Paint Shop Pro and the Web

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Paint Shop Proand the Web

• Rick Matthews
• Dept. of Physics, Wake Forest University
• And
• The International Center for Computer Enhanced
  Learning
• matthews_at_wfu.edu
• http//www.wfu.edu/matthews

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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

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JPG vs. GIF

• Nearly all web images are one of these two.
• Each is a compressed format. Goal small file
  sizegtquick download.
• Each has compromises, but very different
  compromises.

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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.

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GIF and photos

• Problems
• No uniform color, so big files
• Lots of colors, so poor fidelity.

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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.

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JPG and text, line art

• JPG is at its worst where GIF is best Large
  areas of uniform color. Below are magnified
  200x100 images.

JPG, 2,400 bytes
GIF, 646 bytes, perfect
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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.

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Layers

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

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Layers

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

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Layers

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

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Example Levels and color

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

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Example Gamma

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

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Transparency

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

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Screen capture

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

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PowerPoint
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Steps in creating a PowerPoint presentation

• Choosing a presentation template
• Choosing a format for each slide
• Images
• Animation
• Sound, Narration
• Export to Web

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Presentation template

• Appropriate theme?
• More important contrast

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Layout

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

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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.

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Animations

• Introduces elements of slide sequentially.
• Choose SlideShow gt Custom Animation
• Effects controls how it appears.
• Timing controls when.

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Narrations

• Easy!
• Slide Show gt Record Narration
• External microphone is recommended.

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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.

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Publishing your PPT on the web

• Preview web view under File Menu.

• To create web page select Filegt Save As Web Page

• To create web page select Filegt Save As Web Page

• Default works with IE5 only. To fix, click
  Publish.

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Miniproject on PSP and Powerpoint
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Two Miniprojects -- PSP

• 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.

• Start with a photographic image.
• Correct brightness and contrast using levels,
  correct gamma, correct color.
• Add text overlay
• Save as PSP, export as JPG.

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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.