Creation Cassel

New script – Cube beads

January 19, 2021December 5, 2015 by Cassel

There are various ways to add letters or digits or fun symbols on a project. If you were a traditional paper scrapbooker, you might actually use some small beads, and you can do the same with Paintshop Pro.

This script will create various cubic shape beads with your choices of settings. You can choose the color of the bead, the color and the font for the text, the direction of the beads, the custom design you want to add.

Each bead will be about 300 pixels wide so you can easily resize them to fit your project. You can "thread" the beads if you want with any string (including some from the store). If you need to thread a bead facing left or right, just add a "hole" with the brush tool where the string would enter.

Get this script in the store: Cube-Beads script.

For a chance to win this script (or a future new release), tell me what message you would write using cube beads. Would it be a single word? a short phrase? a date? Tell me in the comments below and i will pick a winner next week to be announced in the newsletter. Not a subscriber yet? Not a problem. You can register here and it is free (and you only get one email per week).

As a way for you to sample the result of running this script, i created a set of digits (with a hyphen and a blank) beads. I made them neutral white so you can use them in just about any project to write a date. I used a rope tube from this set to "attach" the beads on the bottom, and rotated the beads slightly to match the string curve (I find it easier to draw the curved string first and adjust the bead orientation than the reverse).

You can use those to write a date or any other number you need (the address of your new home, the year for a birthday, the date on a calendar, etc.)

What can you write with those digits?

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

Paintshop Christmas

Join us tomorrow, December 6th, for our monthly live presentation.

We will look at various projects you can do with Paintshop Pro. I already got a few interesting suggestions for projects i will illustrate and demonstrate. Come and add yours too.

Attending is always FREE, and you get the chance to ask questions, comment, and chat with the other attendees.

Remember that you can promote this presentation to your friends, in a Facebook group, in forums where you hand out, etc. The more we are, the merrier it will be!

New script – Circle Doodles

January 19, 2021November 27, 2015 by Cassel

Did you ever like to play with those multiple gears in Spirograph (R) to create various types of designs?

Now, you can do the same in Paintshop Pro without the gears, and mostly, without the calculations needed to have a precise arrangement of the rotated layers, AND with the added speed of automation.

This script allows you to create an unlimited number of design, either from a randomly generated pattern, or your own. You can choose also the number of rotations, and you can even tweak the random design create for you.

Merge the layers if you want, or leave them unmerged if you want to tweak them some more. The possibilities are endless!

Get this script in the store: Circle Doodles

See how this script works and some ideas on how you can use the different options:

What could you do with such designs? Give me an idea of what element/effect you can create with this kind of design. I'll pick a winner, at random, and announce it in next week's newsletter. Not a subscriber yet? Not a problem. You can register here and it is free (and you only get one email per week).

For this week, i ran the script twice to create two interesting patterns, and colored one version just with the brush tool.

One ends up as a frame, while the other is more of a solid shape. Maybe you can print them and cut them out to add to your Christmas ornaments? Or maybe use them on a greeting card?

They are all about 1000 pixels wide, and you get one version with only the outline, and one version with the filled in colors. You can use the outlined ones and paint them to your liking, to match your project.

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

Christmas bundle sale

Did you hear about the Creative Christmas bundle?

It is a collection of 14 products offered by 14 fabulous designers, to help you save time, do more and enjoy the coming holidays.

You will find card templates to use with PSP (or with your favorite papers), craft patterns, scrapbook kits, recipe, printables, planners, ornaments to make, and much more. All those products would cost you over $200 to get separately, but you can save 85% of it, by getting the whole bundle this weekend.

You don't have much time: GET IT NOW for only $29.99!

It will be over, on Monday, Nov 30th, at midnight!

New script – Word Album 2

January 19, 2021November 20, 2015 by Cassel

How about creating a unique kind of photo album or scrapbook with a title right cut out of the pages? This is a totally unique idea, and you can do that easily with this script for Paintshop Pro.

The script will create full size pages (12 x 12) with a letter cut out of the top to form a word. The letters somewhat overlap to be visible as a whole. You can choose any word you want, whether it is the name of a person, a location, a sentiment, or any other word that is meaningful to you, and will summarize the content of the album.

This is perfect for those who have a cutting machine, but anyone can cut out the pages manually.

Choose any text, but also any font! Of course, thinner fonts will be harder to cut out, but if you have a cutting machine, that should be simpler.

The 12 x 12 pages can always be cropped to a different format, or resized to a different size, depending on what you would want to create in the end.

Use the pages as templates, a scrapbook layout, or maybe just blank pages that everyone can use to hand write notes for someone, for an event, etc. like a giant greeting card.

Get this unique script in the store: Word Album 2

Do you want this script for free? I have a little game for you: in the comments below, pick a word that you think would make a great title for an album (just ONE word). I will draw a winner and announce it next week but even better, the winner's word will become a free album template for everyone subscribed to the newsletter. Not a subscriber yet? Not a problem. You can register here and it is free (and you only get one email per week).

As a sampler, i created a set of 6 pages that will form the word FAMILY. Of course, with the holiday season coming, it is a time when many people will visit family members, see some they haven't seen in a while, and so on. Close family, extended family. Why not create a keepsake using those pages? You can create layouts with holiday photos, but you can also just leave most of the pages blank and let everyone who visit this season, write a little note, a wish, a story, etc.

This will become a great keepsake to cherish all year long.

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

New script – Harlequin Pattern

January 19, 2021November 13, 2015 by Cassel

Although it might be easy enough to get a greyscale template of a Harlequin pattern, it is still a task if you want the colors to be varied, and matching your chosen palette.

Creating the shapes, manually is very time consuming, but with this script and your Paintshop Pro, you can create those in seconds only.

This tool will allow you to create seamless tiles with specific colors of your own palette, but you can also create a larger pattern based on a gradient or even an image (try a picture of a texture!) for a very unique Harlequin pattern that will match your current project.

You have other options, like the presence or absence of outlines between each diamond. Again, that will yield quite different results for you to use.

Grab this script in the store: Harlequin Pattern script.

Have you ever created (or wanted to create) a Harlequin pattern? How did you do so, or how would you have done so? Tell me in the comments below and you will get a chance to win this script. Not a subscriber yet? Not a problem. You can register here and it is free (and you only get one email per week).

As a sample, I created a set of 4 simple patterns made from simple gradients. Although the script asks for a minimum of 2 colors, I just provided the same gradient twice to create a repeated single pattern. If you want the same colors as your particular palette, you can use the foreground-background gradient, and having picked the colors ahead of time, you will get a fantastic match.

Those tiles are seamless so you can use them to create papers, or elements, and by changing the scale, you can create detailed designs too.

So what would you do with those tiles?

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

Suggestion box

November 7, 2015November 7, 2015 by Cassel

Did you ever envy Photoshop users because they have actions that do not have anything similar for Paintshop?

Did you ever see something in a kit or element pack and wish you could do something similar with a script?

Do you find yourself creating some elements manually and wish you could have a script to help you do them faster and more efficiently?

Well, this is the perfect time to make your suggestions. As part of the Digital Scrapbook Day events, you can actually win $$ for suggesting your ideas. Post a description of your "dream tool" in the comments below and i will draw a winner among all the suggestions received until Saturday November 14th (the draw will take place on Sunday morning).

The winner of the draw will get a $25 coupon for my store, but that is not all. If i manage to create a script following your suggestion, you will be allowed to get most beta versions, test it, give feedback for added options, and you will also get the final script FREE. So what are you waiting for? If you want to link to a picture, or preview of something you would like to do, it would be great!

One entry per person, but you can list as many ideas as you want! The more ideas you suggest, the more chances you have that i will make one of yours!

Put on your thinking cap and send me your ideas.

Digital Scrapbook Day 2015

November 7, 2015November 7, 2015 by Cassel

DSD is on the first Saturday of November, and it has been the case since 2007. For the occasion, I got several activities going on, for you. Let's have a look at them.

1- Storewide sale

Everything in the store will be discounted by 25%, for Saturday and Sunday. Did you ever fill a wishlist in the store? Now it is time to stock up and get those products you want to get to complete your projects faster or create new kits for your store.

Start shopping!

2- FREE tutorials

In the Campus, there is a dedicated page where you will see 12 unique tutorials rotate, one by one, each hour. For 48 hours, you will have the possibility to view video tutorials that are normally reserved for enrolled students. The list of the 12 tutorials is this:

Brick wall texture

License plate
Ghost text
Paper clip (2) (not the ordinary ones)
Reflection
Wired Ribbon
Gold Element
Coffee stain
Folded Edge
Accordion
Separator tab
Flair button

Which ones will you catch? Come back often.

Check out the tutorials

3- Show off contest (with prizes to win)

In order to promote digital scrapbooking using Paintshop Pro, there is a show off contest in the Campus. There are prizes to win too:

One copy of Paintshop Pro X8 Ultimate (value: $99.99)
Two Master Classes of your choice (value: $39.98)
The new 12 Cards for Christmas (value: $9.99)

And what do you have to do? Simple: show off a scrapbook project you made using Paintshop Pro. But, there is a little twist to this: you have to use ANY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

a technique you learned in the Campus
a free element you picked from this blog (there are lots of those)
or a product you purchased from the store (or one of mine in the Discovery Center)

Once you have something to show off, you can post it in the Campus forum, while browsing through the other members' submissions. The winner will be picked AT RANDOM, NEXT WEEK, on November 14th (next Saturday). This will give you a chance to pick some freebies from this blog, or view new tutorials in the Campus, or grab a new product in the store, and complete up to THREE projects to enter.

Check the Campus forum

4- 101 super easy tricks to work faster with Paintshop Pro

On Amazon.com, there is a countdown deal for this Kindle ebook that offers 101 tips. Since it is a countdown deal, it is now $0.99 but tomorrow, it will be up to $1.99 and then, Monday night, it will be back to its regular price of $2.99. Don't delay.

You don't have a Kindle? No problem. You can download the free app to view any Kindle book on your computer (how cool is that?). Although the deal is only available on amazon.com (in the U.S.), since it is a digital download, you are still able to get it: there is no added shipping fees!

That is 101 tips that where shared through years of newsletter, but they are all in one handy document, just for your convenience.

Grab your copy of this book

I would greatly appreciate a review of this book, when you have a chance. I am sure you will learn SOMEthing from it.

So what will you be doing this weekend??

New script – Scattered Photos

January 19, 2021October 30, 2015 by Cassel

Although Paintshop Pro allows you to nicely arrange photos without too much effort of measuring (since you can use guides and templates), it might be a little bit more tedious to pretend you scattered photos randomly. Yet, it can be a great way to display lots of photos on a project.

In order to scatter photos, you need to open each of them, resize them (if needed), add a border (if you want), copy them, paste them on the base image, rotate them, move them where you want, and then repeat for each other photo. If you have 5 or 6 photos, that might be feasible, but what if you have 50 of them? That can definitely add up and take you time.

This script will take care of all the steps once you have given it the proper information: where the photos are, what size you want them, if you want a border, and where you want the photos to be scattered (in the center, on the outer edge or all over). Then, you can go get a coffee and it will be all done by the time you come back!

Since all the photos are left on unmerged layers, you can always tweak them later (after all, the script can't tell if it looks the way YOU want).

And furthermore, the script will add shadows to all the layers if you want to, saving you even more time.

Get this script in the store: Scattered Photos.

Do you want a chance to win this script (so you can display all your Halloween photos)? Tell me what is the maximum number of photos you have placed onto one layout. The winner will be announced next week, in the newsletter. Not a subscriber yet? Not a problem. You can register here and it is free (and you only get one email per week).

Since this script will work only on YOUR own images, I am sure you would not care much about using mine. So, instead of using photos to place them onto a base image, i simply created black rectangles, the size of regular photos, and used them instead of photos. I ran the script with those and let it place them all over the place on a Facebook cover template.

Since you surely didn't want to only have black layers, I promoted the borders to their own layers, added shadows on separate layers, and now, you can use the photo layers to place your own. Basically, with some extra work, I made a layered template for you.

Although you can manually replace each photo layer by your own photos, you can also save a lot of time by using the Speed Scrap script (especially the one for photos) as it will resize the photos, and mask them so you can tweak their placement and rotation without worrying about trimming the excess or having to use a photo of the same format.

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

Corel Paintshop Pro Challenge

Check out this week's #CorelChallenge. Obviously, for the time of year, the theme is Halloween. Do you have Halloween photos? Halloween decorations? Or maybe a Halloween theme scrapbook page? I know, they talk about Halloween PHOTOS but you definitely can show off more than just photos!

Post your project on their thread or tag it with #CorelChallenge.

I CHALLENGE you!

Did you see the one i posted on their thread? Just to test how many of you will see it, LIKE it on their thread.

News in the Campus

Have you registered to the live presentation tomorrow?

We will look at how you can use the Blur command for some functional and creative effects.

It is FREE, as usual!

New script – Knot #12

January 19, 2021October 23, 2015 by Cassel

How you would use knots if you had a traditional ribbon can vary from day to day. You would have options to tie that ribbon in multiple manners, attach different objects, wrap that ribbon around all kinds of things. This is why, in digital scrapbooking, there are so many different knots available.

This script for Paintshop Pro will allow you to "tie" a ribbon into a simple knot, but unlike other scripts where you can only choose the color or pattern and everything looks like it is "flood filled" with that pattern, this script will use your own straight ribbon. This is perfect to have a match if you are using the other ribbon in the project, whether it is left straight, or tied into a different knot or bow created with another script.

Grab this script in the store: Knot #12.

For a chance to win this script, tell me how you would customize a knot for your project otherwise. Do you colorize greyscale ribbons? Do you manually create a knot with your ribbon? Do you use a script that asks you for the color to use? Leave a comment below and i'll announce the winner in the newsletter, next week. Not a subscriber yet? Not a problem. You can register here and it is free (and you only get one email per week).

This week, i created three straight ribbons (from greyscale ones) and ran the script to end up with three simple knots. Each one is left in unmerged layers so you can put them around any object or insert something in the middle of the knot.

I had fun with colorizing those ribbons with a gradient instead of a solid color. I think that gives a different kind of look to the knot that makes it more interesting (at least, that is what i think).

I also included the straight ribbons so you can use them with other scripts, or as is on your project to match. Or you can insert the straight ribbon directly in the knot too. Why not?

Remember to show off what you used this knot for. What project did you create using it?

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

Corel Paintshop Pro Challenge

Check out this week's #CorelChallenge. It is about using text on your project. Well, if you are a scrapbooker, you surely have text on your projects! It could be a fun journaling display, or an unusual title. Or how about a nice Subway art design? We can do so much with Paintshop Pro. Show off what you can do (or just what you have done already).

Post your project on their thread or tag it with #CorelChallenge

Did you see the one i posted on their thread?

News in the Campus

As part of the Corel Challenge, i created a text inside a silhouette. I thought it was a great way to use the new text wrapping tool from PSP X8.

I also made a short tutorial on how to create this result. Read it HERE.

New script – Ribbon Tag Banners

January 19, 2021October 16, 2015 by Cassel

Sometimes, you might have some interesting straight ribbons, but you would like to use them differently. How about creating some banners with bits and pieces of those ribbons? Does it sound like too much work? Of course, it can be tedious to do by hand, but with this script, you will have it done perfectly, in no time.

You have many options and even if you used the same options with the exact same ribbons, you will always get a slightly different result. Add a rope or a stitching on the top and you get another result.

Use your Paintshop Pro and this script to create a matching decorative element for your project, especially if you are using the straight ribbons elsewhere on the page. Or, if you want to add a decorative banner in your kit.

Have fun with this script. Get it in the store: Ribbon Tag Banners.

For a chance to get this script for free, tell me how you would like to "tie" those ribbon pieces: a string or a stitching or something else? I'll announce the winner in next week's newsletter. Not a subscriber yet? Not a problem. You can register here and it is free (and you only get one email per week).

For a sample of what this script can do, I used a single ribbon and colorized it in orange, and darkened the other copy to create a Halloween theme banner. The whole element is 3600 pixels wide, but you can easily resize it down to match the the space you need on your project.

Use this banner across the page, or between two photos, or just under the journaling to add focus on it.

The string on top, was made using the VectorTube script and I applied one Rope tube.

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

New script – Acrylic Styles B

January 19, 2021October 10, 2015 by Cassel

If you like the idea of the Photoshop acrylic styles but can't seem to be able to replicate them in Paintshop Pro, here is the answer to you. You won't have to tweak and try various settings, as the script will do all the calculations to create a great effect, no matter what the size of the element is.

In addition, you can create a series of elements (many shapes, or an alpha) in one run as the script will also make the correct measurement to give you a proportionate result.

You get 6 different acrylic effects, that you can apply to ANY shape. Create accents with arrows, stars, frames or alpha. Create elements for a frozen theme or a dark Halloween one.

Get this script in the store: Acrylic Styles B.

If you want a chance to win this script, tell me, in the comments, what elements you would like to create with these styles OR which style seems to appeal to you the most. I'll announce a winner in the newsletter, next week. Not a subscriber yet? Not a problem. You can register here and it is free (and you only get one email per week).

For the sample, this week, I created a full alpha with a set of digits, using the Cracked style (that is the project that gave me the insight to adjust the script to add the possibility of creating multiple elements in one run).

Each character is 500 pixels high and in PNG format.

After creating the alpha in one run of the script, I used the Alpha Sheet Separator 2 script to separate all of them, again, in one run. That is such a time saver! Check out the video on how much time you can save with this script, if you are a designer.

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.