About Paint Shop Pro Picture Tubes
Ever since its introduction, Paint Shop Pro picture tubes have been one of the most popular of the Paint Shop Pro image tools. There are entire websites devoted to distributing new picture tubes to be used with Paint Shop Pro in several different versions. They are far more versatile than the typical stamp tube that is available in many other graphics programs.
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Function
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Paint Shop Pro picture tubes are a versatile paint tool in the Corel's Paint Shop Pro graphics program. Picture tubes can be used in many different ways. Their main function is to add a complex image to a graphics file, much like a stamp pad does in other graphics programs. However, Paint Shop Pro picture tubes can also be used like paintbrushes to create ribbons, neon tubes and other interesting effects in graphics.
History
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Picture tubes made their first appearance in Jasc Paint Shop Pro 5, released in April 1998. The picture tube tool immediately became a big hit with Paint Shop Pro users, and it has been included in every version since. Paint Shop Pro 7 changed the format of picture tubes and includes a converter utility so that users could convert their Paint Shop Pro 5 and Paint Shop Pro 6 picture tubes to a format that could be used in Paint Shop Pro 7. In 2004, Jasc's Paint Shop Pro was acquired by Corel, and the new company continues to support Paint Shop Pro picture tubes.
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Significance
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Picture tubes have been among the most utilized and talked about features of Paint Shop Pro since they were first introduced in Paint Shop Pro 5. From the very start, Paint Shop Pro users adopted picture tubes and began creating their own. Since creation of Paint Shop Pro picture tubes is relatively easy, tubes became a popular way to share graphics elements among Paint Shop Pro users. There are many Paint Shop Pro picture tube groups on the net, as well as sites mounted and maintained by individual artists and designers. Many collections of picture tubes are packaged as executable files that automatically unzip and install in the appropriate Paint Shop Pro directory. Others are distributed in .zip files that must be extracted into the desired Paint Shop Pro picture tube directory. Picture tubes continue to be one of Paint Shop Pro's most popular features since the program's acquisition by Corel.
Types
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Besides the two different picture tube file formats--one for Paint Shop Pro 5 and Paint Shop Pro 6 and one that works with subsequent version of Paint Shop Pro--there are three main types of picture tubes. While there is considerable overlap between the different types, there are also some basic distinctions between them. Most picture tubes consist of two to nine small images that can be used as individual stamps in Paint Shop Pro artwork. The picture tube tool allows the images to be re-sized, as well as allows the user to specify how the images will be placed into the image. In addition, many designers have used picture tubes to create 3-D picture tubes which are often called "poser tubes" because they are often created using images created in the Poser 3-D imaging program. Poser tubes often consist of only one image or figure that can be dropped into your Paint Shop Pro background image. Finally, some picture tube images consist of a file that can be used like a Paint Shop Pro brush. Spheres in picture tubes are often used this way. By setting the picture tube tool to create a continuous image with very little space between them, spheres can be used to draw with "tubes" and other shapes.
Features
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The Paint Shop Pro picture tube tool has a number of user-settable options that control the way that tube images are placed and displayed in images created with Paint Shop Pro. First, the user can choose a specific tube from a gallery. The images in the tube can be re-sized in the "Scale" box. The "Step" box allows the user to specify how far apart the images will be placed when the mouse is dragged. In the "Placement Mode" box, the user can choose "Continuous" or "Random" placement. The "Continuous" setting will place the tube images evenly spaced according to the "Step" setting. "Random" will place images spaced randomly from one pixel to the "Step" setting. Finally, the "Selection Mode" setting determines how Paint Shop Pro selects the images to be placed when you click the mouse.
Potential
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Paint Shop Pro picture tubes can be used to add elements to your own paintings---butterflies and insects to a garden scene, for instance. You can also create entire scenes using nothing but Paint Shop Pro picture tubes. Some basic tubes make perfect starting points for buttons and sidebar images for web designers. Paint Shop Pro picture tubes also make it very easy to fill backgrounds for web page backgrounds and desktop backgrounds.
Warning
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The picture tube tool can only be used on raster backgrounds in either grayscale or 16 million color images. It will not work in vector layers or in other color settings.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Deb Powers
