Corel PaintShop Pro Photo - X3 Operation Manual

Contents

Welcome to Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

What’s in this user guide? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

What’s new in Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Installing and uninstalling Corel programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Starting and exiting the program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Registering Corel products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Updating the program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Corel Support Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

About Corel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The digital workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Learning how to use Corel PaintShop Photo Pro . . . . . . . . 13

Using the Corel Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Using the Learning Center palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Using the Help system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Using Web-based resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Workspace tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Exploring the workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Switching between workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Using palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Using toolbars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Using tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Getting started with Corel PaintShop Photo Pro . . . . . . . . 31

Contents i

Getting photos into Corel PaintShop Photo Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Opening and closing images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Saving images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Deleting images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Reviewing, organizing, and finding images . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Setting up the Organizer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Finding images on your computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Adding keyword tags to images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Finding tagged images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Using the calendar to find images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Browsing folders for images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Working with thumbnails in the Organizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Capturing and applying edits to multiple images . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Displaying and editing image information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Using the Express Lab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Starting the Express Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Getting to know the Express Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Getting photos into the Express Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Exiting the Express Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Working with camera RAW photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Supported RAW file formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Using the Camera RAW Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Applying edits to multiple RAW photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Converting RAW photos to another file format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Adjusting images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Rotating images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

ii Corel PaintShop Photo Pro User Guide

Cropping images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Straightening images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Making basic photo corrections automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Removing digital camera noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Combining bracketed photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Adjusting brightness and contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Adjusting hue and saturation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Creating an area of focus by controlling depth of field. . . . . . . . . 70

Retouching and restoring images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Removing red-eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Applying cosmetic corrections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Removing flaws and objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Cutting out image areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Recoloring image areas for a realistic effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Scaling photos by using Smart Carver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Working with selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Creating selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Modifying selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Inverting and clearing selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Working with layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Understanding layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Using the Layers palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Creating layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Renaming layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Viewing layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Changing the order of layers in an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Contents iii

Applying effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Choosing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Applying Photo Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Adding picture frames to images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Using the Picture Tube tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Warping images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Working with colors and materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Using the Materials palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Choosing colors by using the Color Picker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Choosing colors from an image or the desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Working with text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Applying text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Formatting text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Printing images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

E-mailing and sharing images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

E-mailing photos, videos, and slideshows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Sending images to a photo-sharing service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

iv Corel PaintShop Photo Pro User Guide

Welcome to Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3

Corel® PaintShop Photo® Pro sets the standard for affordable,
professional image editing. You can organize and edit photos, work with
RAW image files, apply effects, and more — all with a set of easy-to-use
workspaces.

Some versions of the Corel PaintShop Photo Pro also include
Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator — an application that helps you
create photo and video projects, such as photo books, slideshows, cards,
calendars, and collages. It also helps you share and backup your projects.

This section presents the following topics:

• What’s in this user guide?

• What’s new in Corel® PaintShop Photo® Pro X3

• Installing and uninstalling Corel® programs

• Starting and exiting the program

• Registering Corel® products

• Updating the program

• Corel® Support Services™

•About Corel®

What’s in this user guide?

This user guide contains the information that you need to become
familiar with the Corel PaintShop Photo Pro workspace and to get started

Welcome to Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 1

with basic tasks and some creative possibilities. It is designed to
accompany the more comprehensive Help, which is available from within
the program, as well as other learning resources. For more information
about additional learning resources, see “Learning how to use
Corel PaintShop Photo Pro” on page 13.

What’s new in Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3

Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 offers affordable, powerful, professional­grade tools and features. Photo enthusiasts — ranging from professional
photographers to digital camera newcomers — can take their projects to
a higher level with a toolset that yields astonishing results, yet is easy to
learn.

• Improved photo organization — Customize your digital workflow
with new photo management capabilities in the Organizer. Quickly
select photos and get multiple views, including thumbnails and
image previews. For more information, see “Reviewing, organizing,
and finding images” on page 37.

• Multi-photo editing — Make adjustments to one photo and then
easily apply the same changes to multiple photos. For more
information, see “Capturing and applying edits to multiple images”
on page 45.

• Enhanced Express Lab — Edit your photos quickly in this
speed-editing mode. Quickly adjust contrast, local tone mapping,
noise, and sharpen photos. Manipulate levels, contrast, color
balance, and more. For more information, see “Using the Express
Lab” on page 49.

• Improved performance — Get more speed and editing power with
more multi-threading support for multi-core processors.

• Smart Carver™ — A new seam carving tool lets you seamlessly
remove objects from an image. You can also scale or remove objects

2 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

without distortion. For more information, see “Scaling photos by
using Smart Carver” on page 84.

• Support for additional RAW formats — Make RAW adjustments
during the loading process and work with even more RAW camera
formats. For more information, see “Working with camera RAW
photos” on page 53.

• Vibrancy — The Vibrancy feature helps to boost color in less
saturated parts of an image without significantly altering skin tones.
For more information, see “Adjusting hue and saturation” on
page 69.

• Object Extractor — The new integrated Object Extractor isolates
objects so that they can be copied to a new background or a new
background can be pasted behind an object. For more information,
see “Cutting out image areas” on page 80.

• On-image text editing — The updated text engine lets you add text
directly in the image window. Adjust font, color, placement,
position, size, and wrapping of the text in the context of the image.
For more information, see “Working with text” on page 115.

• Easy sharing — Share photos and videos where and how you want,
by using e-mail, Flickr®, Facebook®, and YouTube™. Print at home
or online. For more information, see the
Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator Help.

• Integrated creative projects — Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator
lets you make great-looking photo books, collages, cards and more.
It also includes easy online sharing options. For more information,
see the Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator Help.

• HD video — The application now supports high definition (HD)
video. Create HD slideshows and movies of your photos and videos.
For more information, see the Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator
Help.

Welcome to Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 3

• Windows® 7 compatibility — Corel PaintShop Photo Pro is fully
compatible with Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, and
Windows® 7.

Installing and uninstalling Corel programs

The Installer makes it easy to install and uninstall Corel applications and
components.

Before installing:

• Quit all open applications. Note that antivirus software and firewall
applications may affect installation.

• Ensure that you are logged in to your computer as Administrator or
as a user with local administrative rights.

To install Corel PaintShop Photo Pro

1 Close any open applications.

2 Insert the DVD in the drive.

If the setup does not start automatically, navigate to the DVD drive
on your computer, and double-click Setup.exe.

3 Follow the instructions on your screen.

Note that you must install Corel PaintShop Photo Pro and
Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator separately.

To install Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator

1 Insert the DVD in the drive.

If the Installer does not start automatically, navigate to the DVD drive
on your computer and double-click the Setup file (Setup.exe). Skip
the next step.

2 Click Install PaintShop Photo Project Creator.

3 Follow the instructions.

4 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Please note, some versions of Corel PaintShop Photo Pro do not
include the Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator application.

To uninstall Corel PaintShop Photo Pro

1 On the Windows® taskbar, click Start ` Control Panel.

2 Do one of the following:

• (Windows Vista or Windows 7) In the Programs category, click the
Uninstall a program link.

• (Windows XP) Click the Add or Remove Programs icon.

3 From the list of applications, choose Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3,

and click Uninstall/Change or Remove.

4 Follow the instructions on your screen.

You can remove user-created files, such as presets, during the
uninstall process. Mark the Clear all personal settings in
Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 check box, and click Remove.

Starting and exiting the program

You can start Corel PaintShop Photo Pro from the Windows taskbar and
exit the program from the File menu.

The first time you start Corel PaintShop Photo Pro, you are prompted to
assign file formats to the program so that your computer always uses
Corel PaintShop Photo Pro to open files in those formats. For more
information, see “Setting file format associations” in the Help.

To start Corel PaintShop Photo Pro

• On the Windows taskbar, click Start ` All Programs `

Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 ` Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3.

Welcome to Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 5

If you associate specific file formats, such as JPEG and TIFF, with
Corel PaintShop Photo Pro, you can double-click the associated
file to start the program.

To exit Corel PaintShop Photo Pro

• Choose File ` Exit.

Registering Corel products

Registering Corel products is important to ensure that you receive timely
access to the latest product updates, as well as valuable information
about product releases. Registration also gives you access to free
downloads, articles, tips and tricks, and special offers.

You can register the program when you install it, or you can register at a
later date.

You can register the program in one of the following ways:

• online — If you are connected to the Internet when you install the
Corel graphics program, you can launch the online registration. If no
Internet connection is detected, you are presented with a list of
options.

• by phone — You can call the Corel Customer Service Center nearest
you.

For more information about registering a Corel product, visit
www.corel.com/support/register.

Updating the program

You can check for product updates. Updates notify you of important new
information about your program.

6 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

To update your program

• Choose Help ` Check for Updates.

You can turn automatic program updates on or off by clicking
Help ` Corel Guide. In the Corel® Guide, click the Product
information and preferences
preferences. Mark the options that you want.

button , and choose Message

Corel Support Services

Corel Support Services can provide you with prompt and accurate
information about product features, specifications, pricing, availability,
services, and technical support. For the most current information on
available support and professional services for your Corel product, please
visit www.corel.com/support.

Warranty support

Corel’s warranty support is designed to help customers with technical
issues related to installation and product defects, including crashes and
errors caused by Corel software.

Personal telephone support

Many customers choose to speak directly to a Corel support technician
over the telephone. Live person-to-person support on a toll-free line is
available as a paid service and is designed for individual, small business,
academic, trial version, and OEM users.

A support incident is the resolution of one technical question, problem,
or issue, regardless of the number of telephone calls required to resolve
it. Support includes assistance with understanding how features work
and how they are applied to a sample document; troubleshooting
technical issues and documents; installation, configuration, and setup on

Welcome to Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 7

standalone computers; and migration from one software version to
another. Please note that support does not include how to implement
features within your files.

About Corel

Corel is one of the world’s top software companies, with more than 100
million active users in over 75 countries. We develop software that helps
people express their ideas and share their stories in more exciting,
creative, and persuasive ways. Through the years, we’ve built a reputation
for delivering innovative, trusted products that are easy to learn and use,
helping people achieve new levels of productivity. The industry has
responded with hundreds of awards for software innovation, design, and
value.

Our award-winning product portfolio includes some of the world's most
widely recognized and popular software brands, including CorelDRAW®
Graphics Suite, Corel® Painter™, Corel DESIGNER® Technical Suite,
Corel® PaintShop Photo® Pro, Corel® VideoStudio®, Corel®
WinDVD®, Corel® WordPerfect® Office, WinZip®, and the recently
released Corel® Digital Studio™ 2010. Our global headquarters are in
Ottawa, Canada, and major offices are in the United States, the United
Kingdom, Germany, China, Taiwan, and Japan.

8 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

The digital workflow

The digital workflow outlined below can help you understand how to
use Corel PaintShop Photo Pro. It suggests a sequence for working with
your digital images. Whether you want to organize, retouch, or put
together a photo book or slideshow, you can use the workflow
described below as a guide.

The digital workflow in Corel PaintShop Photo Pro

Get photos

Your first step is to transfer photos from your digital camera, memory
card, or other storage device to your computer. You can also access
scanned images from within the program.

When you install Corel PaintShop Photo Pro, the
Corel Photo Downloader is installed automatically. When you plug a

The digital workflow 9

camera or storage device into your computer, the
Corel Photo Downloader detects the device and helps you transfer your
photos and video clips.

For more information, see the following topics in the Help:

• Getting photos into Corel PaintShop Photo Pro

• Connecting with image scanners

Get organized

Digital photography gives you the freedom to shoot many photos. With
this freedom comes a large number of digital files, so photographers
understand the need to manage those files by culling their photos as early
in the process as possible and by identifying the photos that they want to
keep.

The Organizer workspace lets you access all the tools you need to cull,
rate, tag, and prepare newly downloaded files for editing or sharing.
Search options and collections make it easy to find and work with the
photos that you currently store on your computer.

For more information, see “Reviewing, organizing, and finding images”
on page 37.

Quick adjustments

After you decide which photos that you want to keep, you might want to
make some quick adjustments and touchups. From the Organizer, you
can access the following options:

• Express Lab — A workspace that lets you edit individual photos
quickly. You can fix red-eye, exposure, color, sharpness, and noise
issues. You can also make fast touchups to the people and objects in
your photos.

10 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

• Capture and Apply — A feature that saves you time by letting you
capture the edits to one photo, and apply the changes to multiple
photos.

For more information, see the following topics in the Help:

• Using the Express Lab

• Capturing and applying edits to multiple images

Advanced editing and RAW files

Professional-level tools and features are available in the Full Editor
workspace. For example, you can apply effects and add text. You can also
use layers to create highly flexible composite images, isolate image areas
with selections and masks, and access tone curves, histograms, and other
advanced adjustment tools.

If you like the full control of working with RAW files, you can use the
Camera RAW Lab to process your photos.

For more information, explore the following topics in the Help:

• Adjusting images

• Retouching and restoring images

• Working with selections

•Working with layers

• Applying effects

•Working with text

• Working with camera RAW photos

Share photos and projects

After you adjust and polish your photos, you’ll want to share them. Along
with the traditional printing, layout, and e-mailing options, some versions
of the application include Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator — an

The digital workflow 11

application that makes it easy to order prints and create projects, such as
photo books, calendars, cards, and collages. You can also create beautiful
multimedia slideshows that combine your photos and video clips. This is
a great way to share HD video clips from your camera.

Sharing options are built into Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator, so
you can easily upload your photos and projects to Facebook, Flickr, and
YouTube.

For more information, see the following topics in the Help:

•Printing

• E-mailing and sharing images

For more information about Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator,
please refer to the Help within the Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator
application.

Backup and archive

Ensuring your photos and video clips are protected is a very important
step in the digital workflow. If your media files are stored only in one
location, you could lose all your photos and videos if your computer or
storage device fails.

Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator offers you an easy way to backup
your files to a CD or DVD. For more information, please see “Creating
backup discs” in the Corel PaintShop Photo Project Creator Help.

12 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Learning how to use Corel PaintShop Photo Pro

You can learn how to use Corel PaintShop Photo Pro in various ways: by
accessing the Help and the Corel Guide, by using the Learning Center
palette, or by exploring the resources on the Corel Web site
(www.corel.com), where you can access tips, tutorials, and information
about training.

This section presents the following topics:

• Using the Corel Guide

• Using the Learning Center palette

• Using the Help system

• Using Web-based resources

Using the Corel Guide

The Corel Guide provides the most up-to-date information and content
for your program. You can find tips and tricks, download new styles and
content for your projects, explore new ways to share your photos and
videos, and access the latest updates for your program.

To access the Corel Guide

• Choose Help ` Corel Guide.

Learning how to use Corel PaintShop Photo Pro 13

Using the Learning Center palette

The Learning Center palette contains helpful information about
Corel PaintShop Photo Pro tasks, commands, and tools to help first-time
users as well as experienced users get their work done faster. The Home
page of the Learning Center palette provides a task-based workflow,
which begins with getting your photos into the program. From there, the
workflow takes you through tasks such as finding and organizing your
image files, adjusting and retouching photos, creating collages, adding
text, graphics, and effects, and printing and sharing your creations.

To display or hide the Learning Center palette

Full Editor workspace

• Choose View ` Palettes ` Learning Center.

The Learning Center palette is displayed by default. It appears
along the left side of the Full Editor workspace.

To use the Learning Center palette

Full Editor workspace

1 From the Home page, click a task.

The topics related to the task appear.

2 Click a topic.

The procedure related to the topic appears.

• For topics describing a tool, the tool becomes active. The Tool
Options palette and any other relevant palette appear.

• For topics describing a command associated with a dialog box, the
dialog box appears.

3 Read the procedure for using the tool or command.

14 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Some tasks and commands are not available unless an image is
open.

Using the Help system

The Help that is available from within the program is the most
comprehensive source of information for Corel PaintShop Photo Pro. The
Help system provides two ways to find information. You can choose a
topic from the Contents page, or use the Search page to search for
specific words and phrases.

Note that you need to have an Internet connection to be able to access
the Help system.

To use the Help system

1 Do one of the following:

• In the Organizer or the Full Editor, click Help

• In the Express Lab, click Help topics from the toolbar.

2 In the Help window, click one of the following tabs:

• Contents — lets you browse through topics in the Help

• Search — lets you search the full text of the Help for a particular
word or phrase. For example, if you are looking for information
about a specific tool or command, you can type the name of the
tool or command, such as Backlighting, to display a list of relevant
topics.

` Help topics.

You can also

View Help for a dialog box Click Help in the bottom of the

dialog box.

Learning how to use Corel PaintShop Photo Pro 15

You can also

Access information and
troubleshooting tips on the Corel
Web site

In the Organizer or Full Editor,
choose Help
Resources.

` Online Support and

Using Web-based resources

From the Corel PaintShop Photo Pro Help menu, you can access a
number of Web pages dedicated to customer support.

To access Web-based resources

•From the Help menu, select one of the following Web site links:

• Contact Information — this link takes you to a Customer Support
page listing customer service and technical support contact
information

• Online Support and Resources — lets you access the Corel Support
Services page to search for answers in the Corel Knowledgebase
and newsgroups, submit questions to Technical Support, provide
feedback, or look for software updates

• Check for Updates — checks the Corel Update Service to see if
there are updates to your copy of Corel PaintShop Photo Pro

16 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Workspace tour

Corel PaintShop Photo Pro includes three main workspaces that let you
organize and edit your images: the Organizer, the Express Lab, and the
Full Editor.

This section presents the following topics:

• Exploring the workspaces

• Switching between workspaces

•Using palettes

•Using toolbars

•Using tools

Exploring the workspaces

Each of the main Corel PaintShop Photo Pro workspaces, the Organizer,
the Full Editor, and the Express Lab, contain specific tools and controls to
help you accomplish your task at hand quickly and efficiently.

You can save the Organizer and the Full Editor workspaces, including all
open images and their magnifications and screen positions, as well as
positions and preferences of palettes, toolbars, dialog boxes, and
windows. For information about using custom workspaces, see “Using
custom workspaces” in the Help. Note that you cannot customize the
Express Lab.

Workspace tour 17

The Organizer

General Info panelTree panel

Thumbnails panel

Preview window

Organizer toolbar

When you open the application, the Organizer appears as your default
workspace.

The Organizer in Preview mode

It contains the following four panels that let you preview, organize, and
catalogue your images:

• Tree pan el — consists of two tabs that let you display the folders on
your computer or virtual folders and tags for cataloging and sorting
your images

18 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

• Thumbnails panel — displays all images from the folder selected in

Tool settings area

Previous and Next buttons Get Photos button

Media Tray

Status bar

the Tree panel, and a toolbar with common commands such as
batch processing, sort, view, search, and refresh view

• Preview window — displays the image of the thumbnail that is
selected in the Thumbnails panel

• General info panel — displays additional information about the
selected image, such as file name and size, creation date, image size,
rating and tags, and EXIF data

The Express Lab

The Express lab is your workspace for speed-editing. It lets you quickly fix
and enhance your photos by offering a set of the most commonly-used
tools for editing, viewing, and managing your photos.

A photo displayed in the Express Lab

Workspace tour 19

The Express Lab workspace includes the following components:

• Preview window — displays the photo selected in the Media tray

• Previous and Next buttons — let you scroll through the photos in the
selected folder

• Star Ratings control — appears in the bottom right corner of the
preview window and lets you assign ratings to each photo, so that
you can quickly find your favorites

• Tool ba r — displays the buttons for accessing the most common
save, view, and edit commands

• Tool settings area — displays the settings for the tool that you have
selected on the toolbar

• Media tray — displays the photos from the selected folder

• Status bar — displays information about the selected tool

• Get Photos button — lets you navigate to the folder containing the
photos you want to edit

• Exit Express Lab button — lets you switch to the Organizer or Full
Editor workspaces

The Full Editor

The Full Editor is your workspace for in-depth advanced editing. It
includes menus, tools, and palettes that you can use to create and edit
images. In addition to photo editing, it lets you accomplish your painting
and drawing tasks.

20 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Image window

Tool Options palette

Standard toolbar

Menu bar

Learning Center palette

Tools toolbar

Status bar

The Full Editor workspace includes the following components:

• Menu bar — displays commands for performing tasks. For example,
the Effects menu contains commands for applying effects to images.

• Toolbars — display buttons for common commands. For more
information, see “Using toolbars” on page 24.

• Palettes — display image information and help you select tools,
modify options, manage layers, select colors, and perform other
editing tasks. For more information, see “Using palettes” on
page 22.

• Status bar — displays information about the selected tool or menu
command, as well as information about image dimensions, color

Workspace tour 21

A photo displayed in the Full Editor workspace

depth, and pointer position. The status bar appears at the bottom of
the main program window, and unlike other toolbars, it cannot be
customized or moved.

Switching between workspaces

Corel PaintShop Photo Pro lets you switch between different workspaces
quickly and easily so that you can accomplish your photo managing and
editing tasks in the most efficient manner.

To switch between workplaces

• Do one of the following:

• To open the Organizer, click Organizer in the top-right corner of
the Full Editor or Exit Express Lab in the bottom-right corner of the
Express Lab.

• To open the Express Lab, click Express Lab in the top-right corner
of the Organizer or the Full Editor.

• To open the Full Editor, click Full Editor in the top-right corner of
the Organizer or Exit Express Lab in the bottom-right corner of the
Express Lab.

Clicking Exit Express Lab takes you to the workspace that you were
using before you opened the Express Lab.

Using palettes

The Full Editor workspace contains many palettes that organize
information and commands to help you edit your images. Some palettes
appear automatically when you start the Full Editor, others appear when
you activate certain tools, and some palettes appear only when you
choose to open them. You can easily turn a palette on and off by using

22 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

the Palettes drop-list on the Standard toolbar, or by choosing View `
Palettes.

Palettes display information and may contain both controls and
command buttons. Like toolbars, palettes can be moved from their
default docked position.

Palette Description

Learning Center Displays information about workflow, tools, and

commands to help you complete common tasks
quickly and efficiently

Media Tray Lets you gather photos from various folders so

that you can edit, e-mail, or print them. You can
add, remove, and rename trays within the Media
Tray palette to match your workflow.

Tool Options Displays settings and controls for the active tool

Materials Lets you choose colors and materials for painting,

drawing, filling, and retouching

Layers Lets you view, organize, and adjust settings for

image layers

Overview Displays a thumbnail of the active image; lets you

set a zoom level, and displays image information

History Lists the actions applied to the active image; lets

you undo and redo adjacent or nonadjacent
actions, and lets you create a Quickscript that can
be instantly applied to other open images

Histogram Displays a graph of the distribution of red, green,

blue, grayscale, hue, saturation, and lightness
values in an image. You can analyze the
distribution of detail in the shadows, midtones,
and highlights to help you decide how to make
corrections.

Workspace tour 23

Palette Description

Brush Variance Lets you set additional brush options when you

use a paint brush or any other raster painting tool.
This palette is particularly useful when you use a
pressure-sensitive tablet or a four-dimensional
mouse. For example, you can vary the opacity of a
brushstroke by applying pressure with the stylus.
Some options also work well with a mouse.

Mixer Lets you place and mix pigments to use with the

Oil Brush tool and the Palette Knife tool, allowing
you to create realistic strokes with oil paints on
Art Media layers

Script Output Displays a list of your actions and results when you

run scripts

To display or hide a palette

Full Editor workspace

• Choose View ` Palettes, and then click a palette check box.

Palettes that are currently displayed are denoted with a check

mark .

Using toolbars

All three workspaces contain toolbars with buttons that are useful for
performing common tasks. When you position the pointer over a button,
its name appears in a tooltip, and the status bar displays additional
information about the command. In addition, in the Full Editor, the
Learning Center provides advice on using the tool.

As your main workspace for image creating and advanced editing, the
Full Editor contains the following toolbars:

• Effects — displays commands for applying effects to your images

24 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

• Photo — displays commands for enhancing photos

• Script — displays commands for creating and running scripts

• Standard — appears by default toward the top of the workspace
and displays the most common file-management commands, such
as saving images, undoing a command, and cutting and pasting
items

• Status — appears by default at the bottom of the workspace and
displays information about the selected tool

• Tools — contains tools for painting, drawing, cropping, typing text,
and performing other image-editing tasks

• Web — displays commands for creating and saving images for the
Web

To display or hide a toolbar

Full Editor workspace

• Choose View ` Toolbars, and choose the toolbar that you want to
display or hide.

A check mark beside the toolbar name in the menu indicates that the
toolbar is displayed.

Using tools

You can use the Express Lab or Full Editor tools to perform a variety of
image editing and creative tasks. When you hold the pointer over a tool,
a tooltip displays the tool name and shortcut key, and the status bar
displays hints for using the tool.

While the Express Lab contains a limited number of tools for quickly
touching up your images, the Full Editor contains a wide selection of tools
for advanced image creation and editing. In the Full Editor, some of these
tools, such as the Crop, Move, and Text tools, reside in their own space
on the Tools toolbar. Most tools, however, are grouped with other tools

Workspace tour 25

that perform similar tasks. A group of tools is denoted by a small flyout

Flyout arrow

arrow on the right side of the active tool.

Some tools are grouped together in flyouts. You can access all
tools in a flyout by clicking the flyout arrow beside the active
tool.

The following table briefly describes each tool on the Tools toolbar of the
Full Editor. Some of these tools are also available in the Express Lab.

Tool Description

Pan

Moves the viewable portion of the image
window when part of the image extends
beyond the image window

Zoom

Zooms in when you click, or zooms out when
you right-click. You can drag to define an area
for zooming.

Pick

Move

Selection

Freehand Selection

Magic Wand

Dropper

Moves, rotates, and reshapes raster layers, and
selects and modifies vector objects

Moves a raster layer or a vector layer on the
canvas

Creates a geometrically shaped selection, such
as a rectangle, ellipse, or triangle

Creates an irregularly shaped selection

Makes a selection based on pixel values within
a specified tolerance level

Lets you choose the foreground/stroke color
by clicking, or the background/fill color by
right-clicking

26 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Tool D es cr ip ti on

Crop

Straighten

Perspective

Correction

Red Eye

Makeover

Clone

Scratch Remover

Object Remover

Paint Brush

Airbrush

Lighten/Darken

Dodge

Trims or eliminates unwanted edges of an
image

Rotates a crooked photo to straighten it

Squares the perspective of buildings or other
objects that appear to be leaning or
unnaturally angled

Quickly corrects the red-eye effect commonly
seen in photos

Provides five modes — Blemish Fixer,
Toothbrush, Eye Drop, Suntan, and Thinify —
which let you apply cosmetic fixes to subjects
in your photos

Removes flaws and objects by painting over
them with another part of the image

Removes wrinkles, wires, and similar linear
flaws from digital photos, and removes
scratches from scanned photos

Covers unwanted elements of a photo with a
neighboring texture in the same photo

Lets you paint on your image with colors,
textures, or gradients

Simulates painting with an airbrush or spray
can

Lightens areas as you drag, or darkens areas as
you drag with the right mouse button. This
effect is stronger than the effects produced by
the Dodge and Burn tools.

Lets you lighten areas of a photo by clicking,
or darken areas by right-clicking

Workspace tour 27

Tool Description

Burn

Smudge

Push

Soften

Sharpen

Emboss

Saturation Up/

Down

Hue Up/Down

Change to Target

Color Replacer

Eraser

Background Eraser

Lets you darken areas of a photo by clicking,
or lighten areas by right-clicking

Smears pixels by picking up new colors as you
drag, or pushes pixels by not picking up new
colors as you drag with the right mouse
button

Pushes pixels by not picking up new colors as
you drag, or smears pixels by picking up new
colors as you drag with the right mouse
button

Softens pixels as you drag, or sharpens pixels
as you drag with the right mouse button

Sharpens pixels as you drag, or softens pixels
as you drag with the right mouse button

Creates an embossed effect by suppressing
color and tracing edges as you drag

Makes colors more vivid as you drag, or less
vivid as you drag with the right mouse button

Shifts pixel hue values up as you drag, or shifts
them down as you drag with the right mouse
button

Reoccurs pixels while retaining photographic
detail

Replaces the background/fill color with the
foreground/stroke color when you click or
drag

Erases raster layer pixels to transparency

Erases around the edges of the areas you want
to keep in a photo

28 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Tool D es cr ip ti on

Flood Fill

Color Changer

Picture Tube

Text

Preset Shape

Rectangle

Ellipse

Symmetric Shape

Pen

Warp Brush

Mesh Warp

Oil Brush

Chalk

Pastel

Fills pixels of a similar tolerance level with the
current foreground/stroke material when you
click, or with the current background/fill
material when you right-click

Changes the color of an element in a photo
while preserving the shading and luminosity of
the original color

Places picture tubes, theme-based artistic
elements, in your image

Places text on your image

Adds predefined shapes (such as callouts,
arrows, and starbursts) to your image

Creates a rectangle or square

Creates an ellipse or circle

Creates symmetric or star-shaped objects

Creates connected or unconnected lines,
freehand curves, and Bézier curve segments

Shrinks, grows, twists, or distorts pixels in your
photo

Distorts a photo by dragging points along an
overlay grid

Simulates oil brushstrokes on an Art Media
layer

Simulates drawing with chalk on an Art Media
layer

Simulates drawing with pastels on an Art
Media layer

Workspace tour 29

Tool Description

Crayon

Colored Pencil

Marker

Palette Knife

Smear

Art Eraser

Simulates drawing with crayon on an Art
Media layer

Simulates drawing with colored pencil on an
Art Media layer

Simulates drawing with an ink marker on an
Art Media layer

Simulates applying oil paint with a knife
(instead of a brush) on an Art Media layer

Smears whatever pigment you’ve applied to
an Art Media layer

Erases whatever pigment you’ve applied to an
Art Media layer

30 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Getting started with Corel PaintShop Photo Pro

You can bring your images into Corel PaintShop Photo Pro in various
ways: you can import images from a digital camera, card reader, or
scanner; you can drag an image from your desktop or hard drive and
drop it into Corel PaintShop Photo Pro; you can capture images from the
computer screen; you can duplicate an existing image or layer; or you
can create an image.

This section presents the following topics:

• Getting photos into Corel PaintShop Photo Pro

• Opening and closing images

• Saving images

• Deleting images

Getting photos into Corel PaintShop Photo Pro

You can use a variety of methods to bring your digital photos and
scanned images into Corel PaintShop Photo Pro. Perhaps the easiest and
the most powerful method is to use the Corel® Photo Downloader, which
is installed along with Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3.

After installation, the Corel Photo Downloader icon appears in your
system tray. Your photos are detected, and the Corel Photo Downloader
dialog box appears, when you plug in your camera, insert a memory card
into your card reader, or insert a CD containing photos.

Getting started with Corel PaintShop Photo Pro 31

To get photos with the Corel Photo Downloader

Full Editor workspace

1 Connect the camera or card reader to the computer by using a USB

cable, or insert the CD containing photos into your computer’s CD
drive.

The Corel Photo Downloader dialog box opens.

You can verify that the Corel Photo Downloader is active by checking

for its icon in your system tray.

2 Mark the Use Corel Photo Downloader to transfer photos check box.

3 Choose one of the following options:

• Always start downloading automatically

• Prompt me each time to choose what to do

4 Click OK.

After a brief pause, the progress dialog box appears and provides
details on the downloading process.

5 After the last photo has been downloaded, you are prompted to

choose one of the following:

• Start Corel PaintShop Photo Pro — starts the application if it is not
already running

• Review photos in Corel PaintShop Photo Pro Express Lab — opens
the downloaded photos in the Express Lab mode

• View photos in Windows® Explorer — displays a Windows
Explorer screen with the photo thumbnails

• Do nothing — exits the Corel Photo Downloader

6 Click OK.

You can set download options by clicking Options in the Corel
Photo Downloader dialog box and choosing the options you want
from the Download Options dialog box.

32 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

You can also create default settings by clicking the Corel Photo
Downloader icon in your system tray and choosing Default
Settings, or by clicking the Default Settings button in the
Downloader Options dialog box.

To Do the following

Change the default folder to which
photos are automatically
downloaded

To download photos to a subfolder
and specify a date format for the
subfolder

Click Browse, and select a new
folder.

Mark the Download photos to
subfolder named in the following
format check box, and choose a
date format from the drop-list.

Opening and closing images

You can open most image formats in Corel PaintShop Photo Pro. You can
open the images by using the menu bar in the main application window
or by using the Organizer.

You can associate specific file formats with Corel PaintShop Photo Pro,
such as JPEG, TIF, or PNG. For more information about setting file format
associations, see “Setting file format associations” in the Help. For
information on RAW files, see “Working with camera RAW photos” on
page 53.

To op en an i mag e

Full Editor workspace

1 Choose File ` Open.

2 In the Look in drop-list, choose the folder where the file is stored.

3 Click the name of the file that you want to open.

If you want to open multiple files, hold down Ctrl, and click the
filenames.

Getting started with Corel PaintShop Photo Pro 33

4 Click Open.

If you open a RAW file, the image opens in the Camera RAW Lab.

You can also

View information about an image In the Open dialog box, click the

filename, and click Details.

View a thumbnail in the preview
area

In the Open dialog box, mark the
Show preview check box.

To open an image from the Organizer

1 If the Organizer is not displayed, click the Organizer button in the

top right corner of the Full Editor workspace.

To view thumbnails from another folder, on the left side of the
Organizer, click Browse More Folders. From the Browse For Folder
dialog box that appears, choose a folder. The folder appears in the
Folders list.

2 Double-click the thumbnail to open the image in the Full Editor.

To close an image

Full Editor workspace

• Choose File ` Close, or click the Close button in the title bar

of the image window.

Saving images

Before you save an image, you need to consider the file format in which
you want to save it, and you must ensure that you don’t overwrite an
original image that you may need in the future.

The PspImage file format of Corel PaintShop Photo Pro supports layers,
alpha channels, and other features used in creating images. It is
recommended that you save and edit your images as PspImage files. You

34 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

can then save the file to a common file format, such as JPEG, PNG, or TIFF.
You can also use the Save for Office command if you want to optimize
your image for placement in another application, such as a page layout,
e-mail, or Web page design application.

For more information about other file formats, see “Saving images” in the
Help.

Important! The Auto-Preserve Original preference setting can help
you avoid overwriting original images. By default, this feature is on.
Whenever you attempt to close a previously unedited original file, a
dialog box appears with Auto-Preserve information.

To save a new image

Full Editor workspace

1 Choose File ` Save.

The Save As dialog box appears.

2 From the Save in drop-list, choose the folder in which you want to

save the file.

3 In the File name field, type a name for the file.

4 In the Save as type drop-list, choose a file format. The most

commonly used formats are listed first.

5 Click Save.

You can also

Save EXIF data with the image Click Options. In the Save Options

dialog box, mark the Save EXIF
information check box.

Getting started with Corel PaintShop Photo Pro 35

You can also

Compress an image file Click Options. In the Save Options

dialog box, choose a compression
option from the Compression
group box. The option is
unavailable if the file format does
not support compression.

To sav e your work

Full Editor workspace

• Choose File ` Save.

If the Auto-Preserve Originals preference setting is enabled, and this
is the first time you’ve attempted to save changes to this image, you
are prompted to save a copy of the original unedited image. If Auto­Preserve Originals is not enabled, the original image is overwritten by
the modified image.

You can avoid overwriting the current file by using the Save As
command.

Deleting images

You can delete image files from the main workspace, or you can delete
images by using the Organizer. For information about deleting images in
the Organizer, see “To delete one or more images” on page 45.

To delete the current image in the workspace

Full Editor workspace

• Choose File ` Delete.

36 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Reviewing, organizing, and finding images

The Organizer is a multifaceted digital image management feature that
lets you effortlessly preview, organize, and streamline your photo­editing.

This section presents the following topics:

• Setting up the Organizer

• Finding images on your computer

• Adding keyword tags to images

• Finding tagged images

• Using the calendar to find images

• Browsing folders for images

• Working with thumbnails in the Organizer

• Capturing and applying edits to multiple images

• Displaying and editing image information

Setting up the Organizer

When you start up Corel PaintShop Photo Pro for the first time, the
Organizer appears as your main workspace with the following four
panels: Tree, Thumbnails, Preview window, and General info. For
information about each of these panels, see “The Organizer” on page 18.

Depending on your specific needs, you can customize the Organizer
workspace by choosing the Preview or Thumbnail mode, resizing any of

Reviewing, organizing, and finding images 37

the panels, and selecting display preferences that are best suited to your

General Info panelTree panel

Thumbnails panel

Preview window

Organizer toolbar

digital workflow.

Organizer in Preview mode

To choose a mode for the Organizer

• In the top-right corner of the Organizer, click one of the following

buttons:

• Preview mode — displays the Preview window in the main
area of the Organizer workspace

38 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

• Thumbnail mode — displays the Thumbnails panel in the main
area of the Organizer workspace

Finding images on your computer

The Organizer provides several powerful methods of finding images on
your computer. Whether you do a simple text-based search, use more
advanced search options, or use a calendar to search for images
associated with a particular date or date range, the Organizer simplifies
the task of finding the images. For more information about advanced
search options, see “To use the advanced search feature” in the Help.

To search for images quickly

• On the right side of the Organizer toolbar, type a search term in the
Find Photos text field.

Thumbnails matching the search term appear in the Organizer.
Note: Search terms may be filenames (including extensions), names

of folders in which images reside (including letters designating
drives), tags, caption text, or image metadata (EXIF or IPTC data).

Adding keyword tags to images

Keyword tags let you assign descriptive, natural-language terms to JPEG
and TIFF images. By creating tags, such as “family,” “children,” or
“birthday,” you can identify specific images, and then simply click the tag
from the list to view each thumbnail image assigned with the tag. You
can create and assign as many tags as you like to an image. The Organizer
provides several ways to create and assign tags.

To add a keyword tag to the tags catalogue

1 In the Collections tab of the Organizer Tree panel, click the plus

button next to Tags to display the tags controls and the list of
available tags.

Reviewing, organizing, and finding images 39

2 In the Tags list, click the Add Tags button .

The Add Tag dialog box appears.

3 Type the tag text, and click OK.

The new tag appears nested under Tags in the Collections tab of the
Tree p ane l.

To delete a keyword tag from the tags catalogue

1 In the Collections tab of the Organizer Tree panel, click the plus

button next to Tags to display the list of available tags.

2 Right-click a tag from the Tags list, and choose Delete.

To assign a keyword tag to one or more images

1 In the Collections tab of the Organizer Tree panel, click the plus

button next to Tags to display the list of available tags.

2 In the Thumbnails panel of the Organizer, select one or more

thumbnails that you want to tag.

3 Drag the thumbnails onto the selected tag.

You can also assign one or more tags to the selected thumbnails
by typing the text for each tag in the Tags section of the General
Info panel, and for each tag clicking the Add Tag button to the
right of the text field.

Finding tagged images

After you assign a tag to an image, you can find the image simply by
clicking on the tag.

40 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

To display tagged thumbnails

1 In the Collections tab of the Organizer Tree panel, click the plus

button next to Tags to display the list of available tags.

2 Click a tag from the Tags list.

The image thumbnails assigned with that tag appear in the
Thumbnails panel of the Organizer.

You can also type a tag into the Find Photos field on the right side
of the Organizer toolbar. As you type the tag text, the Organizer
instantly filters the Search results and displays matching
thumbnail images.

Using the calendar to find images

Sometimes you may want to search for images created on or around a
certain date. The Calendar Search feature makes this a simple task. You
can search by a specific date or select a date range. The image creation
dates are highlighted on the calendar.

To find images by using the calendar

1 In the Collections tab of the Organizer Tree panel, click the Calendar

button .

The Calendar Search dialog box appears. Dates shown in red indicate
images created on that date.

2 Choose one of the following options:

• For photos taken today, click the To da y button .

• For a specific date and month, click the Previous (Year/Month)

and Next (Month/Year) buttons, and select a date.

Reviewing, organizing, and finding images 41

• For a date range, use the Previous and Next buttons to select the
month and year, hold down Shift, click the first date in the range,
and then click the last date in the range.

• For multiple dates not in sequence, use the Previous and Next
buttons to select the month and year, hold down Ctrl, and click the
dates.

When you click a date or a range, the Organizer is updated to display
images created on that date or range.

3 Click Close to close the Calendar Search dialog box.

Browsing folders for images

The Collections and Computer tabs of the Organizer Tree panel let you
organize and search for your images. The Collections tab is your library of
virtual and physical folders through which you group and sort your
images. The Computer tab displays a complete list of all folders on your
hard drive and desktop. When you select a folder in the Tree panel, all
images from this folder appear in the Thumbnails panel of the Organizer.

To view the thumbnails in a folder

1 In the Tree panel of the Organizer, click one of the following tabs:

• Collections — displays a list of virtual folders that contain your
cataloged images, or displays selected folders from your computer

• Computer — displays a list of all folders and devices on your
computer

2 Click the plus sign next to a folder to display the subfolders it

contains.

3 Click the name of the folder that contains the thumbnails you want

to view.

The thumbnails of all photo or video files in the selected folder
appear in the Thumbnails panel of the Organizer.

42 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

To add a folder to Collections

1 In the Collections tab of the Organizer Tree panel, click the Browse

More Folders button in the Folders list.

The Browse for Folder dialog box appears.

2 Navigate to the folder containing the images you want to view, and

then click OK.

That folder is now listed under Folders on the Collections tab of the
Organizer Tree panel.

You can also make a new folder on your computer by clicking the
Make New Folder button in the Browse for Folder dialog box.

To view all cataloged folders

• In the Collections tab of the Organizer Tree panel, click the All Photos
folder.

Working with thumbnails in the Organizer

The Organizer makes it easy for you to preview and organize the images
im po rt ed from your camera, all in a thumbnail mode, without needing to
open them.

To view images more closely, you can use the Preview window, zoom in
and out on thumbnails, or use the full-screen mode. You can also sort and
rotate the thumbnails, or delete and rename the files.

In addition, the Organizer lets you convert your RAW files to another file
format from a thumbnail view. For more information, see “Converting
RAW photos to another file format” on page 56.

To preview an image in the Preview window

• In the Thumbnails panel of the Organizer, click the image thumbnail.

Reviewing, organizing, and finding images 43

The image appears in the Preview window of the Organizer.

You can also

Display the previous or the next
image in the Preview window
using the keyboard

Preview an image in full-screen
mode

Press the Left arrow or the Right
arrow keys.

See “Using Quick Review” in the
Help.

To update the Organizer Preview window

• Click the Refresh view button on the Organizer toolbar.

To zoom in or out on thumbnails

1 If the Organizer is not in Thumbnail mode, click the Thumbnail mode

button in the top-right corner of the Organizer.

2 On the Organizer toolbar, move the Zoom slider to the left to zoom

out, or to the right to zoom in.

The Zoom slider is not available when the Organizer is in Preview
mode.

To sort thumbnails

• On the Organizer toolbar, click the Sort by drop-list.

To play a video from a thumbnail

• In the Thumbnails panel of the Organizer, select the thumbnail of
the video file, and click the Play button

on the thumbnail.

44 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Example of a video thumbnail

To rotate one or more images

1 Select the thumbnail or thumbnails of the images you want to

rotate.

2 On the Organizer toolbar, click one of the following buttons:

• Rotate Right — rotates thumbnails 90 degrees clockwise

• Rotate Left — rotates thumbnails 90 degrees counterclockwise

To delete one or more images

1 In the Thumbnails panel of the Organizer, select one or more

thumbnails, and press Delete.

2 Click Ye s to send the images to the Recycle Bin.

To rename a file in the Organizer

1 Right-click the thumbnail that you want to rename and choose

Rename.

The Rename File dialog box appears.

2 Type the new filename, and click OK.

Capturing and applying edits to multiple images

As you are sorting through your images, you can open some for quick or
more advanced editing. Then, you can select all the changes made to an

Reviewing, organizing, and finding images 45

image and apply them to as many images as you want, again, in a
thumbnail mode.

To capture the edits of an image

1 When you have finished editing the image, choose File ` Save.

2 Do one of the following to return to the Organizer:

• Click Organizer in the top-right corner of the Full Editor

• Click Exit Express Lab in the bottom-right corner of the Express Lab

Ensure that the thumbnail of the image whose edits you want to
capture is selected in the Thumbnails panel of the Organizer.

3 Click the Capture Editing button on the Organizer toolbar.

A pencil icon appears next to the thumbnail of the image indicating
that the edits have been captured.

When you close the program, all captured edits are automatically
deleted.

Any captured edits of a regular file cannot be applied to a RAW
file and vice versa, any captured edits of a RAW file cannot be
applied to a regular file.

You can also capture the edits by right-clicking the selected
thumbnail and choosing Capture Editing.

To apply captured edits to images

1 Ensure the files to which you want to apply the captured edits are

closed.

2 In the Thumbnails panel of the Organizer, select the thumbnails of

the images to which you want to apply the captured edits.

3 Click the Apply Editing button on the Organizer toolbar.

46 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

A confirmation dialog box appears warning you that the changes
cannot be undone.

4 Click OK in the confirmation dialog box.

A progress dialog box appears displaying a list of the edits as they
are being applied.

For RAW files, any adjustments that you have selected in the Camera
RAW Lab dialog box will also be applied if you have enabled the Save
image settings option in the Camera RAW Lab dialog box.

5 Click OK in the progress dialog box.

You can apply edits captured only in the current session and only
to closed files. When you close the program, all captured edits are
automatically deleted.

Captured edits of a regular file cannot be applied to a RAW file
and captured edits of a RAW file cannot be applied to a regular
file.

Displaying and editing image information

From the General Info panel of the Organizer, you can view, add, and edit
information about your images, such as the filename, size, and creation
date, as well as digital photo metadata. You can also add captions and
apply star ratings to photos. Adding and updating image information
makes it easier to organize and locate your images. For example, adding
a descriptive caption to an image lets you search for that image by typing
text from the caption.

To display or hide the General Info panel

• On the Organizer toolbar, click the Image Information button .
The General Info panel is open by default but you can hide or display
it depending on how much workspace you need.

Reviewing, organizing, and finding images 47

To assign a rating to one or more images

1 In the Thumbnails panel of the Organizer, select one or more

thumbnails.

If the General Info panel is not open, click the Image information
button on the Organizer toolbar to display it.

2 In the Rating field of the General Info panel, click the last star in the

sequence of stars you want to assign to the images. For example, if
you want to assign a five-star rating, click the right-most star and all
stars will be selected.

To remove the rating of an image

• Right-click the image thumbnail in the Thumbnails list of the
Organizer, choose Rating, and the number of stars that are currently
assigned to the image. For example, to remove the rating of a three­star image, you would choose Rating ` * * *.

To add a caption to one or more images

1 In the Thumbnails panel of the Organizer, select one or more

thumbnails.

The General Info panel of the Organizer displays information about
the last of the selected images.

2 In the Caption field of the General Info panel, click inside the text

box, and type the caption you want to apply.

48 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Using the Express Lab

Taking lots of photos with your digital camera is fun and easy.
Sometimes, though, the effort required to review them all, let alone edit
them, can be laborious. The new Express Lab can make this task
enjoyable. You can perform basic corrections, such as cropping,
straightening, color correcting, and removing blemishes and red-eye.
You can even apply star ratings and delete photos. This rapid-edit mode
lets you quickly complete the first cut of photos before doing more
detailed work on a select few.

Why use the Express Lab?

The Express Lab provides quick access to the most commonly used tools
and features of Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3. Instead of having to root
around menus or search through toolbars and palettes, you have the
controls right in front of you.

This section presents the following topics:

•Starting the ExpressLab

• Getting to know the Express Lab

• Getting photos into the Express Lab

• Exiting the Express Lab

Starting the Express Lab

You can start the Express Lab from the Organizer or the Full Editor.

Using the Express Lab 49

To start the Express Lab from the Organizer

Organizer workspace

1 Select a photo thumbnail.

2 Do one of the following:

• Click the Express Lab button in the top right corner of the

workspace.

• Choose View ` Express Lab.

The active image appears in the Express Lab.

You can use the Express Lab even when no images are open in the
main application window. Just click the Get Photos button in the
Express Lab to open the images you want to work on.

To start the Express Lab from the Full Editor

Full Editor workspace

• Select a thumbnail in the media tray.

• Click the Express Lab button in the top right corner of the

workspace.

• Choose Edit

` Express Lab.

The active image appears in the Express Lab.

Getting to know the Express Lab

The Express Lab is like a mini-application within

Corel PaintShop Photo Pro
that lets you access a set of the most commonly used tools for editing,
viewing, and managing your photos. These tools appear directly below
the current image, and settings for a tool appear along the right side of
the Express Lab. After you select the folder that contains the photos you
want to work on, the Express Lab lets you easily move between photos by
using the Next and Previous buttons.

50 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

For more information about the tools in the Express Lab, see “Using the

Tool settings area

Thumbnails Previous and Next buttons Get Photos button

Express Lab” in the Help.

A photo displayed in the Express Lab

Getting photos into the Express Lab

The photos that first appear in the Express Lab depend on how you start
the Express Lab mode. After you start the Express Lab, you can load a
folder of photos quickly by using the Get Photos button. Thumbnails
appear below the tools, and the first photo in the list is displayed
automatically.

Using the Express Lab 51

To load photos into the Express Lab

Express Lab workspace

1 Click Get Photos.

The Get Photos dialog box appears.

2 Navigate to the folder that contains the images you want to load:

• Folders — Click this tab to select a folder by using a standard
hierarchical list of the folders on your computer.

• Organizer — Click this tab to select a folder by using the
Organizer.

3 Click OK to load images from the selected folder into the

Express Lab.

Exiting the Express Lab

You can exit the Express Lab and return to the main workspace at any
time.

To exit the Express Lab

Express Lab workspace

• Click the Exit Express Lab button in the lower-right corner of the
Express Lab window.

If you have edited the current photo and have not saved changes,
you are prompted to do so.

52 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Working with camera RAW photos

With RAW mode included in all DSLR cameras, you can control the
“developing” process after the shot is taken. The Camera RAW Lab in
Corel PaintShop Photo Pro is the perfect digital darkroom for you to work
with RAW files.

When you shoot a RAW photo, the photo has more data for you to work
with. A RAW photo is a 12-bit or 14-bit image, that comprises up to
16,384 levels of brightness. Compare this to a typical 8-bit JPG photo
which contains 256 brightness levels to work with. The camera records
information such as white balance, temperature, and saturation settings,
but stores it in a header file. The photo itself remains uncompromised and
uncompressed, making it similar to a photo negative that you can then
develop as you like. After processing a RAW image in the Camera RAW
Lab, you can leave it as a read-only RAW file, or export it to a writable
JPEG, GIF, or PNG file for editing.

This section presents the following topics:

• Supported RAW file formats

• Using the Camera RAW Lab

• Applying edits to multiple RAW photos

• Converting RAW photos to another file format

Supported RAW file formats

You can find an updated list of supported camera models and their RAW
file formats at www.corel.com.

Working with camera RAW photos 53

To find supported RAW file formats

1 Go to www.corel.com.

2 On the corel.com Web page, click Support.

3 On the Support page, click Knowledgebase.

4 From the Search by Product drop-list, choose PaintShop Pro.

5 In the Search Text box, type RAW.

A list of related Knowledgebase articles is displayed.

Using the Camera RAW Lab

The Camera RAW Lab offers various settings for processing that you can
apply to develop a RAW image. When you double-click one or more RAW
image thumbnails in either the Organizer or the Full Editor, the Camera
RAW Lab is automatically activated and the images loaded into the lab.

Camera RAW Lab dialog box

54 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

To adjust settings for a RAW photo

1 From either the Organizer or the Full Editor, do one of the following:

• Double-click the RAW photo thumbnail.

• Choose File ` Open, and select a RAW file.

• Drag a RAW photo into the workspace.

The Camera RAW Lab opens and the image is automatically loaded
in the lab dialog box.

2 Adjust any of the photo settings to achieve the result you want.

You can preview the change to the photo in the Preview window.
Note: If you want to keep the settings that you have selected, so

that they will be applied to the photo each time you open it, mark
the Save image settings checkbox. The settings are saved in the RAW
file header.

3 Click one of the following:

• Reset

• Edit

• Apply

• Cancel

— restores the settings to their original values

— applies the settings and opens the photo in the Full Editor.

When you edit a RAW photo, you must save it to a TIFF, PSD, or
other writable file format.

— applies the settings, and exits the Camera RAW Lab

— exits the Camera RAW Lab, without adjusting the

photo’s settings

Applying edits to multiple RAW photos

As a photographer, you are often faced with organizing and processing
large numbers of photos. Especially if you use a DSLR camera, you may
find that you’re downloading multiple photos, all with similar processing
needs. With Corel PaintShop Photo Pro, you can take your edits from one
RAW photo and quickly apply them to others. For more detailed
information about capturing and applying edits to photos, see
“Capturing and applying edits to multiple images” on page 45.

Working with camera RAW photos 55

To capture edits

1 In the Organizer, select the thumbnail of a RAW photo whose edit

settings you want to capture.

2 On the Organizer toolbar, click the Capture Editing button.

To apply captured edits

1 On the Thumbnails panel of the Organizer, select the thumbnails of

the RAW images to which you want to apply the captured edits.

2 On the Organizer toolbar, click the Apply Editing button.

Converting RAW photos to another file format

The RAW file format is read-only and the settings for a RAW file are stored
as a separate header file. It is these settings that you can adjust in the
Camera RAW Lab. However, you must save the RAW file to another
format to make further edits in the Express Lab or Full Editor. You can
convert a RAW file to another file type by using the Convert RAW feature
in the Organizer.

To convert a RAW file to another file type

1 In the Organizer, select the thumbnail of the RAW file that you want

to convert.

2 On the Organizer toolbar, click the Convert RAW button.

3 Choose the options you want in the Batch Process dialog box, and

click Start.

56 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Adjusting images

When you view your photos in Corel PaintShop Photo Pro, you may
notice problems that you want to correct. In some photos, the problems
are obvious, such as when the subject is too dark. In other photos, you
may sense the need for improvement but not know what to fix. With
Corel PaintShop Photo Pro, you can correct specific aspects of a photo or
allow the program to make basic photo adjustments.

This section presents the following topics:

• Rotating images

• Cropping images

• Straightening images

• Making basic photo corrections automatically

• Removing digital camera noise

• Combining bracketed photos

• Adjusting brightness and contrast

• Adjusting hue and saturation

• Creating an area of focus by controlling depth of field

For a full list of the adjustment features available in the application, see
“Adjusting images” in the Help.

Rotating images

You can rotate an image by 90 degrees to change its orientation to
landscape (horizontal) or portrait (vertical). If your camera contains

Adjusting images 57

sensors that tag photos taken in portrait orientation, your photos are
automatically rotated to the correct orientation.

You can rotate an image in Corel PaintShop Photo Pro.

You can also rotate an image to any angle by specifying a degree of
rotation or by rotating it interactively on the canvas. For information
about rotating an image to straighten it according to reference points
within the image, such as the horizon, see “Straightening images” on
page 61.You can also use the Organizer to apply lossless rotation to JPEG
images while retaining all of the original image data.

To rotate an image

Full Editor workspace

• Select an image, and perform a task from the following table.

To D o th e fol l owi ng

Rotate an image 90 degrees
clockwise or counterclockwise

Rotate an image interactively On the Tools toolbar, choose the

58 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Choose Image
choose Image

Pick tool . Drag the rotation
handle (the square connected by a
line to the rotation pivot point).
The cursor changes to two curved
arrows when it is positioned over
the rotation handle.

` Rotate Right, or

` Rotate Left.

You can also rotate an image by clicking the Rotate Right or

Floating toolbar for the Crop tool

Rotate Left button on the Standard toolbar.

Cropping images

You can remove unwanted portions of an image to create stronger
compositions or to draw attention to another area of the image.
Corel PaintShop Photo Pro helps you crop by providing presets to
common image sizes, such as 4 × 6 inches or 10 × 15 centimeters.

Cropping reduces the amount of hard drive memory required for storing
the image. In addition, cropping can improve color corrections by
eliminating extraneous areas of color. If a photograph requires both
cropping and color correction, you should crop the image first and then
apply the color correction.

Important! Cropping permanently removes the image area outside
the crop rectangle. To preserve the original photo, use the Save As
command, and save the cropped version of your image to a new
filename.

Adjusting images 59

To crop an image

Full Editor workspace

1 On the Tools toolbar, choose the Crop tool .

By default, the crop rectangle appears on the image, and the area
outside the crop rectangle is shaded.

2 Adjust the crop area size by dragging any of the handles or edges. To

reposition the crop rectangle, place the cursor inside and drag.

You can use a preset crop size by choosing an option from the
Presets drop-list on the floating toolbar for the Crop tool.

3 When you’re ready to crop the image, click the Apply button on

the Tool Options palette or on the floating toolbar for the Crop tool.

You can also

Apply the crop by using your
mouse or keyboard

Set the size of the crop rectangle
on the Tool Options palette

Constrain the crop area to its
current proportions

Rotate the crop rectangle by
90 degrees

Freely rotate the crop rectangle Drag the square end of the

Clear the crop area

60 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Double-click inside the crop
rectangle, or press Enter.

Specify the desired values in the
Width, Height, and Units controls.

Mark the Maintain aspect ratio
check box on the Tool Options
palette. This option is available only
for custom-defined crop
rectangles.

Click the Rotate Crop Rectangle

button on the floating toolbar.

rotation handle. This feature can
be helpful when, for example, you
want to straighten and then crop a
crookedly scanned photo.

Click the Clear button on the
floating toolbar for the Crop tool.

Straightening images

You can easily straighten crooked images by aligning a straightening bar
with an image feature. Corel PaintShop Photo Pro rotates the image so
that this straightening bar is perfectly horizontal and vertical. This feature
is especially useful when an image has a strong vertical or horizontal
feature, such as a building or horizon.

The Straighten tool lets you position a straightening bar within
an image.

To straighten an image

Full Editor workspace

1 On the Tools toolbar, choose the Straighten tool .

A straightening bar with end handles appears on the image.

2 Drag each handle of the straightening bar to align it with the part of

the image that you want to straighten.

Adjusting images 61

3 On the Tool Options palette, choose one of the following options

from the Mode drop-list:

• Auto — automatically straightens the image based on the position

of the straightening bar

• Make vertical — rotates the image to make the straightening bar

vertical

• Make horizontal — rotates the image to make the straightening

bar horizontal

4 Click the Apply button .

You can also

Choose a specific angle for the
straightening bar

Crop the edges of the image to
make it rectangular after
straightening

Fill the edge areas of your image
with the background color

Type or set a value in the Angle
control on the Tools Options
palette.

Mark the Crop image check box on
the Tools Options palette.

Unmark the Crop image check box
on the Tools Options palette.

You can also double-click the image to apply the command.

Making basic photo corrections automatically

If you are not sure what adjustments to make to a photo, you can apply
either the One Step Photo Fix command or the Smart Photo Fix command
and see if you like the results. The One Step Photo Fix command
automatically applies a predetermined set of color balancing and
sharpening corrections to your photo — all you need to do is select the
command. If you want the option of fine-tuning these same corrections
before applying them, you can use the Smart Photo Fix command.

62 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

You can use the One Step Photo Fix command to improve the
exposure and color balance of images quickly and easily.

To apply basic corrections with One Step Photo Fix

Full Editor workspace

• Choose Adjust ` One Step Photo Fix.

After a brief pause, several basic corrections are applied to your
photo.

The corrections applied are identical to what would be applied by
accepting the suggested settings of the Smart Photo Fix feature.

To fine-tune basic corrections with Smart Photo Fix

Full Editor workspace

1 Choose Adjust ` Smart Photo Fix.

The Smart Photo Fix dialog box appears. In the upper portion of the
dialog box, the Before pane shows the original photo. The After
pane shows how the photo would appear after applying the
suggested set of basic adjustments.

2 Perform one or more tasks from the following table, and click OK.

Adjusting images 63

To D o th e fol l owi ng

Brighten or darken the photo In the Brightness group box, type

or set a value in the Overall,
Shadows, and Highlights controls,
or adjust their corresponding
sliders.

Note: Positive settings brighten
the photo, and negative settings
darken the photo.

Increase or decrease saturation Type or set a value in the

Saturation control, or adjust the
slider.

Note: Positive settings make
colors more vibrant; negative
settings make colors less vibrant.

Sharpen the edges of the photo Type or set a value in the Focus

control, or adjust the slider.

You can reset all settings to their initial values by clicking Suggest
Settings, or to null settings by clicking the Reset to Default
button .

To use advanced settings of the Smart Photo Fix feature, mark the
Advanced Options check box. For more information, see “To use
the advanced options of Smart Photo Fix” in the Help.

Removing digital camera noise

The term “noise” as it relates to photos refers to small specks of color that
interfere with image clarity. These specks are usually caused by poor
lighting conditions or the limitations of the sensor in your digital camera.

64 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

For example, when you zoom in on a photo of a clear blue sky, you may
see tiny specks of orange, red, purple, green, or other colors.

Corel PaintShop Photo Pro gives you two fast, powerful commands for
removing noise from your photos: One Step Noise Removal and Digital
Camera Noise Removal.

The image on the left looks grainy because of digital camera
noise. The image on the right appears smoother and less grainy
after the noise has been removed.

You can automatically apply noise correction to your photo with the One
Step Noise Removal command. You can also control more precisely how
these same corrections are applied by using the more comprehensive
Digital Camera Noise Removal command. For more information, see “To
use advanced options for removing digital camera noise” in the Help.

To remove digital camera noise quickly

Full Editor workspace

• Choose Adjust ` One Step Noise Removal.

After a brief pause, the noise is automatically removed.

Combining bracketed photos

Many digital cameras are equipped with an “auto-bracket” feature,
which lets you shoot several exposures within seconds of each other. You
can then use the HDR Photo Merge command (HDR stands for High
Dynamic Range) to merge a set of bracketed digital photos into one
photo that combines the best elements of the set. This feature is

Adjusting images 65

especially valuable for high-contrast scenes, such as sunsets or interior
photos with bright light seen in windows.

The HDR Photo Merge command combines the best elements of
bracketed photos to create one ideal photo (on the bottom).

You can usually achieve the best results by using a tripod and, if possible,
by adjusting the shutter speed instead of the f/stop. Eliminating moving
objects in the scene is also helpful.

To combine bracketed photos

Full Editor workspace

1 Choose File ` HDR Photo Merge.

The HDR Photo Merge dialog box appears.

2 In the Load Images group box, click Browse.

The HDR Photo Merge Open dialog box appears.
Note: The HDR Photo Merge command does not use images

currently open in the workspace.

3 Navigate to the folder containing the bracketed photos you wish to

merge. Hold down Shift, and click to select adjacent photos in the
list, or hold down Ctrl, and click to select nonadjacent photos.

66 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

4 Click Open.

The selected photos are loaded into the HDR Photo Merge dialog
box.

5 Review each loaded photo to ensure that you want to include it in

the merge. To remove a photo from this process, unmark the check
box below the thumbnail.

6 Click Align Images.

The pixel data for each photo is aligned with that of the other
photos. The time required for this step depends on the number of
photos loaded.

7 Set any of the following controls in the Adjustments group box.

• To adjust the overall brightness of the resulting photo, drag the
Brightness slider.

• To adjust the overall clarity of the resulting photo, drag the Local
Tone Mapping slider.

• To apply automatic adjustments based on the photos you’ve
selected, click Suggest Settings.

The new settings are reflected in the Preview area at the top of the
dialog box.

8 If you want the resulting photo to be a 16-bit image, mark the

Create result as 16 bit image check box next to the Align Images
button.

9 Click OK.

You can load a minimum of two photos and a maximum of nine
photos.

The order of loaded photos is based on their exposure values (EV),
with the darkest photos appearing first. The EV setting of each
photo appears under the thumbnail.

Adjusting images 67

You can mark the Auto select by date/time taken check box
and use the Time Tolerance in seconds slider. These controls let
you automatically select photos taken within a specified number
of seconds.

For helpful tips and techniques for creating bracketed photos with
your digital camera, go to the Support pages at www.corel.com,
and search for the Corel Knowledgebase article for PaintShop
Photo called “Getting the Most From HDR Photo Merge.”

Adjusting brightness and contrast

Corel PaintShop Photo Pro lets you adjust both the brightness and the
contrast in your photos. Contrast is the difference between the photo’s
lightest and darkest pixels.

To change brightness or contrast

Full Editor workspace

1 Choose Adjust ` Brightness and Contrast ` Brightness/Contrast.

The Brightness/Contrast dialog box appears.

2 Type or set a value in the Brightness control.

A positive number lightens the photo; a negative number darkens
the photo. A value of zero preserves the original setting.

3 Type or set a value in the Contrast control.

A positive number increases contrast; a negative number decreases
contrast. A value of zero preserves the original setting.

4 Click OK.

You can use the zoom control in the dialog box to set your view
of the image in the Before and After panes.

68 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

To enhance depth and clarity

Full Editor workspace

1 Choose Adjust ` Brightness and Contrast ` Local Tone Mapping.

The Local Tone Mapping dialog box appears.

2 Type or set a value in the Strength control.

Use the smallest value that produces a satisfying result. Values that
are too high cause unwanted artifacts to appear in the photo.

3 Click OK.

You can use the zoom control in the dialog box to set your view
of the image in the Before and After panes.

Adjusting hue and saturation

In digital images, increasing the saturation can give the image brilliant
color and “punch,” but too much saturation distorts colors and causes
problems such as unnatural-looking skin tones. You can use the Vibrancy
control to target only those areas that are low on saturation without
affecting the rest of the image. For example, you can boost color in less
saturated parts of an image without significantly altering skin tone.

To boost the color of the least saturated parts of an image

Full Editor workspace

1 Choose Adjust ` Hue and Saturation ` Vibrancy.

The Vibrancy dialog box appears.

2 Click the arrow next to Preview to open the Preview panel.

If you want to preview the result directly in the image, mark the
Preview on Image check box.

Adjusting images 69

3 Adjust the Strength slider.

Dragging the slider to the right increases the saturation of the least
saturated colors while leaving highly saturated colors unaltered;
dragging it to the left decreases the saturation.

Values range from –100 to + 100. A value of 0 preserves the original
settings of the image.

4 Click OK.

Creating an area of focus by controlling depth of field

You can create an area of focus to draw attention to the subject in your
photo. For example, in a photo of a person surrounded by a field of
flowers, you can defocus (blur) the surrounding flowers while retaining a
clear focus on the person. In photography, this effect is achieved by
controlling the depth of field.

You can apply the Depth of Field effect to draw attention to the
subject in your photo.

70 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Selecting an area of focus

In Corel PaintShop Photo Pro, you can quickly choose an area of focus by
creating a circular or rectangular selection, or you can trace around an
area to create an irregularly shaped selection. You can also invert a
selection. For more information about selections, see “Creating
selections” on page 87

Adjusting the blurred area

You can control the amount of blur applied to the area outside the
selection, and you can adjust the transition between the area in focus and
the blurred areas. Corel PaintShop Photo Pro also lets you choose
between circular or hexagonal aperture shapes. The aperture shape can
affect light patterns that appear in the out-of-focus areas. This effect is
called bokeh, and it is most noticeable in small pinpoints of light on a
dark background.

To create an area of focus by using the Depth of Field effect

Full Editor workspace

1 In the Full Editor, select the area that you want to keep in focus.

For information about selecting image areas, see “Creating
selections” on page 87.

2 From the menu, choose Adjust ` Depth of Field.

The Depth of Field dialog box appears.

3 Move the Blur slider to adjust the amount of blur applied to the out-

of-focus area.

Adjusting images 71

You can also

Invert the selected area Mark the Invert check box.

Control the aperture shape for the
blurred area

Adjust the transition between the
area in focus and the blurred area

Fine-tune the size of the area in
focus

Click one of the following buttons:

• Circular Aperture Shape

• Hexagonal Aperture Shape

Move the Feather edge slider.
Moving the slider to the right
increases the feathering; moving
the slider to the left decreases the
feathering. Note that a setting of
produces a hard, undefined edge,
which is probably not what you
want. In general, do not set this
slider to less than

Move the Focus range
left to shrink the area in focus.
Move the slider to the right to
expand the area in focus to the
edge of the selection.

2 or 3.

slider to the

If you don’t have a pre-existing selection, you can select an area
of focus using any of the selection tools in the Depth of Field
dialog box: Circular , Freehand , Rectangular , or Raster
Selection .

0

Make your selection slightly larger than the area you want to keep
in focus, and then fine-tune the edge of the selection by using the
Focus range slider.

72 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Retouching and restoring images

Corel PaintShop Photo Pro provides you with many ways to retouch your
images. Whether you want to remove a small scratch, erase the entire
background, or simply correct red-eye, you’ll find the tools you need.

This section presents the following topics:

• Removing red-eye

• Applying cosmetic corrections

• Removing flaws and objects

• Cutting out image areas

• Recoloring image areas for a realistic effect

• Scaling photos by using Smart Carver

Removing red-eye

Corel PaintShop Photo Pro has two methods of removing red-eye from a
color photo. The fastest method of removal is to use the Red Eye tool. A
more powerful method is to use the advanced Red Eye Removal
command, which lets you change the eye color. For more information,
see “To use advanced options for red-eye removal” in the Help.

The Red Eye tool replaces the red color in the subject’s pupil with
a dark gray color, restoring a natural look.

Retouching and restoring images 73

To remove red-eye quickly

Full Editor workspace

1 On the Tools toolbar, choose the Red Eye tool .

2 On the Tool Options palette, adjust the Size of Red-Eye control so

that the pointer is about twice the size of the red area needing
correction.

3 Position the pointer directly over the eye, and click.

You can zoom in on the photo, if necessary, for better control of
the Red Eye tool.

You can size the pointer interactively by holding down Alt while
dragging the Red Eye tool over the eye area.

Applying cosmetic corrections

You can quickly improve the appearance of the subjects in your photos by
performing the following cosmetic corrections:

• removing blemishes — by using the Blemish Fixer mode of the
Makeover tool

• whitening teeth — by using the Toothbrush mode of the Makeover
tool

• fixing bloodshot eyes — by using the Eye Drop mode of the
Makeover tool

• adding a suntan — by using the Suntan mode of the Makeover tool

• thinning a photo subject — by using the Thinify™ mode of the
Makeover tool

• removing wrinkles — by using the Scratch Remover tool

• smoothing skin tone quickly — by using the Skin Smoothing
command in the Adjust menu

74 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

You can remove blemishes, whiten teeth, and apply a suntan.

To remove facial blemishes

Full Editor workspace

1 On the Tools toolbar, choose the Makeover tool .

2 On the Tool Options palette, choose the Blemish Fixer mode.

The pointer changes to concentric circles.

3 On the Tool Options palette, adjust the Size control to the smallest

size that allows the inner circle to enclose the blemish.

The outer circle is for the material used to cover the blemish.

4 On the Tool Options palette, adjust the Strength control.

Values range from 1 to 100. Higher values apply more of the source
material (enclosed in the outer circle) to the blemish area (enclosed
in the inner circle).

5 Click directly over the blemish.

You can zoom in on the photo for better control of the Makeover
tool.

Retouching and restoring images 75

To whiten teeth

Full Editor workspace

1 On the Tools toolbar, choose the Makeover tool .

2 On the Tool Options palette, choose the Toot hb ru sh mode.

3 On the Tool Options palette, adjust the Strength control as desired.

Higher settings produce more intense whitening but may also
produce an unnatural appearance.

4 Click directly over the teeth.

If the teeth are separated or partially obscured, you may need to
apply this tool to each tooth individually.

The Toothbrush mode of the Makeover tool works only with color
photos.

To apply whitening eye drops

Full Editor workspace

1 On the Tools toolbar, choose the Makeover tool .

2 On the Tool Options palette, choose the Eye Drop mode.

3 Type or set a value in the Strength control.

Higher values whiten more of the eye area but may spread the
whitening beyond the affected area of the eye.

4 Zoom in as necessary, and then carefully click over the bloodshot

portion of the eye.

To apply a suntan

Full Editor workspace

1 On the Tools toolbar, choose the Makeover tool .

2 On the Tool Options palette, choose the Suntan mode.

3 Type or set a value in the Size control.

76 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

4 Type or set a value in the Strength control.

Higher values produce a darker tan.

5 Carefully drag over the skin of the photo subject.

To apply a thinning effect

Full Editor workspace

1 On the Tools toolbar, choose the Makeover tool .

2 On the Tool Options palette, choose the Thinify mode.

3 Type or set a value in the Strength control.

Higher values compress more pixels in the horizontal axis.

4 Click the middle of the photo subject.

The pixels compress on either side of the point you click. You can
continue clicking to enhance the thinning effect.

To remove facial wrinkles

Full Editor workspace

1 On the Tools toolbar, choose the Scratch Remover tool .

2 On the Tool Options palette, choose either the square edge or the

beveled edge selection box.

3 Type or set a value in the Width control so that the wrinkle fits inside

the inner portion of the selection box you drag.

4 Position the pointer just outside the wrinkle, and carefully drag over

the wrinkle so that the wrinkle is enclosed in the inner rectangle.

The wrinkle is covered by the surrounding skin texture.

If you need to start again, you can undo the correction, adjust the
Width control, and redrag.

For wrinkle lines that are not straight, correct just one portion at
a time.

Retouching and restoring images 77

To smooth skin tone

Full Editor workspace

1 Choose Adjust ` Skin Smoothing.

2 In the Skin Smoothing dialog box, adjust the Amount slider.

Moving the slider to the right applies more smoothing; moving the
slider to the left applies less smoothing.

The Skin Smoothing command smooths skin tones and
diminishes the appearance of wrinkles and blemishes quickly.

The Skin Smoothing command automatically detects and
smooths skin tones without affecting eyes or lips. However, if
other areas in your photo are affected because they are similar in
color to the skin tone, you can use a selection to isolate the area
you want to smooth. For more information about selections, see
“Creating selections” on page 87.

Removing flaws and objects

You can remove flaws and objects in your images by using the Clone
Brush tool or the Object Remover tool. The Clone Brush tool lets you
remove flaws and objects by painting over them with another part of the
image. The paint source can be a part of the same layer, another layer in
the image, a merged image, or a layer from another image.

78 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

The Clone Brush tool was used to remove the garbage bag from
the photo on the left.

To clone a part of an image

Full Editor workspace

1 On the Tools toolbar, choose the Clone Brush tool .

2 On the Tool Options palette, choose the brush tip, size, opacity, and

other settings.

If you want the Clone Brush tool to reset the source point each time
you resume painting, mark the Aligned mode check box. You can
continue dragging over the target area to fill in the source image.
Unmark the check box if you want every stroke to copy the same
data from the original source point.

If you want to clone data from all layers merged together, mark the
Use all layers check box. If you want to clone data from the current
layer only, unmark the check box.

3 On the source image, right-click the center point of the source area.

If the image has more than one layer, click the name of the layer on
the Layers palette before you define the source area.

4 Drag in the image where you want to paint the cloned area.

Retouching and restoring images 79

You can also hold down Shift and click the image to set the source

2

3

4

5

1

point.

You can resize the brush interactively by pressing Alt while
dragging in the image window.

Cutting out image areas

You can use the Object Extractor to cut out an image area from the
surrounding background. You can then edit the cutout separately from
the background, display it against a different background, or combine it
with other images.

Object Extractor workflow: (1) Outline the edges of the image
area; (2) add a fill; (3) preview the cutout, and touch it up if
necessary; (4) bring the cutout into the image window; (5) place
the cutout against a different background image (optional).

80 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

To cut out an image area

Full Editor workspace

1 On the Layers palette, click the layer that contains the image area

that you want to cut out.

2 Choose Image ` Object Extractor.

The Object Extractor dialog box appears, with the Brush tool
activated by default.

3 Adjust the brush size by moving the Brush size slider.

4 In the preview window, draw a line along the edges of the image

area that you want to cut out.

Ensure that the selection outline slightly overlaps the surrounding
background and completely surrounds the area in a closed ring.

5 Choose the Fill tool , and click inside the area you want to cut out.

An overlay covers the image area that you clicked.
Note: If the selection outline is not closed, the fill covers the entire

image. If this is the case, click the Eraser tool to clear the fill, and
then complete the selection outline with the Brush tool.

6 Click Process to preview the result.

If you are not happy with the result, click Edit Mask to return to the
previous view and touch up the cutout.

You can also

Erase parts of the selection outline

Refine the edge detail in the final
result.

Retouching and restoring images 81

Choose the Eraser tool , and
drag over the selection marquee
that you want to delete.

Move the Accuracy slider to a
higher value if the object has an
intricate or complex outline.
The Accuracy slider is available only
after you click Process.

You can also

Revert to the original image Click Reset. The Reset button is

available only before you click
Process and clears both the fill and
the selection outline.

Hide the fill overlay and the edge
outline

Mark the Hide Mask check box.

The background layer is automatically promoted to a raster layer
when you use the Object Extractor command.

You can switch from the Brush tool to the Eraser tool by right­clicking and dragging in the preview window.

Recoloring image areas for a realistic effect

You can use the Color Changer tool to realistically recolor an object or a
region in an image. What sets the Color Changer tool apart from other
tools and commands is that it takes into account the shading of the
specified color. The Color Changer tool works best on matte objects such
as clothing, carpet, and painted objects that are a solid color. It may not
work as well on shiny or reflective objects and is not designed to work
with gradients or patterns.

One click can change the color of the girl’s dress.

82 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

To recolor by using the Color Changer tool

Full Editor workspace

1 On the Tools toolbar, choose the Color Changer tool .

The Color Changer tool is grouped with the Flood Fill tool.

2 On the Materials palette, click the Color button on the Style drop-

list, and choose a solid color.

If the Materials palette is not displayed, choose View ` Palettes `
Materials.

For realistic-looking colors, set the Saturation value (in the Material
Properties dialog box) closer to 100 than to 255 (full saturation).

3 Position the Color Changer pointer over the color you want to

change in the image, and then click to recolor with the Foreground/
Stroke color, or right-click to recolor with the current Background/Fill
color.

4 Click Apply to set the color change on the object.

You can also

Use a color from the current image

Adjust the color application Before clicking Apply, adjust one or

Retouching and restoring images 83

Choose the Dropper tool , click
the color you want in the image,
and then choose the Color
Changer tool to reactivate it.

both of the following controls on
the Tool Options palette:

• To le ra nc e — determines how
closely the current color needs to
match similar colors in order for
the recoloring to be applied.

• Edge Softness — determines how
pixels that border the recolored
pixels are affected. Higher settings
cause more “bleeding” of the
recoloring.

To isolate the area you want to recolor, you can create a selection.
For more information about creating selections, see “Creating
selections” on page 87.

Scaling photos by using Smart Carver

Smart Carver™ lets you make a photo narrower, wider, shorter, or longer
without distorting the content. By automatically detecting and removing
zones in the picture that have little structural detail, this feature lets you
change the aspect ratio without noticeably changing the image. You can
also target a specific zone to remove from the photo, regardless of its
level of detail, or preserve specific objects or image areas.

To remove or preserve an object by using Smart Carver

Full Editor workspace

1 Choose Image ` Smart Carver.

The Smart Carver dialog box opens.

2 To remove or preserve an object or area from a photo, do one or

both of the following:

• Click the Remove button and apply the Remove brush to the
areas of the photo that you want to remove.

84 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

• To protect an image area from being removed or changed during

the scaling process, click the Preserve button and apply the
Preserve brush to the area of the photo that you want to protect.

In the Object Removal area, you can move the Brush Size slider to
the left to decrease the size of the brush, or to the right to increase
the size of the brush.

3 Scale the photo by applying one or more of the Smart Carving

options.

.

You can also

Delete some or all of the Remove
or Preserve brushstrokes.

Click the Eraser button , and
apply it to the brushstrokes you
want to erase.

Zoom in or out In the Zoom box, enter a

magnification level, or use the
slider or the arrows to increase or
decrease the zoom.

Pan to view hidden areas of the
photo

Hide the brushstrokes in the

Click the Pan button , and drag
in the Preview window.

Mark the Hide Mask check box.

Preview window

Reset the photo to its original state Click Reset.

To scale a photo by using Smart Carver

Full Editor workspace

1 Choose Image ` Smart Carver.

The Smart Carver dialog box opens.

2 In the Smart Carving area of the Smart Carver dialog box, perform

one or more tasks from the following table, and click OK.

You can view the scaling results in the Preview window.

Retouching and restoring images 85

To D o th e fol l owi ng

Set a photo width Type or set a value in the Width

box.
Note: The maximum width is
double the width of the original
photo.

Set a photo height Type or set a value in the Height

box.
Note: The maximum height is
double the height of the original
photo.

Reduce the photo width, by 1-pixel
increments

Click the Contract the image
horizontally button until the

image is the desired width.

Reduce the phot height, by 1-pixel
increments

Click the Contract the image
vertically button until the

image is the desired height.

Increase the photo width, by 1­pixel increments

Click the Expand the image
horizontally button until the

image is the desired width.

Increase the photo height, by 1­pixel increments

Click the Expand the image

vertically button until the
image is the desired height.

86 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

Working with selections

Selecting the parts of images to edit is an important step in your
workflow. By creating a selection, you can edit an area while leaving the
rest of the image unchanged. You can use drawing or painting tools to
modify selected areas of your image. You can also apply commands to
flip, copy, crop, or perform other actions on the selected areas.

The border of a selection is identified by a selection marquee, which is a
series of black and white dashes that outlines the selection.

This section presents the following topics:

• Creating selections

• Modifying selections

• Inverting and clearing selections

Creating selections

You can create a selection when you want to isolate part of an image. For
example, you can use a selection to adjust or retouch one area of a photo,
or to copy a portion of a photo and paste it into another photo. The way
you make a selection depends on whether you are working on a raster
layer or a vector layer. For more information about raster and vector
layers, see “Understanding layers” on page 95.

The following selection tools can be used to create raster selections:

• Selection tool — lets you create a selection of a specific shape,
such as a rectangle, square, ellipse, circle, or star

Working with selections 87

• Freehand Selection tool — lets you create a selection around the
edges of an object, such as petals of a flower or fingers on a hand.
You can make four types of selections with the Freehand tool:

• Freehand — lets you quickly select an area by dragging

• Edge Seeker — finds the edges between two areas with color

differences when you click on the edges of irregularly shaped areas

• Point to Point — lets you draw straight lines between points to

create a selection with straight edges

• Smart Edge — automatically finds the edges of irregularly shaped

areas when you click along the edges

• Magic Wand tool — makes a selection based on the color, hue,
brightness, or opacity of an object. This tool is designed to select an
area that has distinctly different pixels than those in other areas of an
image — for example, a pink rose surrounded by green leaves, or a
dark area in an otherwise bright image.

You can create a selection by using a Selection tool shape (left),
by creating a freehand selection (center), or by using the Magic
Wand tool to select specific areas of color or opacity (right).

You can make a selection with one tool and then switch to another tool
to add to or subtract from the selection. For more information, see
“Modifying selections” on page 92.

88 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

To create a selection by using the Selection tool

Full Editor

1

On the Tools toolbar, choose the Selection tool .

2 Check the settings of the following controls on the Tool Options

palette, and modify them if necessary:

• Selection Type — specifies the shape of the selection area

• Mode — specifies whether to replace, add, or remove an existing
selection. Replace is the default setting.

• Feather — softens the edges of a selection by specifying a fade
width (0 to 200 pixels)

• Anti-alias — applies a smooth edge to a selection by making the
pixels along its edges semitransparent

3 Drag to make the selection.

As you drag, a border indicates the selection. When you finish
dragging, the selection’s border becomes a selection marquee.

After you create a selection, changes to the settings on the Tool
Options palette apply to the next action, not to the current
selection. You can modify the options for the current selection by
choosing Selections
menu.

` Modify and choosing a command from the

To create a selection by using the Freehand Selection tool

Full Editor

1

On the Tools toolbar, choose the Freehand Selection tool .

2 On the Tool Options palette, choose one of the following from the

Selection Type drop-list:

• Edge Seeker

• Freehand

• Point to Point

Working with selections 89

• Smart Edge

3 Check the settings of the following controls on the Tool Options

palette, and modify them if necessary:

• Feather — softens the edges of a selection by specifying a fade
width (0 to 200 pixels)

• Smoothing — specifies the amount of smoothing to apply to the
selection border

• Anti-alias — applies a smooth edge to a selection by making pixels
semitransparent

• Use all layers — searches for an edge in all layers of the selected
area. This option is available when you use the Edge Seeker or the
Smart Edge selection type on multilayer images.

4 Depending on the selection type you chose, perform a task from the

following table.

To D o th e fol l owi ng

Make a Freehand selection Drag to select an image area.

Make an Edge Seeker selection Click precisely along the edge of

the area you want to select, and
double-click or right-click to
complete the selection.

Make a Smart Edge selection Click along the edge of the area

that you want to select, ensuring
that the rectangular cursor
encloses the edge. Double-click or
right-click to complete the
selection.

Make a Point to Point selection Click around the area you want to

select, and double-click or right­click to complete the selection.

90 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

When making an Edge Seeker selection, you can set the distance
used to search for an edge by typing a value in the Range control
on the Tool Options palette.

You can increase the accuracy of Edge Seeker and Smart Edge
selections by clicking more frequently along the edge you are
following.

You can delete a previous point by pressing Delete.

To create a selection by using the Magic Wand tool

Full Editor

On the Tools toolbar, choose the Magic Wand tool .

1

2 On the Tool Options palette, choose a Match mode option.

3 Check the settings of the following controls on the Tool Options

palette, and modify them if necessary:

• Tole ran ce — controls how closely the selected pixels match the
pixel you click in the image. At low settings, only similar pixels are
chosen; at high settings, a wider range of pixels is selected.

• Feather — softens the edges of a selection by specifying a fade
width (0 to 200 pixels)

• Use all layers — searches for matching pixels across all layers in the
image

• Contiguous — selects only pixels that connect to the pixel you click

• Anti-alias — produces a smooth-edged selection by partially filling
in pixels along the edge, making them semitransparent. You can
use this option inside or outside the selection marquee.

4 Click the image area that contains the pixels you want to match.

The selection marquee surrounds all matching pixels.

Working with selections 91

You can change the number of pixels you select by undoing the
selection, adjusting the Tole ra nc e setting, and making a new
selection.

Modifying selections

Selections can be modified in various ways. You can modify a selection by
adding image content to it or by subtracting image content from it. For
example, in a picture of a person carrying a large sign, you can select the
sign by using the rectangular Selection tool and then add the person to
the selection by using the Freehand Selection tool.

After you create a selection, you can add to it.

For more information about modifying selections, see “Modifying
selections” in the Help.

To add to or subtract from a selection

Full Editor

On the Tools toolbar, choose a selection tool (Selection , Freehand

1

, or Magic Wand tool).

2 Choose settings for the tool on the Tool Options palette.

3 Perform a task from the following table.

92 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide

To Do the following

Add to a selection From the Mode drop-list, choose

Add, and select the image areas
that you want to add to the
selection. The areas do not need to
be adjacent.

Subtract from a selection From the Mode drop-list, choose

Remove, and select the image
areas that you want to remove
from the selection.

You can also add to a selection by holding down Shift while
clicking the image areas that you want to add, or subtract from a
selection by holding down Ctrl while clicking the image areas that
you want to remove.

Inverting and clearing selections

Sometimes, the easiest way to make a complicated selection is to select
the part of the image that you don’t want and then invert the selection.
For example, in a picture of a person against a solid-color background,
you can select the background and then invert the selection, so that the
person is selected instead of the background.

Working with selections 93

By selecting a solid background (left) and inverting the selection,
you can isolate a complex, multicolored foreground (right).

You can also clear a selection, which removes the selection marquee and
integrates the selection back into the image. After clearing the selection,
you can resume your editing of the entire image.

To invert a selection

Full Editor

• Choose Selections ` Invert.

The selection marquee now encloses the previously unselected image
area and excludes the previously selected image area.

To clear a selection

Full Editor

• Choose Selections ` Select None.

If you deselect a floating selection, the selection is defloated and
placed in the underlying layer if the layer is a raster layer. If the
underlying layer is a vector layer or an Art Media layer, a new
raster layer is created, and the selection is defloated to it.

94 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 User Guide