How do I add several paragraphs of justified text?

[Corel Newbie]

Working on a cover for a book, and I need to add several paragraphs of text to the back cover. How do I add several paragraphs of justified text to image?

I've tried two methods:

1. Copying (Ctrl-C) from MS Word to Paint Shop Pro (Ctrl-P). But Paint Shop Pro "Meta Picture Import" was too grainy for text (.jpg file attached), and
2. Paint Shop Pro old forum suggestion from 2017 "Both side justification for text", but that did not work -probably because its an older version.


Thank you!

[Jean-Luc]

PaintShop Pro is not good at editing long texts.
I advise you to create several different boxes with a single paragraph in each one.

PS: Could you update your Profile with the PSP version you use?

[Corel Newbie]

Thanks, I will give that a try. Though I can't help thinking the finished product might not look professional -its a history book.

[LeviFiction]

If I'm being honest I wouldn't use PSP for this at all, I'd use a dedicated designer app like CorelDraw, Inkscape, or Scribus. Even Microsoft Publisher would suffice.

I don't think justify works very well with regular text, and I think it's horrible with text wrapping in PSP. I have a video demo if you want, but I wasn't impressed with my tests. For some reason the spacing just gets way too far off in PSP. So do your main design in PSP, then move it over to a desktop publisher app of some kind for the actual text application.

[Corel Newbie]

If I'm being honest I wouldn't use PSP for this at all, I'd use a dedicated designer app like CorelDraw, Inkscape, or Scribus. Even Microsoft Publisher would suffice.

I don't think justify works very well with regular text, and I think it's horrible with text wrapping in PSP. I have a video demo if you want, but I wasn't impressed with my tests. For some reason the spacing just gets way too far off in PSP. So do your main design in PSP, then move it over to a desktop publisher app of some kind for the actual text application.

Thanks! I appreciate your frankness. I've never used Corel Draw, I suppose I can download a trial version, is it complicated to use? I only need it for t his one time since current cover is 99% completed in PSP in layers, with the sole exception of the back of the book "About the author" text.

Though not hopeful, I will try @Jean-Luc suggestion, if not satisfied with the results, will try your suggestion which is more complicated.

If that turns our to be the case, would I just create the text in Corel Draw with a transparent background and save it as *.pspimage file to later add it as a new layer to my current cover in PSP, or save it as a *.tiff?

What process do you recommend?

Thanks!

[Jean-Luc]

If that turns our to be the case, would I just create the text in Corel Draw with a transparent background and save it as *.pspimage file to later add it as a new layer to my current cover in PSP, or save it as a *.tiff?

CorelDraw cannot save in pspimage format and TIFF does not handle transparency. You could save it in PNG and the transparency will be maintained.

But it would be better to save your background created in PSP as PNG and import it in CorelDraw. In CorelDraw your vector text will be placed on a layer. After the work is done, in CorelDraw, save it in PNG or PDF. It is my workflow when I publish with KDP/Amazon.

[Corel Newbie]

Thanks to both of you!

I will try the simplest suggestion first "... several different boxes with a single paragraph in each one".

If I am not happy with the results, I will dive-into the CorelDraw route, which will require downloading, installation, and learning-curve, which I am not looking forward to.


Thank again to both of you!

[Jean-Luc]

If I am not happy with the results, I will dive-into the CorelDraw route, which will require downloading, installation, and learning-curve, which I am not looking forward to.

You could also try Microsoft PowerPoint.

[Corel Newbie]

If I am not happy with the results, I will dive-into the CorelDraw route, which will require downloading, installation, and learning-curve, which I am not looking forward to.

You could also try Microsoft PowerPoint.

Hmm, that sounds interesting. I have not used PowerPoint in ages, but I only used it for presentations, never for what you are suggesting. That would have never occurred to me. How would the finished product compare to the other options you suggested earlier quality?

Could you please describe the workflow for this process as you did earlier for CorelDraw?

Finally, would MS Publisher be another option? Never used it, but its included with my Office subscription.


Thanks again!

[Jean-Luc]

Finally, would MS Publisher be another option? Never used it, but its included with my Office subscription.

I agree with LeviFiction: use Publisher.

[Corel Newbie]

This is a lot more complicated than it seems.

Both Publisher and PowerPoint have their own pros and cons, if one lacks Drop Caps, the other something else.

Unless I am doing something wrong, both have noticeable issues, either copy/paste, or exporting work to image file to use as a layer in Paint Shop Pro.

It seems the only option I have left before going the CorelDraw route, is to merge all layers in Paint Shop Pro, save it as tiff or png to use in either Publisher or PowerPoint as a layer or background.

[LeviFiction]

I guess I thought that's what you were going to do. I also thought that's how Jean-Luc's suggestions and mine would be interpreted. xD Never occurred to me you'd try bringing the text from another app as an image into PSP.

In my mind, PSP is not a publishing tool. It's a raster image editor. So while you'd create the cover art and arrange items where you wanted them in PSP, when it comes to creating the final product (with text) for publication you'd do it in Publisher or Scribus or CorelDraw. Importing the final result of PSP as a background image into the desktop publishing app of your choice.

EDIT:
I will add then when exporting text from Publisher or other Desktop Publisher you need to make sure the exported PPI (DPI in some software), is set to match your image resolution in PSP. Because publishers tend to use physical sizes they don't necessarily translate to pixels (what PSP uses) at the same sizes.

So, for example. If I create a book cover that's 6"x9" in PSP at 300ppi. This results in an image that's 1800px x 2700px. But in Publisher if I create a 6"x9" file and export as a PNG, the default resolution will be at 150ppi. This creates a smaller image at 900px x 1350px. So after bringing it in, I would have to upscale the image.

You also need to make sure the background is set to Transparent - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/off ... cce8d28577

If you export to a PDF and then import into PSP, you want to make sure to set the PPI (DPI) setting on import to match your current image resolution.

Ultimately this is why it's easier to create the full back cover (with minimal text) in PSP, export as a PNG or TIFF and use as a background in the Desktop Publishing software so you don't need to worry about these considerations. So long as PSP was set at a high enough PPI (technically 92/96 is good enough for screens but for print 300 is recommended so best to default to 300ppi) when you created it, you should have almost no issues with quality inside the desktop publisher.