Resetting PSP to default
Resetting PSP to default (deleting PSP's registry) can fix many problems within PSP, errors caused by a corrupt registry missing or grayed out tools and other irregularities. The big draw back from resetting is the loss of custom settings you have made and having to redo the preferences. To delete and re-write PSP's registry (reset defaults) do the following:Go to  START/PROGRAMS/Jasc Software Inc/ PAINT SHOP PRO 7.Immediately after you click on the PAINT SHOP PRO 7 icon press and hold CTRL+ALT on your keyboard.
Paint Shop Pro will ask you if you would like to delete the registry settings for Paint Shop Pro. Select YES. When Paint Shop Pro opens it will have all the restored features of initial installation.

Freeing memory
Lower the "undo" storage for files
File/Preferences/General Program Preferences, hit the Undo tab and set the undo storage to 15 MB. if you are working with large graphics and use the undo frequently you may need to set it to 40MB.

Browser Caches
PSP creates a browser cache when using the browse function in PSP. This enables faster loading of graphics. However if graphics are moved around, stored else where or deleted the browser cache remains the same size and can get very large taking up valuable space. It is advisable to delete them frequently to allow a build of a fresh cache inyour files. To do this go to Find files and type in "jbf" without the quotation marks. You will see all the pspbrwse icons appear. Select them all and press delete on your keyboard. The next time you browse in PSP new caches will be built.

Autosave
When PSP crashes or freezes for some reason and you haven't saved your work, you can lose everything, Go to File > Preferences > Autosave settings.
This will open the Autosave Settings dialogue box, Tick t! he 'Enable le Autosave' box. Set the time schedule you require, 5 minutes should be sufficient. Click OK. Autosave is now enabled and your work will automatically be saved to the temp file every 5 minutes. If PSP crashes you can re-open and your work will be loaded as before. 

Tools grayed out
The majority of tools will only function on a image with a color depth of 16.7 million colors (24 bit). To restore your image to 24 bit, Go to Colors > Increase Color Depth > 16 Million. Now all of your tools should be active except the tools that require a selection.

The option of Effects > Enhance Photo > Clarify enhances and clarifies the colors.
The effects that are under the tools of "Enhance Photo" are very useful effects and are not restricted to photo's. Try them out on your graphics.

Using Fonts in PSP
Having too many fonts installed on your system can cause PSP to load slower, as it has to load all the fonts. PSP can use any font that is not installed. Open the font file you wish
to use, by double clicking on the font icon, and minimize it to your desktop toolbar. That font will now show up in the font list in the 'Text' dialogue box.

Screen Shots
If you want to make a screen shot of your work or tools in PSP, or anywhere else on your computer. Press the Print Screen key on your keyboard, right click on your PSP
workspace or Animation Shop and "Paste as new image" you can then crop your screen shot down to sized use.

Previous File Formats
PSP, by default will want to save all your new images as .psp files, which can be annoying when working mostly with jpg's To avoid this, open the General Program Preferences, Dialogues and Palettes Tab and check the box "Remember last type used in file save-as dialogue".

Floating tool bars/palettes
While working on a project particularly when lassoing an image, the tool palettes tend to get in the way. Just press the tab key on your keyboard to make them disappear and press the tab key once more to make them reappear.

Crop Tool
Make your selection on the graphic, and double click outside your!  selected area still on the graphic and your picture will crop automatically.  Always use the crop tool and not the selection tool to "cut" an image for a clean outline.

Sharpen Option
When making a graphic smaller, got to effects > sharpen once, this will bring back the clarity of the pixels that are lost when shrinking the graphic.

Applying Shadow
Select the image before applying a shadow > go to Selections > Modify > Contract and contract by 1 pixel ~ this will prevent a ragged white appearance around the graphic after a shadow has been applied. 

PSP Color Palette
For those who like to have a range of colors and the hexadecimal value for stationery etc ... Go to File > Program Preferences > Make sure the hexadecimal preference box is ticked and unticked " use standard Windows color picker". This will give you a slider bar choices on hues/sat/light and red/blue/green along with other useful information in the color dialogue box. Which will enable you a far greater range in colors.