The Menus

The various menu choices are available from the main menu bar. Several of the choices will be familiar to you as a Windows user . The File, Edit, View, Window, and Help choices are similar to those choices in most Windows programs. However, they might include some new, unfamiliar choices.

Also, many main menu choices in Paint Shop Pro might be unfamiliar. You may not recognize choices, such as Image, Effects, Layers , Objects, Selections, and Masks, if you are new to digital imaging. These menu choices will rapidly become second nature, though, as you work your way through this book.

The following sections briefly outline the menu choices. You'll get some hands-on experience with the various choices as you work through the book.

The File Menu

The File menu enables you to open , close, create, save, import, export, browse, revert, print, and batch convert image files. A new option allows you to save and reload workspaces. As you work through the rest of the book, you'll become quite proficient at using the File menu options.

The Revert choice under the File menu enables you to revert the file to the state it was in when you first opened it. This is analogous to closing the file, choosing not to apply the changes, and then re-opening the file. Be aware that Revert cannot be undone and will discard ALL of the changes you have made since you first opened the file.

One other choice under the File menu is Preferences, which I'll explain later in this chapter.

The Edit Menu

The Edit menu enables you to undo the most recent change, redo the last Undo, repeat a command, and access the Command History (multiple undo). The Cut, Copy, Copy Merged, Paste, Clear, Update Back to Animation Shop, and Empty Clipboard or Command History options also are available on the Edit menu.

Most of these choices should be familiar to you if you've used other Windows-based programs. A couple that might be unfamiliar are the Clear and Empty choices:

• Clear deletes anything in a selected area of your image. The selected area will delete to transparent if on a higher layer and will delete to the current background color if on the background layer. Although similar to cutting, the Clear option does not copy the selected area to the Clipboard. You'll have an opportunity to use the Clear option later in the book.

• Empty enables you to free up some computer memory. You can choose to empty either the Clipboard or the Undo (Command) history. If you have many files open and find that the system is running out of memory, you can get a little back by applying this feature.

The View Menu

The View menu gives you access to different viewing modes. You can view the image and the workspace in Full Screen Edit mode. This mode is toggled, meaning that you choose it from the View menu to select it and choose it again to deselect it. The Full Screen Edit mode opens the Paint Shop Pro window to completely cover any other open windows. In addition, this mode hides the menu bar, which you still can access by pressing and releasing the Alt key.

The next view is Full Screen Preview mode. In this mode, all that you see on the screen is your image. To return to Normal viewing mode, press the Esc key or click anywhere on the screen.

You can use other menu choices in the View menu drop-down box to zoom in and zoom out, or preview the image using your Web browser.

Finally, you can use the View menu to display the grids, rulers, and guides, and to access the Toolbars dialog box. I'll demonstrate the grids, guides, and rulers in several exercises throughout the book.

The Image Menu

The Image menu enables you to manipulate your images by flipping, mirroring, rotating, and resizing them. Here, you can access information about the current image, and enter creator information. In addition, you can combine images mathematically, add borders and frames , and protect your images with a digital watermark.

You can purchase many third-party filter programs, and access them through the Image, Plug-in Filters menu choice. I'll demonstrate how to install and set up filters in Chapter 40, "Applying Filters." (Paint Shop Pro comes with a number of its own filters, available through the Effects menu.)

Filters alter a pixel's color based on its current color, and the colors of the pixels near it.

The Effects Menu

The new Effects menu is the resting place for all the commands that allow you to add special effects to your images, such as 3D, Artistic, Illumination and Texture effects. You also can repair common problems with images such as underexposure, red eye, and scratches using the commands on this menu.

New on this menu is the Effects Browser that you can use to preview various effects on an image before applying them.

The Colors Menu

The Colors menu is where you can access all of the color options pertaining to your images. You can adjust the color, colorize, change the brightness and contrast, select a palette, set a color for transparency, and set the number of colors in your image.

As you work through the rest of this book, you'll use the choices under the Colors menu quite often ”often enough that many of the choices and their options will become second nature.

The Layers Menu

From the Layers menu you can add, duplicate, delete, reorder, and change the properties of the various layers that make up your image.

The Objects Menu

With this new menu, you can control your objects completely, by arranging, resizing, grouping, and ungrouping them as needed.

The Selections Menu

The Selections menu enables you to manipulate selections. For example, you can create selections, modify the current selection, save and load selections, and create masks from your selections.

I'll demonstrate selections throughout the book, especially in Chapter 35.

The Masks Menu

The Masks menu gives you access to the masking functions. You can create, edit, save, and load masks.

The Window Menu

The options on the Window menu should be familiar to you if you've used Microsoft Windows for any length of time. This menu is pretty much standard across all Windows programs, with a few surprises : Use Fit to Image to resize a window to the exact size of an image, and use Duplicate to copy an entire image (all layers) to the Clipboard.

The Help Menu

The Help menu enables you to use online help, which was discussed earlier in this chapter. You can search for keywords and get context-sensitive help from the Help menu choices. You can even access the Jasc Web site for additional help, if needed.