This tutorial was written May 16, 2003 using Paint Shop Pro 8. It is assumed that you have been working with PSP 7 or another version of PSP and have some familiarity with the program.

There are many changes and enhancements in PSP 8. The purpose of this tutorial is to familiarize you with the Eraser tool, including the brush tips and settings.

If you do not already own Paint Shop Pro, you may purchase it or download a trial version of PSP 8 HERE.

The PSP8 tools that you'll be using are:

Eraser Tool:
Opacity Slider:
Picture Tube:

OK, let's get started....

Open an image large enough to work on. I've used 500x400. (NOTE: I always start with a Raster Layer and don't put anything on it until I've completed my graphic. Then I add a background, or delete the layer.) Add a Raster Layer and position your basket, or other container on that layer. If you would prefer to use my basket you may download it HERE. This is a large unzipped file, 246KB, as the zip file was the same size. If you download this image it will open in PSP 8. You will then need to Export it as a Picture Tube (File>Export>Picture Tube). Remember to save often as you do your work.

Add another Raster Layer and start adding your flowers, fruit, or anything else you want. I generally place each object on a separate layer so I can move them about or delete the entire layer. This is what my first object looks like:

Once you have all your items placed where you want them, you can hide the layer with your container, highlight one of the layers above the container, and Merge>Merge All Visible. Then highlight your merged layer (with the flowers/fruit/other items) and lower the opacity on that layer by sliding the Opacity Slider to the left until you can see the handles on your basket or whatever you want to show on your container.

On my image the handles of the basket are both in the front and back. Those apples that are covering the handles in the back are fine (Handles marked 'A'). The apples in the front are covering the handles (Marked 'B'), which would put them on the outside of the basket. The portions of the apples that cover the handles will need to be erased. All of the apples that are over the basket rim will also need to be erased (Marked 'C').

Now for the fun part! Get your Eraser tool. Let's start by erasing the apples that are covering the front handles. Click on the down arrow in the Eraser Tool Options palette as shown below and select +Round 10. Change your Size to 6, or whatever size you need, and Hardness to 100, as shown below. If you are working with a container with curved edges, you may find that you need to decrease the Hardness rather than increase it. Once your edges are erased, then you should find that the increased Hardness works better. Another point you may wish to remember is that if you erase too much, all you need to do is right click on your mouse and the last bit you erased will be put back. You do not need to start all over.

Next we'll erase the apples that are on the front and side of the basket, over the rim. Notice that the rim is not a level line. We're going to work with our eraser brush tip to make erasing easier.

If you are using a container similar to mine, click on the down arrow to select your eraser brush tip. For my basket I've selected Line Horizontal, as shown. Next, hold your eraser on the edge of your basket. On mine the brush tip was not long enough to erase the apples on the front in one step. It also was not in alignment with the rim.

Change the alignment by changing the Rotation from 90. If you increase the number you will lower the end on the right. If you lower the number, the right side will come up. I've used 84 as my Rotation number. Then change the size to fit your graphic. I've changed the size for mine to 155. (See the eraser settings ribbon below the basket image.)

Once you have your brush tip long enough and at the correct rotation for your image, drag the brush down over the objects in your container. To check, go to your Layer Palette and increase the Opacity to 100. This will show you whether you have enough rotation to your eraser tool.

After you've completed the first side, the eraser brush tip's size and angle may have to be changed. On mine I changed the Size to 152 and the Rotation to 97.

If you are going to tube your filled basket, first merge visible all the basket layers. Next, Edit Copy, then Edit Paste as new image. This will get rid of all the excess space around the tube. Tube your basket - File, Export as Picture Tube, name it and click 'OK'. Here's my completed filled basket, ready to be tubed.

That's it! Your image is now ready for you to use in a graphic.

Here's a graphic I made using another of my bakets with apples:

I hope you've enjoyed learning something about some of the PSP 8 tools and how to use them. If you have any questions, please email me.