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Let There Be Lines 7: PaintShop Pro Grid/Scan Lines/Dots

Create a Grid
We are going to create a grid by forming half of one cell and making that a pattern. We will then fill any area with the pattern. Although you could use two lines to create the pattern, fills offer more options for textures and graduated colors.

Double click on the Selection tool to open the Select Area window. This feature allows us to place precise selections. I don't like working in the extreme corners of a document, so have chosen 50 pixels from the top and the side of the document as my starting point. I want to create a selection that is exactly 20 by 20. So my left setting is 50, or 50 px from the left border. I need 20 pixels for the selection width, so 50+20=70 for the right setting The same numbers are used to create the vertical settings.

Click OK and you will see a square selection near the upper left corner. (So now you are wondering why on earth I would go to that trouble. Be patient for a few more sentences—it will all make sense.) Fill the selection with your chosen grid color. Now, double click on the Selection tool again to open the Select area window. We want to move the selection one pixel to the right and one pixel down. Enter Left 51, Right 71. Top 51, Bottom 71 and click OK for a result that looks like this.

Delete the contents of the selection. The remaining portion is the half cell of the grid I promised earlier. We will move the selection back to the original position and create a pattern. To move the selection to the start point, double click on the Selection tool. Enter the starting values, Left 50, Right 70, Top 50 and Bottom 70. Total precision.

To create the pattern, select the Fill tool. Open the Fill Tool Options window and choose Fill Style Pattern. Click on the second tab to specify the pattern source. Choose the pattern source from a selected area or an entire file from any open document. (See PhotoShop Grids to save this pattern for future use.) Select the document containing the pattern selection and the pattern will appear in the preview window. This pattern is now active.

Select the area you wish to fill and click the Fill tool in the area. You now have a grid.

Original image.

Scan lines applied and Layer Opacity 34%.

Scan Lines
We create scan lines in much the same way as a grid. Create a new document with a size of 50 px by 2 px with a transparent background. Select an area 1 px by 50 and fill with white. Select All. Save this file but do not close the document.

Open a photograph. Create a new layer in the Layers Option window. Choose the Flood Fill tool. In the Flood Fill Options window, choose Fill Style>Pattern. Click on the center tab and choose the file you saved above as your New Pattern Source.

Make sure the new layer is active and click in the document. The new layer will fill with the striped pattern. Reduce the Layer Opacity until you are happy with the result.

Experiment with other effects, like using Soft Light, or adding noise for a different look.

For convenience, I have included a file of the pattern as described above. This file will work for PaintShop Pro 5 and above. Download file.

Dotted Lines
This is getting to be a long page, but dots won't take long. There are a couple of ways to make your lines dotted, but for total control, the easiest way is to create a new brush.

Choose the Paintbrush tool and create 1 dot of the brush you would like. Zoom in very close and select the brush plus some free space next to the brush as shown here.

Select the Brush tool. Open the Paint Brush Options menu and select the fly-out menu near the top right of the window. Choose custom to open the Custom Brush window. Choose Create and your selection will be turned into a new brush. The brush will be placed at the end of the custom brushes and will be selected. Choose Edit to open the Custom Brush Edit window. Increase the Step value. You can select or edit this brush at any time by choosing the custom brush option.

Return to your document. Make sure nothing is selected and set your foreground color. Test your brush to see if the dot spacing is correct and adjust if needed.

That's it—any shape, any spacing. You set what you want. As I mentioned, there are other ways to get here, but this one gives you total control. Have fun with it.

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Let There Be Lines Tutorial Index

Let There Be Lines Start
PhotoShop Lines
PhotoShop Lines (part 2)
PhotoShop Quick Grids
PhotoShop Scan Lines
PaintShop Pro Lines
PaintShop Pro Grid/Scan/Dots
CorelDraw and Freehand Lines
CorelDraw Grid Tool
Gallery and Resources