The Color Panel

The color panel is divided up into two sections. The "active" color panels and the "select color panel". The select color box is used to choose a color and is the rainbow colored box as shown to the left. There are also two active color buttons. The foreground color and the background color. In the picture shown to the left, the red button (left) is the foreground color and yellow (right) is the background color.

Many of the brush types let you paint with either color shown in the two active color windows! The foreground color is applied by holding down the left mouse button and the background color is applied by holding down the right mouse button while using your brushes on an image.

To select a color, you run your pointer over the "select color panel" (rainbow window) and left click on the desired color (this will change the foreground color) or right click to put the selected color in the background window. You can also try clicking on one of the active color boxes (foreground or background color windows) to bring up the "Custom Color Picker" to change either one of those color windows. The "Custom Color Picker" window gives you a much more precise method of selecting colors if you choose to do it that way.

The advanced features of Styles and Textures are covered in the PSP 201 class which you can take after this one.

The Tools Control

The Tool Options panel contains the settings and options for using the tools on the tool palette. To view and use the Tool Options panel, just click on the Tool Options icon to activate. When a tool is selected ~ the Options panel is used to set the options and functions for that individual tool. For instance, with the Options panel active, click on your paint brush. You can now set the options for the paint brush in the Options panel. Other tools work the same way and the options are set for each one by using the Options panel after a tool is selected. There is no wrong or right way to set your Tool Option settings! Just experiment and set it to your own individual taste.

The Brush tool

The brush tool is used to paint, using many different types of brush tips ~ sizes, shapes, hardness, opacities (transparencies of color), and density.

First make sure that you have an image on your PSP screen and your Tool Options panel open. Click on the paint brush icon. Select your brush settings. You have a choice of brush tip shape, size, and other adjustments. The paint brush on the right corner with the small arrow gives you a choice of different brush types. Now all you need is a color to paint with! Let's experiment with this!

If you have an image up, close it now. Click on File, New, then set the width to 400 and the height to 400 and click OK.. You should now have a blank image on your screen. Select your brush options. Now go over to the "select color panel" and choose any desired color. Put your pointer over the new image and hold down the left or right mouse button to apply the paint. Then go ahead and play by clicking on your "active color" boxes and select a different color for each of those "active" boxes. You will have a new color window come up "select color panel" after clicking on each one to choose a color for. Click OK when you find your color for each of the "active" color boxes.

The Crop tool

The crop tool is used to lop off (or crop) parts of an image, thus eliminating an unwanted area of the image.

Let's give it a test run! With an image up on your screen, select the crop tool and also bring up the Tool Options panel. Now move the tool onto your image and press and hold down the left mouse button and drag. As you can see this makes a square or rectangular area.

The area inside the square/rectangle will be saved and the area on the outside will be cropped. You can move the mouse into the crop rectangle and by holding down the left mouse button, move it around. You can adjust the size by placing your pointer on any of the sides, or the corners and dragging. Now on the control palette select "crop image". You can also adjust the exact co-ordinates by clicking on the "Crop Settings" button.

To erase the square or rectangle you made before you select "crop image", just right click on your mouse anywhere on the image to start again if needed. Don't worry about losing your image after you crop it. If you want it back to its original state, simply close the image window and select not to make changes. You can also select the Undo button if you have already cropped your image to return the image to its original state. Of course if you want to keep the changes, then select Yes to the prompt window (do you want to keep the changes)or select Save.

The content and design of this site are the property of WebTech University
and may not be used without written consent of the owner.
Copyright © 1998-2012 WebTech University. All rights reserved.
Privacy Statement