The product presentation for December 1998 was Julie Altstatt of JASC Software demonstrating Paint Shop Pro 5.0. When I mentioned to her that we already used this program, she gave me a book: Sams Teach Yourself Paint Shop Pro 5 in 24 Hours by T. Michael Clark.

I have been a long-time fan of Paint Shop Pro (PSP) ever since I was dragged kicking and screaming to it. (I was emotionally attached to a program that I knew well but had betrayed me by becoming obsolete.) I was aware that it could do many things but had no clue how to use the functions to make graphic magic. So, I poked, prodded, read the very decent manual and remained clueless. Then I got The Book.

The layout of this book is 24 lessons designed to take about an hour each. Thus, one learns a manageable amount of information each session if one chooses to follow the lesson plan. These lessons are outlined on the inside of the front cover and in more detail in the table of contents. This helped when looking for a specific lesson. The lessons are very clear and step-by-step. Explanations as to why something is done in a certain manner are included.

Mr. Clark covers the basic functions of PSP extensively and clearly. In fact, the first four lessons are for the rankest beginner. As I read through the material, I learned many things about functions that I thought that I understood and knew how to use. However, he goes beyond the basics and explains how to use these fairly easy functions in various combinations to produce some spectacular effects, such as glowing text a la X-Files, textured text, and metallic effects.

He takes one from the point of "okay, I got this, now what?" to "so that's what it does!" by explaining the use and how to of color, layers, masks, channels, picture tubes and filters. He then demonstrates how to use these functions to retouch photos, correct color problems and combine pictures for phenomenal results.

The last four lessons help in the preparation of graphics for the web: how to use jpg's compression facility to best advantage, how to make those animated gifs and pagesets (coordinating backgrounds, buttons, horizontal/vertical rules). Also included are resources on the web where picture tubes, tutorials and plug-ins for PSP can be found.

I have been using this book to create title graphics, backgrounds, and pagesets for my web site. Also, anything I can learn about color and its adjustments is a bonus since my site is photo-oriented.

Sams Publishing (http://www.samspublishing.com) has been producing technical books for over 50 years and computer oriented books for almost 20. You can order books or learn online.

The author, T. Michael Clark, has been an artist all his life. He runs GrafX Design (http://grafx-design.com), a web site that features online tutorials for several graphic programs. u

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