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There are a number of great tutorials on the Web for Paint Shop Pro - just
Google on "Paint Shop Pro" + "tutorial."
You can modify screen shots in any number of ways, from adding or deleting
text, resizing screens to eliminate or shrink unnecessary blank parts of a
window, adding buttons, simulating features that may not work yet, etc.
PSP is a full-featured graphics tool capable of all kinds of pixel-based
image creation and modification, along with some decent vector-based
capabilities. For serious vector art get Adobe Illustrator or one of its
competitors.
I taught myself PSP, using a couple of third-party books and a lot of
messing around. My graphic skills have come in handy on EVERY tech writing
gig I've had, allowing me to differentiate myself from my "I don't know
anything about graphics" peers. Do not assume you need to be "artistically
talented," at least in the conventional way. I can literally barely sign
my name with a pencil, so I'm definitely no Da Vinci. But tools like PSP
allow me to create and modify images with a degree of precision and
professionalism that my grubby hands could never match.
An excellent companion to this skill is HTML. I polished my graphic chops
while learning to design Web pages - another anybody-can-do-it skill. I've
been amazed by the number of techies I've met - even programmers - who
don't know HTML. That's another skill I've used on EVERY tech writing gig
I've had, although it's never been listed as a job requirement.
You can do a lot to layoff-proof yourself by bringing more than the
minimum skillset to your gig. Yes, write the documentation. But also add
to its value in whatever way you can. The job you save may be your own.
Sic semper gumby (always flexible),
Keith Cronin
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