Paint Shop Pro Power! is a detailed guide for experienced users who want to broaden their knowledge of PSP. This book covers layers, animation, filters, effects, deformations, photo editing, optimization, masks, selections, and channels. It provides detailed discussion of PSP's tools and operations and also gives specific examples of how these features can be used in your own graphics projects. Examples include how to create 3D effects, artistic edges, picture frames, textures, metallic effects, and more. Muska & Lipman Publishing

Product Review

Lori Davis' new book Paint Shop Pro Power is a must have for all serious PSP users. Tips, cautions and notes are scattered throughout along with several mini-tutorials to give the reader some hands on experience. I don't care how experienced you are, you're bound to find more than a few tips in this book that you were totally unaware of. The first two chapters cover the basic tools with the rest of the book being devoted to the more advanced features of PSP 5. In many cases Lori goes over not only how things work, but why they work the way they do.

This is without a doubt the most detailed set of instructions for using Paint Shop Pro, short of the Users Manual, that I've seen, and it's much easier to understand. Kudos to Lori for a great book!

What you get on the CD:

Chapters:

• Chapters 1 & 2
  The first two chapters are an in depth look at the drawing and paint tools.

• Being Selective
  The ins and outs of selections, including defringing and modifying selections.

• Mastering Layers and Blend Modes
  Examining layers, the basics, manipulation, blend modes and opacity. This fantastic layers section fully describes the 'hidden' features of the blend modes.

• PSP Effects and Deformations
  Lori covers simple 3D effects, useful effects created with the Deformation Tool and free deformations.

• Filters
  

  Photos from Xoom Sampler   
  

  PSP comes equipped with many built-in-filters, third party filter capability and User Defined Filters. Some rather interesting effects can be produced; Lori not only goes over these effects in detail but leaves the door to your own imagination open with her descriptions. The example to the right had detail added not with the sharpen filter as you might think, but with the Edge Enhance Filter applied to a second layer.
  

• Making Adjustments
  

  Lori's tips for pulling detail out of hopeless photos is just short of miraculous. For months I tried to pull the detail out on this photo with no satisfactory results, yet a very simple method using the blend modes produced the best image I've been able to come up with thus far.

• Selections, Masks and Channels
  This chapter covers the relationship between selections, masks and channels. Not only are the basics covered, but a detailed look at Advanced Techniques for Isolating Areas.

• Adding to Your Toolkit
  Adding to Your Toolkit explains how to make your own paper textures, brushes and picture tubes as well as tips on making your own User Defined Filters.

• Animation Shop
  Covers all of the features of the Animation shop as well as creating animations from image frames imported from PSP.

  Appendix:

  1. Importing Images into PSP
     Lori covers such things as importing images into PSP via scanning, digital cameras and screen captures.

  2. Adjusting Color Depth
     A detailed look at reducing color depth and the options available.

  3. Web Graphics
     Chucked full of such topics as file formats, transparencies, dithering, background images and more, this appendice is invaluable to web designers.

  4. Resources Links to the best of the Web in PSP tutorial sites and general graphics websites.

  5. PSP Keyboard Shortcuts All of the keyboard shortcuts to make working in PSP quick and easy.

  Additional Goodies Available on the CD

  The Paint Shop Pro Power eBook doesn't stop with the contents of the book. All sorts of tools, images and demos are included!

  Tools

  • Adobe Acrobat Reader
  • Eval version of WinZip
  • custom brushes
  • picture tubes
  • paper textures
  • masks

  Sample images from the Xoom collection

  Xoom graphics were properly licensed and may be used for your own personal interest and activities.
  • Holiday, sports, and other animations
  • Landscapes, animals, flowers, objects, and more.
  • Seamless tiles you can use as Fill patterns or Web page backgrounds.

  Demos

  • Harry Hein's Edge & Frame Galaxy
  • Alien Skin's Eye Candy and Xenofex filters
  • Flaming Pear's Blade Pro filter

  PSP Power! eBook - General Book Info

  Lori's Web Graphics