Ego Eram Reputo

I copied the table of contents to the first post just for you HELEN

You have no idea what you're talking about do you? Rubbish. Rick knows what he's doing.

<Moved to Paint.NET Discussion & Questions>

I've been told that I've described the layering concept rather well (this from a PDN user who is well known and respected). I'm wondering if I should detail the chapters in the book so people have some idea of what is covered? Here are the book contents (remember this is over 400 MS Word pages): Contents Introduction About The Author Dedication Acknowledgments Conventions & Abbreviations SECTION 1 Before You Start With Paint.NET Chapter 1 - Introducing Paint.NET Chapter 2 - Installing Paint.NET SECTION 2 Basics Chapter 3 - Understanding The Interface Chapter 4 - The Menus Explained Chapter 5 - Tools Chapter 6 - Color Chapter 7 - Layers & Layering Chapter 8 - Adjustments Chapter 9 - Effects Chapter 10 - Selections & Selected Areas SECTION 3 Advanced Concepts Chapter 11 - Plugins Chapter 12 - File Formats Chapter 13 - Understanding Printing & DPI Chapter 14 - Blend Modes Chapter 15 - Customizing Paint.NET APPENDIX A Keyboard Shortcuts APPENDIX B Summary of Tips APPENDIX C Online Resources APPENDIX D List of Plugins APPENDIX E Menus What others are saying about Mastering Paint.NET Feedback

Let's not confuse the issue OddLlama. That link is to the OptiPNG home page which is more for Geeks. What akaStacy needs is a link to the Paint.NET friendly version found here, or this rewrite of the original: OptiPNG updated @akaStacy: The reason you would compress an image is so that it takes up less bandwidth (or 'space') when it is transmitted. Like when you download an image from the Internet or even view it on a website. Emailing is another good reason to apply compression. In transmission terms smaller = faster

That's the idea! Remember that you can read it on virtually any screen with one of the Kindle reading apps. An ebook reader like Kindle, Nook, Kobo, etc..., is not absolutely required.

Very strongly recommended if you want to have transparency in the image. If you need to compress them you can do so with the OptiPNG plugin. That will do the job perfectly. I should have welcomed you to the forum! It's good to have you here akaStacy.

Nice plugin Martin! The effect reminds me of both Varicose and Dents. Thank you.

The dark image is a JPG. JPG images do not support transparency. GIF images do support transparency, but only in a yes/no way. Each pixel is either transparent, or it is not. There are no graduated levels of transparency with this format. PNGs support a full transparency channel (an image can have multiple different shades of transparency). So you should save your images as PNGs to preserve the transparent bits. If you're saving your images as PDN then be aware that these are generally not supported by other applications as this is an internal format for Paint.NET. Great for preserving the layer structure and therefore for editing the image at a later stage. <Moved to Paint.NET Discussion & Questions>

http://forums.getpai...hile-it-lasted/ (particularly post #3) <moved to Paint.NET Discussion & Questions>

No. From the FAQ: http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/399-frequently-asked-questions-faq/

First couple of screenshots remind me of Varicose.

Your printer can't handle a JPG? I find that very strange...

...and not forgetting this excellent airbrushing tutorial: http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/12937-how-to-airbrush-like-a-professional-lets-try-this-again/

@OddLlama: Did you use Photobucket or another image hosting service?

Does this mean that Photobucket works now?

The thread Jim linked to explains how to use the Magic Wand to erase parts of an image. Very basically: 1. Activate the Magic Wand tool 2. Hold down the Shift key and click anywhere on the white background. NOTE >> The Shift toggles the flood mode to Global - i.e. it selects every instance of the source color in the layer. 3. Press Delete. That should erase the white background leaving the grey & white checkerboard pattern (which denotes transparency). In order to preserve the transparent areas, save the image as a PNG (not JPG). The edges of the letters might also be a bit jagged following the background removal. To smooth these edges we generally recommend running AA's Assistant (plugin) over the layer.

For simple black or white background removals I usually reach for the AlphaSpace plugin. It essentially does the same as Welshy's suggestion (Grim Color Reaper), but is a little simpler to figure out.

Some forum users have had success with alternatives to Photobucket. Try ImageShack?

Thanks Ella! Great job.

You've made me a happy author! Something quick? Gosh Ella - that's impressive! I'm going to ask you to post this in the Tutorial section. Please?

Hi DennisW - welcome to the forum! I've split this post of your out from the thread you originally posted in. This is because that thread was a bit old and your question deserved it's own thread I'm a bit unsure of the look you're trying to achieve, so this technique is a bit of a punt - I'm assuming you want to fake the appearance of lighting on the floor? If so, then try this: 1. Open your court image 2. Add a new layer :AddNewLayer: 3. Expand the Colors window (click the More button) 4. In the expanded colors window, move the Transparency slider down to zero. This makes the Primary color (default=black) transparent. 5. Select the Gradient tool in the Tools Window 6. In the Tool Bar, check the option of Radial 7. Right click on your image and drag out a little white circle. 8. Repeat in two or three other locations with slightly dissimilar sized circles. 9. Press F4 and lower the layer opacity to around 180. You should have something like this:

Here's a primer: http://forums.getpai...p?/topic/25146- and http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/25284-

I'm not sure what you're asking? How to stack stones and photograph them, or do you wish to make the entire image from scratch?

You don't open the *.dll files. You install them by copying them to the Paint.NET/Effect/Folder.