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


 

Figure 1


Once fully installed your plug-ins will appear in the Image menu in a  new sub-menu called Plug-in Filters.

 

Figure 2


Blade Pro offers full control over how your 3D texture is applied

 

Figure 3


Primus offers little control over how an effect is applied, but the 16 pre-defined effects are nonetheless pretty cool.

 

Category: Graphics
OS: Windows 95/98/NT 4
Licence: Shareware
URL: http://www.paintshoppro.com/

Install Paint Shop Pro 5.1
feature/PSP & Plugins/PSP5.01/PSP501EV.EXE

Install BladePro plugin
feature/PSP & Plugins/BladePro/bpsetup10.exe

Install Primus plugin
feature/PSP & Plugins/Primus/primus-1.7p.zip

 

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