Vectors 101 For PSP 8

"Bistro Chairs"

  This tutorial is best viewed at 1024x768.
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Tutorial written March 28, 2005.

This tutorial is written using PSP 8.10. My hope is that after you finish this tutorial you
will have a basic understanding of what vectors are and how to use them. If you're an old
pro at using vectors in earlier versions of PSP then you shouldn't have any problems vectoring
in 8. However, there are some big changes but for the most part I think the changes are good.
 

1. Open Paint Shop Pro 8. Go to File, New. Set to these settings...

Set your background color to a nice brown, I'm using #C39813. Foreground color should be
turned off.

Go to File, Save As. Name and Save your canvas as a pspimage file.

2. Click on your Preset Shapes Tool and set to these settings...

3. Put your mouse over your canvas, click using the left mouse button and hold. While holding,
drag across and down to make a medium sized oval. You should have something that looks like
this but without the arrow...

To reposition your oval you can left mouse click and hold on the center circle where I have the arrow
pointing in the above screenshot. This allows you to pick up your image and move it without changing it.
Give it a try! Once you have it in the position you simply let go of the mouse and it will stay where you
put it.
Now, follow the handle out to the solid little square on the end of the line. You will see two turning
arrows appear. You can left click and hold on it, this allows you to rotate your image. Play with it
if you wish.
When you're finished, go to Edit, Undo or hit the Undo arrow . (left is undo, right is redo) until
you're back to your original oval position.
 

Going into Node Edit mode in PSP 8 is very simple, all you have to do is click on your Pen Tool .
You will see that your oval now has 4 small boxes around it. Some people like editing like this but I'm
not one of them! *L* I like to hid my color to edit my nodes, so let's do that.

On your Layer Palette (should be on the bottom right side of your window). Click on the Visibility
Toggle (the eye)...

This closes your color so that you can see your nodes better. To get your color back all you do is
click on the eye again.

Your oval should now look like this...

Before we go into playing with nodes let me show you some neat things you can do. For the
time being click your eye so that the color is showing.

When in Pen Tool Mode ONLY, you can change the color of your vectoring image (either or both
background/foreground color) and you can change your line width/style just by going to them and
changing them! These were not so easily changeable in older versions of PSP. Kewl Huh?? Note too,
you don't go out of Node Edit mode when you flip between windows or by clicking to change color
etc.!! Yippee! *LOL*

For those that are vectoring pros from older versions you can probably stop here. Adding,
deleting, altering, shaping nodes etc. works the same but if you want to make the Bistro Chairs
you can skip the sections you don't need.

For those new to PSP and want to learn how to vector read on!

4. Click on your eye to hid your color if it's not already. Look at the last screenshot above,
you will see 4 outlined squares. These are called Nodes. Click on the bottom node, you will see
it becomes shaded and has an arrow going through it. The shading means it's your active node.
All original existing nodes are set to be as cusp. What this means is that when you click and hold
on either end of the arrow you can move that side in any direction. Try it, click and hold on the
right end of the arrow. You will see two directional arrows, play with it a little. Now click and hold
on the left end, play with it. When you're through playing undo until you have your oval back to
the start.

5. Next we will learn how to add a New Node. Make sure you're in Pen Tool Mode.
On your keyboard, Press and Hold the CTRL key while running your mouse pointer a long the oval
outline to the left of the bottom node we were just playing with until your see a + add sign just
below the mouse pointer. When you see the + add, Click! You just added your first node!!

File Save!

Click and hold at one end of the arrow you just added. You will note that both ends move
together on this node. That is because all new nodes are set to be Asymmetric. In most
cases you will want to change this node type.

This is how you change a node's type.
Make active the node you wish to change, right click with your mouse on the node, a window
will appear, select Node Type, Cusp ...

Note.. there are other choices available too, some that are not available choices for this
node will be available with other preset shapes nodes. We'll get to that in a bit.

6. Grab the right handle on the node and pull it up into your oval until you have something
that looks like this...

7. Hold the CTRL key on your keyboard and run your mouse along the other side of the
bottom original node.
Click to place a node on the other side...

Right click your mouse button on that node, change Node Type to Cusp.
 

File Save!

8. Grab and hold the left end of the node's arrow and pull it up and into the oval like you did
the other one...

Good job!!
 

9. We are through editing this shape. Go to your Layer Palette and click on the eye so that your
color is showing. Go to Layers, Convert to Raster. This sets your image where it can no longer be
edited.
Click on your Mover Tool . Left click and hold on your image, move it up to the top center
of your canvas.

File Save!

10.Preset Shapes Tool same settings as we used before.
Draw out a small oblong oval at the bottom of the first shape you just finished...

11. Click on your Pen Tool to go into Node Edit Mode. In your Layer Palette click on the
eye beside your vector layer and close your color if you wish to.

12. Hold the CTRL key on your keyboard and run your mouse along the line at the top of your
oval. Click to add a node on each side of the original node...

13. Click on the left node you added to activate it. Hold the Shift key on your keyboard and click
on the right node. Both nodes should be shaded and active now...

14. Right click with your mouse, Node Type, Cusp. What you just did is change both the new nodes
you added to cusp at the same time instead of doing each one separately. You can make two or more
nodes active at the same time this way.

15. Zoom in on your image. Move and shape these 3 nodes (the two you added and the middle one)
until you have something that looks like the seat of a chair...

16. When you're happy with your seat click on the eye in your layer palette to make visible your
color, then go to Layers, Convert to Raster.

17. On your Layer Palette click to make Layer 1 your active layer. We are doing this so that our
legs will be under our seat layer.

18. Preset Shapes Tool. Set to these settings....

At the back left of your seat draw a small vertical rectangle...

19. Hide your color if you wish!
Click on your Pen Tool. Click to make active the top left node. Note, these nodes do not have
any handles, they are locked nodes but they can be changed just like other nodes.

Right Click on the left top node, Node Type,
Choose Curve Before...

This gives you a handle down the left side of your node only.

20. Grab the handle and pull outward on it a little...

21. Click on the eye on your layer palette to make your color visible again. Go to Layers, Convert
to Raster.

22. Go to Layers, Duplicate, then go to Image, Mirror. Move both legs into position as the back
legs.

23. Duplicate both leg layers again and move into position as the front two legs...

There you go, you have a cute little Bistro chair. You can add cutouts to the chair layers
or anything else you'd like!
 

Until next time... God Bless!
Connie