2001-2003

Tutorial written by Arizona Kate, © 2001
and may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission.
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Cute & Easy Cartoon Drawing using Paint Shop Pro v.7

Creating a Custom Preset Shape...the Egg!

In this tutorial we'll make the basic egg shape. Then we'll export this vector shape into our Preset Shapes library for use over and over again to create some EggToon characters. Creating the different EggToon characters is part of a tutorial series written especially for those just learning the vector tools in Paint Shop Pro 7.

If you've come directly to this page and haven't reviewed the explanation of the Vector Tools, you should probably review the tools first. If you're very new to the tools, it might be helpful to keep that page open & minimized for easy reference!

This tutorial was written for PSP 7, but PSP 6 also has vector tools and users of that version should be able to follow along.

Open new image, 200x200 pixels with transparent background, a resolution of 72 pixels/inch and 16.7 million colors.

The checkered background indicates that it is transparent....and we'll want a transparent background when we save our egg as a preset shape.

You can temporarily fill the background layer with a color if it bothers your eyes to work on the busy checkered background. Just don't forget to clear that layer later!! An easy way to do this is to just create an extra layer, fill it with color and then delete that layer before final save!

Drawing the Egg Shape

Set black as your stroke color

Set fill color to null. The texture styles boxes should also be null.

Remember, you must always use the Object Selector OS to select a vector object for editing.

Next, select the Preset Shapes tool.

In the Tool Options-Preset Shapes dialog box select the circle. Retain style should be UNchecked.
Antialias should be checked and Create as Vector checked. Line width 1 and Line style solid.

Draw an ellipse outline that is about 100 wide and 150 tall.

   Below the Preset Shapes tool is the Object Selector tool. This tool is used to select and edit all vector objects.

Select the ellipse shape with the Object Selector. A boundary box appears around the ellipse that looks like the Deformation Tool boundary box. It has 9 'handles' (small boxes). The handles are in all corners, plus one on each side and one in the very center that is the rotate handle.

Hold down your Control key while you select one of the top corner handles. A trapezoid shaped icon is displayed next to your cursor to indicate that you are now using the perspective deformation.

Keeping the Control key held down, move the top corner handle slightly toward the center of the ellipse until the shape gets a little narrower at the top. Now do the same thing on one of the bottom corners, except this time pull away from center until you are satisfied that your shape looks like an egg.

If you made the top or bottom too narrow or too wide, hold Control key down again and make adjustments by pulling a corner handle IN or OUT.

Save Egg Shape to Preset Shapes Library

You should now have an egg shape that looks like this.

Next we'll save this egg shape as our own custom Preset Shape.
You can save any vector object to the Preset Shape Library and then re-use them anytime just like the preset shapes that come with PSP.

This is where things might get a little confusing ;-) because there's a few different options at this point!

Please note that, when you Export or Save a new Preset Shape, Paint Shop Pro will always save the shape to whatever folder is identified as your preference under the Shapes tab in the File Locations dialog box (which is under File»Preferences»File Locations).

(Note: I do not recommend making any changes to any 'File Locations' unless you are very comfortable moving folders around, changing directories, and creating new paths.)

If you haven't changed your preferences, when you save a custom preset shape the 'save to' path defaults to the program files for JASC Paint Shop Pro 7 and a sub-folder called 'Shapes'. You don't need to change anything IF you want to store your custom shapes in the same folder as the shapes provided by Jasc. However, you should know that PSP gives you the option of creating a special folder (or 'Shapes Library') for storing any preset shapes you create yourself rather than using the default location. You may enter 3 different paths in the File Locations dialog box but only select 1 as the 'save to' path. If you create a lot of custom shapes, it can become very beneficial to have them in their own special folder. You also don't have to worry about anything getting lost when you upgrade to new versions of the program! ;-)

To create your own 'Shapes Library', first you need to create a new folder in your document directory. You can name it 'Shapes Library' or whatever suits you. I have a folder under 'My Documents' called 'PSP Shapes Library'. (I also have 'library' folders for my own custom gradients, brushes, filters, etc.) Once you've created your new folder, you need to enter the path to that folder in one of the empty boxes under the Shapes tab of the File Locations dialog box. (Use the browse button to get the path correct...see screenshot below)

Next you need to check the 'Save to Path' box. This instructs PSP to the new 'save' location and any custom shapes you save in the future will be saved to that folder instead of the default folder in the PSP program directory. Also check the other 2 boxes to enable the path and use sub-folders.

Now that you have your file location preferences all set up...make sure your egg is the active image...and choose File»Export»Shape. The Export Shape Library dialog box will open.

In the dialog box, type the name for the shape you are saving....Egg.

Click OK to close the dialog box and save the shape. It will be saved to the Shapes folder in the default location unless you've indicated a new folder as the 'save to path'.

When you make the menu choice to Export Shape, a warning box may pop up that says:
Note: Only those vector objects currently selected will be exported to the shape library. To export all vector objects, make sure there is no selection before exporting.

This warning is a reminder....it occurs because there can be numerous objects in a vector drawing.
PSP gives you the option of selecting only ONE of the objects or ALL the objects to export as a preset shape and this pop up box is a reminder to check your selections!

In this case, because our egg shape contains only one object, it's not going to make any difference. You can continue by hitting OK.

Testing Your New Preset Shape

Let's try the new shape to see if everything is working OK!

Open a new image, 200x200 same as before.
Leave the stroke color as black but make the fill color any color of your choice.
Select the PreSet Shapes tool and locate the egg in the Tool Options dialog box.
Retain style should be UNchecked to use the fill color, but check antialias and create as vector. Line size 1.

Now draw your egg preset shape, any size!!

If everything is working well, we can now start making some Eggtoons!!
Return to the tutorial index page and select a toon character to draw!!

btw....You can discard all images in your workspace...
there's no reason to save them....you now have an egg preset shape!!