Corel PaintShop Pro - X8 User Guide

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Corel® PaintShop® Pro X8 User Guide

Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

What’s new in Corel PaintShop Pro X8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Installing and uninstalling Corel programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Starting and exiting the program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Registering Corel products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Updates and messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Corel Support Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

About Corel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

The digital workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Learning how to use Corel PaintShop Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Documentation conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Using the Help system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide PDF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Using the Learning Center palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Learning with video tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Using Web-based resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Workspace tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Exploring the workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Switching between workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Choosing a workspace color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Using palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Using toolbars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Using tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Customizing toolbars and palettes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Using dialog boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Contents i

Viewing images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Using shortcut keys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Using context menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Using rulers, grids, and guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Getting started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Getting photos into Corel PaintShop Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Connecting with image scanners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Opening and closing images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Saving images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Creating images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Viewing images and image information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Capturing images from the computer screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Zooming and panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Cutting, copying, and pasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Copying images into other applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Undoing and redoing actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Repeating commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Deleting images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Files supported by Corel PaintShop Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Reviewing, organizing, 

and finding photos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Setting up the Manage workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Browsing folders for photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Finding images on your computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Working with saved searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Adding keyword tags to images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Viewing photos by tags. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Using the calendar to find images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Finding people in your photos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Adding location information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

ii Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Working with thumbnails in the Manage workspace . . . . . . . . . 127

Capturing and applying edits to multiple photos . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Displaying and editing photo information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Using Quick Review to review photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Working with trays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Using the Adjust workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Opening the Adjust workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Working in the Adjust workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Tools and features in the Adjust workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Working with camera RAW photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Supported RAW file formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Using the Camera RAW Lab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Applying edits to multiple RAW photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Converting RAW photos to another file format . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Working with XMP files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Adjusting images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Fixing common problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Rotating images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Cropping images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Straightening images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Correcting photographic perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Making basic photo corrections automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Brightening images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Darkening images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Removing purple fringe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Removing digital noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Removing chromatic aberrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Using Lens Correction to fix distortion, chromatic aberration, and

vignetting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Correcting lens distortions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Contents iii

Adjusting white balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Adjusting brightness, contrast, and clarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Adjusting hue and saturation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Adding or removing noise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Controlling depth of field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Blurring images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Sharpening images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Softening images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Resizing images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Retouching and restoring images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Removing red-eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

Applying cosmetic changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Removing scratches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Removing flaws and objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Using Magic Fill to erase image areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Moving selected areas with Magic Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Erasing image areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Cutting out image areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Retouching image areas by using brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Recoloring image areas for a realistic effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Replacing colors, gradients, or patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Filling areas with colors, gradients, or patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Flipping and mirroring images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Adding borders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Scaling photos by using Smart Carver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Scaling and transforming photos using the Pick tool . . . . . . . . . 279

Resizing the canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Merging exposures and content. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Understanding HDR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Taking photos for HDR processing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

iv Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Combining photos by using HDR Exposure Merge . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Using Single RAW Photo to create an HDR effect. . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Merging batches of photos into HDR images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Combining photos with Photo Blend. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Working with selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Creating selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Hiding and displaying the selection marquee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Moving, clipping, and rotating selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Modifying selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Inverting and clearing selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Using feathering with selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Using anti-aliasing with selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Modifying the edges of selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Creating custom patterns from selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Saving and loading selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Working with layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Understanding layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Using layers with photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Using layers with illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Using the Layers palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

Creating layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

Promoting the background layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Deleting layers and clearing layer contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Duplicating and copying layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Renaming layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Viewing layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Finding layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Organizing layers by color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

Changing the order of layers in an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

Moving layers on the canvas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Contents v

Grouping layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

Linking layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Blending layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Setting layer opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

Protecting transparent areas of raster layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Merging layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

Using adjustment layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

Using layer styles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Working with masks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

Understanding masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

Displaying masks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Creating masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Deleting masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Editing masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Loading masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Saving masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

Working with colors and materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Using the Materials palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Choosing colors in the Material Properties dialog box . . . . . . . . 407

Choosing colors for paletted images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

Choosing colors from an image or the desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412

Using gradients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

Editing gradients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418

Exporting and importing gradients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Using patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422

Using textures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

Working with custom palettes and swatches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

Applying effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

Choosing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432

Applying 3D effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438

vi Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Applying Art Media effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

Applying Artistic effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Applying environment maps and bump maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466

Applying Distortion effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

Using the Displacement Map effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477

Applying Edge effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479

Applying Geometric effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484

Applying Illumination effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488

Applying Image effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

Applying Photo effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494

Using Retro Lab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502

Applying a gradient with the Graduated Filter effect . . . . . . . . . 504

Creating vintage-style photos with the Time Machine . . . . . . . . 505

Applying film and filter effects to photos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

Applying Reflection effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512

Applying Texture effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517

Adding picture frames to images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532

Creating your own effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

Combining images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535

Using the Picture Tube tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

Warping images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543

Working with deformation maps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546

Working with text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Applying text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

Formatting text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553

Fitting text to a path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558

Wrapping text within a selection or shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562

Moving text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563

Applying effects to text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564

Converting text to curves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565

Contents vii

Creating a text cutout filled with an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566

Filling text with image patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567

Sizing and transforming text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569

Displaying captions and info text on images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570

Drawing and editing vector objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573

Understanding raster and vector objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574

Selecting vector objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576

Drawing rectangles and squares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577

Drawing circles and ellipses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579

Drawing symmetric shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580

Creating preset shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582

Filling cutout shapes with images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583

Editing shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585

Saving shapes as presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586

Working with nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586

Sizing, shaping, and rotating vector objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594

Aligning, distributing, and arranging vector objects. . . . . . . . . . 595

Grouping and ungrouping vector objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

Converting objects to paths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600

Adding and closing contours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 601

Editing contours and paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602

Drawing lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 606

Saving custom line styles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608

Drawing curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610

Modifying lines and curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613

Copying and moving vector objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615

Working with brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617

Choosing brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618

Choosing brush options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619

Using brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622

viii Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Customizing brush settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624

Creating brush tips and presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626

Importing and sharing brush tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629

Painting and drawing with the Art Media tools. . . . . . . . 631

Working with Art Media layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632

Working with the Mixer palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633

Working with Art Media tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638

Using the Oil Brush tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641

Using the Chalk tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643

Using the Pastel tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644

Using the Crayon tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645

Using the Colored Pencil tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646

Using the Marker tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647

Using the Watercolor Brush tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648

Using the Palette Knife tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650

Using the Smear tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651

Using the Art Eraser tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652

Working with advanced color features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653

Understanding color depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653

Viewing color depth information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655

Increasing the color depth of an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656

Decreasing the color depth of an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657

Understanding color reduction methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663

Understanding palette options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664

Working with image palettes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665

Understanding color and color models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671

Understanding how monitor colors and print colors differ . . . . . 674

Calibrating your monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676

Working with color management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 677

Using color channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 679

Contents ix

Customizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683

Viewing and hiding toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684

Using custom workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685

Customizing the menu system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688

Customizing toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689

Creating custom toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 690

Customizing keyboard shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692

Setting Undo preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694

Setting View preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695

Setting Display and Caching preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 696

Setting Palettes preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699

Setting Units preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701

Setting Transparency and Shading preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702

Setting Warnings preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703

Setting Auto Action preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703

Setting Miscellaneous preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704

Setting Manage workspace preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707

Setting Auto-Preserve preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709

Choosing a default workspace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710

Setting file format preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710

Setting file format associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716

Setting file locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717

Managing resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720

Setting plug-in preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722

Selecting Web browsers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724

Setting Autosave preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725

Resetting all preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726

Switching languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727

Adjusting general viewing options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728

Accessing tools and commands from previous versions of Corel

PaintShop Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729

x Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Protecting and restoring the Corel PaintShop Pro database . . . . 729

Automating tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731

Scripting basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731

Working with scripting tools and features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733

Recording and saving a script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735

Running saved scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739

Stopping or undoing a script. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 742

Editing scripts in Corel PaintShop Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 742

Editing scripts using a text-editing application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744

Troubleshooting a script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745

Assigning icons to scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746

Using and creating presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 747

Processing files in batches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 749

Renaming files in batches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755

Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759

Printing images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759

Creating layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765

Editing templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 770

Editing and saving layouts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 772

Printing CMYK color separations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 776

Understanding printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 776

Sharing photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 779

E-mailing photos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 779

Uploading photos to a sharing site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 781

Creating Share My Trip projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 784

Creating images for the Web. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787

Saving images for the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787

Working with GIF files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789

Working with JPEG files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 796

Contents xi

Working with PNG files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798

Previewing images in Web browsers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801

Slicing images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803

Mapping images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 808

Creating image rollovers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813

Using digital watermarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814

Adding visible watermarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 818

xii Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Welcome

For people with a passion for photography, Corel® PaintShop® Pro is an easy-to-use, professionally powered, image-editing software that helps you achieve stunning photos and creative designs.

This section presents the following topics:

• What’s new in Corel PaintShop Pro X8

• Installing and uninstalling Corel programs

• Starting and exiting the program

• Registering Corel products

• Updates and messages

• Corel Support Services

• About Corel

The availability of features depends on the version of the software you have.

What’s new in Corel PaintShop Pro X8

Corel PaintShop Pro X8 is defined by new tools, enhanced features, and performance gains that help you focus on enjoying the creative journey. As always, working closely with our users was an essential part of creating this version of the versatile photo-editing tool that many professional and enthusiast photographers and designers have come to rely upon.

Welcome 1

New! Text wrapping

Corel PaintShop Pro X8 makes it easy to use text as a design element in your creative projects. New

Text Wra pping lets you wrap text inside any vector shape or selection. Simply choose your shape or draw your selection using any of the selection tools, and type your text. The text automatically wraps within the shape. This is an ideal effect for posters, scrapbooking, brochures, collages, websites and other projects. For more information, see

“Wrapping text within a selection or shape” on

page 562.

New! Move people or objects with Magic Move

Accelerate editing with Magic Move, a new content-aware tool that automatically replaces the background when you move an object or person. Simply select an area and drag it to a new position. The empty area left behind is automatically filled to match the surrounding background. For more information, see

“Moving selected areas with

Magic Move” on page 254.

Enhanced! Batch processing—powerful and easy

Save time by applying common actions to multiple photos with the new Batch Process wizard. Resize, add watermarks and picture frames, apply scripts, and control the file names, formats, security-related information, and more--the wizard makes it easy. For more information, see “Processing files in batches” on page 749.

New & Enhanced!More precise selections

Fast and accurate selection tools are a must for any photo editor. The enhanced

Smart Selection Brush now includes a Tol er an ce setting for more precise selections across areas that are close in tone or hue. New Selection Style options for the Selection Tool let you define a selection size by typing height and width values, or you can define a fixed aspect ratio for the selection. You can also choose from a list of popular aspect

2 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

ratios and resolutions. For more information, see “Creating selections” on page 304.

Enhanced! More power and speed than ever before

The new Corel PaintShop Pro includes performance gains that save you time and make editing tasks more responsive and enjoyable:

• "Faster brushes for a more responsive feel — Enjoy speed gains of 30 - 60% for brushes, including brushes ( brushes (

Dodge, Burn, Sharpen and others), and art media Oil Brush, Chalk, Marker and others)

Paint Brush, Air Brush, retouch

• "Larger maximum brush size — Cover more area, more quickly with an increased maximum brush size of 3,000 pixels

•"Enhanced Smart Edge — See up to 50% faster performance when using the Smart Edge feature, which works with several tools help keep your brushstrokes "inside the lines"

• "Faster saving — our native Corel PaintShop Pro image file format (*.pspimage) saves up to 50% faster, to keep you in your creative groove

New! High resolution 4K monitor support

Pair Corel PaintShop Pro X8 with a high resolution monitor for the best-looking PaintShop Pro ever. See each detail, read more clearly and easily, and appreciate every aspect of your photo or composition in a beautifully rendered high resolution interface. All-new icons and enhanced workspaces are compatible with Ultra HD displays (up to 250% zoom with 4K resolution).

New & Enhanced!More creative and flexible layer workflow

Layers are fundamental to advanced photo editing, compositing and graphic design. The following features make it easier to work with multi-layer projects:

Welcome 3

• Quick Search — find the right layer in seconds when you search for it by name. This is especially useful for projects with many layers

• Merge layers — now you can merge selected layers or create a new layer from selected or visible layers

• Expand or collapse all layer groups — easily expand and view all layers in your project

For more information, see “Working with layers” on page 339.

New! Lens Correction

Lens Correction helps correct the distortions, vignetting and chromatic aberrations that are commonly introduced by most camera lenses. Whether you're in the apply

Lens Correction tools automatically, taking advantage of the

wide range of lens profiles included in Corel

Edit workspace or the Camera RAW Lab, you can

PaintShop Pro, or take full control and apply corrections manually. For more information, see “Using Lens Correction to fix distortion, chromatic aberration, and vignetting” on page 187.

Enhanced! Camera RAW Lab

Inspired by insights from Corel PaintShop Pro users, the Camera RAW

offers an enhanced layout, including before and after views, and a

Lab bigger preview to make working with RAW images easier. You can also add more photos without having to close the RAW Lab, and apply lens corrections. As always, we continue to add support for latest camera models. For more information, see

“Using the Camera RAW Lab” on

page 150.

New! Enhancements suggested by our users

We love getting suggestions from Corel PaintShop Pro users. As part of our ongoing commitment to empower creativity, we have included the following improvements, suggested by our users:

4 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

• Show Original button in the Adjust workspace — quickly see what you have changed versus the original by holding the button. For more information, see

“To view original image” on page 145.

•New Save behavior and Save As dialog box — see and adjust compression settings to ensure that your image looks right

• Swatches in the Material Properties window — access all the swatches you have created more easily

• Cutter Preview for Shape Cutter and Text Cutter — a semitransparent overlay lets you preview the area you are cutting before you apply your cutout.

• Gradient Preview - now you can view gradient updates on your image as you make the changes in the Material Properties.

Installing and uninstalling Corel programs

The Installer makes it easy to install Corel® programs and components.

Before installing

• Close all open programs. 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.

64-bit and 32-bit installation options

The Corel PaintShop Pro installer installs the 32-bit or 64-bit version of the application by detecting and matching the version to your operating system. For 64-bit systems, after the initial installation, you can choose to add the 32-bit version. This will let you use any 32-bit plug-ins or other 32-bit compatible software with the 32-bit version of Corel PaintShop Pro, but still work with the 64-bit version of the

Welcome 5

application to take advantage of 6 or more GB RAM and other 64-bit optimized features.

Note: If you install 64-bit and 32-bit versions, the programs are listed separately and launched separately from the Windows Start menu or Start screen.

To install Corel PaintShop Pro

1 Close any open applications.

2 Insert the DVD in the DVD drive or double-click the associated .exe

file that you downloaded.

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

3 Follow the instructions on your screen.

Setup.exe.

To uninstall Corel PaintShop Pro

1 Open the Windows Control Panel.

2In the Programs category, click the Uninstall a program link.

3In the Programs and Features window, click

Corel PaintShop Pro X8 in the list of applications.

4 Click Uninstall/Change.

5 Follow the instructions on your screen.

Starting and exiting the program

You c an s tar t Co rel PaintShop Pro from the Windows taskbar or your desktop icon, and exit the program from the File menu.

To start Corel PaintShop Pro

•From the Start menu, choose All Programs  Corel PaintShop Pro X8 or use the Corel PaintShop Pro X8

6 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

application icon or tile on your desktop or Start screen.

If you associate specific file formats, such as JP EG an d T IF F, with

PaintShop Pro, you can double-click the associated file to

Corel start the program. For information about setting file format associations, see “Setting file format associations” on page 716.

To exit Corel PaintShop 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 immediately after 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 are prompted to register, 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.

Welcome 7

Updates and messages

Notification messages provide you with important information about your program.You can turn automatic program updates and messaging on or off. You can choose to check for updates and messages manually.

To turn notification messages on or off

1 Click Help  Message Preference.

2 Mark only the check boxes for the updates or messages that you

want to receive.

To update your program

• Choose Help  Check for Updates.

To check for messages

• Click Help  Messages.

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.

8 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

About Corel

Corel is one of the world’s top software companies, boasting some of the industry’s best-known graphics, productivity and digital media products. We've built a reputation for giving customers more choice, and delivering solutions that are easy to learn and use. Our mission is simple: help people achieve new levels of creativity and productivity.

Corel’s product lines include CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite, Corel® Painter®, Corel® PaintShop® Pro, Corel® VideoStudio®, Corel® WordPerfect® Office, Pinnacle Studio™, Roxio Creator®, Roxio® Toast® and WinZip®. For more information on Corel, please visit www.corel.com.

Welcome 9

10 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

The digital workflow

The digital workflow outlined below can help you understand how to best use Corel PaintShop Pro. It suggests a sequence for working with your digital images. Whether you want to organize, retouch, print or share, you can use the workflow described below as a guide.

Bring photos into Corel PaintShop Pro

Bringing photos into Corel PaintShop Pro is as simple as opening the application in the Manage workspace and navigating to your favorite photo folders on your computer. The application automatically catalogs the folders that you navigate to, essentially “importing” them into the application, without duplicating any files.

The digital workflow 11

For more information, see “Getting photos into Corel PaintShop Pro” on page 62.

Manage your photos

Digital photography gives you the freedom to experiment. The result is a large number of digital files, so photographers understand the need to manage those files by reviewing, culling, and identifying photos as early in the process as possible.

The Manage workspace lets you access all the tools you need to cull, rate, tag, and prepare photos for editing or sharing. Double-clicking a thumbnail opens a full-screen review mode called Quick Review. Search options and collections make it easy to find and work with the photos that you currently store on your computer.

Quick Review is a full-screen review mode that opens when you double-click a thumbnail in the Manage workspace. You can use arrow keys to zoom and navigate.

12 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

For more information, see “Reviewing, organizing, and finding

The Adjust pane in the Adjust workspace gives you quick access to commonly-used editing options.

photos” on page 101.

Adjust photos quickly

The challenge for many photographers is finding the time to edit photos, so the Adjust workspace lets you move from photo to photo quickly and puts commonly-used editing tools at your fingertips. In some cases, this will be all the editing your photos will need.

The digital workflow 13

After you edit photos, you can return to the Manage workspace to take advantage of multi-photo editing features such as Capture editing and Apply editing. Capture and Apply editing lets you copy edits made to a single photo and apply the edits to multiple photos. Images photographed under similar conditions can be fixed with amazing speed — no scripting required.

For more information, see the following topics:

• “The Adjust workspace” on page 28

• “Capturing and applying edits to multiple photos” on page 132

Advanced editing and RAW files

Professional-level tools and features are available in the Edit workspace. For example, you can apply effects, add text, and use custom painting tools. You can also use layers to create highly editable 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.

14 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

For more information, explore the following topics:

• “Adjusting images” on page 155

• “Retouching and restoring images” on page 239

• “Working with selections” on page 303

• “Working with layers” on page 339

• “Applying effects” on page 431

• “Working with text” on page 549

• “Working with camera RAW photos” on page 149

Share photos

After you adjust and enhance your photos, you’ll want to share them. Along with printing, layout, and e-mailing options, there are sharing options that let you post directly to popular sharing sites, such as Facebook, Flickr, and Google+.

For more information, see the following topics:

• “Printing” on page 759

• “Sharing photos” on page 779

Expanded creative options for DSLR photography

Many DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera owners are expanding their knowledge and looking for creative options. HDR (high dynamic

The digital workflow 15

range) features in Corel PaintShop Pro help you take advantage of bracketing features on your camera. You can also combine multiple photos with Photo Blend.

For more information, see the following topics:

• “Taking photos for HDR processing” on page 287

• “Combining photos by using HDR Exposure Merge” on page 288

• “Merging batches of photos into HDR images” on page 296

• “Combining photos with Photo Blend” on page 298

16 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Learning how to use Corel

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

This section presents the following topics:

• Documentation conventions

• Using the Help system

• Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide PDF

• Using the Learning Center palette

• Learning with video tutorials

• Using Web-based resources

PaintShop Pro

Documentation conventions

The following table describes important conventions used in the Help.

Convention Description Example

Menu  Menu command

drop-list A list of options that drops

A menu item followed by a menu command

down when a user clicks a down arrow button

Choose File

Choose an option from the Selection Type drop-list on the Tool Options palette.

 Open.

Learning how to use Corel PaintShop Pro 17

Convention Description Example

palette A window containing

available commands and settings relevant to a specific tool or task

mark and unmark

Enter The Enter key on your

Terms that refer to enabling or disabling check boxes by clicking them

keyboard

A note containing information that is important to the preceding steps. It may describe conditions under which the procedure can be performed.

A tip containing suggestions for performing the preceding steps. It may present alternatives to the steps, or other benefits and uses of the procedure.

Double-click the name of the group on the Layers

To preserve the current print size, mark the Maintain original print size check box.

To save this gradient as a swatch that you can access later, click the Add to swatches button, type a name, and press Enter.

Although you can apply the Texture Preserving Smooth command to the entire image, the command works best when you select the problem area.

You can also right-click in the image to set the source point for the Clone tool.

palette.

18 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Using the Help system

The Help that is available from within the program is the most comprehensive source of information for Corel 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. You can also print topics from the Help.

Online and local Help

If you are connected to the Internet, the application displays the online Help. When you are online, you have access to the latest information, videos, and helpful links. If no Internet connection is available, the application displays the local Help that is installed on your computer.

To use the Help system

1 Do one of the following:

• Click Help  Help topics.

• Press F1.

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 (no quotation marks required). 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.

PaintShop Pro. The

You can also

Print a specific Help topic Open a Help topic, and from the

Internet Explorer menu, choose File Print.

Learning how to use Corel PaintShop Pro 19



You can also

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

dialog box.

Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide PDF

You c an d own loa d th e Co rel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide PDF to your computer or tablet, or you can print the pages you want. You can find the PDF in Help menu (

Help  User Guide (PDF)).

Using the Learning Center palette

The Learning Center palette contains helpful information about Corel

PaintShop Pro tasks, commands, and tools to help first-time users as well as experienced users get their work done faster. You can use the Learning Center in one of two ways: from the Home page, navigate through the task-based workflow, or simply click a tool in the Tools toolbar and follow the corresponding instructions that appear in the Learning Center palette.

Each task appearing on the Home page has its own topics with instructions that describe its related tools or commands. You can click a given topic to access a related tool or command. In this way, you can perform a task as you learn about it. You can also access the Help from the Learning Center palette to obtain additional information about a task.

20 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

From the Learning Center Home page, click a task, and then

Back button Home button

click a topic.

To display or hide the Learning Center palette

Edit workspace

• Choose View  Palettes  Learning Center.

The Learning Center palette is displayed by default. It appears along the right side of the Edit workspace.

Learning how to use Corel PaintShop Pro 21

To use the Learning Center palette

Edit 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 palettes 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.

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

Learning with video tutorials

The Discovery Center window (English only) lets you find and view a range of videos that help you learn about the application and photography.

22 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

You can also find video links within some topics in the online Help and by visiting

www.youtube.com/corelpaintshoppro.

To open the Discovery Center window

• Choose Help  Video Tutorials.

Using Web-based resources

From the Corel PaintShop Pro Help menu and the Corel website, you can access a number of Web pages dedicated to customer support and communities. You can find resources such as downloads, tutorials, tips, newsletters, newsgroups, and other online resources.

Learning how to use Corel PaintShop Pro 23

To access Web-based resources

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

• Corel Support — this link takes you to the Customer Support Web page

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

PaintShop Pro

To access Corel learning resources

• Use your Internet browser to go to www.paintshoppro.com, and click the Resources tab.

24 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Workspace tour

Corel PaintShop Pro includes three main workspaces that let you organize and edit your images: Manage, Adjust, and Edit.

The availability of features depends on the version of the software you have.

This section presents the following topics:

• Exploring the workspaces

• Switching between workspaces

• Choosing a workspace color

• Using palettes

• Using toolbars

• Using tools

• Customizing toolbars and palettes

• Using dialog boxes

• Viewing images

• Using shortcut keys

• Using context menus

• Using rulers, grids, and guides

Workspace tour 25

Exploring the workspaces

Corel PaintShop Pro consists of three workspaces:

•Manage

•Adjust

•Edit

Each workspace contains specific tools and controls to help you accomplish the task at hand quickly and efficiently.

You can save the 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 workspaces” on page 685.

The Manage workspace

When you open Corel PaintShop Pro, the Manage workspace appears as your default workspace.

“Using custom

26 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

The Manage workspace in Preview mode

Info paletteNavigation palette

Organizer palette

Preview area

Organizer toolbar

Thumbnails

The Manage workspace consists of the following components:

• Navigation palette — helps you find and organize photos. You can use the Search box or click the Collections tab or Computer tab to display the folders on your computer, or you can sort photos by collection, tags, or ratings.

• Preview area — lets you choose between two views — a large single-image view or a multi-thumbnail view (expanded Organizer palette).

• Info palette — displays information about the selected image. It consists of a camera-style display of the settings used to take the photo and a tabbed area that lets you add information, such as tags and ratings, and access a full list of EXIF or IPTC data.

Workspace tour 27

• Organizer palette — available in all three workspaces, this palette

ToolbarAdjust palette

Organizer palette Thumbnails

Set RatingStatus bar

Preview area Instant Effects palette

lets you select photos (as thumbnails) and includes a toolbar with a range of commands and options for managing photos. You can hide or show the tools by clicking the

button.

For more information about the Manage workspace, see “Reviewing, organizing, and finding photos” on page 101.

The Adjust workspace

Adjust is your workspace for quick edits. It lets you fix and enhance your photos by offering a set of the most commonly-used tools.

A photo displayed in the Adjust workspace

The Adjust workspace includes the following components:

• Adjust palette — displays tools and controls for adjusting photos

• Preview area — displays the photo selected in the Organizer palette

28 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

• Toolbar — displays buttons for accessing common saving and viewing commands

• Instant Effects palette — displays preset effects that you can apply to your photo

• Status bar — displays information about the selected tool

• Organizer palette — available in all three workspaces, this palette lets you select photos (as thumbnails) and includes a toolbar with a range of commands and options for managing photos. You can hide or show the tools by clicking the

button.

• Set Rating control — lets you assign ratings to each photo, so that you can quickly find your favorites

For more information about the Adjust workspace, see “Using the Adjust workspace” on page 143.

The Edit workspace

The Edit workspace lets you access in-depth editing features. It includes menus, tools, and palettes that you can use to create and edit images. In addition to photo editing, it lets you perform painting and drawing tasks.

Workspace tour 29

A photo displayed in the Edit workspace

Image windowTool Options paletteStandard toolbarMenu bar

Learning Center palette

Tools toolbar

Status bar

The Edit 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 34.

• 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 32.

30 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

• Image window — displays open files. You can choose from a tabbed view or a window view. For more information, see “Viewing images” on page 49.

• Status bar — displays information about the selected tool or menu command, as well as information about image dimensions, color depth, and pointer position. The status bar appears at the bottom of the workspace, and unlike other toolbars, it cannot be customized or moved. For more information about viewing image information, see page 135.

“Displaying and editing photo information” on

Switching between workspaces

Corel PaintShop 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

• At the top of the application window, click one of the following tabs:

• Manage

• Adjust

• Edit

Choosing a workspace color

You can choose from a variety of workspace colors — from dark to light. You can also choose a background color for the image window and preview windows.

To choose a workspace color

1 Click View  Workspace Color.

Workspace tour 31

2 Choose one of the following colors:

• Dark Gray (default)

• Medium Gray

• Light Gray

To ch a nge the background color

1 Click View Background Color, and choose a color.

Using palettes

Corel PaintShop Pro contains many palettes that organize information and commands to help you edit your images. Some palettes appear automatically, 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 choosing are available only in specific workspaces.

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

“Customizing toolbars and palettes” on page 42.

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.

View  Palettes. Some palettes

32 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Palette Description

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.

History Lists the actions taken on 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

Info palette (Manage workspace) Displays information about

the selected image. It consists of a camera-style display of the settings used to take the photo and a tabbed area that lets you edit and view information, such as tags and ratings, EXIF and IPTC data, and information about location and people.

Instant Effects Provides quick access to thumbnails of preset

effects that you can apply to your photos.

Layers Lets you view, organize, and adjust settings for

image layers

Learning Center Displays information about workflow, tools, and

commands to help you complete common tasks quickly and efficiently

Materials Lets you choose colors and materials for painting,

drawing, filling, and retouching

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

Navigation palette Lets you find and organize photos

Workspace tour 33

Palette Description

Organizer Lets you gather and display photos from various

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

Overview Displays a thumbnail of the active image; lets you

set a zoom level, and displays image information

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

run scripts

Tool Options Displays settings and controls for the active tool

To display or hide a palette

Edit workspace

• Choose View  Palettes, and click the palette name.

Palettes that are currently displayed are denoted with a check

mark

You can display or hide a floating palette by pressing F2.

To resize a palette

Edit workspace

• Drag the corner or edge of a palette.

You can also resize a docked palette by clicking the Minimize palette

or Maximize palette button in the upper-right

corner of the palette’s title bar.

Using toolbars

All three workspaces contain toolbars with buttons that are useful for performing common tasks. When you position the pointer over a

34 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

button, its name appears in a tooltip, and the status bar displays additional information about the command. In addition, in the Edit

workspace, the Learning Center provides advice on using the tool.

The Edit workspace is the main access point for the following toolbars:

• Effects — displays commands for applying effects to your images

• 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

Edit workspace

• Choose View  Too lb ar s, and click 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.

You can also display a toolbar by right-clicking any toolbar in the Edit workspace, choosing Too lb ar s, and then choosing the toolbar name.

To hide a specific toolbar, click the Close button on its title bar.

Workspace tour 35

You can display or hide a floating toolbar by pressing F2.

Flyout arrow

Using tools

You can use the 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 Adjust workspace contains a limited number of tools for quickly touching up your images, the Edit selection of tools for advanced image creation and editing. In the

workspace, some of these tools, such as the Crop, Move, and Text

Edit tools, reside in their own space on the Tools toolbar. Most tools, however, are grouped with other tools that perform similar tasks. A group of tools is denoted by a small flyout 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.

workspace contains a wide

For information about moving, hiding, and displaying the Tools toolbar in the Edit

workspace, see “Using toolbars” on page 34.

Depending on the type of layer you are working on, some tools may not be available. For example, the Paint Brush and Clone Brush tools work only on raster layers; the Pen tool works only on vector layers. For more information about raster and vector layers, see

“Understanding

layers” on page 340.

36 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

The following table briefly describes each tool on the Tools toolbar of the Edit

workspace. Some of these tools are also available in the Adjust

workspace.

Tool Description

Pan

Zoom

Pick

Move

Auto Selection

Smart Selection Brush

Selection

Freehand Selection

Magic Wand

Dropper

Crop

Straighten

Lets you control which part of the image is visible in the image window

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

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

Moves a raster layer or a vector layer on the canvas

Selects the edges of an area automatically when you enclose the area in a selection rectangle.

Selects the edges of an area automatically when you brush over a sample area.

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

Trims or eliminates unwanted edges

Rotates a crooked photo to straighten it

Workspace tour 37

Tool Description

Perspective Correction

Red Eye

Makeover

Clone

Scratch Remover

Object Remover

Paint Brush

Airbrush

Lighten/Darken

Dodge

Burn

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

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

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

38 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Tool Description

Smudge

Push

Soften

Sharpen

Emboss

Saturation Up/Down

Hue Up/Down

Change to Target

Color Replacer

Eraser

Background Eraser

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

Recolors pixels while retaining detail

Replaces the background/fill color with the foreground/stroke color when you click and drag, or replaces the foreground/stroke color with the background/fill color when you rightclick and drag

Erases raster layer pixels to transparency

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

Workspace tour 39

Tool Description

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 object 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

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

40 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Tool Description

Crayon

Colored Pencil

Marker

Watercolor Brush

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 watercolor brushstrokes 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

Workspace tour 41

Customizing toolbars and palettes

You can dock, float, resize, and move the toolbars and palettes to customize your workspace. When docking is enabled, toolbars and palettes can be automatically integrated into the workspace. When docking is disabled, toolbars and palettes can float anywhere on the screen without being integrated into the workspace.

You can keep the open palettes and toolbars fully displayed or roll them up when you’re not using them.

To set docking preferences

Edit workspace

1 Choose View  Docking Options.

The Preferences dialog box appears.

2In the Allow Docking Of group box, mark the palettes that you

want to dock.

Even if a palette is set for docking, you can still place it anywhere in the workspace without docking it by dragging it while holding down

To dock a toolbar or palette

Edit workspace

• Drag the toolbar or palette’s title bar to one edge of the workspace.

The toolbar or palette snaps into place.

Ctrl.

You can also dock a toolbar or palette by double-clicking its title bar.

42 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

To float a toolbar or palette

Edit workspace

1 Do one of the following:

• Place the pointer over the toolbar’s handle. The pointer becomes a four-sided mover icon.

• Place the pointer in the palette’s title bar.

2 Drag the toolbar or palette away from the workspace edge.

The handle size and position vary, depending on the size of the toolbar and whether it is vertical or horizontal.

You can also double-click the toolbar’s handle.

To move a toolbar or palette

Edit workspace

• Drag its title bar to a new position.

To resize a toolbar or palette

Edit workspace

• Drag a side or a corner of the toolbar or palette.

To display all toolbars and palettes

Edit workspace

• Press Ctrl + Shift + T.

To roll up a toolbar or palette

Edit workspace

• Click the Auto Hide pushpin button on the toolbar or palette’s title bar.

When the Auto Hide pushpin is pointing down, the toolbar or palette remains fully displayed.

Workspace tour 43

When the Auto Hide pushpin is pointing to the left , the toolbar or palette rolls up when you move your pointer away.

If you perform an action in which the toolbar or palette remains in focus, the toolbar or palette remains displayed even after the pointer moves away. When you click anywhere else or perform another action, the toolbar or palette rolls up.

When you click away from the palette or toolbar with the Auto Hide button activated, it rolls up in one of two ways: If it’s floating, only the title bar is visible; if it’s docked, a tab appears with the palette or toolbar name.

Clicking the Auto Hide button again prevents the palette from rolling up.

To display the palette again, position your pointer over the tab.

Using dialog boxes

Dialog boxes are windows that open when you choose certain

PaintShop Pro commands. You can use them to select and

Corel preview command options. All dialog boxes remember where you last positioned them on the screen and re-open in the same location.

There are two styles of dialog boxes. The following Adjust and Effect filters use a larger layout to make it easier to use interactive controls: Depth of Field, Digital Noise Removal, Graduated Filter, Red Eye Removal, Retro Lab, Selective Focus, Smart Photo Fix, and Vignette.

44 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Some Adjust and Effect dialog boxes use a larger layout.

For an example of the other style of dialog box, see “Choosing effects” on page 432.

Common features found in many dialog boxes include the following:

• Before and After panes — let you see the effect of the dialog box settings on your image before the effect is applied

• Zoom and Pan controls — let you zoom in and out on the preview areas, and change the current viewing area

• Presets — display saved settings, or scripts, that you can use to make quick changes to images. For more information, see

“Using

and creating presets” on page 747.

• Reset to Default button — lets you reset dialog box settings to their initial values

• Numeric edit controls — let you select or enter numeric values

• Color boxes — let you select colors for a command setting

Workspace tour 45

• Randomize parameters button — lets you preview random

— The Before and After panes are displayed.

— The Before and After panes are hidden.

settings.

Using preview areas

Most dialog boxes that you use to correct images, apply effects, or modify selections contain Before and After panes that show the image with changes applied.

In some dialog boxes, you can show or hide the Before and After pan es by clicking the Show/Hide

Previews button:

When you hide the Before and After panes, you can still see the effects of the current settings on the image by marking the

Preview on Image

check box in the upper-right corner of the dialog box.

Editing numeric values

To edit values in Corel PaintShop Pro dialog boxes, you can use the numeric edit control to enter values and change settings.

Using color boxes

In some dialog boxes, a color box displays the currently selected color for a given control. When you move the pointer over the color box, the pointer changes to a dropper and displays the RGB values.

Randomizing parameters

Many correction and effect dialog boxes contain a Randomize Parameters button

that lets you update settings with random

values.

46 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

To zoom in or out of the image preview

Enter a zoom setting here

Click these buttons to increase or decrease the zoom setting

Click and drag here to increase or decrease the zoom setting

• Set the value in the Zoom control.

You can also expand the dialog box to create more room for the Before and After panes.

To pan the image preview

Edit workspace

1 Move the pointer into the After pane.

The pointer changes to a hand.

2 Drag the image.

You can also hold down the Pan button , and then center the selection rectangle over the part of the image you want to display.

To proof changes in the main image window

Edit workspace

•Mark the Preview on Image check box.

Any change to a dialog box setting will be applied to the main image window.

To edit numeric values

Edit workspace

• Perform a task from the following table.

Workspace tour 47

To Do the following

Enter a specific value Click in the control, press Delete or

Backspace, and type a new value.

Increase or decrease the number by one

Choose an approximate value Click the slider.

Choose from the range of available settings

Click the up or down arrow.

Move the slider.

If you enter a value that is out of range for the control, it turns red.

You can also double-click the number to highlight it, and type a new value.

To choose a color from a dialog box

Edit workspace

• Perform a task from the following table.

To D o th e fo l low ing

Select a color Click the color box, and select a color

from the Color dialog box.

Select from recently used colors Right-click the color box, and select a

color in the Recent Colors dialog box.

To randomize settings within a dialog box

Edit workspace

• Click the Randomize parameters button .

48 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

You can try a variety of settings by continuing to click the Randomize parameters button until you get the effect you want.

Viewing images

You can view images in a tabbed format, in which a tab appears at the top of the image window. When you click a tab, the image in that window becomes the active image. You can also view images in windows, which you can move, resize, or close. You can open the same image in multiple tabs or image windows, which lets you see the image at different magnification levels.

The Tabbed Documents mode (left) lets you maximize your image viewing space. To view several images at the same time (right), turn Tabbed Documents mode off.

If you have multiple images open, you can arrange the image windows to view them side by side or stacked in cascading order. You can also see a list of all open images.

If the image is larger than the image window, you can pan to view different parts of the image, or you can fit the window to the image. You can also see a thumbnail of the entire image in the Overview palette. For more information, see

“Using palettes” on page 32.

The title bar at the top of the image window shows the filename and the magnification percentage. An asterisk after the filename indicates

Workspace tour 49

that the image has been modified and that those changes have not been saved.

If the image has an embedded watermark, a copyright symbol is displayed in front of its name. For more information, see

“Using digital

watermarks” on page 814.

To enable or disable the tabbed image window option

Edit workspace

• Choose Window  Tabbed Documents.

To view another image, click its tab. If an image tab is not in the current view, click the arrows in the upper-right corner of the image window to scroll left or right.

To close a tabbed-format image, click the Close button .

To move an image window

Edit workspace

• Drag the title bar.

To resize an image window

Edit workspace

• Drag a corner of the image window.

When you resize an image window, you are not changing the size of the image.

To minimize or maximize an image window

Edit workspace

• Perform a task from the following table.

50 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

To Do the following

Minimize the image window to display only the title bar

Maximize the image window to fill the workspace

Restore the image window to its previous size

Click the Minimize button .

Click the Maximize button .

Click the Restore Up button .

To close an image window

Edit workspace

• Choose File  Close.

If you have made unsaved changes to your image, you are prompted to save.

You can also click the Close button on the title bar.

To close all windows, choose Window  Close All.

To make a copy of the active image

Edit workspace

• Choose Window  Duplicate.

A copy of the active image opens. You can edit the copy independently of the original image.

You can also duplicate the active image by pressing Shift + D.

To open multiple views of the same image

Edit workspace

• Choose Window  New Window.

Workspace tour 51

A new window opens with another view of the active image. When you make changes in one window, both windows are updated.

To arrange multiple windows

Edit workspace

• Perform a task from the following table.

To Do the following

Display cascading windows

Display windows side by side vertically

Display windows side by side horizontally

Choose Window The windows cascade from the upper left to the lower right of the workspace.

Choose Window Windows are resized to fit within the workspace.

 Cascade.

 Tile Vertically.

 Tile Horizontally.

To see a list of all open images

Edit workspace

• Click the Window menu.

The names of all open images appear at the bottom of the Window menu. The filenames are listed in the order in which they were opened.

To view another area of the image

Edit workspace

• Perform a task from the following table.

52 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

To Do the following

Pan the image On the Tools toolbar, choose the Pan

tool , and then drag in the image. If any other tool is active,

hold down the Spacebar, and then drag in the image.

Change the view horizontally or vertically

Change the view by small incrementsPress the arrow keys.

Pan in the Overview palette Press F9 to display the Overview

Drag the horizontal or vertical scroll bar.

palette, click the Preview tab, place the pointer inside the panning rectangle, and drag. You can also set the zoom level in the Preview tab of the Overview palette.

To fit the image in the image window

Edit workspace

• Perform a task from the following table.

To Do the following

Fit the window to the image

Fit the image to the window

Fit the image and the window to the screen

Choose Window

 Fit to Image.

 Fit to Window.

 Fit to Screen.

Using shortcut keys

Corel PaintShop Pro lets you use shortcut keys to execute menu commands, select tools, display palettes, edit nodes on vector objects, and execute Organizer commands. All of the menu commands,

Workspace tour 53

including those for opening palettes, list their shortcut keys. Shortcut keys for tools are displayed when you move the pointer over a tool.

You can customize the shortcut keys. For more information, see “Customizing keyboard shortcuts” on page 692.

To access menu commands by using shortcut keys

•Hold down Alt, and press the underlined letter in the menu item.

For example, press Alt + F to open the File menu.

You can also scroll through the menus by using the arrow keys.

To view all shortcut keys

Edit workspace Manage workspace

• Choose Help  Keyboard Map.

Using context menus

Context menus provide quick access to commands that are specific to a tool, selection, palette, or other item. You can open a context menu by right-clicking the item.

To view a complete list of context menus

Edit workspace

1 Choose View  Customize.

The Customize dialog box appears.

2 Click the Menu tab.

3 Click the Select context menu drop-list.

All of the context menu names appear in the drop-list. If you want to open a specific context menu, select it.

54 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

To use a context menu

1 Right-click an image, an empty area of a palette, a layer on the

Layers palette, a thumbnail in the Organizer, or a toolbar.

2 Choose a command.

Using rulers, grids, and guides

The Edit workspace displays the rulers by default. You can choose a ruler display in pixels, inches, or centimeters, change the color of the rulers, or altogether hide them.

What is a grid?

A grid is a series of horizontal and vertical lines overlaying your image. Grid lines can help you position image elements. You can display or hide grids and set grid preferences for spacing and appearance. When you display grids, they appear in all open image windows.

What are guides?

Guides are horizontal or vertical lines you position to overlay your image. With the rulers displayed, you drag guides onto your image to help with precision work, such as cropping, moving image elements, selections, as well as text and brushstroke placement. While grids place a series of horizontal and vertical lines at certain intervals, you place guides at the locations you want.

Setting snapping

You can use snapping to align your brushstrokes and image elements precisely to the nearest grid line or guide. The snap influence controls the distance, in pixels, that an element must be from a guide or grid line in order to snap to it. An item’s center point snaps to a guide or grid if the center point is the closest part of the item to a grid or guide.

Workspace tour 55

To display the ruler, grid, or guides

Edit workspace

• Choose the View menu, and select one of the following:

• Rulers

• Grid

• Guides

You must first display rulers before you can drag guidelines onto your image.

To set ruler properties

Edit workspace Manage workspace

1 Choose File  Preferences  General Program Preferences.

The Preferences dialog box appears.

2 Choose Units from the list.

3In the Rulers group box, choose an option from the Display Units

drop-list.

4 Choose the ruler color by selecting one of the following options:

• Black on white — displays black hash marks and numbers on a white background

• Toolbar colors — displays black hash marks and numbers on a color background that is used in toolbars and palettes

5 Click OK.

To set default or current grid properties

Edit workspace

1 Choose View  Change Grid, Guide & Snap Properties.

The Grid, Guide & Snap Properties dialog box appears.

2 Click the Grid tab.

56 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

The Default settings group box shows the default settings for the grid. The

Current image settings group box shows settings for the

grid in the current image.

3 Type or set a value in the Horizontal grids control to set the

distance between horizontal grid lines (starting from the top of the image).

4 Type or set a value in the Vertical grids control to set the distance

between vertical grid lines (starting from the left side of the image).

5 Choose a unit of measurement option from the Units drop-list.

6 Click OK.

You can also

Choose a grid color Click the Color box, and choose a color

from the color palette.

Set the snap influence level Type or set a value in the Snap influence

control.

Workspace tour 57

To place a horizontal or vertical guide

Edit workspace

1 If the rulers are not displayed, choose View  Rulers.

2 Choose View  Guides.

3 Do one of the following:

• To place a horizontal guide, click the top ruler, and drag a guide into position.

• To place a vertical guide, click the left ruler, and drag a guide into position.

As you drag, the Status bar displays the guide’s position (in pixels).

4 For further placement position, on a ruler, double-click a guide

handle.

The Guide Properties dialog box appears.

5 Type or set a value in the Guide position control.

6 Click OK.

To change the color of a guide

Edit workspace

1 On a ruler, double-click a guide handle.

The Grid, Guide & Snap Properties dialog box appears.

2 On the Guides tab, click the Color box, and choose a color from

the color palette.

3 Click OK.

To set the default properties for guides

Edit workspace

1 Choose View  Change Grid, Guide, and Snap Properties.

The Grid, Guide & Snap Properties dialog box appears.

2 Click the Guides tab.

58 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

The Default Settings group box shows the default settings for guides. The

Current Image Settings group box shows settings for

the guides in the current image.

3In the Default Settings group box, click the Color box, and choose

a color from the color palette.

If you want to choose a recently-used color, right-click the Color box, and choose a color from the Recent Colors dialog box.

4 Type or set a value in the Snap influence control to specify the

distance (in pixels) that an item must be from the guide in order for it to snap.

5 Click OK.

Note: You must choose the Snap to Guide command in the View menu.

To delete guides from an image

Edit workspace

1 Choose View  Change Grid, Guide, & Snap Properties.

2 Click the Guides tab.

3Mark the Delete guides check box.

4 Choose one of the following options:

• From current image only

• From all open images

5 Click OK.

You can also drag a guide’s handle until the guide is off the image area, or right-click a guide handle and click

Delete in the

Guide Properties dialog box.

Workspace tour 59

To snap to the nearest guide or grid line

Edit workspace

•From the View menu, choose one of the following:

• Snap to Guides

• Snap to Grid

60 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Getting started

You can bring your images into Corel PaintShop Pro in various ways: you can import photos that you have transferred to your computer, scan images directly into the application, capture images from the computer screen; or you can create an image.

After you bring your images into the application, you can access many basic commands that help you view images and image information. You can perform basic actions such as cut, copy, undo, and repeat.

This section presents the following topics:

• Getting photos into Corel PaintShop Pro

• Connecting with image scanners

• Opening and closing images

• Saving images

• Creating images

• Viewing images and image information

• Capturing images from the computer screen

• Zooming and panning

• Cutting, copying, and pasting

• Copying images into other applications

• Undoing and redoing actions

• Repeating commands

• Deleting images

• Files supported by Corel PaintShop Pro

Getting started 61

Getting photos into Corel PaintShop Pro

After you transfer your photos to your computer (by using Windows or the software for your camera), you can import your photos into Corel

PaintShop Pro. You import photos by browsing to folders. The photos in the folders are then cataloged automatically in a database. This makes it easy to find, edit, and update the information for your photos.

Although you can browse to folders from any workspace, the Manage workspace is designed to make it easy to review and manage multiple photos. For more information about importing options, see folders for photos” on page 105.

To import your photos into Corel PaintShop Pro

Manage workspace

1 In the Navigation palette, click the Collections tab, and click

Browse More Folders.

2 In the Browse For Folder dialog box, navigate to the folder you

want.

3 Click OK.

The folder is added to the folder list and all the images are cataloged in the application database.

“Browsing

You can open the Navigation palette from any workspace by clicking the

Show/Hide Navigation button on the Organizer

palette.

62 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Connecting with image scanners

Your scanning software may allow you to choose an application for scanning images. Many TWAIN, WIA, and USB scanners are compatible with Corel

32-bit and 64-bit scanner compatibility

WIA (Microsoft Windows Image Acquisition) is supported by both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Corel

TWAIN is supported by both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of

PaintShop Pro. However, to work with the 64-bit version of

Corel

PaintShop Pro, your scanner must support 64-bit applications (in

Corel some cases, scanner drivers install to the 64-bit version of Windows, but do not support interaction with 64-bit applications). How can you tell? After you install the 64-bit scanner driver from the manufacturer, a file appears in the following location: Windows/twain_64. If you do not see the twain_64 folder and a file within the folder, then the driver does not support 64-bit applications. For more information, please refer to the scanner manufacturer’s website.

To get images from a scanner

Edit workspace

1 After installing the software that came with your scanner, connect

your scanner to your computer.

2In Corel PaintShop Pro, choose File  Import, and click From

Scanner or Camera the type of scanner.

3 Use the scanner’s software to perform the scan.

If you have set up your scanner to work with Corel PaintShop Pro, the image is displayed in the application after it is processed. The scanner’s software may remain open, so you can either continue to acquire images or exit the software.

PaintShop Pro.

(WIA option) or TWAIN Acquire, depending on

Getting started 63

After scanning multiple photos at the same time, you can quickly create individual image files by using the Image

feature. For more information, see “To create a new

Crop as New

image by cropping” on page 168.

After cropping an image, you might notice that the Width and Height values on the Tool Options palette are each set at 0.100. These settings do not reflect the cropped image size. To see the image size dimensions after cropping, choose Information

Image  Image

Opening and closing images

You can open most image formats in Corel PaintShop Pro. You can open the images by using the menu bar or by using the Manage Corel open in Corel information about setting file format associations, see format associations” on page 716.For a list of the file formats that you can open in Corel PaintShop Pro, see “Files supported by Corel PaintShop Pro” on page 96. For information on RAW files, see “Supported RAW file formats” on page 149.

To open an image

Edit workspace

1 Choose File  Open.

2In 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.

4 Click Open.

workspace. You can associate specific file formats with

PaintShop Pro, such as JPEG, TIF, or PNG, so that these files will

PaintShop Pro when you double-click them. For more

“Setting file

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

64 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

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

Run a script on the files as they openIn the Open dialog box, mark the

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

Enable Pre-processing check box, and choose a script from the droplist.

To open a recently viewed file

Edit workspace

• Choose File  Recent Files, and choose the filename.

By default, the Recent Files menu lists four recently viewed files. You can choose to list up to 10 files. For more information, see “To set the number of files that appear in the Recent Files list” on page 704.

To open an image from the Manage workspace

Manage workspace

• Click a thumbnail to select the file.

To view thumbnails from another folder, click Browse More Folders on the Navigation palette, and from the Browse For Folder dialog box that appears, choose the folder you want. The folder appears in the Folders list.

You can work with the file in the Manage workspace, or click the Adjust tab or Edit tab to edit the file in another workspace.

To open a RAW photo image

Edit workspace

• Do one of the following:

Getting started 65

• Choose File  Open.

• Double-click on a RAW image thumbnail.

• Hold down Ctrl, and click the filenames or thumbnails to open multiple files.

The Camera RAW Lab dialog box opens. This dialog box lets you adjust the settings that are stored with the RAW photo file.

To close an image

• Choose File  Close.

In the Edit workspace, you can also close an image by clicking the

Close button above the image.

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 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 can then save the files to common file formats. You can also use

Save for Office command if you want to optimize your images for

the placement in another application, such as a page layout, e-mail, or Web page design application.

The following list provides basic information about common file formats:

• JPEG — a standard file format for digital photos that is suitable for e-mail and the Web. It uses lossy compression, which ensures a small file size but entails a loss of image data each time you save.

66 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

For this reason, this format is not recommended for editing photos unless a high quality setting is used. This file format supports EXIF and IPTC data, which can be used to provide information about the photo, such as when a photo was taken.

• TIFF — a standard file format for printing and sharing images between programs. This file format uses non-lossy compression. Although you do not lose image data when you save the file, the larger file size is less suitable for e-mail and the Web. TIFF can save data in the CMYK color mode for printing, and it supports EXIF and IPTC data.

• PNG — a file format widely used for Web images. It uses non-lossy compression to reduce the file size without losing image data.

• RAW camera formats — a file format typically used by professional photographers. RAW camera formats provide uncompressed, unprocessed image data and gives you the most control over how an image is processed. You must have a camera that captures digital image in a RAW format, and you need software that lets you open and work with the file, such as

PaintShop Pro.

Corel

You can save a PspImage file with or without compression. Both compression methods that Corel

PaintShop Pro uses are lossless and reduce the file size without losing any image information. Uncompressed files require more disk space.

Corel PaintShop Pro uses the following compression methods:

• Run length encoding (RLE) — a fast compression method, which

compresses most multilayer images to about 75 percent of their original size. This method works well with images that contain large areas of the same color.

Getting started 67

• LZ77 compression — a slower compression method that compresses most images to smaller sizes than with the RLE method. This method works well with photorealistic images.

When you save a new image, Corel PaintShop Pro lets you select its location, name, and file format. When you save an image and then edit it, the image title bar displays an asterisk, or modifier tag, after the filename to indicate that the file has been modified. This tag disappears each time you save your work.

You can also automatically save your files at specific intervals to avoid losing your work if your computer shuts down unexpectedly. For more information, see

“Setting Autosave preferences” on page 725.

If you want to save a version of a file, you can save a copy of an image. This is useful when you want to apply effects to an image but keep the original file.

Important! The Auto-Preserve Original preference setting can help you avoid overwriting original images. By default, this feature is on. For more information on this preference setting, see “Setting AutoPreserve preferences” on page 709.

To sa v e a n ew im age

Edit workspace

1 Choose File  Save.

The Save As dialog box appears.

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

save the file.

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

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

commonly used formats are listed first.

68 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

If you want to change the default settings for the file format (for example compression or color profile), click

Options, and choose

the settings you want.

5 Click Save.

You can also save your work by clicking the Save As button on the Standard toolbar to avoid overwriting your current file.

You can also adjust default settings for JPEG images by dragging the

Compression slider the first time you save a JPEG

in your editing session.

You can save in the last-used file format by choosing File  Preferences  General Program Preferences, and clicking Display and Caching group box, mark the

from the list on the left side. In the Presentation

Re-use last type in the file save-as dialog

check box.

To save your work

Edit 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 Auto-Preserve 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.

You can also save your work by clicking the Save button on the Standard toolbar.

Getting started 69

To save a copy of an image

Edit workspace

1 Choose the File  Save Copy As.

The Save Copy As dialog box appears.

2From the Save in drop-list, choose a folder in which to save the

image.

If you want to create a new folder for the image, click the Create New Folder

button.

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

If you want to save the file in a different format, select the format from the

Save as type drop-list. The most commonly used formats

are listed first.

If you want to change the default settings for the file format (for example compression or color profile), click

Options, and choose

the settings you want.

4 Click Save.

To save images for office applications

Edit workspace

1 Choose File  Save for Office.

The Save for Office dialog box appears.

2From the Save in drop-list, choose a folder in which to save the

image.

If you want to create a new folder for the image, click the Create

New Folder button .

3From the Optimize drop-list, choose one of the following:

• Desktop Printing — sets the image resolution to 200 dpi. This

option is ideal for when you are working in a general page layout application and you want high-quality images but not an overwhelming file size.

70 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

• Professional Printing — sets the image resolution to 300 dpi. This option is ideal for when you need the highest image quality.

• Screen or e-mail — sets the image resolution to 96 dpi. This option is ideal for when you want a smaller file size that can be shared or displayed quickly.

4In the File name box, type a name for the file.

5 Choose a file format from the Save as type drop-list.

6 Click Save.

You can also

Define the maximum image size Mark the Advanced Settings check

box, and then adjust the Width and Height settings. Choose a unit of measure from the drop-list on the right.

Adjust the image quality Mark the Advanced Settings check

box, and then choose a resolution from the Image quality drop-list.

Use the most recent settings from the Save to Office dialog box

Use the default settings for the Save to Office dialog box

From the Optimize drop-list, choose Last Used.

From the Optimize drop-list, choose Default. The settings are the same as the default Screen or e-mail settings.

Creating images

The New Image dialog box is like a start screen for your creative projects. You can choose a preset, such as a standard page, photo size, or Facebook timeline cover, or you can create a custom image. The section below describes some of the settings available.

There are two types of computer graphics: raster and vector. With Corel

PaintShop Pro, you can create both types of images. You can also

Getting started 71

create an image with both raster and vector layers. It is important to understand the differences between these two data types before you begin working with them.

Raster graphics

Raster images are composed of individual elements, called pixels, which are arranged in a grid. Each pixel has a specific location and color. If you magnify raster data, you can see the individual pixels as squares of colors. Raster images contain a fixed number of pixels, so when you magnify the image you are magnifying the display size of the pixels. As a result, raster images may display jagged rather than smooth edges when magnified on screen or when printed at a large magnification.

An object in a raster image is defined by its pixels. For example, the front door in an image of a house is made up of a mosaic of pixels at certain locations in the image. In bitmap images, you edit pixels rather than objects or shapes.

Raster images can display subtle changes in tones and colors, so they are most often used for images like photographs and digital artwork.

Vector graphics

Vector graphics use geometric characteristics — lines, curves, and their locations — to define objects. For example, a door in a graphic of a house is made up of a rectangle that has a certain width and height, is placed at a specific location, and is filled with a certain color. In vector images, you edit objects or shapes rather than pixels.

Vector graphics do not lose clarity or detail when they are scaled or printed, regardless of the change in size or resolution. For this reason, vector graphics are suited to technical illustrations or corporate logos.

72 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Choosing to work with raster or vector data

With Corel PaintShop Pro, you create and edit raster and vector data on separate layers. With some tools you create raster data (like brushstrokes with the Paint tool), and with other tools (like the Text and Preset Shapes tools) you can choose whether you want to create raster or vector data.

In general, it is best to use a vector object if you need to edit it as an element separate from other parts of the image. For example, if you add a star to an image, you may want to change its size, color, or location. You can make these changes more easily if the star is a vector object. You can create raster data on separate layers, which can be easily edited or moved.

To apply tools or commands to vector objects that work only on raster data (such as the painting tools or the Effects commands), you can create a raster selection of a vector object and then paste the selection to a new raster layer.

Understanding image size, resolution, and color depth

Before you create a new image, you need to consider how you will use it. For example, will you display the image on a website, send it as an e-mail attachment, or print it? How you use the image helps you determine its size, resolution, and color depth.

Image size is represented by the physical dimensions of the image. When you create a new image or resize an existing image with

PaintShop Pro, you can define image height and width in pixels,

Corel inches, millimeters, or centimeters.

The following are guidelines for choosing a unit of measure:

Getting started 73

• If you plan to print the images, use inches or centimeters. By starting with the final image dimensions, you can produce an image that fits the page.

• If you plan to export the images to another application (such as a word-processing application), and then resize and print them, you can use any of the options.

• If you plan to display the images on the screen, use pixels.

You can resize an image after creating it, but doing so may result in loss of image data. For more information about resizing images, see “Retouching and restoring images” on page 239.

Image Resolution is measured in pixels per inch (ppi) or pixels per centimeter. Low resolution can cause pixelation, a problem in which large pixels produce coarse output. High resolution can increase an image’s memory requirements without producing a proportional increase in its quality.

Color Depth is measured according to the number of colors that a pixel can display. Each pixel’s color information is stored in bits — from 1 to 48 bits. In a 1-bit image, each pixel can display only one of two colors (black or white). In a 24-bit image, each pixel can display 1 of 16 million colors. Images with a color depth of 16 million colors look good, but they also require more memory to store and edit. Not all computer monitors can display 16 million colors, so some file formats limit the number of supported colors. For example, GIF images, a popular format for the Web, contain up to 256 colors (8-bit depth).

Many of the commands in Corel PaintShop Pro for applying effects and correcting images work on 16 million–color images only. Therefore, it’s best to create most images in 16 million colors. When you have finished working on the image, you can decrease its color depth and save it in another format.

74 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

You can create an image by using the New command in the File menu, or by copying aspects of an existing image. When you use an existing image as the source of your new image, you can copy the entire image or an individual layer. You can also create an image from any graphic data copied to the Clipboard from Corel PaintShop Pro.

When you create a new image in Corel PaintShop Pro, you can specify its dimensions, resolution, and type. The options available depend on the type of graphic you want to create. If you’re uncertain as to what type of graphic you need for your project, or which settings to choose, review the information in the following procedure. For more information about creating Art Media graphics, see

“Painting and

drawing with the Art Media tools” on page 631.

To create an image

Edit workspace

1 Choose File  New.

The New Image dialog box appears.

2 To choose a preset, click one of the category buttons on the left,

and choose a preset. To adjust the preset, or to define a custom image, follow the steps below.

3In the Image Dimensions group box, type or set values for the

following controls:

• Units — specifies the unit of measure

• Width — specifies the width of the new image

• Height — specifies the height of the new image

• Resolution — specifies number of pixels contained in the chosen unit of measure

If you want to choose preset dimensions, choose an option from the

Load Preset drop-list.

Getting started 75

4In the Image Characteristics group box, choose one of the

following options:

• Raster Background — suitable for most graphics and painting tasks

• Vector Background — suitable for vector graphics

• Art Media Background — lets you use the Art Media tools

5 Choose an option from the Color depth drop list.

If you chose the Raster Background option, you can choose a background color for the image by clicking the color box and choosing a color from the Material Properties palette. To choose a transparent background (for 8-bit or 16-bit images only), mark the

Transparent check box.

If you chose the Art Media Background option, you can choose a canvas texture from the want to choose a color for the canvas, mark the

Select the canvas texture drop-list. If you

Enable fill color check box, click the color box, and choose a color from the Color dialog box.

6 Click OK.

The Memory Required field displays the amount of memory required for the image. Your computer’s available memory should be at least two to three times the value displayed in the Memory Required field. To reduce the memory requirement, you can reduce the resolution or the dimensions of the image.

For more information on choosing colors or materials, see “Using the Materials palette” on page 403.

To duplicate an image

Edit workspace

1 Open the image you want to duplicate.

2 Choose Window  Duplicate.

76 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

A new window containing a copy of the image appears in the workspace.

To create an image from a layer

Edit workspace

1 On the Layers palette, click the layer you want to copy.

2 Choose Edit, and click one of the following:

• Copy

• Cut

The current layer is placed on the Clipboard.

3 Choose Edit  Paste As New Image.

A new window containing the layer appears in the workspace.

To create a new image from a layered image

Edit workspace

1 On the Layers palette, click the layer you want to copy.

2 Choose Edit  Copy Special  Copy Merged.

All layers are copied to the Clipboard.

3 Choose Edit  Paste As New Image.

A new image window appears in the workspace. The new image contains all layers merged into one raster layer.

To create an image from the Clipboard contents

Edit workspace

1 Copy a selection or layer of an image, or an item from another

program.

2 Choose Edit  Paste As New Image.

The Clipboard contents are pasted as a new image.

Getting started 77

If the Paste As New Image command is grayed out, then the data you have copied to the Clipboard cannot be pasted as a

PaintShop Pro image.

Corel

A dialog box may appear and request additional information, such as the width and height of the new image window. You can change your preferences so that

Corel PaintShop Pro does not prompt you for size and options when you paste data. For more information about setting file format preferences, see “Setting file format preferences” on page 710.

Viewing images and image information

When you open an image in Corel PaintShop Pro, it appears in an image window. The title bar of the image window displays the image filename and the level of magnification applied to the image. An asterisk after the filename indicates that the image has been modified and that the changes have not been saved.

You can view basic image information, such as the height and width of an image (in pixels) and its color depth. You can also view detailed information for the image, such as its resolution, color depth, layers and alpha channels, and EXIF data. You can also view the number of unique colors in an image.

You can also view and edit image information in the Info palette that displays in the “Displaying and editing photo information” on page 135.

Manage workspace. For more information, see

The EXIF Information tab of the Image Information dialog box lets you view EXIF data for digital camera photos. When you take a photo with a digital camera, the camera attaches information to the image, such as the date and time that it was captured, the exposure, and the flash

78 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

settings. When you load a photo from a digital camera into Corel

PaintShop Pro, you can view this extra information.

You can expand the workspace to preview an image without the menus, toolbars, or palettes visible.

The Status bar, which is located at the bottom of the application window, displays the cursor position, height and width in pixels, and color depth for the current image.

To view digital photo information

Edit workspace

1 Open an image.

2 Choose Image  Image information.

• Click the Image Information tab to view the filename, file format, image dimensions, resolution, color depth, modification status, number of layers and alpha channels, and the amount of RAM and disk space used for the image. This page also displays the image’s selections, masks, alpha channels, and Undo storage.

• Click the Creator Information tab to view or edit the image’s title, artist’s name, copyright, description, date of creation, and date of modification.

• Click the Watermark Information tab to view and add information about Digimarc watermarking.

• Click the EXIF Information tab to view information for images taken with digital cameras. In the check boxes for the information you want to display: Device

, Artist, Date, Image, Shot Conditions, GPS, or Makernote. Some items are editable (as denoted by an asterisk). To add customized text for an editable item, click in the column, and then type your custom information.

Section group box, mark the

Input

Value

Getting started 79

You can also add IPTC data to the image information by using the Advanced Creator Information dialog box. This can be useful for photojournalists, for example, who may need to record IPTC data about when and where a photo was shot, and how urgently the photo needs to be reviewed. To access this dialog box, click the

Creator Information tab, and then click

Advanced.

EXIF and IPTC data is also available on the Info palette in the Manage workspace.

To view image color information

Edit workspace

• Choose Image  Count Image Colors to display the number of unique colors in the image.

To view layer color information

Edit workspace

• Choose Layers  Count Layer Colors to display the number of unique colors in the current layer.

To view an image on the full screen

Edit workspace

• Choose View  Full Screen Preview.

The workspace disappears, and the image appears at its current magnification.

To return to the Corel PaintShop Pro workspace, press any key.

80 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Capturing images from the computer screen

Corel PaintShop Pro lets you capture images from your computer screen. Captured screens can then be embedded in documents such as reports, training guides, presentations, and Web pages.

To initiate the capture process, you must choose settings and then press a hot key, right-click, or set a delay timer. You can define your own hot key. You can also specify the delay period, so that you can set up elements such as menu lists or flyouts before completing the capture.

You can specify the window elements you want to capture. For example, you can capture the active window, a menu, an image, or a part of an image. However, hot keys and right-clicking cannot be used for capturing user-defined areas.

You can also capture a series of images. Each image is assigned a value and placed in order in the series. You can open the series of images in a graphics or word-processing application.

If you frequently capture screens, you may want to create a new, customized toolbar containing the icons for the screen capture command. For more information, see page 689.

“Customizing toolbars” on

To specify a method for capturing screens

Edit workspace

1 Choose File  Import  Screen Capture  Setup.

2In the Activate capture using area, choose one of the following

options:

• Right mouse click — lets you capture screen contents by right-clicking

Getting started 81

• Hot key — lets you use a keyboard shortcut to capture screen contents. Choose a key or key combination from the drop-list.

• Delay timer — lets you capture screen contents after a specified delay. Type a number in the seconds box.

To specify capture settings

Edit workspace

1 Choose File  Import  Screen Capture  Setup.

2 In the Capture area, choose one of the following options:

• Area — captures the area of the screen that you select

• Full screen — captures the entire screen

• Client area — captures the contents of the active program

• Window — captures the active window

• Object — captures an object within the program that you select, such as a menu bar, toolbar, icon, or document window

3 Click OK.

To capture an image or series of images

Edit workspace

1 Choose File  Import  Screen Capture  Setup.

If you want to capture multiple images, mark the Multiple Captures

If you want to include the pointer in the capture, mark the Include Cursor

2 Click Capture Now.

3 Set up the image you want to capture.

If you want to capture an area of the screen, marquee select that area. If you want to capture an object, click the object.

4 Press the hot key or right-click.

check box.

check box in the Options group box.

82 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

If you marked the Multiple captures check box, you can now capture another image. Press the hot key, or right-click, for each capture. When you are finished, click the Corel PaintShop Pro button on the Windows task bar. The images appear in the workspace.

Zooming and panning

By default, images that you open in Corel PaintShop Pro appear at a magnification level that allows the full image to appear in the workspace. You can zoom in to get a closer look at image detail or zoom out to view a larger portion of the image. You can also magnify a specific area of an image.

You can view image areas that fall outside the current image window. For example, when you are working at a high magnification level, you can pan or jump to a different image area without having to adjust the magnification level. When an image is too large to fit within its window, scroll bars appear on the bottom and right sides of the image.

Getting started 83

You can use the Zoom tool to magnify your image (left) or you can use the Magnifier command to view a specific area without changing the magnification of the image (right).

To zoom

Edit workspace

1 On the Tools toolbar, choose the Zoom tool .

2 Click to magnify the area, or right-click to reduce the area.

The magnification changes to a preset percentage that appears in the

Zoom (%) control on the Tool Options palette.

You can also

Magnify the image by a specified percentage

View the image at 100%

On the Tool Options palette, type a value in the Zoom (%) control.

Choose View

click the Zoom to 100% button on the Tool Options palette.

 Zoom to 100%, or

By default, when you zoom in or out, the image window automatically resizes to fit the image.

84 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

You can also change the magnification when the Zoom tool is active by using the scroll-wheel if one is included on your mouse or stylus.

You can also change the magnification of an image by choosing

View  Zoom in and View  Zoom out.

To magnify an image area

Edit workspace

1 Choose View  Magnifier to place the cursor in magnifier mode.

2 Position the cursor over the image area that you want to magnify.

The area under the cursor is displayed at 500%.

To turn off the magnifier mode, choose View  Magnifier again.

To pan around an image

Edit workspace

1 On the Tools toolbar, choose the Pan tool .

2 Drag within the image.

You can also

Pan while using another tool Hold down the Spacebar, and drag

with the other tool.

Pan around an image by using the Overview palette

Drag the preview rectangle on the Overview palette to a new position.

To fit the window to the image

Edit workspace

• Choose Window  Fit to Image.

Getting started 85

You can also fit the window to the image by clicking the Fit Window to Image

button on the Tool Options palette

when the Pan tool or Zoom tool is active.

Cutting, copying, and pasting

You can sele ct an entire i mage, part of an image, or a n entire laye r, and cut it or copy it to the Clipboard. You can then paste the Clipboard content into the same image or another image, or into another application, such as an e-mail program or word processor. The basic commands for cutting, copying, and pasting are as follows:

• Cut — removes the selected content to the Clipboard and replaces it with the image background color or transparency

• Copy — copies the selected content to the Clipboard

• Copy Merged — copies a flattened (merged) version of all the layers in a selection to the Clipboard

• Copy Special — provides three options for optimizing copied content for subsequent pasting into another application

• Paste — pastes cut or copied content from the Clipboard into the same image or another image

• Clear — deletes the selected content

• Empty Clipboard — erases the data from the Clipboard. Placing data on the Clipboard for cutting and pasting can slow your computer’s performance. Emptying the Clipboard can restore the performance speed of your computer. Once applied, this command cannot be undone.

You can cut or copy a selection, layer, or vector object. You can paste the selected content as a new image, a new layer, or a selection.

86 Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide

Corel PaintShop Pro - X8 User Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Welcome

What’s new in Corel PaintShop Pro X8

Installing and uninstalling Corel programs

To install Corel PaintShop Pro

To uninstall Corel PaintShop Pro

Starting and exiting the program

To start Corel PaintShop Pro

To exit Corel PaintShop Pro

Registering Corel products

Updates and messages

To turn notification messages on or off

To update your program

To check for messages

Corel Support Services

About Corel

The digital workflow

Documentation conventions

Learning how to use Corel PaintShop Pro 17

Using the Help system

To use the Help system

Corel PaintShop Pro X8 User Guide PDF

Using the Learning Center palette

To display or hide the Learning Center palette

To use the Learning Center palette

Learning with video tutorials

To open the Discovery Center window

Using Web-based resources

To access Web-based resources

To access Corel learning resources

Workspace tour

Exploring the workspaces

Switching between workspaces

To switch between workplaces

Choosing a workspace color

To choose a workspace color

To ch a nge the background color

Using palettes

To display or hide a palette

To resize a palette

Using toolbars

To display or hide a toolbar

Using tools

Customizing toolbars and palettes

To set docking preferences

To dock a toolbar or palette

To float a toolbar or palette

To move a toolbar or palette

To resize a toolbar or palette

To display all toolbars and palettes

To roll up a toolbar or palette

Using dialog boxes

To zoom in or out of the image preview

To pan the image preview

To proof changes in the main image window

To edit numeric values

To choose a color from a dialog box

To randomize settings within a dialog box

Viewing images

To enable or disable the tabbed image window option

To move an image window

To resize an image window

To minimize or maximize an image window

To close an image window

To make a copy of the active image

To open multiple views of the same image

To arrange multiple windows

To see a list of all open images

To view another area of the image

To fit the image in the image window

Using shortcut keys

To access menu commands by using shortcut keys

To view all shortcut keys

Using context menus

To view a complete list of context menus

To use a context menu