by Dave Yelenchic
Documentation Specialist
Millstar Electronic Publishing Group
Langhorne, PA
JASC Paint Shop Pro, v4.12 for Windows 95 or NT, v3.x for Windows 3.1, $69, http://www.jasc.com
Originally published in News & Views July, 1997 issue.
Copyright 1997 STC-Philadelphia Metro Chapter. For permission to reprint
this article, contact the Managing Editor.
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Before inserting images into documents, a technical writer often must first alter the images, so that they fulfill the requirements for printing or photocopying. Sophisticated programs like Adobe Photoshop can edit images in a myriad of ways. And a program like that is certainly worth its hefty price and significant learning curve, if you will use most of its capabilities. But for technical writers like myself who just need the "basics" and a bit more, you might want to consider Paint Shop Pro 4.0 from JASC Inc. I found that it does everything I need to do -- with room to grow.
Handy Tools
First, Paint Shop Pro for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 can capture screen images with ease. With a few mouse clicks you can quickly capture the active window, the full screen, a defined area, the client area (a window without its title bar), or an object (for example, a command button). The program selects objects automatically as the mouse pointer is moved around the screen--a real time saver. Also, the Multiple Captures option enables you to capture many images in succession, without having to go back to Paint Shop Pro’s program window between captures.
Paint Shop Pro includes many other handy, easy-to-learn tools. Borders of any color or thickness can be added to images. Also, images can be quickly converted to grey scale or a reduced color depth, so that photocopies will be clearer and crisper. [And files take less room -- Ed.] Other tools can draw lines, squares, rectangles, ellipses, circles, and free-form. You can also crop images by first drawing a box on the image and then choosing Crop from the Image menu. The part of the image outside of the box would then be deleted.
Painting with Colors
Several tools are also available for working with colors. For example, the Fill tool enables you to paint an enclosed area with a desired color, while the Paintbrush can be used to paint one pixel at a time. To paint tiny areas more easily, you can magnify the image significantly. Colors can be chosen from a palette or by entering the color’s RGB (red--green--blue) code in the appropriate dialogue box. (For example, I often enter 255--255--210 to specify a very pale yellow.) Also, the Eye Dropper tool is especially handy, as it can "pick up" a color from an image, making the color immediately available for painting. Finally, two colors are available at a time. You can switch to either color with a click of the mouse button.
Image Files
Paint Shop Pro can import images that were created using various other applications. Also, it can save image files in various file formats (BMP, GIF, TIFF, etc.), so they can be opened and edited by other graphics packages. And saved images can be found and retrieved more easily by displaying a thumbnail of each image, which includes the file name and a small, reduced version of the image. About fifteen thumbnails can appear on the screen at the same time. To retrieve an image, simply click on its thumbnail. The thumbnails can be sorted by name, extension, date of save, size, and type. This is a simple, yet powerful and time-saving feature, especially when the document you’re creating includes many images.
Quick, Easy and Useful
Technical writers will find Paint Shop Pro to be an easy-to-learn, useful tool for editing images on a "basic" level. (Please note that only a few of Paint Shop Pro’s features are discussed in this article.) However, it’s nice to know that some advanced features are included, should you ever need them. Paint Shop Pro 4.0 is an inexpensive package; and since it’s distributed with many new computers, you may have it already!
Dave Yelenchic is Documentation Specialist with Millstar Electronic Publishing Group in Langhorne, PA, where he creates software manuals, on-line Help systems, and interactive, animated Tutorials.
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