For this tutorial we will be creating a Preset Shape heart. This may seem like a simple concept, but it is often difficult to create shapes that are symmetric. You will also learn how to combine objects from separate vector layers, and how to use a guide, the rulers, and the status bar in PSP.

Before beginning the tutorial you may wish to customize PSP so that all of your shapes are saved to a folder separate from the default PSP "Shapes" folder for easier maintenance and backup. Click here for instructions.

It is recommended that you save your work often in the PSP format or use the "Autosave" feature located under File > Preferences to prevent loss of your work due to program or system crashes.

Show Ruler, Create a Guideline, and Activate the Status Bar

Open a new 200 x 200 pixel image with a white background.

Choose View > Rulers. Choose View > Guides. Click on the ruler on the left side of the image, hold the mouse button in, and drag to create a vertical guideline. Position the guideline 100 pixels from the left by using the ruler, or by watching the status bar at the bottom-left corner of the PSP window. (If the status bar isn't visible, choose View > Toolbars, place a check mark beside the "Status Bar" option, and then click "Close")

In the next few steps we will create only one half of the shape. We will then duplicate and mirror this half so that the completed shape will be symmetric.

Create the Heart Shape

Activate the Draw Tool with the Tool Option settings shown below. Use the numbered illustration and instructions to create a contour for the left half of the heart shape. As you draw the contour, keep all of your clicks and right-clicks confined to the canvas. If you click or right-click outside of the image, Node Edit will be deactivated.

Draw Tool - Tool Options Type: Point to Point Line Width: 1 (only visible with outline) Line Style: #1 Solid (only visible with outline) Antialias: checked Create as vector: checked Close path: unchecked

Position your cursor on the guideline so that the coordinates in the status bar are 100, 50. Click to create Node 1. Position your cursor so that the coordinates in the status bar are 44, 44. When clicking to create Node 2, hold the mouse button in and drag at an angle, downward and to the left, to create a curve. Position your cursor to 100, 165 and click to create node 3. After creating this node, right-click on the image and choose Node Type > Curve Before. Adjust the handle that appears to blend this curve with the curve created by Node 2.

Click outside of the image to exit Node Edit mode. Right-click on "Layer1" in the layer palette and choose "Duplicate" from the pop-up menu. To lessen the confusion, right-click on the "Copy of Layer1" layer, choose "Rename," and rename this layer "Layer2". The layer palette will now contain two vector layers, with a Drawing object on each layer. See screen shot.

Click on the "Layer2" button in the layer palette to select it, and then choose Image > Mirror.

Combine Vector Objects

Figure 1

At this point, we could group the two objects so that they resided on one layer and then export as a Preset Shape. If, however, we hide the guideline (View > Guides) you will see that there is a visible line down the center of the heart caused by antialising. Figure 1.

To get rid of this line, we want to copy the contour for the object on "Layer2" to the object on "Layer1". This is done by copying and pasting while in Node Edit mode.

Figure 2

Activate the Object Selector , and click on the right side of the heart in the image window to select it. Click on the Node Edit button in the Tool Options palette. You should now see this half of the heart shape as a series of nodes and line segments. Figure 2.

While still in Node Edit mode, right-click within the image and choose Edit > Select All from the context menu (All of the Nodes in the contour will be selected). The Select All command found under the Selections menu at the top of the workspace will not work for this step.

Right-click within the image again and choose Edit > Copy from the context menu. Again, you must use the copy command listed in the right-click context menu, not under the main Edit menu at the top of the workspace.

Click outside of the image to exit Node Edit mode, and then click on the glasses button beside "Layer2" to hide it. We will be deleting this layer, but we don't want to do this until we have successfully copied the contour that makes up object on Layer2 to the object on Layer1.

Figure 3

With the Object Selector activated, click on the left side of the heart in the image window to select it. Click the Node Edit button in the Tool Options palette, right-click on the image and choose Edit > Paste from the context menu. You will now see the copied contour beside, and slightly below, the contour for the left side of the heart. Figure 3. To re-align the copied contour with the other half of the heart shape, hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard. While holding the Ctrl key, press the "Page Up" key and then press the "Home" key.

After the contours have been aligned, right-click on the "Layer2" in the layer palette and choose "Delete".

Figure 4

The nodes where the two halves of the heart meet may not be visible, but we need to join them. With the Object Selector activated, click on the Node Edit button. While in Node Edit mode, click and drag to create a rectangular selection around the top of the heart where the two halves meet. You should see a selection marquee as you drag. Figure 4. Right-click on the image and choose Edit > Join Select. Repeat at the point where the two halves meet at the bottom.

Only Start and End nodes on an open contour can be joined, and these must be joined either to each other, or to the Start and End nodes of another open contour.

Expand the vector layer in the layer palette, right-click on the ellipse object button, choose "Rename" from the context menu, and name it "Heart." This will be the name of the shape as it appears in the Tool Options palette.

Figure 5

Crop away excess background from around the shape. Activate the Object Selector and click on the heart in the image to select it. Choose Objects > Align > Center in Canvas. Right-click on the image and choose "Export Shape" from the context menu. Click "OK" through the warning box that appears, type a name for your shape library in the resulting text entry box, and then click "OK".

We're done! Always test your Preset Shapes before closing the source image. To change the look of the heart, set the foreground and background styles to the color, pattern, or gradient of choice, make sure that "Retain style" isn't checked, and create.