Welcome !

For those of us who are tired of scrolling to the Lesson Links.... PS: These are NOT my buttons..... Too boring.

These pages are produced as a result of my participation in a course on creating web graphics. ALL graphics used on these web pages were produced by myself, from scratch, because I was too embarrassed to use anyone else's for this web site (even if the graphic I needed was NOT a part of the assignment). So if any of the buttons or doodads you see look a little - ah, pedestrian, shall we say? That is why. Hopefully, as the course progresses, the graphics will begin to look more polished. Also, please note, that I am as new to HTML, as I am to producing graphics. That is - VERY NEW. So, if you notice a few loose links, some really strange page layouts, or any errant code peeking out from behind the graphics, that is why. And again, practice does make better. This is practice! This course is an online, instructor led course, worth 2 CEU credits, offered by SmartPlanet.com.
Course Title:	Create Web Graphics with Paint Shop Pro
Instructor:	Lori Davis
Technical Advisors (TA's):	Diane Gilley & Mike Thomas
Course Sys Op:	Clay Lawrence
Course Dates:	December 20, 1999 through January 24, 2000
Course Text:	"Creating Paint Shop Pro Web Graphics" by Andy Shafran, Second Edition
Course Software:	Paint Shop Pro v5.0 by JASC

Lesson 1 Homework: Create a simple web graphic with text. Apply the Deformations, Effects, and Filters to the graphic. Give an example of Anti-Aliasing and explain. Utilize the Bezier curve option on a graphic. Quiz! Extra Credit! Gradient Backgrounds. Compare file sizes of different graphic formats. Create my own signature. Demonstrate different image / text alignments. (This was done throughout this web site.) Examples of controlling image appearance. Some of my pix scanned into PSP. Most of the photos used in these lessons, were either scanned into PSP or downloaded from a digital camera into PSP.

Lesson 2 Homework: Edit a photograph using the PSP editing tools. Just Can't Leave Well Enough Alone Page. Give examples of Image Cropping and Resizing. Also some links to good graphics sites. Give examples of Deformations on a photograph. Build buttons for this site using Buttonize, Chisel, Cutout, and Drop Shadow tools. Demonstrate examples of different Filters applied to a photograph. Give some examples of optimized web graphics. Quiz Extra Credit! Give examples of combining two images with Image Arithmetic. Give examples of graphics using some add-on plug-in filters. Using the same original photograph in the Deformations examples, apply the Negative Image, Posterizing, and Solarizing tools.

Lesson 3 Homework: Getting to know Picture Tubes, some examples. Adding in a Picture Tube, the result. Tube created theme images. Using layers, the Lion and the Sailboat. My layer example - Soncat's Web Den Banner. And again, with added light text on a dark layer. Quiz Extra Credit! Colorizing an image using greying and colorizing, copying and pasting, and layering. Some examples. An example of using LOWSRC to overlay an image. Create an original Picture Tube. (See Adding in a Picture Tube, the result.)

Lesson 4 Homework: Create two transparent GIFs, one as a transparent icon, and the other as a transparent photo. Display both the transparent and non-transparent versions of each. Build a simple GIF animation that uses at least 4 images. Explore Image and Text Transitions, give some examples. Use the Optimization Wizard and explore the different settings that can be used on a GIF animation. (This was done with each of the animated GIFs produced.) Quiz Extra Credit! Add and Image Map to this site, linking multiple parts of the site together. Create a seamless background tile and use it on a web page or two on this site. Describe the technique used to build the tile. Convert an AVI video clip into an animated GIF and post it.

	You are Critic #: Since 20 December 1999.	Comments? Gripes?