Up &
Running with Paint Shop Pro 5.02
This
month PC User is pleased to offer a special deal from Communique
Communications, distributors of Paint Shop Pro. PC User readers can
buy the full commercial version of Paint Shop Pro v 5.02 for
only $50.00 (plus $10.00 for postage and handling). This version was
the current version up until September of last year and sold for
$179. For those readers who'd like to take up this offer, they can
also purchase the current version of BladePro for only $29. This
currently retails for $79. So for just $79, you can get a copy of
Paint Shop Pro plus the excellent BladePro plug-in.
But
even if you choose not to take up this offer you will find,
absolutely free on this month’s cover CD, and exclusive to PC User
readers, Flaming Pear Primus – another graphic plug-in for Paint
Shop Pro and other paint software.
Paint
Shop Pro has always been one of our favourite graphics tools, and
many times we have offered the shareware version on our cover CD. It
is easy to use, and still supports many features found in much
higher end tools – such as layers, Picture Tube brushes and
deformation tools. Of course if all this is new to you, the
advantage of purchasing the full version is you get a printed manual
with tutorials on how to use all these tools. But the online help is
still a good starting point.
There are a number of graphics filters built-in such
as Blurs, Noise, Sharpen and special things like ‘Hot Wax
Coating’. If these
aren’t enough you can add plug-in filters for extra functionality.
This is what Flaming Pear’s Blade Pro and Primus filters are all
about.
Installing
a graphic Plug-in in Paint Shop Pro
Plug-in
filters will appear at the bottom of Paint Shop Pro’s Image menu.
But to do this you need to first install the plugin, then tell PSP
where it is.
With
Blade Pro you just run the installation file and it will install the
filters by default to C:\Program Files\BladePro.
Primus
comes as a single files called Primus 1.7p.8bf. Using Windows
Explorer browse to the C:\Program Files\Paint Shop Pro 5 folder
on your hard disc (assuming you installed to the default location).
If one doesn’t already exist, create a sub folder called ‘plugins’.
Copy the Primus 1.7p.8bf file into this plugins folder.
Plug-ins
can be located anywhere on your hard disc, but for convenience’
sake, it is best to keep them all in the one place, unless they
install to their own folder like Blade Pro.
Now
we need to tell Paint Shop Pro where the plug-ins are. Open PSP and
from the File menu select Preferences/General Program Preferences.
Click on the ‘Plug-in Filters’ tab. You can select from here
three different folder locations to search for plug-ins. To set-up
Blade Pro, Browse to the folder where it was installed. For the Primus plugin, Browse to
the Plugins folder under PSP if it is not already listed. Click OK then
close Paint Shop Pro and open it again.
There
should be a new entry under the PSP Image menu for Plug-in Filter,
with a sub-menu for Flaming Pear. (See Figure 1) You can install
other plugins that you purchase or download in this way and they
will appear in their own submenus under this Plug-in Filters menu.
Using
Blade Pro
Plug-in
filters can be simple one-shot deals, like most of the built-in
filters, or mini-applications unto themselves. Blade Pro is of the
latter type. It is a 3D surface and texture generator. Like any
graphic filter it can be applied to the entire image or to a single
layer or selected area. It is a great tool to creating realistic 3D
buttons from a 2D image, or adding extra texture and depth to an
existing image.
In
Blade Pro, if you’re not sure what you want or how to get it,
click on the dice and you can randomise the controls. Keep clicking
till you hit on something you like, then tweak the controls to fine
tune it. This is a great way to experiment with the program.
Blade
Pro is pretty logical once you play around with it a bit, allowing
you to control texture height, shape colour, gloss, glare, tarnish,
material and heaps more. A
fabulous tool for anyone who wants to create realistic (or not so
realistic) 3D buttons and icons or just unusual textures.
Using
Primus
Primus
is a freebie from Flaming Pear, though it is not available from
their Web Site – only to PC User readers.
It
is essentially Blade Pro Lite. Before the program will work properly
you need to get an activation code off the Web. Click on the
Question mark icon within Primus and click ‘Launch Web browser’
to take you directly to the Special PC User registration page. Fill
out some details and a registration code will be emailed to you
directly, which you can cut and paste into the field in the
‘help’ window.
Primus
offers 16 pre-defined 3D effects buttons. You can control the
‘Radius’ of each (meaning the thickness) but that’s about it.
Primus
is pretty limited in scope, but the effects it offers are
nonetheless very cool, and should give you a taste for the power
that is in Blade Pro.
Check
out these PSP tutorials:
Glow
tutorial
Outline
tutorial
Soft
Focus tutorial
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