How to use Picture Tubes in PaintShop Pro

How to Use Picture Tubes
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.

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).

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 drop-down 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.
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.

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 make picture tube elements easier to edit, it is helpful to paint them on a separate layer. The Picture Tubes 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.