Preparing your base

The vast majority of bases available online are saved as .gif files. The problem with gifs is that they are limited to a 256 colour palette on a single layer, so before you are able to use all the neat features in Paint Shop Pro, your have to get the base to a point where it's millions of colours & on a layer all of it's own!

1. In Paint Shop Pro, go to File/Open and open the base that you have saved.	2. Now, if you have a look at the colour palette for this doll, you'll see that there are not many colours to choose from!	3. Go to Colors/Increase Colour Depth/16 Million Colors(24bit). You'll see that your colour palette looks a lot more exciting now.

4. I always increase the size of the canvas at this point. Go to Image/Canvas Size. The actual size you set will depend on the size of the base - for preps, 200x200 is sufficient; for a larger base, you may need 400x400. Make sure that the boxes to center the image are checked.	5. Don't worry if the background is looking rather messy, we are going to get rid of it in a moment.	6. We want the base to be on it's own layer, so either go to Layers/Promote to Layer or right-click on the background in the layer palette & choose Promote to Layer from the menu.

7. Select the Magic Wand tool.	8. Hold down the SHIFT key and click on all the areas around the outside of the base. They should all become selected.	9. Press the DELETE button on your keyboard. The background should disappear leaving the "checkerboard" effect that shows transparency. Press CTRL+D on your keyboard to drop the selection.

10. I always like to give my bases a white background (on a seperate layer) as I find that easier to work on than the checks. Go to Layers/New Raster Layer or click on the new layer icon on the layer palette.	11. On the Layer Properties box, name the layer Background and click on OK.	12. Make your foreground color white and Flood Fill the Background layer.

13. Now we need to move the background layer behind the layer containing your base. Go to Layers/Arrange/Move Down or, on the Layers Palette, click on the Background layer and drag it under Layer 1.	14. It's a good idea to name the base layer as well now. On the Layer Palette, double click on Layer 1 and give it a useful name, like Base.	15. To preserve all your layers, you will need to save this as a .psp file. Go to File/Save As. Give the file a name and under Save as type select Paint Shop Pro Image.

Your base is now ready for use!
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