Home > PSP Tutorials > Saving Your Pixel Painted Images Paint Shop Pro Tutorial

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The purpose of this mini guide is to show you the proper way to save your pixel painted images for display on the web.

As always, definitely save them with layers intact in psp format, so you can go back later and make any desired alterations.

For me, there are two keys to saving your images properly:

  • Cropping -- getting rid of excess space.
  • Optimization -- the best look at the smallest file size.

*Note: I only have PSP 8 and 9 installed on my computer, so if you're using an earlier version, you may need to do things differently than noted here.


Cropping

This can be done in both Paint Shop Pro and Animation Shop.

IN PAINT SHOP PRO:

*Important: Make sure all of your layers are visible. Hide or delete any layers that will not be a part of your finished image -- background filler layer, etc.

  • Select the Crop tool.
  • Click the Merged Opaque icon on the Tool Options palette.
  • Then click the Apply checkmark icon on the Tool Options palette.

IN ANIMATION SHOP:

  • Select the Crop tool.
  • Click the Options button.
  • Click the 'Surround the opaque area' button.
  • Then click OK to apply.

Optimizing in PSP -- Saving a non-animated image.

*Important: The images should have crisp edges with NO partial transparency. If you've used anti-aliased text (don't do that) or have any other partially transparent areas in your image, these settings may not work for you.

In Paint Shop Pro, I *always* use the GIF Optimizer. If you know how, add the icon for it to a toolbar for quick access. Otherwise, you can find it by going to:

File > Export > GIF Optimizer

Here are the settings I use:


This option will leave 100% transparent areas transparent when saving.


Feel free to use these settings, but if your image has no
partially transparent areas, the settings on this tab do not factor in.



* Format tab: Non-Interlaced, Version 89a

Click OK and save your image.


Optimizing in Animation Shop -- Saving an animated image.

*Important: The images should have crisp edges with NO partial transparency. If you've used anti-aliased text (don't do that) or have any other partially transparent areas in your image, these settings may not work for you.

Here are the settings I use:


Change the number of colors to 255, if it isn't already.
** Then make sure Optimized Octree is selected.




Feel free to use these settings, but if your image has no
partially transparent areas, the settings on this tab do not factor in.

The end... I hope you found this helpful.




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