New Here

[WOODYR]

Hi Every One, I Am New To This Forum. I Would Just Like To Say
First, That I Have To Type In Capitals, Due To A Disability.i Hope
This Does Not Offend Anyone, Thank You.

I Have Just Bought Corel X2 Which I Think Is Fantastic, I Have Been
Using Elements 5 For About A Year. So Far I Find X2 Better.

I Am Still Very Much In The Learning Stages With This, Still Trying
To Find My Way Round It. So Far Very Pleased With The Results
I Have Got. I Am Hoping To Get A Lot Of Tips, Help And Advice.

Thank You

[soenda]

Welcome to the PSP board. I have found the folks here to be very knowledgeable and friendly.

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the board does not get heavy traffic. When you have a question, it may take several days for someone who has an answer to see it. Don't lose heart when that happens.

I try to answer any question I can, but I'm not anywhere near as knowledgeable as the pros. I found it's not helpful for me to leave a post saying that something might be the right thing to do. That tends to throw off the other folks, who see that there's been a question and a counter post, so they figure the original poster was taken care of.

Also, you can look through other recent posts, especially answers to questions I've posed, and find great tutorial links. I don't want to slight anyone, but Andrei Doubrovs: http://paintshoppro.info/ and Trev: www.trevorbowden.co.uk/DCNR.pdf have connected me with great resources.

People here also respond to messages/emails if you're not having luck with posting.

I just started using PSP X2 in September, having used PSP 9 for nearly two years. It took me awhile to get back up to speed because of all the changes in the intervening versions, but I'm enjoying it very much.

Good luck to you, Woodyr! (Is your screen name a play on words with the lovely wood ear mushroom? Cool!)

S.

[WOODYR]

Soenda, Thank You For The Welcome. I Am A Very Patient Person,
So I Don't Mind Waiting For Replies, As I Have All The Time In The
World. My Main Problem Is I Am Not Very Good With Computers,
So When It Comes To Pull Down Menus, Layers, Masks, And Where
To Save Things To, I Get Lost.

I Am Ok With The Photography Side, As I Have Been Into It For About
35 Years. I Have A D200 Which I Have Had For 15 Months, I Find It
Excellent, After Using A Canon A1 For 25 Years.

My Name Is Woody , But I Was Told When I Registered That Another
Member Already Uses This Name So I Added The R.

Thanks Again.

[steve.ledger]

Welcome Woodyr.

You'll find a lot of helpful people here at TG, I think you made a good choice in signing up.
I was a PSP user since version 4, now it hardly get's opened... All the same it's an excellent program as you are discovering. (most of my work is Vector based these days)

PS: I see you are from Orpington Kent? You never know, we may have bumped into each other somewhere as Orpington was my home town before I came to Australia in '73... (when The Walnuts was just a car park!)

[coningham]

Hi, Woody. Welcome to the forum

I've been a little bit absent from here but every now and then I jump in and try to help people that are having trouble with PSP. I'm still on version X but I should be able to help you with a few things in X2 as well.

Enjoy your stay.

[AdobeSol]

Hi Woodyr. I am new here too. I got PSPXI and am trying to "learn" it!

nice to meet you folks.

[WOODYR]

Thank You All, For The Welcome. I Am Really Enjoying Psp X2.
But Have Trouble Understanding Layers.

What Is The Difference Between Duplicate Layers, Raster Layers
And Vectar Layers. I Am Confused By This.

Also Where To Save Things, So That I Can Go Back And Alter Them
If Need Be.

Thank You

[soenda]

Thank You All, For The Welcome. I Am Really Enjoying Psp X2.
But Have Trouble Understanding Layers.

What Is The Difference Between Duplicate Layers, Raster Layers
And Vectar Layers. I Am Confused By This.

Also Where To Save Things, So That I Can Go Back And Alter Them
If Need Be.

Thank You

This is such a rich topic that it really deserves its own thread, but I can get you started.

A duplicate layer is an exact copy of whatever is on your screen at the moment. Many people do their adjustments on duplicate layers so that the original, background layer stays pristine. The more changes you make to an image, the greater likelihood that you introduce artifacts or blur details. You can easily end up with a final product that's less of a photo than your original.

There's another kind of layer that should be mentioned here---an adjustment layer. You can find those on the drop down menu on PSP's top menu bar under "Layers." By making adjustments to things like brightness, saturation, color balance, etc., you don't disturb the original pixels. AND---you can blend the resulting layers in countless ways with the original to get endless different effects.

The difference between raster and vector layers is also a big topic. In short, when you pull up a photo fresh from your camera, you are working in raster layers. Vector layers are used for things like adding text and drawing on the picture. Since I use PSP mainly as a photo editor, I don't use vector layers very often except for one thing. I like to put a copyright notice on the bottom of my images before I post them to my galleries online. After creating the copyright message, I can call it up again and again as one of the very last steps in preparing my photos to post. I adjust size and color to suit each particular color. Then, because I like to work in PSP format files, but I have to post them as jpeg files that cannot have more than one layer, I have to merge the vector file with my copyright text into the photo itself.

I hope that helps a little, Woody. Like so many PSP topics, there are many people with more experience who can help you here. I suggest if you have a specific question, you post that as a new thread. That could increase the chance you get more than one perspective on using layers. They're incredibly versatile and powerful components of PSP, and other photo editing/graphics software as well. Maybe a bit tricky at first, but well worth the effort.

Good luck!

S.