Glossary
Air Brush Tool - A tool from the tool palette which allows you to spray patterns of dots varying in color and opacity. Tool Palette button= looks like a can of spray paint.
Blur - This option is available from the Image Menu and used mostly for special effects. Opposite of sharpen, blur has an un-focusing effect on the image.
Brightness - From the Color Menu (sub) Adjust and also available from tool bar button. This option allows you to increase or decrease the amount of light which appears to project from the image. Tool Bar button= black and white vertical bar next to + and - symbol.
CMYK - An acronym for the colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. The colors, CMYK are used as the primary colors for which all other colors can be created for printing. It is important to note that your computer display uses combinations of red, green and blue (RGB)as the primary colors to display all colors. Also see Primary Colors.
Clone Tool - A tool available from the Tool Palette that allows you to copy areas of a specified size and opacity to another part of your image. With the tool selected, right click on the area that you want to copy and then click where you want that area to be cloned to. Clone tool settings can be adjusted in the Control Palette. Tool Palette button= two paint brushes side by side.
Color Depth - The number of colors available to each pixel of a computer display that can be used to render an image. Also the number of colors available to an image file from which the image can be rendered. Image color depth can be selected from the Colors Menu (sub) Increase Color Depth or Decrease Color Depth. If your display color depth is set to 256 color (in Windows) then you won't be able to see all of the colors when you open a 24 bit image.
Color depth is also referred to as bit depth. As you increase the number of bits used for rendering color, the number of colors increase exponentially (a lot, lot, lot more than half). An example of this, 4 bit allows for 16 colors. If you double the bits to 8 bit, you would think that the number of colors would double from 16 to 32 colors but instead jumps to 256 colors. When you increase the bit depth to 24 bit, the number of colors increases to around 16,700,000 colors.
Most of the adjustments and special effects that PaintShop Pro offers are only available for 24 bit images. So if you see an option that should be available but isn't, then check your color depth from the Colors Menu. Some graphic file formats are limited by by number of colors they can be use. For instance, a .gif file, commonly used for web documents cannot have a color depth greater than 256 colors (8 bit).
Color Palette - The box to the right (by default) that shows available colors and the two Active Colors (one for each mouse button). The palette contains a spectrum starting with red. Left clicking on the desired color in the spectrum puts that color in current color box directly below it (Active Color Panel). Right click to change the color for that button bottom box.
Color Dialog Box - The box that opens when you click on your current colors (one for each mouse button) to the right in the Paint Shop Pro work area. The Panel uses the HSL model to allow the selection varying intensities and shades of colors. HSL stands for Hue, Saturation, and Lightness. The circular color wheel is for choosing the hue and the black to white gradient square is for adjusting the saturation and lightness of the selected color
Composite - A method incorporating subjects from two or more separate images into one image. For example, if you took a picture of a landscape and then a picture of yourself and cut yourself out and paste it onto the landscape, then you have created a composite.
Contrast - An option available from the Image Menu (sub) Adjust (sub) Brightness/Contrast. Contrast correction is useful for varying the difference between light and dark areas. Increasing the contrast makes the dark shades darker and the highlights lighter at the same time causing more contrast between the two.
Control Palette - A panel for options to control the currently selected tool from the Tool Palette (to the left by default).
Crop - A tool available from the Tool Palette that allows you to cut unwanted edges from an image. Tool Palette button= looks like two squares (rulers with 90 degree angles) with the ends over lapping each other.
Cut, Copy, Paste - A feature on most operating systems which allows you to highlight then cut or copy text and then past it into a different file even a file in a different program.
Deformation - A tool available from the Tool Palette that allows you to apply various perspective effects. Tool Palette button= a square with an i in it.
Dithering - A method combining pixels of different colors to create a different color. Program use three different methods to blend, nearest color, error diffusion and ordered diffusion.
DPI - Dots Per Inch AKA pixels per inch. You can multiply the DPI by itself to get the total pixels per square inch.
Editing - Any adjustments or modifications made to a computer graphic that changes it's appearance, properties or format.
Eraser - A tool available from the Tool Palette that uses the bottom Active Color (right button) to remove unwanted color. Tool Palette button= the eraser end of a pencil.
File Format - Usually indicated by the file ending format identifies the type of file. Programs have to be specifically designed to read or write various formats. A web image can be either a gif or a jpg format because web browsers are designed to read both.
Filter - A feature that allows special effects available from the Images Menu.
Flip - The flip option from the Image Menu will turn the image upside down.
Floating Selection - When you paste something or insert text into an image it is still selected and referred to as a floating selection. The moving dotted lines surrounding the selected area are sometimes called marching ants. When a selection is floating, it can moved by clicking on and draging the selection to where you want it. To defloat the selection use the select none option or defloat from the Selections Menu or from the Tool Bar (might have to add).
Flood Fill - A tool available from the Tool Palette that allows you to fill a selected area or the entire image with solid color, gradients or texture. Tool Palette button= a tipped paint can pouring paint.
Free Hand Selection - A tool from the Tool palette that lets you draw your selection. Useful for removing backgrounds and masking intricate details. Tool Palette button= a loop of rope (lasso).
Gamma - Properly adjusting the monitor gamma insures that printed output will be of the same intensity as the displayed image. Monitor gamma can be found in the File Menu (sub) Preferences (sub) Monitor Gamma. There is also a gamma correction for each image. From the Colors Menu (sub) Adjust (sub) Gamma Correction.
Gradient - A smooth gradation from one color to another. Options for gradients are available on the Control Palette (Fill Style)when ever the Flood Tool is selected. Using the flood tool fills the selected area with a gradient. Gradients can be rendered in different patterns such as radial, sun burst or linear.
Grey Scale - An 8 bit image with a color palette ranging from white to black. You can have a 24 bit black and white image but that is not a grey scale. Grey scale is available from the Colors Menu.
Highlight - The light areas of an image. The parts of the image subject that reflect light causing those areas to appear lighter.
Histogram - A graph that traces the levels of red, blue, green and luminance throughout the image. All four value components should be evenly distributed across the graph. Unchecking one or more of the values turns off the trace for that value. There are two commands, Equalize and Stretch available from the Colors Menu (sub) Histogram Functions. The Equalize Command will average the traces in the Histogram and should smooth the image. The Stretch Command spreads out the image luminance similar effect as Brightness/Contrast.
Hue - Color.
Input Device - A mouse, keyboard, floppy disk and scanner are all input devices.
Layers - Are like transparent pages stacked on top of each other. Only the actual objects on each layer can be seen. Layers can be rearranged, toggled on or off and each layer's transparency can be adjusted. Layers can be adjusted on the Layer Palette and from the Layers Menu.
Luminance - The amount of light that appears to emanate from an image.
Magic Wand - A tool available from the Tool Palette that allows you to select areas of similar color. Holding the Shift Key lets you add to the selected area.
Menu - A list of options, sometimes containing sub lists of options. The Main Menu for Paint Shop runs across the top beginning with File and ending with Help.
Mid Tone - The medium shades of an image between Shadow and Highlight. Mid Tones can be adjusted from the Colors Menu (sub) Adjust (sub) Highlight/Mid Tone/Shadow.
Mirror - Reverses the image as it would appear in the reflection of a mirror.
Monitor - The video display hooked to a computer.
Negative - A Negative is an exact opposite of a Positive image. White becomes black and black becomes white.
Opacity - The range between semi-transparent and opaque.
Output Device - A computer monitor and printer are Output Devices.
Paint Brush - A tool available from the Tool Palette that simulates a broad range of brush techniques of varying sizes, textures and shapes.
Palette - A predetermined set of colors that a program uses to render or display an image. Components include (grey - red green blue) or weight - weighted, non-weighted.
Picture tubes - A tool exclusive to PaintShop Pro that allows you to paint with sets of related pictures.
Pixel - A pixel is the smallest part of a displayed or printed image.
Plug-in - An add-in option that gives you extra special effect capabilities. Plug-ins are available from the Image Menu (sub) Plug-in Filters.
Preferences - A feature of most programs which allow you to customize default settings. In Paint Shop Pro Preferences are under File in the main menu (then Preferences).
Posterize - Available from the Colors Menu, the posterize reduces the bit depth and causes a flatter more contrasting image .
Primary Colors - Several theories exist about which three primary colors combine to produce all of the colors that we see. The most commonly accepted theory uses red, yellow and blue. If you arrange all of the colors from the visable spectrum of light into a circle (like the PaintShop Pro Color selector panel) begining with red and ending with red, a set of primary colors will form a triangle across the circle. If the triangle is rotated in either direction, then the new colors that the three corners of the triangle point to can be used as primary colors. Computer displays and televisions use Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) and most printers use Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black for primary colors. Also see CMYK and RGB.
Properties - From the View Menu (sub) Image Information. The details of a file such as size (dimension and file size), color depth, format etc.
RGB - An acronym for the colors Red, Blue, and Green. Combinations of RGB are used by televisions and computer monitors as primary colors to produce all of the different colors displayed. Red, Blue and , Green are not the primary colors that combine to form all of the colors that we see in the real world. Also see CMYK and Primary Colors.
Resolution - The DPI or number of pixels per inch in a displayed or printed image.
Rotate - An option from the Image Menu that allows you to rotate an image by varying numbers of degrees or fractions of degrees.
Saturation - Saturation is the vividness of a hue (color) as it appears in normal light. An option from the Colors menu (sub) Adjust.
Selection - Various options allow you to select all or only part of an image. When part of an image is selected, only that part is affected by adjustments or rendering. A selection can also be inverted (Selections Menu (sub) Invert) and used as a mask meaning that the selected part will not be affected by adjustments. There are several other modifications that can be made to the selection, most available from the Selections Menu.
Screen Capture - A tool which allows you to select an area of your display to be copied (captured) and then displayed in PaintShop as a new image. It is useful for demonstrating what a document would look like in it's program environment such as for tutorials and advertisements.
Shadow - The dark area behind an object that has light cast on it, shade.
Shape Tool - A tool which allows you to easily create proportional shapes like circles, squares and ellipses (ovals). Tool Palette button= a line drawn square.
Sharpen - An option from the Image Menu used to smoothe pixels around the outline of details in images. The opposite of blur this option has a focusing effect.
Soften - This option available from the Image Menu is used for softening jagged edges and simulating photographic special effects.
Software - An application or program designed to run on a computer with the aid of an operating system and accomplish a specific set of tasks.
Spectrum - Refers to the visible bands colors or all the colors of the rainbow which are contained in white light.
Text Tool - A tool from the Tool Palette that allows you to place text (numbers, letters and bullets) of varying size, color and fonts. Once the text is placed it is not edit able, like it is in word processing programs. Tool Palette button = the capitol letter A.
Tool Bar - The customizable bar of tool buttons running across the top (by default) of the working area of the PaintShop program.
Transparency - The opposite of opaque, a term that describes whether light from behind an object or layer can pass through. A transparent yellow over white would produce the effect of a bright yellow, like the sun. The same transparent yellow over black would have a muddying effect and would hardly show up. In contrast, an opaque yellow would cover black, at least in the computer it would. With real paint it would take several thick coats of opaque yellow to cover black.
Unsharp Mask - Used to sharpen medium to high contrast images without increasing noise.
Web Graphic - An image that has been saved to a format which can be incorporated into a web document and displayed by a web browser.
