Using the Deform Tool in PSP 8 ...[maybe be useful for other versions of psp]      

Open a new image canvas, any size you want, but make it with a "raster background" and make the background "transparent".  Bigger is better so that you can see what your doing.  

Now draw a rectangle in the open layer.  Make the rectangle smaller than the canvas so you have room to play with it.

Now look at your tool bar and find the Deform tool.  I have the pink arrow pointing to the Deform Tool in the image to the left.

When you click on the Deform tool, you will see that a set of lines with little square nodes is now surrounding your rectangle.  For this tut, on the deformation tool options palette, the "mode" should be set on "Scale" to begin and don't change the numbers that you see there.  As you make a deformation you will see that the numbers do change on their own.  But for this tut, you don't need to do anything with them.  
 

Place your curser over one of the corner nodes.  While holding down your left mouse button, pull the curser left, right, up or downward and you will see that you can change the basic measurements of the rectangle.

Now, place your curser over one of the corner nodes again, but this time hold down the shift key at the same time you are holding down the left mouse button.  Don't let up on the key or the button.  Now drag the node to the left, right, upward, or downward and you will lengthen or shorten one of the sides of the rectangle.

This can also be done by changing the "mode" on the Deform tool palette to "Shear".
  

Now, do these same steps using the control key instead of the shift key.  This will allow you to contract or expand any one side of your shape.

This can also be done by changing the "mode" on the Deform tool palette to "Perspective".

If you would want to save your settings so that you can deform something else the exact same way, go to the Deform Tool palette and:
1] click on the deform symbol under the word Presets [see the red arrow]
2] then click on the save symbol [see the green arrow]
3] give the preset a name and click ok
4] click ok again to close the presets box
 

© Tutorial created by Holder 2006
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