Paint Shop Pro: Part 2 of our Free PSP Training Course

Free Paint Shop Pro Training Course: Section 2

In this section, you will learn about:

• Creating text
• Modifying text properties
• Scaling and transforming text
• Fitting text to a path

Creating Text

Creating Text

In Paint Shop Pro, you can create three kinds of text: vector text, which you can attach to a path, giving it an unusual shape, raster text, or a selection marquee in the shape of text you want, and which you can fill or edit as you would any selection.

To create text:

1. From the Tools toolbar, select the Text tool.
2. Use the Materials palette to define colors and materials for the stroke and fill. The stroke, or foreground, creates an outline of the text, while the fill, or background, comprises the body of the letters. You can set the stroke to transparent by clicking the Transparent button, thus giving the text a normal appearance.
3. On the Tool Options palette, under Create as, select the type of text you want to create: Vector, Selection, or Floating. Floating creates raster text as a floating selection; this text, if it isn’t placed on its own layer, is merged with the current layer. Vector text, which is created on a vector layer, is the easiest type to edit.
4. Use the Tool Options palette to define the text properties, such as font, size, and direction. You can also select a line style. Note that additional options—for leading, kerning, and tracking—are available by clicking the right arrow at the end of the toolbar to expand it.

Note:

The Warp text checkbox warps vector text around the curves of a path the text is attached to. When the checkbox is cleared, the text is straighter when fit to the path.

1. Click on the image in the location where you want the text. To fit text along a vector path, click on the path itself; otherwise, be sure to click away from the path.

The Text Entry dialog opens.

1. Enter your text, pressing Enter to create line breaks.

Tip:

You can change the formatting of portions of the text by highlighting it and making the changes using the Tool Options palette.

1. Click the Apply button.

The text appears on the image.

Drag the text to better position it:

Note that vector text is surrounded by a bounding box, while raster text is indicated by a marquee. You can edit the colors and materials of both kinds of text. This is described in the next section, Modifying Text Properties.

Modifying Text Properties

It’s easy to modify the properties of vector text, since it’s treated as a separate vector object. You can use the Object Selection tool to position the text as you would any vector object. To edit the properties, or the text itself, in the Layers palette expand the vector layer on which the text resides, and then double-click on the text:

This opens the Text Entry dialog, allowing you to make changes to the text or the properties on the Tool Options and Materials palettes.

When you create raster text on an image, it appears in a marquee, like any raster image:

It isn’t as easy to edit as vector text, but you can use the raster tools to modify its appearance. For example, you can use the Flood Fill tool to fill each of the selected letters with new colors and materials:

You can then use brushes (such as the Smudge or Soften brush) to change how the text appears blends into the image, or apply special effects using the Effects menu. The following shows plain yellow text with one of the Illumination effects applied:

Scaling and Transforming Text

The tools you use to transform text depend on the type of text you’ve created. You transform vector text the way you would any vector object, using the Object Selection tool. Simply click and drag the handles of the bounding box to scale the text:

Or use the Shift and Ctrl keys to change the perspective:

For raster text, use the Raster Deform tool. You’ll be prompted to promote the text to a full layer.

Fitting Text to a Path

When
you fit text to a path, you alter the shape of the text to conform to the shape of the path. You can use the Text tool to place new vector text on a path, as described in Creating Text, or you can attach existing text to a vector object:

1. If you haven’t already done so, create a vector object in the shape you want for the text. Below, a circle is created roughly the shape of the flower. Later, the circle can be hidden.

1. Select the existing vector text using the Object Selection tool.
2. Hold down the Shift key and select the object. Both the text and the object should now be selected:

1. From the Objects menu, select Fit Text to Path.

The text is fit to the path:

You can use the Object Selection tool to adjust the position of the text as needed. You can also adjust the size of the vector object—the text will conform to the new size.

1. To adjust the starting position of the text on the path, select the text and, with the cursor changed to a cross, move it. As you move the text, a small transparent square moves along the path, indicating where the starting position of the text will be:

When you release the mouse button, the text is moved:

You may need to adjust the position of the object again. Nudge it around the image until you’re satisfied.

1. To hide the vector object, click the Visibility button next to the object’s layer on the Layers palette. An X appears over the button, indicating the layer is now invisible:

And the object disappears:

To detach text from a path, select the text or the object and then, from the Objects menu, select Detach Object from Path.

Congratulations!

You have finished the second part of our Paint Shop Pro tutorials.

If you would like to continue with our PSP tutorials, part 3 is available here.