1 - the magnifyer is used used to zoom in and out
2 - the deformation Tool is used to resize or rotate your images and change their shape.
3 - the cropping tool is used to cut down the size of your images, to crop off any extra you don't need.
4 - the mover tool is used to move your images around
5 - the selection tool is used to make a selection in a rectangle, square, circle, ellipse, star etc
6 - the free form selection tool; use this to outline things on your dolls. Especially useful for trimming off unwanted edges.
7 - the Magic Wand selects specific content in an image
8 - the color dropper is used to select your colors
9 - the paint brush is just what it says and used to draw your dolls
10 - the clone brush copies an area of an image and duplicates it whereever else you place it. You right-click to copy and left click to duplicate.
11 - the color replacer is used to exchange one color for another on an image. For example, to change red to blue etc. First you click the color you want to replace and make it your foreground color, and then the color you plan to replace it with as the the background color. Then right click anywhere two times, and it automatically changes the color!
12 - the retouch tool does many things. It pushes color around, softens it, smudges it, sharpens, darkens, lightens, and many other things, depending on your selection. I use this tool often to touch up my work.
13 -the scratch remover removes scratches from photos and so far, I haven't had reason to use it.
14 - the eraser is obvious
15 - tubes tool - this contains images in psp format that can be reused over and over again. Sort of like a picture in a squirt tube. Once you are more familiar with this, you can put any image you like into it, even your dolls.
16 - the airbrush is like painting with spray paint and comes out more quickly.
17 - the paint can is used to fill a large area with color all at once.
18 - the text tool is used to write with, of course
19 - the line tool is used to make lines and draw. The line width can be changed according to how thick you need the line, generally 1 on dolls.

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This is the color toolbar and is on the right side of PSP.

1 - foreground color
2 - background color
3 - color palette
4 - 5 - Both the foreground and background also have gradient colors and patterns in them if you open them by clicking the little arrow.
6 - 7 - these hold different textures, (woodgrain, water ripples etc) that you can use on many things
8 - the RGB numbers for each chosen color
9 - Lock: This locks your colors so that they don't keep switching around on you. That way, the color you choose is always the color that is rendered no matter which tool you select. I keep mine locked all the time.

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Tool Options Palette

1 - visually depicts the size of the current brush
2 - lets you choose your brush shape
3 - this is your brush size
4 - the hardness increases or decreases brush sharpness and consistency
5 - opacity controls paint flow and how much paint goes onto the image. Lowering the opacity gives you "thinner" paint and doesn't cover the area as well, but it has its uses. Put this at 100% opacity, if you want complete coverage but if you want something to be lightly covered, sheer looking, put it as low as you need it.
6 - step controls how often the brush touches the image during a single paint stroke
7 - density controls the thickness, so to speak, of the paint being applied

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The layer palette allows you more control over your layers. You can right click on each layer and go to properties. Here you will find settings to aid you in lowering opacity of that layer, or darkening, lightening, etc the images on that particular layer. You can also turn layers off and on here so that you can see what your doll looks like without whatever item is on that layer. For example, I sometimes make the bottom layer my background and fill it with a color. Then on the next layer, I draw my doll. This way I can see what I am drawing without attaching my doll to the background. If I need to see it without the background, then I just click the little eye-glasses button to X it out. This turns it the layer "off" and makes it invisible until you turn it back on.

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This is the top menu bar. You will find many things here, such as File, View, Edit, Effects, Colors, etc

Under "File", you will find these things that you will use most often:
1 - File: New: opens a new palette for you to work on. This is where you will draw all of your dolls.

2 - Open: opens an existing image on your computer
3 - Save as: saves your image with whatever name you choose

Under "Edit", you will find these things that you will use most often:
1 - undo: Use this to undo any error you make
2 - redo: use this to redo anything you undo but decide you should have kept
3 - copy: used to copy a selection/image
4 - cut: used to cut an image or part of an image off completely but it can be re-pasted as a new layer and moved to a different area of your image.
5 - paste as a new image: used to paste anything you copy on its own palette
6 - paste as a new layer: used to paste anything you copy as a new layer, one that can be moved around until you get it like you want it.

Under "View", you will find these things that you will use most often:
1 - Zoom in by 1: used to make your image appear larger so that it is easier to work on.
2- View normal viewing: used to see your image at its normal appearance

Under "Image", you will find these things that you will use most often:
1 - Flip: Flips your image upside down
2 - Mirror: reverses your image so that it is facing the opposite direction
3 - Rotate: can be used to change the position of your image by rotating a little to the right or left
4 - Crop to selection: this crops off part of your image if you have too much blank or unused space.
5 - Resize: makes your image larger or smaller, according to what you specify
6 - Canvas Size: makes your entire canvas larger. I use this often when I find I need more room to work than I originally allowed.

Under "Effects", you will find these things that you will use most often: Effects are your tools that change your image, make it sharper, blur an area, add more color or change the color altogether if you have Paint Shop Pro 7. Your filters go in here and there are many on the net that do many different things. In making dolls, I rarely used filters but I do use the sharpen, blur and "Automatic Saturation Enhancement" to add more color or take some away.
1 - The automatic saturation: can be found under "Enhance Photo". This is used to increase color, make it more or less colorful.
2 - Your "Manuel Color Correction" also found under "Enhance Photos" is used whenever you want to make a drastic color change on your dolls, say from white to black skin color etc.

Under "Colors", you will find these things that you will use most often:
1 - Adjust: under this, you can brighten, darken your colors and manipulate them to your heart's content
2 - Colorize: with this, you can change colors quickly...to red, purple, blue, green, etc
3 - Set Palette transparency: sets your image transparency to ready it for the web.
4 - View Palette transparency: shows you what this transparency looks like
5 - Increase color depth: to 16 million colors is used to add color to GIF files so that you can work on them. If some of your tools are greyed out, check here first and change the color depth. Under "Layers", you will find these things that you will use most often:
1 - New raster layer: adds a new layer so that whatever you are working on is NOT attached to your image and can be moved around until you are ready to set it in place permanently. For instance, I add a new layer over each doll so that when I draw the clothing, it is not attached to the doll. Then if I decide I don't like it or want to change it, I can do so without affecting the doll at all. As when you make sheer clothing like veils etc, you can "lower the opacity" (check your layer palette to do this) on a new layer without making your doll see-thru as well.
2 - Arrange: this is useful in moving your layers from top to bottom. Say you draw an arm on the doll (on a new layer) but would rather see it underneath the doll, go to arrange and click "move down". This puts the arm, beneath the doll body.
3- Merge: use this to merge your layers together before you save them

Those are most of the tools you will need to create your own dolls. I hope this tutorial helps you out in your creative endeavors. I love Paint Shop Pro, and you can download it at the Jasc Website. If you can't afford the price, they have a trial version that is good for 30 days for download also. Have fun!

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