Getting to Know the Effects Browser in PSP8

You're going to LOVE this tutorial. It's going to show you one of the better new tricks of PSP8 - the Effects Browser. Once you get to know it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it (trust me). It's not only a great tool in itself (as far as tools go) but for the times when you need a little inspiration or motivation, the Effects Browser could be just the shot in the arm you've been looking for.

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1.  Open up a new image, 200 x 200 with any colour background. I've gone with a kind of burnt orange colour, #EF8911 or R:239 G:137 B:17 (see below). For the sake of this tut it really doesn't matter what colour you choose, but do note that with some filters the results will vary when applied over different coloured backgrounds. At this point however we're not using the effects to create an actual image, we're just playing with them to learn how the browser works. So what does the Effects Browser do? Well, in a nutshell, it allows us to preview any or all of the native filters that come with PSP8, all at once. Want to see what your image will look like with the presets available with just the Balls and Bubbles Filter, or would you like to see how ALL of the available filters would look? The choice is yours. Even if you've made your own presets, it will also give you a preview of those - but that's a whole other tutorial :) So, so let's take a look at what the Effects Browser can do.....

This is the colour I went with for the tut - but any colour will do.

2.  Now let's open up the Effects Browser. Go to Effects>Effects Browser. One of two things should happen now, depending on whether you've opened it before. If this is the first time you're opening the browser up, you will get a blank screen in the browser window. If you've already used it before, it will automatically apply the most recent effects you applied last time. As you can see below, the last effect I applied was the Magnifying Tool. In the left-hand panel, click the folder next to the Magnifying Tool once and see what happens. It's now showing us a preview of what the Magnifying Tool effects would look like over my orange background:

The Effects Browser. Hmmmm.....lots of possibilities here, huh?

3.  While the previews are being loaded, you'll see a pop-up box (shown left). This is the Render Progress box. The speed of this process will depend on how much memory you have installed on your computer. Note: To make the process a little faster, always check the 'Quick Render' box (see above - it's situated right above the Help button).