Practice Tasks II for Paint Shop Pro X

Open Paint Shop Pro X.  Click  to open the browser palette (or click View => Palettes => Browser).  In the left-hand panel of the browser palette, scroll down and click on Example Pictures. Right-click on any of the thumbnails and select Preferences.  Then click "Display file name with thumbnail" and click OK.

1.  Photo retouching.  
1. Open "GirlOriginal" in the Example Picture folder.  
2. Zoom in on the image as needed to see more clearly (use the mouse wheel or click the  icons).  Notice the many small spots and scratches on this picture.  We will try to clean up this picture by using the Blemish Fixer, Smudge and Scratch Remover tools.  
3. Click the Makeover tool (8th tool from the top) then click the Blemish Fixer icon .
4. Set the tool size to about 5 or so in the Size box in the top toolbar (you can change this later).  
5. Click on the spots that you want to remove.
6. Try the Smudge tool  (from the 11th tool group).  Position the tool on the background color near the spot and drag the tool over the spot.  Think of it as smudging the wet ink over the spot.  Always paint in the natural direction of the image, i.e. along the folds of the clothing, along edges, etc. 
7. Use the Scratch Remover (select from the 9th tool group) for long narrow scratches.  Drag the tool along the scratch and release. You can change the size of this tool also if you wish.
8. Save the modified image in your folder.

2. Photo repair. 
1. Open "BabyBefore".  Use Adjust => One Step Photo Fix to correct the fading of this image.
2. Zoom in or out on the image as needed to see more clearly; using the mouse wheel or clicking the icons. We will try to repair the stains by using the Clone Brush tool  .  
3. Select the Clone Brush tool  from the 9th tool group..  
4. Right-click on an undamaged background near the damaged area.
5. Move the pointer to the damaged area, hold the left mouse button down and paint over the damaged area. (Note: You can even right-click on one photo, then left
6. Repeat as needed for other damaged areas. Save the modified image in your folder.

3. Making the best of a badly damaged photo.
1. Open "Baby-In-Blue" in the Example Picture folder.  
2. Use the tools you just learned about to repair the tears and scratches in this photo.  

4. Redeye removal.  
1. Open "redeye".  We will remove the redeye effect caused by the flash photography.
2. Click on the  tool in the left-hand toolbar.
3. Click on the pupil of each eye that you want to fix. Repeat as needed.
4. Save the repaired image in your folder. Note: For a more advanced eye tool that can even change the color of normal eyes, go to Adjust => RedEye Removal.

5. Reducing grainyness and mottling.
1. Open "TooBlue" or any of the portraits in the "Cosmetic touchups" folder
2.  Zoom in on the face and notice the mottling on what should be perfectly smooth skin.
3.  Click Adjust => One Step Noise Removal.
4. Notice how much smoother the surfaces are in this picture. (Click Undo to compare to original).
5. A more advanced noise removal tool is Adjust=>Add/Remove Noise=>Edge Preserving Smooth.

6. Brightening up the dark portions of a photo.
1. Open "Add Fill Light".  The statue in the foreground is too dark. We'll try to lighten him up.
2. Pull down Adjust => Fill Flash... (This is similar to, but more effective than, "fill light" in Picasa).
3. Vary the strength of the effect by changing the Strength slider.
4. Click OK.  Try this technique on "Fishing" and "InTheAlps” also.

7. Digital Makeover: cosmetic enhancements to portraits.  
1.  Open any of the pictures in the "Cosmetic touchups" folder.
2. Click the Makeover tool (8th tool from the top). 
3. Use the Blemish Fixer  to remove spots and blemishes.
4.  Click Adjust => One Step Noise Removal to smooth the skin.
5. Use the Toothbrush  to whiten the teeth.
6. Use the Suntan tool  as a blusher to give the skin a warmer, healthier look.

8. Using the Print Dialog box.  
1. Open any image.
2. Pull down File => Print.  Do NOT click the Print button in the Print box..
3. Note that you can change the Orientation of the print by clicking Portrait or Landscape.
4. You can also change the size of the print by typing in the width or the height in inches. (If you make it too big the printer will simply crop the image to the size of the paper). Be sure to click on "Center on page" or "Upper left of page"; don't use "Fit to page" unless you want the largest print possible.
5. To get the best results, you must use photo paper (such as glossy photo paper), rather than plain general-purpose paper, AND you must click the Properties button and set the media or paper type menu to match the type of paper you are using.
6. At this stage, you would ordinarly press Print. However, please do not do this in the computer lab; wait until you get home to print your pictures on your own printer.

9. Printing several images together on one page.  
1. Hold down the CTRL key and click once on several thumbnails in the Browse window.
2. Select File => Print Layout.  
3. Drag each image onto the blank page to position as desired.  
4. Drag the black squares at the corners to re-size the pictures.  
5. To add a text caption, click on the A icon in the top row, click on the page, type the text, select the font, size, and style, and click OK .  You can drag the text to position it, or double-click it to edit.
6. To print the page, first select File => Print Setup and select the desired printer setting for paper type.  Click close or OK to apply those setting.  Finally, select File => Print.
7. Select File => Close to exit print layout and return to the normal mode.

10. Using Print Layout Templates.  
1. Hold down the CTRL key and click once on several thumbnails in the browser palette.
2. Select File => Print Layout.  
3. Open a template by selecting File => Open Template, select a category from the list on the left, and double-click on the desired template (or click once on the template and click OK).
4. Drag each image into one of the boxes on the template.  The images are automatically re-sized to fit the boxes. (To make one image fill the entire template, e.g. to make a whole page of wallet-sized photos, right-click and select "Fill template with image").
5. Print the page as above (Task #8 above, steps 5 and 6).
Note: you can create and save your own custom templates: create a Print Layout (Task #5, steps 1-5); then save the layout using File => Save template, type in a file name and click Save. You can save your template either with or without the original images (in the latter case the images are replaced by empty boxes). Later, you can open this template to print it or to place new images in it.

Tom O'Haver (toh@umd.edu), April 2006.