How to build ... without contractors

First, you download a trial copy of Paint Shop Pro (PSP) from its Corel site. You can play with it for 30 days. The price on the 31st day won't break the bank, but you can always drop hints before Christmas or your birthday. Of course, if you already have a copy, you're halfway home. (Bad pun.) In addition you can see if anyone on the Web is selling a good version like 7.04.

Second, you Google for "PSP room tutorial". Should you just want to be transported somewhere from right here, you scoundrel, try either Pat Sherman's site or Jaddell's site. There are a bunch more, including one where the (American) writer composes with an accent and obviously has no punctuation on the keyboard. Life's too short for run-on sentences.

(I'm not including a lot of links here, just the tried and true ones.)

Third, if all else fails, follow directions in the tutorials. (What a concept.)

If you're a PSP newbie, go to the PSP Users Group site and bone up on the many general tutorials there. Ask questions in the members' forum. Registering is free, and you don't get any spam. Another good deal.

. . .without virtual architects

The problem with doing Paint Shop Pro room tutorials is that one day you start thinking you're a virtual Frank Lloyd Wright. (With me, the impetus was innocent enough: a tut for an outhouse. I changed the heart on the door for a proper crescent, and off I went.)

It starts slowly when you realize you don't know much about architectural styles. You start Googling for exteriors as well as interiors. There are sites out there for newbie realtors that only whet a fledgling interest in architectural details.

Floor plans make you wonder how the rooms would look in 3-D.

Eventually you start reading about one-point versus two-point perspective. You refresh some forgotten knowledge about Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian columns. Lo and behold, you're building column caps and bases in PSP.

Your hard drive is suddenly awash in brick and stone and marble samples, decorative molding for Victorian Painted Ladies, and doors from around the world. There's a woodpile outside the outhouse from a subdirectory lumberyard.

Your Googling will include architectural styles in other countries. Then, of course, you want to know what the furniture in that country looks like.

. . . without expensive interior designers

	Google for "PSP tubes". There's a myriad of them out there, including chairs, fireplaces, sofas, chairs, lamps, pottery, whatever you want. You can use any tube from any version of Paint Shop Pro if you know how to convert it. Check PSP Users Group for advice.
	· Learn to use PSP tools such as the lasso and the eraser so that you can "shop" at the most expensive sites on the Internet and cut out background details. You can check out Jaddell's site for handy hints on the tutorial index page. Of course, follow all copyright rules unless you're creating rooms for your pleasure alone.
	· You can, gulp, buckle down and do some of the furniture and household item tutorials for PSP. These range from oriental tea sets through antique furniture such as roll-top desks and Federal period dressers.
	· Find tutorials to spark your imagination in creating textures for ceiling and floor tiles. However, this is also a good Google search. Dollhouse or even real wallpaper samples are a good copout.
	· Dingbat font addiction occurs shortly after you start playing with PSP. There are unbelievable ones that let you put designs on anything in sight, from furniture to kitchen tiles.

Today room tuts, tomorrow the world!

My favorite Murphy's Law is "Whatever you have to do, you have to do something else first."

Rooms are interiors that have houses as exteriors. They also have windows that you can look into or out of. As long as you're creating fabulous rooms, and perhaps incredible houses around them, you need scenery outside. Check Jaddell's site for scenery created by Playful Cher.

While you're at it, you might as well create your own scenery. If you're using Paint Shop Pro, there are picture tubes to help you with the landscaping. There's a plugin to help you create the sky. Tools run rampant.

Or you can download Terragen, currently free, to create vistas with lakes, mountains, beaches. Your own world!

This brings us to the ultimate. There are PSP tuts to help you create entire galaxies. However, I haven't been able to find one to create a #000000 black hole. (That's PSP humor.)

NOTE: Shame Page. Here's what not to do.

E-mail me if there are broken links.

This site was last updated 07/07/07