Photoshop owns PSP

[Andrew]

I downloaded PSP today and decided never to use it again. i thought at first it would be simaly to CS2. But it is nothing compared if anyone is looking into a graphics programme than i reccomend Adobe photoshop 8.0 onwards.

M@ and shanny, i dont no how you make complete templates using that programme.

I can only make a template using CS2, and i find i quite easy to use.

But that is just my thought im sure if M@ or shanny try CS2 they would feel the same as i do about PSP.

[bethany54]

Please please please explain to me about layers!

[admin]

A year ago, I did use Photoshop CS for a month with the trial version. At the time, I didn't own PSP either, but just had done trial versions of that as well. And honestly, I saw so much similarities between PSP and PS that with my budget, I couldn't justify $700 more at the time. I do still plan on buying PSCS2 eventually. But, with my limited budget, I am really enjoying PSP. I guess you just have to learn to live with what you have and be thankful for what you can have. Just like before I had PSP, I was thankful for just my Picture It! program

[matthew]

I think on the surface they are pretty much the same. I've used Photoshop before, and found it not really much different to PSP. Although, I admit that Photoshop is the better program, I have yet to reach the limits of PSP. And I love my Little Paint Shop Pro ;D

[matthew]

bethany54 said:

Please please please explain to me about layers!

I'll try my best.

Layers are basicaly transparant canvas's that you can place on top of each other when working on a single image. They allow you to edit images more easily, and give you more creative freedom.

If you are working on a background, and are using a number of different Photos, colours and effects, using layers you can have all these different photos, colours, effects on different layers. If you want to change a colour you can do so without effecting the rest of your creation, or if you want to rearrange something , the same thing applies.

The three main types of layers are the background layer which isn't transparant. This is like the base of your image.

Then there's Raster layers, which are pixel based, and there are Vector layers, which are curve based, and are best for shapes, and text and stuff, and resize better than pixel based Raster layers.

You also get other special Layers, such as Mask Layers which are really great for modifying and blending images together (although i don't use them much myself yet ;D), and in Paint Shop Pro there are Art Media layers which are used to create realistic paining effects, when used with art media tools.

Hope that helps. i'm not too good at explaining things ;D

[bethany54]

But Mahud I still don't understand how to get them. I click on the layers button and it is all grayed out. I am thinking that I will be reformatting in a few days and will dump photoshop as well. I read that stupid user guide til I am cross eyed and bawling my head off. I have CorelDraw Graphics Suite 12 that I haven't tried yet. I suppose that I could drive myself totally insane by using it. Hmmmmmmmm. . . I keep giving up and then trying again. Maybe I need to make a New Years Resolution to throw out anyone who arrives with graphics software.

[matthew]

yeah, i'm not sure then. I found layers confusing at first too. It took a few months using trial versions of psp before i was able to figure them out, but now i know it's so simple. I think Elseandrew or LHW would be able to explain how to get them working. i still think you should stick with Photoshop

[lostsoul]

I think PSP is good from what ive seen im hoping to get a good "real" version for christmas. PS CS 2 is a bit expensive (only a bit ) I think PSP is powerful enough for my needs as it is a semi advanced image editing package compared to PS however is like most things. Gaming computers for instance there are computers (like mine) that will run games fine and then there are computers that go ott and cost around £2000 pound (not that im against them or anything i would love ot have one) but its also with other software like web building packages and flash designers. Macromedia is the king of the hill there with Dreamweaver and Flash MX however i like fornt page and selteco flash designer. So if you can see my point some packages are good enough yet there is nearly always one better until you get to the top i.e. Photoshop CS 2 however you have to have the money and spend most of your time on it unlike me who has school to get in the way :

[lhw]

I'll take a shot at explaining a few things by number, and see if that helps.



1) The Grey indicates that this is the selective / active layer.
1a) The "Eye" indicates that this layer is visible. If you click on it, the "Eye" will go away, and that layer will no longer be visible.

2) This button creates a new layer above the currently selective / active layer.

3) This is the Layer Mask button. To be honest, I rarely use it. About the only time I do is when I'm trying to blend two backgrounds together.

4) This button is for Layer Effects. You can add such things as Drop Shadows, Gradient Overlays, Glowing effects, etc... relatively easily with this.

5) This is the Fill / Adjustment Layer button. There are many options here, yet the one I use the most is Color Overlay...it's safer than using <Ctrl>+U to change the layer's Hue/Saturation. Plus, you can treat it as its own layer, and mess around with the Blending Modes.

6) This is really cool, and I don't use it as often as I should. This is the Layer Set button. This allows you to group several layers together, to help keep things organized better. i.e. Lets say you used 3 layers to create your background, 2 for your text, and 4 for your main image. Instead of just having all 10 layers displayed all the time, you could group them into 3 different Layer Sets, and expand/collapse them as you wished.

7) This is the Layer Blending Mode control. Spend a lot of time experiementing with this. "Overlay," "Screen," and "Multiply" are probably the most common effects, yet when you combine several different layers with several different Blending Modes, you can create some pretty wild stuff.

8) Opacity and Fill control how transparent you want your layer to be. Again, experimentation is the best teacher with this.

If you have any more questions, feel free to IM me anytime I'm online, and I'll try and walk you thru some things.

Oh...believe it or not, there IS a method to my madness regarding the numbering scheme. Once you play around with these for a bit, you'll get it.

[bethany54]

Ok it is now very evident to me that I am too stupid to be allowed to remain alive. I have been poking around this software for a couple of hours again and I still can't even begin to get it to respond in any way that makes sense to me. This is what I see. . . .



I am hopeless and stupid and right now it is not possible for me to hate myself more than I do now. How is it that a member of Mensa is too stupid to do this? I am taking this cd and putting it in the offering bucket at church as soon as I can.

Sorry for wasting your time LHW. I am shutting up now.

The Ulimately Stupid and Idiotic
Bethany Jean

[lhw]

Ahhh, ok. I think I see the problem, and it's easy enough to fix.

It looks like you're working with a GIF. By default, GIF files have an "Indexed" Color-Mode, and that does not support layering. There are two ways to correct this.

1) Create a NEW item, and paste various layers into it (by default, the color-mode should be RGB, which supports layering).

2) Open your GIF, and then click on Image/Mode. You should see a checkmark next to Indexed Color.... Just click on RGB Color, and you'll be able to use layers.

Let me know if that helps.

EDIT: Don't use Layer Comps, use Layers. If you don't see it, click on Window/Layers, or press <F7>.

[bethany54]

LHW,

I still get nothing like the pic you showed. Where is that thing found? What I do get is my image completely killed off though. I did try with jpg this time.

[lhw]

Did anything appear/disappear when you clicked on Window/Layers or pressed <F7>?

EDIT: When I open PS, this is where it's located on my screen:

[bethany54]

Mine looks nothing like yours I told you I am too stupid to be allowed to live. How do I get the colors and stuff to show like are on yours. I hate this program and I hate the one who gave it to me and I hate Sarah who keeps telling me about this new software she is writing and then screws up my pc by installing it. (Don't worry though I will love Sarah again in about 2 minutes but I am not so sure about if I will ever love myself again)

Sorry but I am so distracted with talk of hackers and crackers and evil people on the internet. It is easier to hate me because I can't protect the people that I care about. I have had another 5,000 pm's at the support forum today and had to respond to everyone's fears by offering just soothing words instead of solid help. I hate feeling helpless and stupid and this is one of those days. And I also feel like a liar by offering those words because I was a victim of the cracker too but I can't say so openly.

Mahud please check your boards.

[lhw]

To get the options viewable that I have, just make your Window selections match this:

[bethany54]

OK done. I will try again but remember that I am stupid. I am not cut out to be a cybersleuth either yet I am being called on to be one.

[lostsoul]

Excuse me but has this thread been 'hijacked' or is it just me? i thought the thread was about which is better PSP or PS CS 2 etc sorry if im wrong and please correct me if i am.

[lhw]

Hijacked threads are a way of life on message boards. This is now the "Help Bethany figure out PS thread."

[bethany54]

lostsoul said:

Excuse me but has this thread been 'hijacked' or is it just me? i thought the thread was about which is better PSP or PS CS 2 etc sorry if im wrong and please correct me if i am.

Sorry LostSoul but since ElseAndrew was spouting off about how photoshop owns I thought that I would ask for help on this thread hoping that he would explain the ownage but he doesn't seem to have been back to it. I had already said that I needed help elsewhere and Mahud said that he didn't know.

[lostsoul]

ok sorry keep on goin then i dont mind i need ot ask some stuff about these programs any way on another thread