“Original” Image

Corrected Image

How I “Corrected” the Image of Bush with Upside Down Book

Step 1

• Open the image in Paint Shop Pro. Use the Freehand tool to carefully select the front and back covers of the book. Get as close to Bush’s hands as possible without actually touching them.
• From the Paint Shop Pro menu bar, select “Edit,” then “Copy.”
• Select “Edit,” then “Paste as New Image.”

Step 2

• Return to the original image. Dip the Dropper tool in a portion of the white area of the book.
• Using the Paint Brush tool, paint the book cover white (the color you dipped with the Dropper). The Paint Brush Tool Option settings should be about 12 for size and 80 – 90% opacity. Give special attention to the inside edges of the book cover.
• Use Soften in the Retouch tool to blend the whites on the book cover.
• With the newly pasted image, select “Image,” then “Rotate.” The Direction should be set to “Left” and Degrees to “180.” Click “OK” and the image is turned upside down.

Step 3

• Use the Freehand tool to draw around the left side of the pasted image (the cover of the book showing the flag).
• Select “Edit,” then “Copy.”
• Back at the original image, select Paste as New Layer. Position the new layer on just above Bush’s left hand.
• Select “Image,” then “Rotate” left about 10 – 15 degrees. Make sure “All Layers” is unchecked.
• Use the Eraser tool to make portions around the edges white and blend the pasted layer into the white cover. Varying opacity and size settings will be necessary.
• Repeat Step 3 but for the right side of the pasted, rotated book image, drawing around the right side, copying and pasting it onto the side of the original book image next to Bush’s right hand, rotating and blending as appropriate.

Optional Steps

• The “Perspective – Horizontal” effect under “Effects,” “Geometric Effects” in the file menu can be used to angle the new book cover layers pasted on the original image.
• The Freehand or Selection tool can be used to carefully copy and paste layer portions to complete the word “America.”
• Darken the side of the book cover by selecting, then choosing “Colors,” “Adjust,” then “Brightness/Contrast” from the file menu.

The above photo is assumed to be in the public domain. If you believe otherwise, please inform the Clickfire webmaster.

Reader Comments about “Creating a ‘Manip’ Image with Paint Shop Pro”

10/20/04

I am not a friend of Mr. Bush and what he does at all (just like most people over here in Europe), but I think you’re right, the upside down book is a fake. If you have a look at the back cover image, you will see that the sides of the image almost reach the edges of the cover – if you compare that to the book in the girls hands, you will see that there is some free space from the side of the image to the side of the book cover (larger distance than to the top of the book). Additionally, the image on Bush’s book isn’t rotated as it should be; the image is mirrored! So this has to be a touch-up job. Compare your version of the “corrected” image on Bush’s book to the image of the girl’s book – you rotated the image correctly, but it is still mirrored compared to the image of the girl’s book!

Regards from Germany,
Thomas

11/4/02

Thank you for showing the world the correct way for the prez to hold a book. Now if he had only held it correctly the first time he could have saved himself and the GOP so much embarrassment and humiliation.

You are a good American,
Ken

Seamless tiles on the web are just like the linoleum ones on your kitchen floor, except that you don’t have to mop away the orange juice and milk stains to maintain the shine. Think of them as self cleaning. That’s not to say that web tiles won’t have you on your hands and knees. Making backgrounds for web pages is not hard. Making them seamless can be frustrating. This intermediate tutorial is just one of many ways to make seamless tiles.

Step 1 – Open Image

Scroll down and right-click on the left below image called “girl1.jpg” and save it to your hard-drive (“save picture as”). Open the image in Paint Shop Pro. Click the Retouch toolbar icon pictured below.

Retouch Tool

After doing this, you should see the Retouch Tool Options Palette. If it doesn’t appear after clicking the retouch tool on the toolbar (the finger above), go to the Paint Shop Pro menu bar and choose:

View > Toolbars > Tool Options Palette

Step 2 – Setting the Retouch Tool Options

Make sure tab 1 is selected and choose the settings below:

Shape:	Round
*Size:	80
Hardness:	0
Opacity:	100
Step:	100
Density:	100
Retouch Effect:	Push

*The size setting of the brush varies with image size.

Step 3 – Performing the Push

Place the cursor approximately between the eyes. This is important because you want the push to pickup as much of the face as possible without including extraneous material from the background (like the chair). She such a cutie!

Original (girl1.jpg)

Hold your mouse button down and push it around in a swirling motion until you see faces appear. Try to cover the entire area with faces that look similar because remember, the end result must be seamless. Don’t make the mistake of letting go of your mouse button until you’ve filled the entire area. If you have to restart, place the mouse button over one of the faces you just created and swirl it some more. You may want to drop the step setting (not below 40) to fill in areas that aren’t consistent.

Swirled (girl2.jpg)

Step 4 – Making the Image Seamless

Make a rectangular selection with the Selection Tool over the swirled faces the size that you want your seamless tile to be.

Go to Selections and choose Convert to Seamless Pattern. A new image will pop up that will hopefully be both nice looking and seamless.

Step 5 – Editing the Seamless Tile Image

The chances are, the newly created seamless tile image will need some touching up to get rid of edges or fill in gaps to truly be seamless. A tiled image that’s not seamless is noticeably ugly. A few careful pushes with the step setting dropped can correct much of the problem. Also, use the Retouch tool’s Soften and Smudge modes for smoothing and blending areas.

Step 6 – Lighten the Seamless Tile

To use the seamless tile as a background in a web page with dark text, you will probably want to lighten it. There are several ways to this. The easiest, is to go to Colors > Adjust > Hue/Saturation/Lightness and up the lightness. You can also make create a quick image of the exact size as your seamless tile and fill it with a lighter color, then use the Arithmetic function under Image > Arithmetic > Average to create a new lighter image of a different color.

Lightened (girl3.jpg)

Step 6 – Testing the SeamlessTile

How do you know if the finished product is actually seamless? Well, tile it. The easiest way is to set the image as wallpaper on your desktop. I use a freeware program called sTile, which allows quick and easy testing of tiles. sTile even allows you to merge edges and four-way flip a tile.

Another example of a seamless tile using this technique:

The technique of retouching an image by “pushing” came of age in the U.S. during the 1990‘s as grand juries scratched their heads at Clinton administration testimony. Graphic hacks were not idle. Remember the Bill Clinton Pinocchio pictures that were going around the Internet? The tool that is the politician’s worst enemy can be the narcissists best friend. For those times when you want to look your absolute best and don’t have time for plastic surgery or dieting, you need a tool that can smooth those wrinkles like no makeup ever could. Paint Shop Pro’s Retouch tool allows you to blend skin and stretch and smooth body parts as in the above image. Let’s jump right in!

Step 1 – Open Image and Choose Retouch Tool

Right-click on the left below image called “face1.jpg” and save it to your hard-drive (“save picture as”). Open the image in Paint Shop Pro, then click the Retouch toolbar icon pictured below.

Retouch Tool

After doing this, you should see the Retouch Tool Options Palette. If it doesn’t appear after clicking the retouch tool on the toolbar (the finger above), go to the Paint Shop Pro menu bar and choose:

View > Toolbars > Tool Options Palette

Step 2 – Setting the Retouch Tool Options

Make sure tab 1 is selected and choose the settings below:

Shape:	Round
*Size:	60
Hardness:	0
Opacity:	100
Step:	1
Density:	100
Retouch Effect:	Push

*The size setting of the brush varies with image size.

Step 3 – Performing the Push

This man injured his nose at the dinner table. Let’s help him.

Before Push (face1.jpg)	After Push (face2.jpg)

Place the tool on the tip of the nose and push the nose slightly to the right while holding down the mouse. Experiment a bit and you will behold the power of the push tool. Try not to get into a tug of war with the nose, but if you do get carried away, be sure and use the Undo function under Edit. Also, use the Retouch tool’s Soften mode for smoothing and blending areas of the skin. The end result should show a straightened nose somewhere between Michael Jackson and Cyrano de Bergerac. It will never be perfect, but it’s cheaper than a makeover.