Paint Shop Pro 7 Fast & Easy (Fast & Easy (Premier Press))

Working with a paint program, such as Jasc Software's Paint Shop Pro 7, requires a somewhat different mode of thinking than other software packages (other packages usually have some kind of text-centric interface, you see). Diane Koers understands this, and welcomes newcomers into graphics editing and creation with her Paint Shop Pro 7 Fast & Easy. She assumes little prior knowledge of pixel manipulation and computer graphics terms, yet manages to show her readers how to use all of Paint Shop Pro 7's image-editing and creation features. It's a considerable job--the software has lots of specialized features--but Koers has used the Fast & Easy format to great effect in outlining procedures, identifying pitfalls, and documenting tricks that are learned from experience.

Fie on Prima Publishing for not giving Koers at least a color section with which to demonstrate color manipulation, and kudos to Koers herself for coming up with sample graphics that are well suited to the bluish halftone in which her screen shots are printed. A few demonstration images are crude, freehand shapes, but most are attractive photographs and carefully laid-out designs. The author also appears to have engaged this series's means of describing procedures. If the first step in a job involves a particular check box, a line connects that check box to the text that describes what to do with it, and why. This is a fine book about a fine piece of software. --David Wall

Topics covered: Jasc Software's Paint Shop Pro 7 and its multitude of tools for creating and modifying images. After getting the fundamentals of digital picture manipulation out of the way, the author explains layers, picture tubes, masks, deformations, effects, and stylized text. There's also coverage of optimizing images for Internet publication.