Foreword

I am sure you have searched the internet for a tutorial about how to write your own scripts in Paint Shop Pro and you came up blank at every turn. That's how I experienced it. It is very hard to find a comprehensible tutorial that shows you how to create your owns scripts and maybe add a loop or define a variable somewhere on the way.

This tutorial is in no way meant to be a full explanation on the scripting language of PSP and all its uses.
It is just meant to give you a starting point and maybe lead you to find out for yourself how to write your own scripts.

You should open some scripts you have in PSP or you have downloaded and begin to analyze them. Try to understand what the script does and how.

Take it slow and don't try to do too much all at once.

When you have finished this tutorial you should be able to create or edit a script and let it interact with the user.

Some useful links

Here are some links to help you in your quest:

• If you really want to learn how to write scripts then I can only suggest to take lessons at LVS-Online
  http://www.lvsassociates.com/register/index.php?cPath=1_9
  You have to pay for them but you will learn step by step from the basics to the more advanced usages.
  
  
• To download some scripts you can study for yourself you can use these links:
  http://www.sheilsoft.com/psp.htm
  
  http://www.dejudicibus.it/psl/index.html
  
  and the most important:
  http://suzsplace.com/8scripts.htm
  She has a very important reference table that you should print out so you have it ready whenever you need
  ss-ScriptingValuesTable
  
  
• Corel itself has a valuable ressource and some information about Scripting in PSP but it's hard to find:
  ftp://ftp.corel.com/pub/documentation/PSP/ (Save the file "PSPX Scripting for Script Authors.zip")
  
  You can find the documation for older PSP-versions under this link:
  http://www.corel.com/6763/psp_downloads/pub/script.pdf
  
  
• As for Python, the scripting language of Paint Shop Pro, there is a wonderful ressource to be found at this link.
  http://docs.python.org/library/index.html
  You don't need to read it all, but if you want to know how, for example, Python uses string operations this is invaluable.

And now we begin

Preparations

1. Make sure your Script Toolbar is visible
   If it is not visible go to View->Toolbars->Script
   
2. Make sure your Script Ouput Palette is visible
   If it is not visible go to View->Palettesl->Script Output or press Shift+F3
   
3. You can define your favorite text editor for scripting by adding it in the file preferences
   File->Preferences->File Locations->Python Source Editor.
   The default is usually Windows Notepad.
   An Editor that gives you the line and column numbers is preferable.
   
   

Follow the links to the different parts of this tutorial:

1. Part 1 - Python and Other Basic Information
   
2. Part 2 - Editing the Script with PSP Script Editor
   
3. Part 3 - Using a Text Editor to Edit the Script
   
4. Part 4 - Creating a IF and WHILE loop
   
5. Part 5 - Some Final Remarks and How to Proceed