone and can be done in any old order that you desire. Feel free in fact to revisit some of your favorites with a couple of your own photos in mind—that’s the whole reason behind this book. That’s right, get up and grab that camera and go shoot some digital film. Your new digital darkroom is waiting.
What You’ll Learn
This book isn’t meant to be a step-by-step tutorial on how to use Paint Shop Pro. That doesn’t mean you won’t learn anything or even that you won’t learn about Paint Shop Pro. In fact, you’ll learn tons about Paint Shop Pro, but it won’t feel like learning, at least not in the traditional sense. Rather than taking the approach that teaches you the tools in a linear—and possibly boring—way, this book is based on real-world (and sometimes unreal-world) projects that are as fun as they are educational (oops, I promised myself I wouldn’t use that word, and I promise you I won’t use it again).
As you work through the projects, you’ll be subjected to the included hidden subliminal messages in the text and graphics. Those messages teach you about the program as you work, without your feeling like you’re sitting in a lecture with your eyelids drooping. In fact, I’m hoping that the only reason your eyelids will be drooping as you read this book is because it has become really, really late and you are having a hard time putting the book down.
What, No CD?
Nope. I used to make that argument to the publisher, to no avail. These days, with the Web I couldn’t agree with them more that there’s simply no need for a CD. The best part, of course, is that the savings are passed along to you.
What’s on the Website
You can find source images for most of the projects presented in this book on the official Paint Shop Pro X Digital Darkroom website. To download images, go to the Sams Publishing website and in the Search box near the upper-right corner type 0672328607; then click the Search button. On the Search Results page, click the link for this book.
After the main page loads, look for a box titled More Information and click the Downloads link. You’ll proceed directly to the downloads page, where you can choose which set of images you’d like to save to your hard drive. The images will be archived in Zip files, so you’ll need to use a utility program such as WinZip to decompress the images after you’ve downloaded them.
Legal Stuff
You know what? I’m not going to put you to sleep with all kinds of legal speak that I wouldn’t understand anyway. What I will say is that creative people work hard to create the art, music, editorials, tutorials, photographs, and so on that they create for others to use or enjoy. And it’s a small world, so believe me, chances are you know someone who creates content of some nature. Perhaps you’re even related to someone who earns her living creating original software, movies, or whatever. Personally, I feel that it’s not a question of whether it’s against the law to use someone’s copyrighted material in a way that she didn’t intend to have it used. I just think it’s immoral. That said....
The images you can get from the companion website are provided for your use in learning the techniques I’ve written about in this book. All other rights are reserved by the copyright holders.
In any event, I hope that, after you’ve started to learn the techniques that can be applied with this magnificent piece of software, you’ll get out there and create hundreds or thousands of your own treasured works. Now flip through one of the projects, grab your digital camera, and go bug someone for a photo. Oh, yeah...whatever you do, don’t forget to have some fun doing it. I mean, what’s the point otherwise?