PSP Classes @ LVS Online

Registration at LVS Online is now open for the May 2008 session!

For more information, go to http://www.lvsonline.com/update.shtml

For a complete list of all available classes at LVS Online go to
http://www.lvsonline.com/schedule.shtml

Instructor-led classes begin May 10th and registration closes May 7, so head on over to LVS Online Classes to enroll now!

http://www.lvsassociates.com/register

If you’re a longtime PSP user, you might be wondering what’s new in PSPPX2. Let’s start off with some of the GUI and non-central new features:

• Graphite Workspace Theme. The default colors are now various shades of gray. Some people love the new look and other people hate it. If you fall into the latter group, you can easily turn it off with the View > Use Graphite Workspace Theme toggle.
• A new version of the Organizer.
• The Express Lab, a quick way to edit your photos, using some of the most common photo editing commands and tools.

There are also some new or improved basic features:

• A modified Crop tool. Some old functionality is gone but some new functionality is added, including the ability to rotate the crop box and to create a new image from your designated crop area (leaving the original image open and untouched).
• Additions and improvements to the Makeover tool. The most important improvement here is improved results for the Blemish Fixer. You’ll also notice two new modes: Eye Drop and Thinify. (Truthfully, Eye Drop is exactly the same as Toothbrush - it’s there only for the squeamish who wouldn’t want to stick a toothbrush in their loved ones’ eyes in order to remove a bloodshot look!)
• A facility for easily adding a visible watermark to your photos or other images.
• A new Black and White Film Conversion filter, for folks who don’t want to mess around with the Channel Mixer to convert their color photos to black and white.
• Layer Styles. This is my absolute favorite new feature in PSPPX2. You can now add dynamic, non-destructive effects to your layers, such as drop shadows, inner and outer glows, and reflections.

In addition, there are also some new Picture Tubes and Picture Frames.

To give PSPPX2 a workout before deciding whether to upgrade, head over to

http://www.corel.com/

and go to the Free Trials area to download a trial version.

Happy PSPing!

Lori

Hi, folks!

I’m Lori Davis, one of the course developers for the PSP classes here at LVS Online, and I want to welcome you to our new blog.

The instructors and Sally Beacham and I are all just getting our feet wet with blogging, so we may be a little unsteady at first. But all of us are ready to plunge in. (Hey, I don’t think I even mixed any metaphors there, so I guess we may be steadier than I thought!)

Hope you find our blog fun and informative!

Lori

We’re just about to start the new session, folks, and I’m looking forward to watching that “I can DO this!” lightbulb pop up over new heads, as well as seeing what new twists and turns students can extrapolate from our lessons. The creativity of some of our students never fails to amaze me…and to make me wonder, “Why on earth didn’t I think of that?”

We had a lot of fun exploring masks in some of our classes last session. What is a mask, you ask? Well, to put it simply, a mask is simply a layer made up of shades of gray all the way from purest white to darkest black that, when used as a mask layer on top of an image or photograph layer, hides portions that you want to “mask off”.

A mask is made up of 256 shades of gray, all the way from pure white to black. The darker the gray of the mask, the more transparent the layer associated with the mask will be. So black would be completely transparent, gray would be semi-transparent and white would be completely opaque.

Want to try it out and see it in action, as well as learn a nifty photographer’s trick?

Try this:

1. Open Paint Shop Pro and select two photos that you think would look good blended together. Select each one, one at a time, and use Shift+D on each of them to make a copy, and then close the originals. (NEVER work on your originals, just in case….Never, never, never, never….)
2. Select all of the smaller image and then paste it as a new layer over the other, or create a new raster layer on the first image and paste the smaller image as a selection wherever you think it would look best.
3. To blend the two layers together, highlight the top layer in your layer palette, add a new mask layer on top of that, and then fill the mask layer with a black and white gradient of your choice. Remember, in Paint Shop Pro you can move the focal point of the gradient around to wherever you want it, and can choose a left-to-right, right-to-left, solar, etc., gradient, so select whichever is going to be best, according to where you placed your images.

You should now have a seamlessly integrated composite of your two photographs! You could, if you wanted to take the time, edit the gradient in use to make it show more, or less, of the underlying photo, clean up edges, etc., but we won’t get into that here.

Whether you want to create graphics for a website, create your own digitally painted masterpieces or bring old photographs back to life, Paint Shop Pro can do it all! Come join us and learn more about this fascinating program and its many uses in digital art, photography, and scrapbooking.

Just to make sure everybody knows…  Lesson 6 was posted last Saturday a.m., and the session will end this coming Monday, February 18, 2008.  Be sure and get your assignments in, folks! 

Registration for the March 2008 session is open at LVS Online ~ Where Learning Is Fun!

For more information, go to http://www.lvsonline.com/update.shtml

For a complete list of all available classes at LVS Online go to
http://www.lvsonline.com/schedule.shtml

Instructor-led classes begin March 8th so head on over to LVS Online Classes to enroll now!  http://www.lvsassociates.com/register