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Welcome
back to The KROW's Paint Shop Pro Workshop!
Module
2 - "The Middle Path" (Intermediate)
"WEB
GRAPHICS!" - Isn't it great? Since you've completed Module
1 of The KROW's Paint Shop Pro Workshop, you no longer have
to say 'HUH?" when you here those words! In a short time you've
increased your marketability by learning a skill that
is very much in demand! With the basics, you can create custom
logos, graphics for web pages, and even use them in your own
NOF Site Style. You're well on your way to becoming a true
professional in the world of digital graphics.
With
your grasp on the basic tools of PSP, it's time to move on to
enhancing those skills. If you missed Module 1, don't worry!
The folks at coolmaps have got you covered! (they must be able
to read the future or something because you can
here to go back to it!)
To
use the Workshop, you'll need the Paint Shop Pro software
installed on your computer.
Cool KROW Clue
If
your demo copy of PSP has expired, don't fret!
[ Click
to buy PSP - right here, right now, through coolmaps!
]
On
To The Good Stuff!
By now, you've spent plenty of time getting familiar with
PSP. Soon, you'll use it as much as The KROW, and you'll end
up knowing it like the back of your mouse! But, there are
still some handy little "tricks" to learn which will help
your graphics be fantastic! One of these tricks is a "transparent"
image.
Your
first thoughts on what a transparent image is, might be:
"How can it be an image if it's transparent which means it
isn't there??!! Maybe they are imaginary "images" acting as
place holders for layout on a web page. I can do that!" But,
before you spend time scouring the web for tutorials on how
to code some thing like that in your pages....read on...
Now
THAT'S Far Out!
The
KROW's first lesson on transparent images was by an old fellow
who thought he was a magician. His tutorial said, "Click here
to view a transparent image", which went to...... a BLANK
page! "Caw, caw, (no pun intended) Very funny. Later it turned
out this fellow was pretty much a goober who's usual thought
processes were so "unique" that a transparent image was pretty
much a figment of his imagination (or lack thereof).....further
validation of his gooberiness!
Needless
to say, The KROW's first lesson has just saved you a lot of
time. To clear things up, a transparent image is simply an
image you create, but has a "see through" back ground (don't
worry, no special x-ray glass required). This allows you to
have a graphic which is "separate" and lets your page's background
come through from "behind" the image. For example, let's say
you've built a beautiful web page and it's background is black.
Now you want to add a graphic of a really cool textured red
button you've made. Very cool....black on red. That will be
sharp!! But, when you place the graphic, it's has this big
ugly white square around it, which ruins the graphic, your
background and the whole look you were trying to acheive.
Here's what it turned out like:
You
just wanted the image to show, not the "paper" it was produced
on! How maddening after all the time you've spent on that
beautiful graphic and you want it to look like this:
Well,
wouldn't you just know that the gurus at JASC would be one
step ahead of us! They know how to fix this problem and packaged
a little tool to do it with, right in PSP!
COOL KROW CLUE
While creating your graphics, you may find your mouse
is a bit cumbersome when trying to work. If so, invest in
a good pen-tab. These have a "tablet" to work on, by using
the "pen" which moves just like your mouse. It integrates
with your software making precision work much easier. There
are many good ones out there which you can find at your local
computer store.
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