Getting Started with PaintShop Pro
Get started on your photo editing journey with this short overview tutorial that will introduce you to the PaintShop Pro interface and most-used tools. Explore the Welcome screen where you will find helpful tutorials to guide you, a new Workspace tab, and a collection of free and premium templates, plugins and other creative content. We will review the Tools toolbar and give you a quick demonstration of how to use the most common photo editing tools for cropping and resizing your images, working with colors and selections, adding text and more.
Want to learn more? Browse through our collection of PaintShop Pro tutorials for beginners for more detailed instructions on how to use each of the tools covered in this overview video.
Thanks for watching! We hope you found this tutorial helpful and we would love to hear your feedback in the Comments section below. And don’t forget to visit our social media pages and show us what you’ve learned by sharing your photos, videos and creative projects with us.
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Comments (70)
I was also trialing Photoshop as for a tattoo artist the ability to convert to a Sketch (line drawing, stencil) is very easy in PS, its a simple pick of a filter (photocopy filter) and it is converted to line diagram for transfer to tattoo transfer paper. I cannot figure out how to do this in Paintshop, simply put, I would like to take a colour photo or black and white and have it converted to a sketch (for tattoo stencil), any assistance would be great.
cheers
Hi Wayne,
There are some effects that you can use to convert a photo to a sketch. Under the Effects menu, check out the Art Media Effects category for effects such as Black Pencil, Charcoal, etc. When you choose one of these effects, a preview window will pop up that allows you to adjust the level of detail depending on how detailed you want the sketch to be. You could also look at Effects > Edge Effects > Find All, which will produce a sketch as well.
Hope this helps!
The Discovery Center team
Only had this one day and it appears to be a total disaster. Upgraded from 2020… can’t find out how to do anything thanks to their “help” getting in the way. Have one of the most powerful computers available, brand new, and the load time is ridiculous Then it comes up in full screen with no way to shrink it down! Really user friendly idea you have there folks…Have a 38″ monitor in order to be able to run and see different tasks/programs and you want to hog all of it.!
Hi Clint,
It sounds like you are in the Photography workspace. Go to File > Workspaces and choose the Essentials or Complete workspace. You will find all the tools and menus in the same location as 2020, and be able to shrink it down.
Best regards,
The Discovery Center team
Hi
I own Paint Shop Pro 2022 Ultimate and I wonder where I can find the menu links (e.g. Anpassen – KI Hintergrundaustausch … and the like to uset the AI functions that should be in this product. Is there a tutorial available for this showing how to do it? The user doc is definitely NOT helpful. I’m unable to find the links / menu points as mentioned i your german user’s guide.
Please help.
Thank you.
Hi Ruedi,
It depends which workspace you are using. If you are using the Photography workspace, there are some AI tools in the bottom menu.
To access the full set of AI tools, it is best to use the Essentials or Complete workspace. You can change workspaces by going to File > Workspace and choosing Essentials or Complete. Then you will have the Adjust menu along the top, with AI tools including Background Replacement.
Hope this helps!
The Discovery Center team
I simply want to manage and edit my phots like before with fill light, vibrancy, contrast, smart fix, etc. and I can’t find a way to do this. This new format too complicated.
Hi Steve,
If you are used to the traditional Complete workspace that has those features under the Adjust menu, you can switch to that workspace by going to File > Workspace and selecting Complete.
Hope this helps!
The Discovery Center team
I have just installed PSP 2021 on my laptop. The first thing I want to do is to view the workspace on a (larger) extension monitor. There is no obvious way to do this. The workspace opens in full-screen view on the laptop screen and there is no button to exit full-screen view. I cannot drag the workspace onto the 2nd monitor. This is a disgraceful defect in the user interface and runs contrary to the majority of well-behaved Windows app’s. How do you get the workspace to display on an extension monitor? It should not be necessary to consult a manual or tutorial to carry out such a fundamental operation.
Hi Mike,
It sounds like you are using the Photography workspace, which is a full-screen, simplified workspace designed to be touch-friendly. PaintShop Pro 2021 offers 2 additional workspaces: Essentials and Complete. Both of these workspaces will allow you to drag the workspace onto your second monitor.
To switch workspaces, go to File > Workspace and select Essentials or Complete. Here is a video that explains more about the different workspaces https://learn.corel.com/tutorials/overview-of-paintshop-pro-workspaces/.
Hope this helps!
The Discovery Center team
Mike,
There is a way to be able to extend your workspace using Windows 10. Also you can duplicate or use only the second monitor to view any project you are working on. The way I do this is to click on the f4 button and a pop out menu will appear with these options. I select the option of duplicate my screen ( I have a damaged screen and it is hard to view the whole screen at times). I have mine hooked up with an HDMI cable to my 70inch TV and I can work on projects from anywhere in the room, as long as the cable will reach.
Ik heb fotoshop 2019 aangekocht en zoek iemand die me beetje wijs kan maken met dit programma, wil het in het nederlands zetten maar versta het niet, ben 62j en van Moorslede, west vl, belgium, wie kan me helpen.
Bonjour,
Existe-t-il des tutoriels ou un guide en français ?
Hello Laurence,
While we do not currently have video tutorials available in French, we are working to add additional language captions to our videos in order to increase accessibility. Additionally, here is a link to our French user guide to help get started!
Discovery Center Team
Bonjour Laurence ! Je pense que tu as psp pro 21 . Peux tu me dire si tu peux comment installer les modules externes . J’ai eu plusieurs psp et j’ai toujours reussi a les installer . Aussi sur ce logiciel impossible et pourtant la facon est la même que les autres psp que j’ai eu
Avec tous mes remerciement ! Ca m aiderai beaucoup et ne trouves pas d’aide sur corel n y sur cleverbridge . merci infiniment
Bonjour Laurence,
tu peux trouver de l’aide en français sur le forum francophone :
http://www.paintshoppro.fr/
Grazie per le istruzioni date.Iodesidererei che fossero tradotte in italiano cosi posso capire meglio.
I have PS Pro 2020 and trying to learn just the basics of how the software works, what the various palettes are. the structure of the interface, etc. so i can understand it. I don’t find all the tutorials very helpful because they are focused on a narrow task or how to do some specific thing. Where is a basic user guide that will provide basic information as i have described? I feel like learning the software is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle from all the tutorials.
Can’t this be made simpler for first time users? It is not worth the time – i am looking for some other software and it isn’t PS.
I meant it isn’t PhotoShop
Hello kwinterer,
Of course! Here is a link to the PaintShop Pro User Guide.
Hope this helps,
Discovery Center Team
I have PaintShop Pro 2018. I would really like to see a video tutorial on how to tag photos or facial recognition or whatever it’s called – so I could pull up photos of a certain person. Where could I find that?
Hello Jean,
Thank you for the suggestion! We do not currently have a tutorial for tagging photos with facial recognition, and have passed your suggestion on to the PaintShop Pro team. In the meantime, there is a how-to called “finding people” in the complete user guide that you may find helpful.
Discovery Center Team
On Paintshop Pro 2020… Most of your tutorials seem to target the more experienced users. Unfortunately, I am both a photography beginner and a novice to the program, definitely feeling left out here. However, I am keen on learning more about the program basics and would much appreciate a simple, yet useful “how-to” tutorial guide for beginners. Perhaps. you might wish to consider providing a tutorial for beginners to introduce the design, layout and general concepts needed to better understand how best to approach the subject matter rather than demonstrating the execution of very specific but isolated tasks. A preliminary description noting the use and location of the most widely used basic editing tools would be useful.
Also, please… make your presentations clear to be more readily discernable by having the speakers provide better intonation.. and s-l-o-w d-o-w-n! …Just saying.
I agree. The tutorials are a bit too quick and the Presenter needs to slow down. Very good information but not enough time to take it in.
Yes, Dusty! You are so right. I find it exactly as you describe. Factually. I may be less skilled than as you describe yourself.
It is well to have those, chosen to relate instructions, possess certain qualities.
Been using PSP for more than 10 years. Not for special effects, but for better, sharper images and often to correct distortion. So please tell me how to get to adjusting horizontal and vertical perspective. Searching the Help function shows it’s there, but how to get to it on version 2020.
Aiuto! Devo fare un’etichetta circolare/rotonda come per un CD/DVD utilizzando una foto centrale con le scritte circolari ad anello.
Attraverso i comandi a tendina non riesco a gestire il testo, le scritte.
Potete aiutarmi? Mille grazie
Hello Giuseppe,
To bend text in a circle, we would suggest using the Fit Text to Path tools! You can use this to sculpt or shape words to fit many projects, CD labels included.
Discovery Center Team
How can I put a photo direct to my Facebook?
Hi Shirley,
Here are the instructions to share a photo from PaintShop Pro to your Facebook page.
https://learn.corel.com/tips/photo/upload-photos-facebook-psp/
Hope this helps!
The Discovery Center team
I have a simple question about HOW toDo a TASK that with my old Jasc paint shop pro was taking me a minute. I have a folder with a series of 25 pics of a young man and another folder withseveral faces of anothe man, With JPSP9I could and minimize them then bring in and minimize the second folder. Then I could open one pic of the folder#1 on the screen, and on the layer palette as background layer, Open screenn #2, choose a pic of a face, open and make a floating selection of the face and move it on the layer palette, i the open the background layer, pick and drag the floating selection on the background move, resize , adjust it to match the background pic and paste it over the backgrownd after having promoted it to a rafter layer, and then MERGe (flatten0 the collage. everything could be done without having to jump around and go crazy having to follow all the complicated changes you require with your NEW IMPROVED 2019 version. IS IT POSSIBLE to have back Paint shop pro 9?? MY was good since 2005 but at the end of April we had a storm and the power went off suddenly before I was able to close the computer and when I restarted JPSP9 is not opening anylonger. I receive the message that the Python librairies are missing or are corrupt and I have no idea where to find them and try to fix the problem. That is why I bought Corel 2019 pro, and in spite of having gone through it everyday since I have not been able to make a single collage., so i ask, do you have the Pythonlibrairies so i can fix my old JPSP9 or at least can you make a STEP by STEP tutorial( with pics) to show how startinf from 2 different folder it can be done to put a head on a body/ THANKS
Hello Bruno,
Thank you for the suggestion! We have passed on your suggestion of a tutorial series on combining image elements to the tutorial team. In the meantime, a quick way to bring one piece of an image into another would be to open both images in PaintShop Pro, select the area you want to copy (the young man’s face in this case), and press CTRL + C to copy that element to the clipboard. Move to your other image, create a new raster layer, select it, and press CTRL + V to paste in the copied area. You can then reposition, resize, and otherwise edit as needed. Once you are happy with it, merge down your layers as you did in your PSP9 workflow to create a single, modified image!
Hope this helps,
Discovery Center Team
Like most reviewers, I also found the video went way too fast. I’m switching from a very basic photo editor. Even the very first step of switching between the essentials view and complete view was very difficult to follow. The other challenge i had was with the “tools” box in the essentials view. Mine does not include the “straighten” tool, so I tried to figure out how to add it and failed. Clicking on the + icon in the tools box I can find the straighten tool (with a check mark beside it), but I can’t find a way to move it to the tools box.
Hi David,
To switch workspaces, go to the File menu and select Workspace down near the bottom of the list of commands. Beside Workspace you can choose Essentials or Complete.
If the Straighten tool has a checkmark beside it when you click on the plus sign to see all the tools, it should be added on the toolbar. Find the Crop icon and click on the small black arrow to expand this tool group and you will see the Straighten tool.
Hope this helps!
The Discovery Center team
I am used to Photoshop cs6 . I dont understand the way to use the Paintshop tools, using with ctrl, or shift, or other way. Tutos are good for after you are used with the tools. Also, as I speak french, it is not easy to understand every thing.
A tuto from the beginning, opening a photo, search for things to do on it, use the good tool for the work, take off or change place, before anything else.
And not too fast. The teacher is the only one who knows everything.
French peopldes are your customers also.
Louise
I made mistakes in my previous question, can you correct those please.
and the photo is not me.
Louise
Hello Discovery Center Team.
This is an extremely too fast-paced video for an intro to PSP.
The audience to this video are supposed to be new to PSP.
Flying all over the screen and going too fast for normal human comprehension make this video very much useless for a new user.
What the PSP team needs to do is create a slow-paced series of videos (perhaps 15 to 30 minutes each), and with numbers, so the viewer would know which video they have watched, and which one to view next.
As the user transitions from one video to the next, the complexity level increases gradually, until finally they are presented with advanced topics.
I have been using PSP for a long time, but I have yet to see a real good video on masks, as an example.
The mask function(s) in PSP need to be made better and easier to deal with also.
As of now, every time I want to work with masks I have to go and watch a video again!!!
Thank you.
Hello sh10453,
Thank you for the feedback! We area always looking for ways to improve the accessibility and usefulness of our tutorial videos, and have your comments on to the tutorial team for their consideration.
Best,
Discovery Center Team
Whoa there!!! Definitely agree that this is far too fast for new-comers. Take the time to let the learner see what you are doing and understand each step.
That 2019 PSP is NOT userfriendly!
I only want to add text on a foto, bowed.
For that I need a study and can not find it. Vector or not vector. I am not interessed, I only want text in a bow on my photo.
Hello Jan,
Of course! What you are looking for is how to apply text to a curve, or vector path. We have a tutorial on Fitting Text to a Path that you may find helpful.
Discovery Center Team
I don’t like the layout at all soon after I bought this one I had a stroke and im now wishing I hadnt bought it I wont be upgrading again unless layout goes back to the way it was
Hi Jill,
PaintShop Pro versions 2018 and higher now have a new interface called the Essentials workspace. This is a simplified workspace designed primarily for users newer to photo editing. However, the original interface is still available, it is called the Complete workspace. Just go to File > Workspace and select Complete. This will switch your interface to the Complete workspace, which has the layout you are looking for.
Hope this helps,
Discovery Center Team
I just purchased PaintShop Pro 2019 Ultimate, one explicit reason was for PicToPainting. Only thing is I cannot get it to work! I looked around online and it seems lots of people are having this problem and it’s been ongoing for some time now and there has been no resolution. Any idea when this will be resolved?
Hello Rich,
Our developers are aware of the issue and working on it, but we don’t have an ETA to announce on the fix just yet. In the meantime, a workaround you can use is the tab key! It will cycle between buttons in the Pic-to-Painting window. Tapping it three times will move through Preview Style > Reset > Send and Close. Hit enter after the third press, and your settings will apply.
Hope this helps,
Discovery Center Team
No matter what I do version 9 will not let me save a file. I have tried to save to different folders using different file extensions to no avail. I get different error messages each time. I cannot export either.
Hello Liz,
Unfortunately PSP X9 is no longer a supported product, and our technicians would be unable to assist with this. We would suggest taking a look at the Knowledgebase, where we keep the solutions to many previously resolved issues, or the User Forums to see if anyone in the community has had a similar problem and resolved it.
Hope this helps!
Discovery Center Team
Totally new to this or any other editing program. Try not to laugh but, how do I import my photos (on my local HD, into PSP 2019 Ultimate.
Hello pjdaly,
Not a problem! You can import files from the file manager palette on the left side of the Manage workspace. We also have a tutorial on the manage workspace which you may find helpful!
Best,
Discovery Center Team
I am new to PSP 9. is there any way I can transfer all my folders from PSP 8 to PSP 9???
Hello Barbara,
You tell the new version of PaintShop where your old folders are from the File > File Locations > Add function! Just add the PSP 8 folders for your tubes, templates, and whatever other content you want PSP 9 to see, and PSP 9 will look there for content as well as in its own folders.
Or if you prefer, you can use the File > File Locations menu to find out where PSP 9’s folders are, and then it’s just a matter of copying and pasting your content from PSP 8’s folders over to PSP 9’s folders.
Hope this helps,
Discovery Center Team
I have used PSP9 for sometime, and when I upgraded to PSP2018, I was surprised to see there is no longer a “save as” item on the files list. Instead, it is now a graphic for save or save as, on top. Can we get the older interface in the newer versions of PSP. We who have used the older ways are sorta “lost!”
Hello Alan,
Sounds like you may be in the Essentials workspace! This is a simplified workspace designed primarily for users newer to photoediting. To bring back all the tools and options, navigate to File > Workspace and select Complete. This will switch your interface to the Complete workspace, which will include the File Locations menu option.
Hope this helps,
Discovery Center Team
Video ok. But a bit hard to read. Cheers Frank Maguire.
Hello,
I just purchased Paintshop Pro 2019 3 days ago, and I am in the process of switching from ±25 years of Photoshop to PSP. So I am very delighted to find these instruction videos of which this is the first one I watched. I know you can’t change this anymore for the already made videos but please…slow down in your talking and flying all over the screen. Everybody who watch these videos are not (yet) familiar with PSP (as I am) and and less speedy wil make things easyer to follow. English is not my native tongue and so I have to listen to wath you say, translate it in real time and at the same time have to try to watch what is going on on the screen, and that is a whole lot at the same time. Especialy for the older onces like I am. Maybe for future videos this can be taken in account.
Question: as I am new to PSP I have to go true all the manual/help files and this takes time. One thing that I am eager to find out is if there is the possibility of copiyng parts of an image and then “paste on location” (I think it’s called in English-because my menus are in Dutch). What it does is paste the selected part of one image on the exact position on a second (same) image without having to try to get it in the right place with the pan tool. Understand what I mean?
After seeing this first video I already discovered a few thing thools/things that seem to be easyer to work with than in PS. So I am anxious to explore PSP 2019!
Thanks in advance on a reply on my little question.
Best Reagrds, Eddy
Hello Eddy,
Thank you for getting in touch! PaintShop Pro does not currently have a Paste on Location feature as you describe. Thank you for the suggestion however! We can see how that could be a useful tool, and have passed on your comment to the PaintShop team for their consideration.
Best,
Discovery Center Team
‘lo Adam
I’m just trying to get to grips with PSP after downloading your trial.
I thought a good way to start was to watch the Getting Started with PaintShop Pro video.
Wow, it wasn’t long before I was completely lost. The Tutor was way too fast in his delivery and I just couldn’t keep up.
Looking through the correspondence I spotted this thread and would like to reinforce Eddy’s comments with my agreement.
You didn’t respond to this comment from Eddy, maybe you could now.
Regards
Bob
In early versions could I stretch things, To get things vider or longer.
Could this be done in this versions also?
Hello Alf,
You can! As before, just use the Selection tools to highlight the object, layer, or region you wish to manipulate, then use the Grab tool to rotate, reposition, stretch, and otherwise manipulate your selection.
Discovery Center Team
I used to be able to use the freehand selection tool to create straight-line selections of any shape. Now it only does irregular lines, which I don’t want. I can’t use any autoselect options, because I want to do a straight line selection across a field of one color. Is the straight line really gone??? I used to use it all the time.
Hello Elizabeth,
In PaintShop Pro 2019, there are a few options for the Lasso tool! With the Lasso active, check the top context menu for “Selection type”. In here, you will find Edge Seeker (sounds like that is what you have it set to now), Freehand, Point to point, and Smart Edge.
Hope this helps!
Discovery Center Team
I just bought my Roxio Creator 6 thinking it was the latest version, why do I get messages saying my software is not the current one? My container does indicate that it contains PaintShop Pro X9. Please explain.
Hello Betty,
Roxio Creator NXT 6 is the current version of the Roxio Creator suite! PaintShop Pro is a separate program which is bundled with the Pro edition of Creator NXT. The version currently included with Creator NXT 6 is PaintShop Pro X9. While a new version (PaintShop Pro 2018) has been released more recently, You can of course still use PaintShop Pro X9 for your photo editing needs, it is still supported, and is a powerful and easy to use program in its own right.
Hope this helps!
Discovery Center Team
Hello Edward,
This video was created prior to moving our videos to a service which allows separate captions (youtube), and so the captions are a part of the video file. We have forwarded your suggestion for a caption-free base video in this tutorial to the team for their consideration.
All the best,
Corel Discovery Center Team
I just bought the latest version of PSP X9 today, 6/30/2017, yet in what I understand is an intro, prior to the tutorials, I see where it is asking if I want a free trial. How can I tell if I have what I paid or or if a have a trial version? I have NOT had to enter the 29 digit password code (32 digits including dashes) so far, so I am wondering what I actually have. Invoice BKD-73618299 Reference #114880142.
Hello Richard,
If you are currently running the trial version of PaintShop Pro X9 and it has not yet expired, it will not request your serial number.
If you would like to activate it before the trial expires, simply launch PSPX9, and then immediately close it.
You will get a popup which states the number of days remaining in your trial, and has a button labelled “Already Purchased?” in the lower left corner.
Click on that button, enter your serial number, click Connect, and your PaintShop Pro license will activate!
All the best,
Corel Discovery Center Team
It would be helpful to have a series of short video clips created from this tutorial. It moves very fast, and even with stopping and starting and backing up, it’s easy to miss things. The full video would make a great introduction and review.
Hello Valia,
Thank you for the feedback! We are always looking for ways to improve our content and make it more accessible. We have passed your contents on to our design team for their consideration.
All the best,
Corel Discovery Center Team
I agree with Patsy 100% ~~
Correct, it’s a right way to memorize the tutorial.
Rc