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Easy Eggtoon Mouse, Vector Cartoon Tutorial

This tutorial was written for Paint Shop Pro version 7

Tutorial is offered here free of charge for personal use only!

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©ArizonaKate.com 2001-2010, All rights reserved


(update for PSP 8-13 coming soon!)

If you are new to using vectors and haven't reviewed the Beginner Basics, please do so now.   On that page  is a review of the PSP tools, definitions of vector terminology, plus a tutorial for creating the Egg Preset Shape that we'll be using in all tuts.


This Easy Mouse tutorial was originally written in 2001 and is probably one of the easiest toons to draw with vector tools.   A great beginners project!   

Color settings for this tut: Select black for stroke color and any mouse color of your choice for fill. Pick a pastel, a bright color, a realistic color...doesn't matter...this is a cartoon!! I'll be using #BBA5AD, a lavender gray....for no particular reason! *G*    Both Texture boxes should be set to null.Ø


Remember, in Paint Shop Pro 7, to select any vector object for editing you must use the Object Selector.

Let's Review the Vector Tools

All the EggToon tutorials will be written for those that consider themselves newbies and beginners to vector drawing! So, we must begin at the beginning and review the Paint Shop Pro tools that are used in the creation of a vector drawing.   With these tools we can size, shape, or rotate vector objects.  We can also transform vector objects by editing their nodes.

The Toolbar should be docked along the left side of your workspace (unless you've moved it). Most of the tools are used for drawing raster images, but there are 3 tools that can also create vector images: the TEXT tool, the PRESET SHAPES tool and the PEN tool.

The PICK tool may also be used to do some editing and selecting.  It is found near the top of the Toolbar on the flyout menu with the MOVE tool.

Note: The letters shown along the right margin of the flyout menus indicate keyboard shortcuts for these tools, if you like that option.   The main menu also indicates more keyboard shortcuts.

The little 'down' arrows adjacent to some tools on the Toolbar will show you a flyout menu when clicked.   The PRESET SHAPES tool has one of those menus.  There are 4 options on the flyout menu for this tool.

Preset Shape, Rectangle, Elipse and Symmetric Shape.  

Depending on which shape option is selected, a different set of choices will appear on the Tool Options palette.   

The Tool Options palette is located just above the workspace (by default).   It can be undocked and moved to other locations in the workspace.   In this tutorial series, we'll assume your Tool Options are above the workspace and the palette hasn't been moved.   Every tool in the Toolbar has a corresponding set of Tool Options and the Tool Options palette will change according to tool selected.

When Preset Shape is the active tool selection, an additional Shapes List will be available on the Tool Options palette that looks similar to the image below.

Many Preset Shapes come with PSP ...more than what's shown here....and even more can be downloaded to add to your Shapes Library.   In an upcoming tutorial, I'll be showing you how you can make your own Preset Shape when we make an "Egg" shape for our EggToons.

Back to reviewing the other 2 vector tools, the TEXT tool and the PEN tool.   They also have additional options. The image below shows a portion of the Tool Options palette that appears when TEXT tool is selected.

Choosing Vector on the Tool Options palette gives you many more editing options than creating with raster text.    You can easily move vector text around, stretch or compress it, change the text entry (what it says), change the color, size, outline, and other properties as many times as you want (without starting over).

There are some menu options that will require you to convert vector text back to raster.    We'll go over all these options as we use them.

Anybody can draw a straight line using the PEN tool.  No more shaky mouse-drawn pixel lines...take a little care and every vector line will be perfect!!! 

Use the PEN tool to draw straight lines, freeform lines and line segments.
There are 5 modes to select from on the Tool Options palette for the PEN tool.  Two modes for editing and three for drawing.
Edit mode (select)
Knife mode (cut)
Draw Lines & Polylines (line segments and curves)
Draw Point to Point (controlled draw) and Draw Freehand.

There are a number of other options on the Tools Options palette for PEN tool, such as 'line style'.   We'll go over all these options as we use them.

So that about covers the 'what' and 'where' for the tools and their options.  We'll talk about 'why' on another day.  But, before that, we'll need to go over some new terminology.   That'll be next....see you then!

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Beginner Intro - Raster vs. Vector

The EggToon^© series of tutorials has been written especially for those that are just beginning to learn vectors. All images will start with the humble egg shape.....so if you can draw an egg....you'll be able to make a cat, a mouse, a bunny and other cute and easy toon characters.

EggToons are not only cute, they are easy and quick to create. We will create them using the vector tools in Paint Shop Pro.  Oh, oh...I think I can hear somebody groaning that vectors are too complicated...*G*....but you don't need to know anything technical to create these toons!!  We'll show you how easy it can be!   I did say.... "if you can draw an egg, you can draw these"...but you won't even have to draw, they are all made with Preset Shapes!

Step-by-step instructions will be provided all along the way.    We hope they are written so that even beginners to PSP and the vector-phobic *G* can follow along!   If you run into a problem, leave a comment and we'll try to answer!

But, before we start drawing the toons, we'll  need to discuss the tools used to draw vector objects and some terminology that may be new to you! 

Raster:  There are basically 2 ways to create digital drawings....raster and vector. The type of digital drawing you're probably most familiar with is referred to as raster, which are images made by combining pixels.   Photos are raster images.

Vector:  Vector objects are created in a different manner using coordinates.  Embedded in each vector object are a set of properties which are used as instructions for drawing the object.  These instructions are interpreted by the software to create the position, shape and color of the object. Each vector object is an independent element which can be moved around without effecting the rest of the image.  That means that we can re-size, rotate, distort and edit vector objects in a number of ways without getting all 'pixilated' or losing line quality.

Next time we'll discuss the vectors tools in the Paint Shop Pro 'Tools Palette'.

Day One

Howdy! My name is Kat and I've been writing Paint Shop Pro tutorials for over 10 years at ArizonaKate.com. Today I thought I'd try going off in a new direction and try something in a blog format. All my old Paint Shop Pro tutorials will still be available on my website (along with some guest tutorials).

This new "EggToons" blog will contain tutorials and how-to tips for cartooning and creating cute characters that are easy to do because they start with the simple egg shape! Along the way we'll show you how to use the vector drawing tools in Paint Shop Pro, even if you are a beginner. ... Kat