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PSP X2 Tips & Tricks
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PSP X2 Tips & Tricks
001 - 020
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001 PSP X2 Installation Notes
The standard installation associates five common file formats with PSP X2: JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG, and TIFF. Clear the check marks for all of these unless you are sure that you want PSP X2 to replace whatever program now launches when you double click one of these files in My Computer. You can always associate PSP X2 with these file types later using File...Preferences...File Format Associations.
If you have PSP 9, PSP X, and/or PSP XI installed, and you did not set up customized folders for user files for those versions, the standard installation for PSP X2 will commingle resource files (tubes, scripts, brushes, etc.) with the PSP 9, X, and/or XI resources in "C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\My Documents\My PSP Files\." Though intended to make it easy to migrate from previous versions, this choice entails a risk for previous version users in that some resources created in PSP X2 will not run in prior versions, but will appear in those versions' lists of scripts, brushes, etc. Likewise, modifying some prior version resources in PSP X2 may render them unusable in the earlier versions.
During the PSP X2 installation, after the License Agreement and Personal Information screens, you will get the "Ready to Install the Program" screen. On this screen, click on the "Advanced" button in the bottom, left corner of the screen (red arrow below):
This will activate a dialog in which you can change the location for your personally created files:
Click the "Change" button (blue arrow above) to change this location from "My PSP Files" to something like "My PSP X2 Files". Press the "Install" button when you are ready to install PSP X2.
After your PSP X2 installation is complete and running well, you can copy any previous version resources that you want into the folders under "My PSP X2 Files", or use the File...Preferences...File Locations dialog to make the previous version files available to PSP X2.
The standard installation may associate four or five common file formats with PSP X2: JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG, and TIFF. Clear the check marks for all of these (also on the dialog that is activated when you click the "Advanced" button - see second screen above) unless you are sure that you want PSP X2 to replace whatever program now launches when you double click one of these files in My Computer. You can always associate PSP X2 with these file types later using File...Preferences...File Format Associations.
On the "Ready to Install the Program" screen (first screen shown above), and at the end of the install, on the "InstallShield Wizard Completed" screen, you are invited to install the Yahoo! Toolbar with Pop-Up Blocker. If you do not want the Yahoo! Toolbar with Pop-Up Blocker, be sure to UNcheck this option in BOTH locations.
If you decide to install the Yahoo! Toolbar, you may find it difficult to remove. Microsoft has published an article titled "How to Uninstall or Turn off the Yahoo! Companion Browser Toolbar" at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=303047. It says "... you may be unable to remove it or hide it. You may be unable to hide the toolbar when you click Toolbars on the View menu. There may be no entry for Yahoo in Add/Remove Programs." The article goes on to give directions for removing the toolbar. If the toolbar is appealing, you can always get it directly from Yahoo! after installing PSP X2.
There is one area where there may be some overlapping between PSP XI and PSP X2 which you might want to check on. I noticed on my system that the AutoSave file location and file name was identical in PSP XI and PSP X2. This is not a good thing, and should be changed. To change the location for the PSP X2 AutoSave files:
Although they are separate, the different versions of PSP can interact by using the same folders to store resources. See #001 PSP X2 Installation Notes above for how to avoid these interactions.
One reason you may want to keep at least PSP 9 installed is that due to the redesign of the Learning Center in PSP X, which is unchanged in PSP XI and PSP X2, users can no longer install tutorials as Quick Guides. Many users have come to rely on this facility introduced in PSP 8 and continued in PSP 9. Having the tutorial visible right in the PSP workspace has made it so much easier to follow and complete tutorials. If you've come to rely on this feature, you'll need to retain either PSP 8 or PSP 9.
Several menu items have been moved or changed in PSP X2. The following list of menu changes will contain only those items which are new, or items that were moved to new menus, renamed or replaced by other menu entries, or dropped:
In this release, as in PSP XI, the default "Resampling type" is set to Bicubic. There was a redesign of the Bicubic sampling type in PSP XI, and it is now, supposedly, the best method to use. Although the documentation STILL says that Smart Size "chooses the best algorithm based on the new pixel dimensions you set", most of the time, that algorithm will be Bicubic. Why the documentation does not indicate that Bicubic is the best choice most of the time, I do not know.
Another concern for many users is that the last used settings are not retained in the new Resize dialog - no matter whether you use Percent or Pixels, or use the Print Size, when you return to the Resize dialog, the settings will once again be 100% of the image's size and will have to be reset each time. If you are resizing many images to the same size, or if you commonly use a particular resize method and size, you might want to consider scripting that resize command and binding it to an icon on a toolbar or menu for quick and easy access.
One more change that I dislike is the loss of the percent or pixels dimension showing up next to the words "Pixel Dimensions" in the Pixel Dimensions panel. If you were resizing in pixels, this line showed the corresponding percent (screen prints from PSP X):
And if you were resizing using percents, this line showed the corresponding size in pixels:
If the Resize dialog changes are not helpful to you, EMAIL Corel and let them know what you don't like. Perhaps, if Corel hears enough complaints, they will put things back the way they were!
I won't list the names of the individual resources - the list would be endless. However, these are just as generic as the folder names. For example, the Ellipse preset shape is now called Corel_11_069, and the former Pointy Flower paintbrush is now called Corel_01_037, and the Autumn leaves.PspTube picture tube is now called Corel_10_043.PspTube.
Thankfully, the labels have been returned to the drop-lists of resources, such as the shapes and picture tube and brushes lists, so users can see the names they are familiar with.
To see the list that contains the new "generic-ized" names and the corresponding "logical" name used in versions prior to PSP XI, browse the file entitled "ContentTranslationText.xml" in the Languages folder within the Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 folder. On my system, that file can be found here:
On initial install, you will find a Thumbs folder and an ImageDB.db file, which stores the meta data and file location information. You will also see a LastDBFilter.PspCache file here, and later, a file called LastDBTreeSel.PspCache file will appear. All these files/folders are associated with the Organizer.
If you are also running PSP XI, it has similar files, but they are located (on my Windows XP system) here:
PSP XI does not have a thumbs folder, but instead has another database file called thumbnails.db for storing thumbnails.
Because these files have the same names, and are located in similar locations, it is important for you to know which files belong to which version of PSP, in case there are problems.
The incredibly slow performance experienced in PSP XI while PSP cataloged all the files in the My Pictures folder and subfolders appears to be resolved in PSP X2. However, some people may still experience problems. If your installation hangs on the "Updating Cache Settings" message, and does not improve on PSP X2 restarts, you might consider deleting the Thumbs folder, the database files, and the cache files described above.
There is no need to convert other files, such as tubes and masks and styled lines, etc. - once the folders containing these items have been added in the File Preferences list, PSP X2 can access them.
There is one very big problem with saving files created in PSP X2 in earlier formats. For the most part, this will work without any problems. However, if you have performed any Layer Properties action for any reason whatsoever in the creation of the image, PSP X2 will mark that image as being proprietary to PSP X2, and will flatten the image if you try to save it in a prior format, such as PSP XI format. Be aware that this will happen - all layers will be merged and the image will be saved as a flattened image. You will see this warning (IF you have used Layer Properties in any way, shape, or form):
What appears to be happening is PSP thinks, because you have used the Layer Properties dialog, that you have applied a Layer Style, which can only happen through the Layer Properties dialog. It appears a switch is set the minute that dialog is invoked, whether or not you have used, or even thought about Layer Styles, and PSP's way of dealing with this fact is to totally invalidate any layers work done on the image and flatten it if you try to save in a prior format. This can be disastrous, especially if you've just spent many hours working on an image. Until this is fixed, save your images in prior formats with caution!
One additional warning, the same problem occurs when you attempt to export either Picture Tubes or Picture Frames in PSP X2 AFTER using the Layer Properties dialog on the image. Picture Tubes are saved in PSP 9 format, and hence will generate the "flatten" message above when attempted in PSP X2. If you continue the save in spite of the warning, the tube will be saved, but it will no longer be transparent, and when you try to use it you will get this message:
On the other hand, Picture Frames are saved in PSP 7 format, and attempting to export an image as a Picture Frame after using the Layer Properties dialog at any time during the creation of the image will result in the "flatten" message above. Even more serious, if you continue the export of the Picture Frame, saving it in its flattened form, and consequently try to use the Picture Frame, PSP will go into a "hung" state and will likely have to be stopped using the Task Manager.
One last thing - how does one "perform a Layer Properties" action, causing these "bad things" to happen? Here are some of the ways:
In all the above cases, even if you click the Cancel button, or the Close button without making ANY changes, the problem will occur. So be very cautious when working on images you intend to save in previous PSP version formats.
There are a couple of ways around this problem that might save you from yourself:
Some files saved in PSP X2 can even be used in PSP 7 merely by renaming them with the appropriate PSP 7 extension. These include frames (rename from *.PspFrame to *.pfr) and gradients (rename from *.PspGradient to *.jgd).
PSP X2 masks can be used as is in previous versions of PSP. PSP X2 masks that have been saved in OS/2 or Windows bitmap format can also be used in PSP 7 if renamed from *.PspMask to *.msk. However, images that are created and saved as masks in PSP X2 are formatted as PSP 8 files, and as such can be used in PSP 8 or later versions of PSP, but not in PSP 7. To check the format of a mask file:
You can, however, share PSP X2 masks with PSP 7 users if you save them as .bmp files first. To do this:
You can also control the rotation of the crop rectangle in 15-degree increments if you press the SHIFT key while dragging the rotation handle. So the first click rotates the image to 15 degrees, the second click to 30 degrees, the third click to 45 degrees, etc. The 15-degree intervals are always measured from 0, not from the last rotation. So if you want lossless rotation, you can easily get back to 90 or 180 or 270 degrees by dragging the rotation handle on the crop rectangle until you get close to where you want to be, and then hold down the SHIFT key and nudge the handle again to get to 90 or 180 or 270 degrees. Handy for getting the crop rectangle back to 0 too - just swing the crop rectangle around so the small rotation handle is near 0, hold down the SHIFT, and nudge it back to 0. Just keep an eye on the small rotation handle - that will be the top of the image when it's cropped. Very cool, indeed!
Likewise, you cannot have a script just rotate a crop rectangle for you and stop there. A script can rotate a crop rectangle before cropping, and crop accordingly, but that's all accomplished in one step/command. The Rotate feature of the crop tool really comes in handy here as well - not only can you straighten the photos that are crooked, but you can rotate the crop rectangle further (roughly 90 degrees) and not only straighten them, but convert the vertical (portrait) format photos that are horizontal in the scanned image, to their correct orientation, in a single step. Works with upside down photos too. Wherever the little rotation handle ends up will be the top after it's cropped as a new image.
Another way to avoid blurring on the edges of the image is to increase the canvas size before applying the thinning effect. When the Thinify effect has been applied, crop the image to remove the colored edges of the canvas.
The Thinify effect compresses pixels along the horizontal axis. If for some reason you want to thin the image from top to bottom rather than from side to side, rotate the image 90 degrees (Image...Rotate Right), apply the thinning effect, and then rotate the image back to its original position.
Layer Styles are accessed from the Layer Properties dialog by clicking on the Layer Styles tab. The Layer Properties dialog can be activated by any of the following methods:
The Layer Styles interface is a little disappointing - you won't find exactly the same controls as in the regular dialogs, and there are no numbers to set, just sliders. For example, if you want to add a bevel to a layer, you have only the Size slider (which is used "to set the distance from the outer edge of the layer data to the extent of the bevel") and the Opacity slider (used to set lightness intensity and visibility of the bevel), along with that "two-dimensional lighting control" (used "to set the direction and distance of the light applied to the effect"). I think I much prefer being able to numerically set controls precisely where I want them, and maybe choose the bevel shape as well! I'm not sure I understand the pooling of all the controls from the basic effects into these sliders and two-dimensional controls - if you're unhappy, too, you can always EMAIL Corel and let them know what you don't like.
If you want to see what the layer looks like without the Layer Styles you've applied, click the Layer Effects Visibility Toggle on the top of the Layers Palette (red arrow below):
If you want to see what the Layer Styles look like without the content of the layer itself, UNcheck the Layer checkbox on the Layer Styles tab - interesting! The Opacity slider on this Layer Style also allows you to reduce the opacity on the layer contents without affecting the styles that have been applied to the contents of the layer.
Unfortunately, the Layer Styles dialog does not retain last used settings. This can be very frustrating if you want to use the same settings on many images. If you have this requirement, once you have the settings you want, save those settings as a preset by clicking on the Save Preset icon where xxxxx is the name you chose when you saved the preset.
Use caution when applying Layer Styles to images that you want to save in pre-PSP X2 format. Layer Styles are not supported in earlier versions of PSP, and any attempt to save images with Layer Styles applied in a pre-PSP X2 format will result in a flattened image. See 010 Using PSP X2 Files in Previous Versions of PSP above for more information on this topic.
This is all made possible through the Resource Manager dialog, which can be activated by clicking on the Resource Manager button: This button can be found wherever you find a Presets drop-list (such as in the Tool Options palette, or in dialogs), or the visual resource drop-list or "picker" for resources such as Paint Brushes, Gradients, etc.
Remember, the original color of the image influences the resulting shades when colorizing.
You can also adjust the the color you have chosen by changing the Tolerance and Edge Softness settings in the Color Replacer tool Tool Options palette before clicking Apply. Once you have the recoloring you want, click Apply to prevent further changes when colors are changed in the Materials palette.
This recoloring method works with color only, and not with patterns or gradients. But one of its greatest advantages is that it works with whites and blacks, something the other color changing methods don't always do so well!
By default, grouped layers are also linked (see previous item). The group link toggle button on the Layers palette (
To prevent PSP from centering the image, you can force a layer to paste in a way that appears to you as aligned the way it was in the original image. To accomplish this, do the following before copying the layer: using the Paint Brush tool at Opacity 1 and Size 1, left-click each corner pixel of the image/layer. Now copy and paste the image/layer. This trick makes the bounding box of the layer data equal in size to the image and the pixels placed in the corners are of such low opacity, they are virtually invisible.
I have written two scripts that help users to achieve this effect - one adds the positioning pixels to the current layer only, and the second adds the positioning pixels to all layers of an image. You can find both scripts HERE.
002 Retaining Previous Versions of PSP
003 Tool Changes
004 Menu Changes
Menu
Changed Items
File
Restore to Original - new
Save for Office - new
HDR Photo Merge - new
Export...Set Wallpaper - new
Launch Corel Snapfire - replaced by Launch Corel MediaOne
Lexar Active Memory System - dropped
Preferences...Switch Language - new
Edit
Copy Special - new
Copy Merged - moved to the Copy Special sub-menu
View
Express Lab - new
Use Graphite Workspace Theme - new
Image
Watermarking...Visible Watermark - new
See 013 Visible Watermark Flattens Image below for more information on this feature.
Help
Message Settings - renamed as Message Preferences
Note: Many menu items "dropped" in previous versions remain "dropped" in PSP X2. Most of these menu items/commands are still available, and you can add them to your menus as needed, using Customize. The retained commands can be found in the Unused Commands list of Customize.
005 Palette Keyboard Shortcuts
Palette
PSP X2 Shortcut
Hide/Restore All
Floating PalettesF2
History Palette
F3
Script Output Palette
SHIFT+F3
Tool Options Palette
F4
Materials Palette
F6
Mixer Palette
SHIFT + F6
Histogram Palette
F7
Layers Palette
F8
Overview Palette
F9
Learning Center Palette
F10
Brush Variance Palette
F11
Organizer
CTRL + B
006 Dialog Box Changes
007 Naming Conventions
Pre-PSP XI Name
PSP XI/X2 Name
Brushes
Corel_01
Bump Maps
Corel_02
Deformation Maps
Corel_03
Displacement Maps
Corel_04
Environment Maps
Corel_05
Gradients
Corel_06
Masks
Corel_07
Patterns
Corel_08
Picture Frames
Corel_09
Picture Tubes
Corel_10
Preset Shapes
Corel_11
Selections
Corel_12
Styled Lines
Corel_13
Swatches
Corel_14
Textures
Corel_15
Mixer Pages
Corel_16
C:\Program Files\Corel\Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2\Languages\EN
008 Cache and Related Files
C:\Documents and Settings\*username*\Local Settings\Application Data
C:\Documents and Settings\*username*\Application Data\Corel
009 Using PSP 7 Files in PSP X2
010 Using PSP X2 Files in Previous Versions of PSP
Note: BE SURE YOU HAVE "WARNING - File Format Limitations" CHECKed in Preferences (File...Preferences...General Program Preferences, click on Warnings) - if this item is not CHECKed (it is CHECKed by default), your image will be flattened with NO WARNING!
the mask can be used in PSP 7 with renaming, as indicated above.
this mask is saved in PSP 8 format (see #064 Determining Version Paint Shop Pro Image Saved In for more information on Paint Shop Pro image format version numbers).
011 Crop Tool Enhancements - and Warnings!
Note: Crop rectangle rotation is non-scriptable and non-undoable. This means that once you've rotated a crop rectangle, you cannot "change your mind" and undo the rotation, returning the crop rectangle back to its original size and position. Because the crop rectangle changes size to fit the image, the original size may be lost on rotation. This does not mean the crop itself is non-undoable - it means the rotation of the crop rectangle is non-undoable. In other words, you can't place a crop rectangle and then rotate it, and use CTRL + Z to undo the rotation. CTRL + Z has no effect on crop rectangle rotation. If you want to return the crop rectangle to the size and position it occupied before crop rotation, you'll have to do that by hand.
) is clicked on the Tool Options palette, or on the floating toolbar for the Crop tool, a new image is created, but the cropped image remains unchanged, and remains the active image. The newly cropped image gets focus for about 3 seconds, and then focus is returned to the original image. This feature offers a useful method of creating individual images from a single image, or from a scan of multiple images. For example, if you scan four photos in one scanning session, you can use this feature to quickly create individual image files for each of the four photos without losing the original scanned image.
Note: Though the loss of the ability to click and drag anywhere along the side of the crop rectangle makes it more difficult to move the sides of the crop rectangle when zoomed in, it can still be done. The secret is to click on the side node BEFORE zooming in. Then use the arrow keys to move the side. Takes some pre-planning, but it can be done. And if you think you might want to move both the left side and the bottom, for example, click on the lower left corner node - now, using the left arrow moves the side of the crop box, and using the down arrow moves the bottom of the crop box. Of course, the other keys that work with the arrow keys also work here - see the See 188 Moving/Adjusting the Crop Area Rectangle article for more information on moving the sides of a crop rectangle.
012 Paste As New Image - New Shortcut
013 Visible Watermark Flattens Image
Note: The application of the watermark automatically FLATTENS the image. You CANNOT place the visible watermark on a layer by itself so you can make further changes to the watermark itself, or to the image to which you have applied the watermark. If you do not have Prompt set in Auto Actions for "Flattens image to a single background layer" (the default is to have Always set, which means the action is ALWAYS performed automatically), the image will be flattened without any warning whatsoever.
014 Tips for Using the Thinify Option
015 Layer Styles
next to the Presets droplist. Layer Styles presets are saved in your Presets folder and will have names in this format:
Preset_LayerProperties_xxxxx.PspScript
016 The Resource Manager
Note: There are several important things to note about working with the Resource Manager:
017 Recoloring Images
to add a solid color, gradient, or pattern to the Sinedots image.
). Then use the Flood Fill tool to add a solid color, gradient, or pattern to the image. The Lock Transparency option restricts the editing of raster layers to the pixels that already contain data. Remember to unlock the layer transparency when you have completed the color change.
Note: When transparency is locked, the Lock Transparency button displays a locked padlock
. When transparency is not locked, the Lock Transparency button shows an unlocked padlock 
Note: Colorize changed somewhat in PSP 9, a change that has continued since that time. You may not achieve the same shades as in previous versions of PSP, especially in the yellow/gold ranges. If this is a problem for you, see the #136 Getting the PSP 8 Colorize Results in PSP X2 article for more information.
018 Linking Layers
), changing each layer you want to link to the same number. Left-click to increase the number and right-click to decrease it - by default, this button says "None". Use group linking to have all layers within a layer group move together on the image canvas (see 019 Grouping Layers below).
Note: When the right pane of the Layers palette is suppressed and a layer's link button has been activated, an icon is added to the layer name button (
) reminding you that this layer's link button is active. Also, when a layer that is linked is active, the same layer link icon will appear on all other layers it is linked to.
019 Grouping Layers
) shows when the layers are linked. This icon only appears when the layer group's layer name button is active. When the group is not linked, the group link toggle button displays a red "x" (
).
020 Copying A Layer And Keeping Data In Same Location
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