Easy Scripting Lesson - Intermediate Level
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Basic scripting in Paint Shop Pro is quite easy.
There are some things that can make a script quite difficult to the point of manually scripting.
This tutorial will only go over the basics of scripting, using the record function and then
a simple change to make it interactive.
When are scripts worth creating?
Whenever you plan on doing certain steps over and over again.
The script you will create below is one I actually used over and over again.
I had several pictures given to me with very poor coloring.
I tried and tried to get them to look decent.
I couldn't, so I decided, since it was a Valentine's Banquet, they could look romantic with a
sepia coloring and a nice pretty heart frame.
I find that I script steps to an effect I really like.
I may not use it right away, but if I script it I don't have to remember all the steps
when I want to use it.
Also, I may have forgotten about the effect, and when I look through my scripts, there it is!
Please do not make copies (electronic or paper/hard) of this tutorial or use it without
permission.
You may print one hard copy for the use of you and your immediate family.
Your finished product is your own to do with as you please.
Any similarity to other tutorials is coincidental.
For this tutorial, you need Paint Shop Pro and a picture of your choice.
I used Paint Shop Pro 9 for this tutorial, however, you should be able to use other versions as
well.
For a free trial or to purchase Paint Shop Pro, click on the above link.
This tutorial assumes you have some knowledge of Paint Shop Pro and will not go into things
other than scripting.
1. Choose a your picture.
It's best to have a picture with some space around the subject as we will be placing a
frame around it.
Open your picture, resize and do whatever you wish to make it look like you want.
Don't worry about coloring, because we will be changing the picture to a sepia color.
This is a great effect when the colors on your picture are so bad that nothing you do can fix it.
It's also a good effect when you want to have your picture look older.
I chose this picture of my daughter in front of the Christmas tree.
Here it is after the script:
Before the next step, you may want to read the entire tutorial so you know what's coming.
Save your file.
2. Now you are ready to start scripting.
We are going to let Paint Shop Pro do the scripting for us.
To do so, you can either select from the menu:
File, Script, Start Recording
or you may click on the Start Script Recording button:
You'll notice a few buttons there.
The window on the left is the name of the script that would run if you hit the Run Selected Script
button, which is next to the window and looks like a triangle pointing to the right.
Next is Edit Selected Script, which we will use a bit later.
Then comes Toggle Execution Mode which will allow you to set it to interactive or not.
This setting will make all steps able to be interactive, interactive.
Next is Run Script, which will allow you to choose a script other than the one listed in the window,
before it runs.
Stop script, which is next, is only available when you are actually running a script.
Record is next (circled in red above.)
Pause Script Recording, Cancel Script Recording, and Save Script Recording are the next three.
These are only available when you are recording a script.
If you have any scripts assigned to an icon, they will be shown next.
Once you hit the Start Script Recording button, just do the steps you want recorded.
The steps for this one are below.
3. Follow these steps:
- From the menu, select Layers, New Adjustment Layer, Hue/Saturation/Lightness
- On the Adjustment tab, use these settings: Hue 30, Saturation 25, Lightness 0,
Colorize should be checked (if you like this setting, feel free to save it as a preset)
- Click OK
- From the menu, select Image, Picture Frame
- Select the frame you want, and if available, the transparency you want
- Click OK
- Click on the Save Script Recording button (looks like a diskette, three icons to the right of the
Start Script Recording button - or use the menu command File, Script, Save Recording
- You are now prompted for a filename.
Make sure you are saving in the Scripts-Restricted directory (or a subdirectory of it.)
You may want to name it to include your initials or name in the filename so you and others
know that you are the one who created it.
4. You have just created a script.
Open another picture and try running your script.
Find it in the drop down window to the left of the Play Script button.
Then hit the play script button.
You may also run it from the menu, File, Script, Run and select the appropriate file.
5. Notice that it runs and does everything exactly the way you did it.
Let's say you want to change the frame each time you run it.
Or you want to change the Hue/Saturation/Lightness settings each time.
You can set your script to stop on that step, if you want.
To do so, if your script is shown in the window, click on the Edit Selected Script button or
from the menu, File, Script, Edit, and you'll be able to choose the script you want to edit.
A window will pop up that looks like this:
The red arrow is near information you can enter about you, the author, and the copyright.
The purple arrow is where you enter a description of what the script does.
The blue arrow is where you make changes to how the script will run for that step.
You have three choices, Default, Interactive, and Silent.
Default will run it the same way you originally recorded it.
Interactive will stop to allow you to make changes.
Silent mode will always run as the default, even if you toggle for interactive (mentioned above.)
Change the Picture Frame step to Interactive as I have done.
Save it, exit, and then run the script again on a new picture.
You are now allowed to change the Picture Frame.
NOTE: Not all activities can be interactive.
Some must be default, for example, the first step says Not Editable and no matter what you
may change the mode to, it will not follow it.
You may leave your script as recorded, but make all steps interactive (if they are allowed
to be interactive) by using the toggle mentioned above.
ANOTHER NOTE: Some steps cannot be automated at all and must always be interactive.
These are mainly non-scriptable plug-ins.
While it will open the plug-in, it will not enter the settings.
I overcome this by creating presets with the same name as the script and selecting them.
This way I don't have to remember the settings.
6. Have fun scripting.
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