Paint it Red tutorial for Corel Photo-Paint - A Visionary Voyager Production

Copyright ©, 1999. David Mutch Ph.D. and Visionary Voyager Corporation.
All rights reserved.

  Introduction
  Duotone - The Basics
  Duotone - Advanced
  Direct from RGB
    - HSL
    - Colour Balance
    - Selective Color
    - Color Hue & Tone
  Using Masks
  Conclusion

1. Introduction

	This tutorial introduces some ideas and concepts which may be useful when wishing to create mono-, duo- and tritone images without necessarily having to use duotone (Pantone) colours. Also reviewed are methods to create grayscale images with specific objects retaining colour, and general methods to alter image-wide colour qualities. Like most things in Photo-Paint, there are many different ways to achieve the same outcome and it is beyond the scope of this tutorial to cover them all. However the concepts presented here should provide a suitable starting point for more creative enterprises using combinations of the techniques and through your own discovery of new techniques.

	The ideas from this tutorial sprang from several fronts. I had often seen great monotone images and had the desire to learn how to make then. Then one day I came across a great tutorial by Mike Bresciani on the Unleash.com site explaining how to create old-fashioned, sepia coloured pictures, and I thank Mike for the good start with Duotones. This method involves the use of grayscale images which I found somewhat limiting due to the loss of the three RGB channels. To get the effects I wanted I often needed to convert back to RGB or just stay in RGB mode from the start. Therefore I will describe here several other methods as well as expand the sepia/grayscale method to include any colours you wish.

	This is the first tutorial in which Photo-Paint 9 commands will be used in addition to those of version 8, where differences exist. If you would like to see my review of Photo-Paint 9 which shows some of the new features and changes, please visit here. If you would like to follow along with the same images I used for this tutorial they can be downloaded from this site. You will see the links as you reach each section. Most are resampled down (for easier download) from originals on Corel Draw Suites 7, 8, or 9 accessory disks in the Photos folders. If you have the original disks you would probably be better off using your own originals. Of course, feel free to use any of your own favorite images as replacements also.

	As we are making changes to the images in this tutorial, I think it is better to view the changes on the entire on-screen image, rather than through the preview window panes (full-screen is now the default preview method in PP9). You can set this preview method in PP8 in most of the dialogue boxes. If you see the dual or single pane preview window then click on the full screen preview icon and then on the EYE icon so the screen updates instantly when you make changes. This will allow you to see the effect on the entire image better. The images provided are fairly small (max 600 pixels wide or high) so most computer screens should be able to cope with them.

	As usual I hope you enjoy this tutorial and please send me your comments, criticisms, or ideas for new tutorials whenever you wish. Also, and as always, I hope you get some new ideas yourself and enjoy your favorite (and the best) photo manipulation program even more.