Vector Workshop 2025 - PaintShop Pro

[Sue Thomas]

30 minutes ago, Susan Ewart said:

Lesson 6 part 1

Such a fun one that I could lose a day just trying stuff out.  I learned a lot like making sure the spacing is far enough on text and that the picture tube isn't too small to lose all it's awesome detail.  these are the ones below that I think don't show the detail well or the word isn't kerned enough.  The leaf like object, was from a previous Vector WS as was the little shape cutout (trying to practice this more).  the yellow tag is also from a prev. Vector WS.  Carole's picture tubes are so detailed look so real.  I'm sorry I didn't do them justice here. 

 

I'd  say you did do them justice, all I  had to do was to zoom in, all the details are clearly visible. 

[Sharon Murray]

Day 5

[Cindy Sheets]

It's a miracle, I finally have a heart. I don't know why this one seemed so hard.

In all fairness, my brain has had a work out this week. Learned a new instant pot, learned a new cooking technique (sous vide), worked on learning two things in affinity publisher and photo, and worked on figuring out a new knitting pattern.

[Sharon Murray]

Day 6 - I love the vectortube script!  The chain aroung my initial and the christmas lights are Carole's tubes 🙂

 

 

[Jeni Simpson]

2 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

Lesson 6 part 2

playing with fonts ( must not forget to go to the pen tool and convert it).  I love ampersands and wanted to see how it work with the serif, because it's so thin.  And the Ornament frame was from a font that had ornaments (their high-end word for dingbats) that came as a separate .0tf file with the original font.  This is such a fun lesson.  

I also love ampersands, Susan, they are quite luscious, I think. These are both quite beautiful.

[Susan Ewart]

4 hours ago, Corrie Kinkel said:

Susan, maybe a dumb question but why don't you save your work first as a full size pspimage, second as a full sized png and third resize to 600 and save as a jpg. I admit the png file is bigger but it keeps a higher resolution.

I sort of do that. Here's my files (the prefix number are just to explain this)

#1 is the layered file, that I dont want to mess with so I Make a merged copy to do any copying from

#2 this is the merged copy, I cant mess up my original file by accidently overwriting when I'm making copies, I've done this and lost work.  

#3 is the jpg of the merged  full sized file that I'll upload to FB or send to friends

#4 I re-open the pspimage merged file, resize to 600 and save as the jpg-600 for the forum.  

I used to make the smaller 600 file from the jpg and couldn't understand why my forum posted layouts were so blurry, when the big jpg and pspimage files were really sharp.  So I did some testing and found it was a little sharper to make the 600 one from the pspmerged file (because it is bigger and has more information).  That file I can go back to over and over again and never have to worry about messing up the original layered file.  

PNGs for me are great for transparency but I found they get blurry quickly if you need to enlarge.  Also, for the wedding invites I tried using them, it was a blurry nightmare.  I got advice from Corel who said to use a PDF because they are more stable when outputting the file.  The pngs would print fine on my black and white printer but when i outsourced the printing they were super blurry.  Even the png's in kits I might want to use them bigger and upsizing them is a blurry mess.  the AI helps but it's still not great.  

It's probably just one of my many idiosyncrasies I guess.  

 

 

[Susan Ewart]

2 hours ago, Sue Thomas said:

I'd  say you did do them justice, all I  had to do was to zoom in, all the details are clearly visible. 

thank you Sue, I can never tell.  I need to better the lighting where my computer is, and I'm due for an eye exam.  I have two ASUS pro art monitors, they are supposed to be good, but who know's I might have gotten the lemons. 😄

[Jeni Simpson]

2 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

I sort of do that. Here's my files (the prefix number are just to explain this)

#1 is the layered file, that I dont want to mess with so I Make a merged copy to do any copying from

#2 this is the merged copy, I cant mess up my original file by accidently overwriting when I'm making copies, I've done this and lost work.  

#3 is the jpg of the merged  full sized file that I'll upload to FB or send to friends

#4 I re-open the pspimage merged file, resize to 600 and save as the jpg-600 for the forum.  

I used to make the smaller 600 file from the jpg and couldn't understand why my forum posted layouts were so blurry, when the big jpg and pspimage files were really sharp.  So I did some testing and found it was a little sharper to make the 600 one from the pspmerged file (because it is bigger and has more information).  That file I can go back to over and over again and never have to worry about messing up the original layered file.  

PNGs for me are great for transparency but I found they get blurry quickly if you need to enlarge.  Also, for the wedding invites I tried using them, it was a blurry nightmare.  I got advice from Corel who said to use a PDF because they are more stable when outputting the file.  The pngs would print fine on my black and white printer but when i outsourced the printing they were super blurry.  Even the png's in kits I might want to use them bigger and upsizing them is a blurry mess.  the AI helps but it's still not great.  

It's probably just one of my many idiosyncrasies I guess.  

 

 

Thanks for the explanation, Susan. From this, I would guess your large merged PSP file is just that, the 12x12 .pspimage merged and saved as a .pspimage-MERG.pspimage with the added MERG before then saving as a .jpg file. I love that idea of adding MERG to the file name. I add the 12x12 or 600 at the end of the filename before saving as a .jpg.
Yours is another way, and it would work well when you print files. I save the original .pspimage file and the 600pixel file only. Plus any individual files I might use.

[Jeni Simpson]

Day 6
Well, this was fun. I, too, enjoy the vector tube script. It is a script I have used over the years, and there is always something different I learn.
The text was fun, and I don't know how many times ctrl z was used. I didn't like what I got, and I undid and started again. 
On the  'j' I used a small grape, and around the 's' are some Easter Jellybeans.

I have always loved these little colourful frog shapes, so I drew a rounded star, or a pool, then added them to the edges, I added them at their original size around the sides of the star as well. Luckily, the direction of each larger frog works well with the shape used.
I have fond memories of staying with friends when I was younger, and the frogs croaked around their swimming pool, all night. I had only known tadpoles before hearing the frogs.

 

[Cindy Sheets]

Okay, finally finished lesson 1. Had to back track a little to get everything.

[Susan Ewart]

2 hours ago, Jeni Simpson said:

Thanks for the explanation, Susan. From this, I would guess your large merged PSP file is just that, the 12x12 .pspimage merged and saved as a .pspimage-MERG.pspimage with the added MERG before then saving as a .jpg file. I love that idea of adding MERG to the file name. I add the 12x12 or 600 at the end of the filename before saving as a .jpg.
Yours is another way, and it would work well when you print files. I save the original .pspimage file and the 600pixel file only. Plus any individual files I might use.

I hope it made sense.  I too have done the .pspimage and the 600 file only as well, but kept having to open PSP and make a bigger file for people or FB.  MERG is just the flattened 12x12.  I used to just do that and open psp to make any other files from it.  Then I just started doing the 4 files.  I have an 8TB hard drive so for now it's okay.  Other wise I'd just go back to the same way you do it.  Hard drives do fill up fast though.  

[Susan Ewart]

1 hour ago, Jeni Simpson said:

Day 6
Well, this was fun. I, too, enjoy the vector tube script. It is a script I have used over the years, and there is always something different I learn.
The text was fun, and I don't know how many times ctrl z was used. I didn't like what I got, and I undid and started again. 
On the  'j' I used a small grape, and around the 's' are some Easter Jellybeans.

I have always loved these little colourful frog shapes, so I drew a rounded star, or a pool, then added them to the edges, I added them at their original size around the sides of the star as well. Luckily, the direction of each larger frog works well with the shape used.
I have fond memories of staying with friends when I was younger, and the frogs croaked around their swimming pool, all night. I had only known tadpoles before hearing the frogs.

 

 Those frogs are so colorful.  I remember living on horse farms and listening to the frogs at night.  I like to hear the night sounds. 

[Cassel]

@Jeni SimpsonYour mug is well done. It is too bad it was giving you a hard time, but the result is great. Did you create the denim from scratch? The result is fantastic!

@Jannette Nieuwboer How did you cheat if you made all those leaves? I am also curious to know why they are blurred. Did you apply some effects?

@Harmony BirchI am glad you fixed your workspace problem. And your work is lovely. Practice always helps make those processes easier over time.

@Sue ThomasConverting the text to character shapes allows you to have different tubes applied to individual letters. Otherwise, everything would be using the same tube all over. As usual, your work is stunning.

 @JacquesGreat work for Brian. You will have quite a collection of projects to share with your family (if you haven't yet)!

@Susan EwartResizing your project after it is in jpg format might lose some quality but it could also prevent any issue with wrapped text. Those can be a headache if you resize a layered file. Those tubes on the edges are so much fun. I can just try to imagine the feeling of the first PSP users to use that VectorTube script. They must have been ecstatic! 

@Donna SilliaYou are definitely having fun with those tubes!

@Gerry LandrethWell, it is good that you TRY to do the steps by memory. If it works fine, then you know you got it. If not, then you revert to the directions. Isn't that how we typically work and learn?

@gwen jewittThat peacock was a perfect element to add a path along its back! Good work.

@Sharon MurrayThat fairy is great. I probably would have mirrored the image so that the text would start at her hand and end in the sky. But that is just me. I love those Christmas lights.

@Cindy SheetsThat is a lot to learn in one week! and you still have all those Vector lessons to come too! Good start on your shapes!

Watch out for tomorrow's lesson. If you liked the lesson 6, you will LOVE lesson 7 as it will open up even more possibilities.

[Carolyn Rye]

Lesson 5 using PSP.  As usual I still have trouble with Vector objects and text.  Each workshop I think I learn a bit more, but I also forget some.  It was great to learn how to do the bottom part of the logo again.  I think I may actually have got it this time.  I hope.  I know I didn't do anything elaborate because I just wanted to follow Carole's instructions as that has helped.  I am still time poor because still having doctor's appointments for my husband and trying to contend with a bad back.  It least I am doing a little and watch the tutorials, which really help.

[Carolyn Rye]

Lesson 6 Using PSP.  Had a bit of fun with this Not sure how I ended up placing the text onto the frame, but it did happen.  Will have to see if I can do it again.  I tried to do it on one image and then copy and paste onto the frame of another image, but did have a problem.  Eventually it appeared to work.  I am sure that there is a much easier way to do this than I did. 

[Jeni Simpson]

3 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

I hope it made sense.  I too have done the .pspimage and the 600 file only as well, but kept having to open PSP and make a bigger file for people or FB.  MERG is just the flattened 12x12.  I used to just do that and open psp to make any other files from it.  Then I just started doing the 4 files.  I have an 8TB hard drive so for now it's okay.  Other wise I'd just go back to the same way you do it.  Hard drives do fill up fast though.  

Susan, I am moving a lot of my files to an external hard drive. I won't shift my graphics: 1. because I'm always adding to them; and 2. because I will use them most days. My graphics folder consists of all my graphics, fonts, photography, inspirational layouts, tutorials, my art, including colour theory, scrap kits, MyPSPfiles, and lots more. My books, dictionaries, videos, music, health, and recipes etc will go onto my EHD along with my genealogy and family history. I have a couple of 2TB EHDs to backup and copy files over.

[Jannette Nieuwboer]

3 hours ago, Cassel said:

How did you cheat if you made all those leaves? I am also curious to know why they are blurred. Did you apply some effects?

Cassel, The cheating part is I didn't use the nodes. I had this row of leaves in stock. I don't remember from who I got them. I selected them one by one. Choose my color, Chose a pencil as well and rubbed over with the cursor.The selected parts ware colored. But what you said it blurred out. I really  don't know why I got with every leave the same effect. As I choose every time another pencil. Like the chalk, and other ones. And what I told before I never had these parts of PSP used before. It  was experiences. But it turned out well to my opinion. It might be you can help me further with working this way as I like it to get different effects. 

 

[Ann Seeber]

10 hours ago, Cindy Sheets said:

It's a miracle, I finally have a heart. I don't know why this one seemed so hard.

In all fairness, my brain has had a work out this week. Learned a new instant pot, learned a new cooking technique (sous vide), worked on learning two things in affinity publisher and photo, and worked on figuring out a new knitting pattern.

Wow, that's great, Cindy! You go girl! ❤️

[Jeni Simpson]

6 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

 Those frogs are so colorful.  I remember living on horse farms and listening to the frogs at night.  I like to hear the night sounds. 

Thank you, Susan.

Yes, I love those sounds too. We had friends stay here years ago, and the woman informed me she wasn't at all happy with the sounds of the birdsong outside her window during the morning, and, apparently the sheep on a farm down the end of the street bothered her, too   Too noisy! I have a couple of roosters, and luckily, they rarely crow in the mornings. Their chook house isn't close to anyone, if they did make some sounds down there.

Edited May 25 by Jeni Simpson

[gwen jewitt]

Day 6 enjoyed using the vector script ,thank you Carole for the free script. the frog was a font (EFON) the diamonds around it were from Janet Kemp digital scrapbooking. The font Unicorn Monogram was used for my Initial I used the rope from Carole and changed the colour, finally the flower with Caroles rope tube I made myself.

[Sue Thomas]

Day 7.  Thank you for the workshop Carole, it is always fun to participate in the workshops. I know vectors can be  daunting whilst learning. Bearing in mind they are very versatile with endless possibilities unlike rasters. In my opinion vectors are well worth the perseverance, same goes for the warp brushes.  I'm  looking forward to tomorrow and the start of the Affinity vector workshop.  After all these years in the campus,  I will be a (affinity) newbie once again. 

These flowers really are  incredibly minuscule.  I had to run the script 3 times to get the effect I was looking for.  

Edited May 25 by Sue Thomas

[Corrie Kinkel]

13 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

thank you Sue, I can never tell.  I need to better the lighting where my computer is, and I'm due for an eye exam.  I have two ASUS pro art monitors, they are supposed to be good, but who know's I might have gotten the lemons. 😄

Other glasses maybe ..............

[Corrie Kinkel]

16 hours ago, Susan Ewart said:

Thank you Corrie.  I will try that.  I do always save the pspimage full size, as well as a merged pspimage full size, then from that I resize and save as (600)jpg for the campus only.  The reason I was making a separate MERG pspimage at full size was, a couple times I nearly lost everything by clicking on a jpg instead of pspimage and almost lost stuff.  I cant mess up the layered psp if I'm not making jpgs from it.  I"ve lost some and just today I almost lost stuff when my finger hit another button and it was all gone.  thankfully I had just saved it prior and was able to recover it in the auto preserve.  (stoopid fat fingers!).  I like tiff because it's a bigger file and only if I was printing. the jpgs are just for the campus and FB.  I learned about tiffs from some pro photographers that i like.  here's what Adobe says.  I have found PNG not to hold good resolution if I enlarged them too much. 

PS I did not bold that text below, the google AI did.  I'm not yelling at you.  I've compared Tiff to Jpg in photos and you lose detail in jpg in the blacks and shadows.  As I tend to like darker layouts this makes a difference.  I'm always surprised at how much darker the jpg is compared to the pspimage file.  HOpefully soon we will have Heif and we will all rejoice.  All hail the heif image file!  😅

What is the difference between TIFF and PNG files? Both PNGs and TIFFs are excellent choices for displaying complex images. But PNGs tend to be smaller in size, so are potentially better suited for websites. TIFFs, on the other hand, are often the best choice for professional use, scanning, and print options.

Since a couple of years I have an iPhone and I take most of my photos in Heif because I shoot in max seize pixels and PSP as well as Affinity can read those, so I start at least with a high resolution. Maybe I should start using TIFF for printing, see how that works. The printed album about my trip has turned out very well and some friends commented on how "sharp" my photos looked and I used ordinary jpg files, but big ones. 

[Corrie Kinkel]

29 minutes ago, Sue Thomas said:

Day 7.  Thank you for the workshop Carole, it is always fun to participate in the workshops. I know vectors can be  daunting whilst learning. Bearing in mind they are very versatile with endless possibilities unlike rasters. In my opinion vectors are well worth the perseverance, same goes for the warp brushes.  I'm  looking forward to tomorrow and the start of the Affinity vector workshop.  After all these years in the campus,  I will be a (affinity) newbie once again. 

These flowers really are  incredibly minuscule.  

Such a lovely tiny flower and it makes your page! The word and tag are great! See you tomorrow at the Affinity workshop, where I'm a newbie as well! 

[Sue Thomas]

5 minutes ago, Corrie Kinkel said:

Such a lovely tiny flower and it makes your page! The word and tag are great! See you tomorrow at the Affinity workshop, where I'm a newbie as well! 

We shall learn together, whilst being amongst campus family.