Paint Shop Pro and the Web Rick Matthews Dept. of Physics, Wake Forest University And The International Center for Computer Enhanced Learning

My favorite PSP tricks JPG vs. GIF Layers –Raster vs. vector –Text and shapes –Adjustment layers Fixing exposure problems Color correction File export: JPG and GIF Screen capture

JPG vs. GIF Nearly all web images are one of these two. Each is a compressed format. Goal: small file size=>quick download. Each has compromises, but very different compromises.

GIF Limit of 256 colors on screen. Shrinks files by looking for areas of uniform color. Great for text, line graphs, simple computer art. Poor for photographic images.

GIF and photos Problems: –No uniform color, so big files –Lots of colors, so poor fidelity.

JPG and photos Photo rendition is the design goal of JPG. It is a lossy compression method, discards info least likely to be noticed. Huge reductions in file size with minimal quality loss.

JPG and text, line art JPG is at its worst where GIF is best: Large areas of uniform color. Below are magnified 200x100 images. GIF, 646 bytes, perfect JPG, 2,400 bytes

TIFF, PSP, PNG CAUTION: Never use JPG for your working file format. Each Save, Load cycle degrades image more. Lossless formats: TIFF, PSP, PNG. PSP: optimal internal format, but proprietary. TIFF: widely supported across multiple platforms. PNG: Newest, will eventually replace GIF. Not yet well supported.

Layers 3 kinds: –Raster (images) –Vector (adjustable objects) –Adjustment (affect lower layers, not directly visible.

Layers 3 kinds: –Raster (images) –Vector (adjustable objects) –Adjustment (affect lower layers, not directly visible.

Layers 3 kinds: –Raster (images) –Vector (adjustable objects) –Adjustment (affect lower layers, not directly visible.

Example: Levels and color Levels let you intuitively (and reversibly) correct brightness and contrast. Uses adjusment layer. Color balance is another adjustment layer.

Example: Gamma Handy when dark areas need to be lightened more than brighter areas. Consider working on duplicate layer, to save original.

Transparency Handy trick to create header images for web pages, backgrounds for PowerPoint slides Must create a duplicate layer, then make background white.

Screen capture Handy for tutorials on software. Easy way to grap images that were not intended to be grabbed.

PowerPoint

Steps in creating a PowerPoint presentation Choosing a presentation template Choosing a format for each slide Images Animation Sound, Narration Export to Web

Presentation template Appropriate theme? More important: contrast

Layout Think about leaving room for illustrations, pop-ups. Can always delete text boxes. Inserted text boxes have defective bullets.

Inserting images Can use Insert, Picture, File, or… Copy and paste from PSP. Best to size images in PSP first, rather than resizing in PowerPoint.

Animations Introduces elements of slide sequentially. Choose SlideShow > Custom Animation “Effects” controls how it appears. “Timing” controls when.

Narrations Easy! Slide Show > Record Narration External microphone is recommended.

Web authoring: PowerPoint vs. direct authoring Uses a tool you may already know. Efficiency much improved in PP2000. Layout is easy, well- defined. Nearly trivial way to post class notes on web. Less flexible layout. Slower viewing, because files are larger. Linear document: not a “web-like.”

Publishing your PPT on the web To create web page select File> Save As Web Page Default: works with IE5 only. To fix, click “Publish.” Preview web view under File Menu.

Miniproject on PSP and Powerpoint

Two Miniprojects -- PSP Start with a photographic image. Correct brightness and contrast using levels, correct gamma, correct color. Add text overlay Save as PSP, export as JPG. Prepare another image consisting only of vector text and shapes. You should have at least 3 layers: raster background with a uniform color, vector layer for text, vector layer for shapes. Save as PSP image, export as GIF.

Miniproject -- Powerpoint phase Create a brief presentation, with your choice of designs. Create three slides in more than one layout, and include at least one picture. Experiment with different animations. Overdo it. Be tacky. Add one “virtual” slide, consisting of sequence of slides with “fake” pop-up boxes. Export to web.