Getting Started - Paint Shop Pro

Creating a Button Image

1. Open Paint Shop Pro
2. Make sure that the color palette, located in the right side of the screen, shows black forground and white background (this is the default setting)
3. Click on File, then New
4. In the pop-up window select width=40, height=40, background=white, image type=16.7 mill. colors. Click on OK
5. Select a color by clicking on a color in the Color Palette.
6. Click on the Flood Fill Tool (It looks like a pouring bucket)
7. This changes the mouse pointer to the flood fill tool. Click on the image window to change the color
8. To buttonize the image, click on Image, then Special Effects, then Buttonize
9. In the Buttonize window change Edge Size to 8 and select Transparent Edge. Click on OK
10. Before saving the image, get the color count by clicking on Colors on the Menu Bar, then Count Colors Used
11. Then decrease colors accordingly by choosing Colors, then Decrease Color Depth. Normally, the setting is 256. But it could be 16 or even 4. The lower the number, the smaller the file size
12. To save the image, click on File, then Save As
13. Save the file as a GIF file type

Adding Text to the Button

1. Follow the instructions above to create a button
2. Make sure the foreground color is the color you want for your text
3. Click on the text button indicated by a capital A on the Tool Bar
4. Click anywhere on the image to call up the Add Text window
5. In the Add Text window select font name, style and size, then click in the big white box to add text. Type BACK for example and click on OK
6. Back in the image window place text using the left mouse button
7. Note, that the text is floating so that you can position it where you want
8. If the text does not fit, or you don't like the text, press the delete key and click again on the image to redo the text
9. When you are satisfied with the text, click on Selections/Select none to remove the "marching ants"
10. Click on the Save button