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Welcome! This tutorial is to learn how to use Scripts for Corel Paint Shop Pro and JASC Paint Shop Pro.  Scripts are so wonderful and fun!  What it is, is a function that you run that does many steps for you quickly and easily.  So if you say always use the same drop shadow or bevel, or something more complex, you can record your steps and save it as a script.  You then just select the script you want, hit run and voila it does all the steps you recorded.  If you are familiar with Adobe Photo Shop, that has Actions - it's the same principle.  You can't use an action in Paint Shop Pro, nor can you use a Script in Photo Shop.

Step 1:  If your script is in a zip file, you'll need to unzip it first.  You can use Winzip for this.

Step 2:  Sometimes the script maker will tell you which folder you need to place your script.  It will either be in the Script Restricted folder or Script Trusted folder.  The basic differences are:  Restricted Scripts do not open or close files.  They just use your toolbars and functions to run.  Trusted Scripts are scripts that will open or close files at some point in it's running.  Now when I say files, I mean your pages in Paint Shop.  It will NOT close anything that is not in Paint Shop.
Step 3:  I have all my extras for Paint Shop in a separate folder than the one that Paint Shop made for me (Hard drive - Program files...)  I made a folder called Paint Shop Extras on my external hard drive.  Then inside that folder, I have folders for Scripts Trusted, Scripts Restricted, Tubes, Brushes, Plugins etc.  The reason for this is, if you collect a lot of extra's and put them in your main Paint Shop folder, you can bog down the application and running of Paint Shop.  You can make this extra's folder any where you want - desktop, external hard drive, documents folder etc. 
Step 4:  Once you have made your extra's folders, put your script in the appropriate folder (Trusted or Restricted).  If you have downloaded any of my scripts, they all go in your restricted folder.  If you chose not to make an extra's folder, then you need to find your main folder from Corel/JASC.  It's usually in your main drive (mine's C), then Program Files, then Corel/JASC...
Step 5:  Now we need to open PSP and tell it where to find your new folders.  If you put it in Corel/JASC's main folder then you can skip this part.
Step 6:  Go to FILE - PREFERENCES - FILE LOCATIONS

 

You'll then see this:

Step 7:  See how my Scripts Trusted is highlighted on the far left?  Highlight the one you want to change.  Then on the upper right, click on the box that says ADD.  Browse to where that specific folder is and click on it and say OK.

You will then see that it has been added beneath the default folders.  In the boxes that say ENABLE and USE SUBFOLDERS make sure there are check marks.

You can then do all the other new folders that you have created the same way.  When your all done click OK.  Depending on how many new folders and how much is inside them, will determine how long it will take Paint Shop to reconfigure.

Step 8:  Now that Paint Shop knows where your new goodies are, you're ready to use them!  If you don't have your Script toolbar showing, it's really easy to find.  Go to VIEW - TOOLBARS - SCRIPT

I moved my script bar to the bottom of my page, because I like to use it a lot.  Here is what it looks like

Step 9:  Let's start at the left and go through what each function is:

First is the Title of the script, and see the LITTLE arrow right next to it (it's pointing down)?  Hit that arrow and you will get a drop down list of all the scripts that you have on your computer (that you have directed PSP to look at in your preferences).  Which ever title you click on is the script that will run.

Next is the arrow that is pointing to the right.  This button is your run button.  So once you have your script selected, hit this arrow and your script will run.  Now, just as an FYI, some scripts will give you dialog boxes with instructions, others will just run, yet others will stop at certain times to let you choose colors, sizes etc.

Then you will see the scroll button.  This button will let you edit the script.  This function is not very user friendly and has a lot of mumbo jumbo.  So if you're not familiar with scripts and their actions, you don't need to play with it.  The uses are more for if you're creating a new script and want to make some changes to it.

Then we have the button that looks like a text box I guess :0).  This one you might want to play with when running a script.  It's a toggle button that lets the script either just run on it's own or click it again and it will let you be more interactive in the script.  This is quite helpful if you say have a script that will make you a frame.  You like the script, but not the width it's giving you.  You will be able to either hit ok and let an action run or change some of the parameters, colors etc...

Next we have the folder with the arrow coming out of it.  This is another way to open a folder you have of scripts.

Lastly we have the red X.  If you're running a script and want to stop it, hit the red X and it will stop the script after it finishes the current action.

The rest of the buttons are for making your own scripts.  I will make another tutorial on how to do this.  They are so much fun and time saving to use!  You might just get addicted :0)
I hope you found this tutorial helpful.  There are lots of free PSP scripts and there are the one's you have to pay for.  Not to take money out of anyone's pockets, but before you pay for one, see if you can find a free one that's similar.  Or maybe find a tutorial that will show you how to do what you're after.  Google is a great resource tool!

Renee' Strucel

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