EQ6 & PSP - Creating Web Images Part 3

In Part 3 of 'Creating Web Images using EQ6 and Paint Shop Pro', we will be exploring the 'Background Eraser' tool (BGE) and using it on the EQ6 block image we created in Part 1.

If you have been reading my tutorials but do not have photo editing software, why not download the trial versions of either Corel's Paint Shop Pro or Adobe's Photoshop Elements? Or, if you have room on your hard drive, why not download both and try them out and see which one you like the best. Canadian viewers can go to Corel's page here and if you are outside Canada you can visit Corel at www.corel.com. Everyone can visit the Adobe page here.

Using the Background Eraser Tool

The first thing we will do is use the Organizer to find our saved Stork image that we created in Part 1. Double click on the image to place it on the workspace. You will notice that along the top of the image's window there is a percentage figure followed by the word 'Background' in brackets. PSP is telling you that the image's window has been reduced to fit the workspace. Let's increase our workspace by going up to the Icon toolbar and clicking on the Organizer toggle button. Now we will increase our image to 100% and you can do this two ways: the first, is click on the 'Pan' tool (the little hand) which is on the Tools toolbar to the left of the workspace. (If you do not see the left hand toolbar go to View > Toolbars and click on Tools).

Above is the Pan toolbar which opened directly above the workspace when you clicked on the Pan tool. As I mentioned previously, each time you click a tool in the Tools toolbar another toolbar specific to that tool will open directly above the workspace. PSP refers to this toolbar as the 'Tool Options Palette' in the manual. (Take a moment or two and click on the different tools on the Tools toolbar and see their specific tool options palettes).

You will notice that there are a number of options for the Pan Tool and I would like you to click on 'Actual size' and your image is now at 100%. Now, take a few moments and try the 'Zoom out' and 'Zoom in' buttons and you will notice that your image size in increased or decreased by small increments. Try the 'Zoom more' buttons and you will see that the increase and decrease if far more substantial. Now, click 'Actual size' to return to 100%. The second area, if you remember, which offers the Zoom tools is located on the 'Overview' Palette to the right of the workspace. Click on the 'Preview' tab and you will see them.. When you are working with tools other than the Pan tool, you can go to the Overview palette when you want to Zoom in or out or return your image to its actual size for viewing.

The next step is to go up to new toolbar you made in Part 1 and click on the 'Duplicate Image' icon. You now have made an identical copy of your image. Consider the named image as your 'Master' copy and click its 'Minimize' button to send it to the bottom of the workspace. I would now like you to repeat three times out loud the following phrase:

"Never, never, never edit using my Master image!"

In my older version of PSP, if I edit on the master and then click save, the master is gone, gone, gone. Now, Corel has made a change in an effort to "save your bacon" with 'Auto-Preserve Originals'. I quote from the bottom of page 45 in the User Manual:

"If the Auto-Preserve Originals preference setting is enabled, and this is the first time you've attempted to save changes to this image, you are prompted to save a copy of the original unedited image. If Auto-Preserve Originals is not enabled , the original image is overwritten by the modified image."

You notice I have highlighted two words in the above quote: 'first time'. What I have discovered is that if you are prompted and you click "no" to Auto-Preserve Orginals, then the feature is disabled and you will not be asked again and even if you close PSP and return two days later the feature will still be disabled. So, my advice is not to rely on it at all; instead, make 'never, never, never edit using my Master image' your PSP mantra. (If you want to enable Auto-Preserve Originals to give it a try, go to File > Preferences > General Program Perferences > Auto-Perserve and click in the box). You can leave your Master image at the bottom of the worktable; however, I usually close mine completely to get it out of the way.

Okay, let's get busy. Click on the 'Background Eraser' tool; henceforth to be known as the BGE. You will find it by hovering your cursor over the various tools on the Tools toolbar. And, when you click on the BGE, a new Tool Options Paletter opened above the workspace and we are going to look a little closer at that palette.

If you look closely at the various Tools Option Palettes you will discover that most are in sections and I have broken up the BGE's palette in the image above. The purpose of the segmentation is to allow you to bring a segment down to the worktable if you are going to be using its options multiple times. It is simply a time saving feature. Take a few moments and pull a segment of the BGE tool palette onto the workspace by left clicking on the row of indented dots and put it back up again. (Of course, you can do the very same thing with all the toolbars in EQ6!)

As a novice users of PSP, we will only be interested in the settings on the first two segments. PSP was created to appeal to both the novice and the professional (photographer/graphic artist) and the latter would know what to do with those options on the segment 3 - I don't and am not sure if I ever will. You will notice that there is a small black arrow on the far right side of the third segment and that indicates there are more options that aren't showing.

Next, we want to ensure that the BGE options palette is in its 'default' settings and to do that you are going to click on the little black arrow under the word 'Presets' in segment 1.

You will notice four buttons on the right in the drop down box and we are interested in that second 'arrow' button. If you hover your cursor over it, it says 'Reset to default'. Click on the arrow and the box will close.

The default settings of the tools are likely all you will need if you doing basic photo and image editing. As you gain more experience and explore tutorials, this will likely change. So, this is how you ensure you have your tool at its default setting. But, I am going to make you change one thing. Go up the 'Size' box and click on the large black arrow and move the slide bar in the drop down box until you get close to 200. Erasing the image background will be quicker if our tool size is larger.

Move your cursor onto the image and you will now see a large circle with a tool in the centre. The important thing to remember is not to allow the tool's tip to cross into the area you want to keep - "the keeper". Now, left click and the backgound area within the large circle will be removed.  Move around the background and keep clicking.

If you were erasing a large open space, you could click and drag to speed the process; but, in an image like this I prefer to just keep clicking away. If you happen to wonder onto your "keeper", go up to the icon toolbar and click on the 'Undo' button.

After the background is completely erased, click on your 'Crop' tool; left click and hold in the left upper corner; and, drag the cursor down to the right bottom corner and then fine tune the sides of the box at the little square nodes so that you crop as close to your keeper as possible as I am doing in the image above. When you're satisfied, click the 'Apply' button on the Crop tool Options palette above the workspace (its that green checkmark). Now, click on the 'Save' icon and give your image a name like 'Erased & Cropped Stork'.

Close your image and call it a day. You done good!!