Using the Picture Tube tool
You can use the Picture Tube tool to paint with a collection of objects. For example, you can add butterflies and beetles to a picnic setting or frame a picture with flowers. You can use one of the picture tubes included with PaintShop Pro or create your own.
The Picture Tube tool lets you apply various preset images to your photos to create unique effects.
Picture tubes are PspTube files. Each picture tube file is made up of a series of images arranged in rows and columns, called cells. Picture tubes may have any number of cells. As you paint with the Picture Tube tool, PaintShop Pro paints one image from the picture tube after another. Many picture tubes create discrete images (such as zoo animals), and others create the effect of a continuous image (such as grass).
Each picture tube file contains a series of images.
To make picture tube elements easier to edit, it is helpful to paint them on a separate layer. For example, you can apply adjustment or effect filters to layers with picture tubes so that they blend in better with the background image.
Important! You cannot use the Picture Tube tool on vector layers.
Where can I get more picture tubes?
You can create your own picture tubes. You can use picture tubes from a previous version of the application. For more information, see To use picture tubes from previous versions of the application.
You can also download free picture tubes from the Web by checking the Corel website (www.corel.com) or by using the keyword phrase "free picture tubes" in an online search engine.
Important! This tool works only on raster layers in grayscale and 16 million–color images. Using this tool on a 256-color or lower raster image automatically promotes the image to the appropriate color depth. To convert a vector layer to a raster layer, choose
Layers 
Convert to Raster Layer. For more information about increasing the color depth of an image, see
Increasing the color depth of an image.
Picture Tube settings
When you click the Settings button 
on the Tool Options palette, the Picture Tube Settings dialog box appears. You can use this dialog box to update the current Tool Options palette settings and to modify the look of the current picture tube. However, you can also make the settings permanent by marking the Save as default for this Picture Tube option.
•
Current Picture Tube name and path — The name and path of the picture tube appear at the top of this dialog box.
•
Cell arrangement — The
Cells across and
Cells down fields display the current cell layout of the tube. The ranges for these values depend on how the tube was created. The
Total cells field shows the product of multiplying the
Cells across value by the
Cells down value.
•
Placement options — Modifying any of these settings updates the corresponding setting on the Tool Options palette. Note that the Scale setting is only available for some picture tubes.
•
Save as default for this Picture Tube — Mark this check box if you want to save any modifications made in the Picture Tube Settings dialog box. If you do not mark this check box, the changes affect only the current use of the picture tube.
To paint with a picture tube
1
On the Tools toolbar, choose the
Picture Tube tool
.
2
On the Tool Options palette, select a picture tube from the Picture Tube drop-list.
Note: Most picture tube previews show the first image rather than all images in the picture tube. To view all images, select the desired picture tube and then paint with it, or open the
.PspTube file in PaintShop Pro.
3
If necessary, adjust the following:
•
Scale — determines the percentage (10% to 250%) for reducing or enlarging each image in the picture tube and scaling the step
•
Step — determines the distance in pixels (1 to 500) between the centers of each picture tube cell that you paint
•
Placement mode — determines how the images are placed. Choose
Continuous to space the images evenly by step size, or choose
Random to randomly space the images, with intervals ranging from 1 pixel to the step size.
•
Selection mode — determines how PaintShop Pro selects images from the cells within the picture tube file.
Angular selects images based on the direction you drag;
Incremental selects images one by one from top left to bottom right;
Pressure selects images based on the pressure you apply on a pressure-sensitive tablet;
Random selects images randomly; and
Velocity selects images based on the speed with which you drag.
•
Create as a new raster layer — creates a layer for each click or brushstroke. This is very helpful when you want to move or adjust individual elements with the
Pick Tool later.
4
In the image window, click to paint with one picture tube image, or drag to paint with multiple picture tube images.
You can make further changes to the behavior of the current picture tube by clicking the Settings button on the Tool Options palette and adjusting settings in the Picture Tube Settings dialog box.
To create a picture tube
1
Choose
View Change Grid, Guide, Object & Snap Properties.
3
In the
Current image settings group box, type or set the
Horizontal grids and
Vertical grids, and click
OK.
Note: Values for the grid positions are the values in pixels for the width and height of the cells. Images must be no larger than this cell size.
4
Choose
File New.
The New Image dialog box appears.
5
Set the following options:
•
Image Dimensions — sets a width and height (in pixels) that are multiples of the horizontal and vertical grid spacing. The width and height of the image determine the total number of cells in the image. For example, if the grid spacing is 100 pixels, you can create an image that is 400 pixels wide by 300 pixels high. These dimensions would produce 12 cells (four across and three down).
•
Image Characteristics — Choose
Raster Background as the layer type,
8 bits/channel or
16 bits/channel as the Color depth, and mark the
Transparent check box.
If the grid is not visible, choose
View Grid.
7
Create one image in each grid square. These squares are the picture tube cells.
To change the size of cells, change the grid size, and then use the
Canvas Size command.
8
Choose
File Export Picture Tube.
The Export Picture Tube dialog box appears.
9
Set the following options:
•
Cell arrangement — Enter the number of cells across and down. Set these fields to match your arrangement of images in step 7. The
Total cells field should match the number of images you placed in the tube file.
•
Placement options — Choose the default options for this picture tube. You can change these options when you apply the picture tube.
•
Tube name — Enter the filename of the tube. The extension
.PspTube is automatically added to the filename.
You can make further changes to the behavior of the current picture tube by clicking the Settings button on the Tool Options palette and adjusting settings in the Picture Tube Settings dialog box.
If you want to use one image as a paint brush, export the image as a picture tube. Use a cell arrangement of one cell across by one cell down. The image must contain one raster layer that is not the background. To promote the background to a layer, choose Layers Promote Background Layer. Choose the Picture Tube tool, and select the new picture tube you created.
To use picture tubes from previous versions of the application
1
Choose the
Picture Tube tool
from the Tools toolbar.
2
On the Tool Options palette, click the
Presets drop-list, and click the
File Locations button
.
3
In the File Locations dialog box, choose
Picture Tubes from the
File types list.
The Browse for Folder dialog box appears.
5
Choose the folder where the previous versions of the picture tubes are stored, and click
OK.
The folder path is added to the Picture Tube folders list.
