Explore Your Image Editing Options in Paint - TerriHeard/technical-writing-terri-heard GitHub Wiki

Concept

Summary

Learn which Paint options help you edit your photos, graphics and other images.

Detailed Overview

The Paint application that comes with the Microsoft Windows operating system is a simple yet powerful tool for editing images. It offers a solid array of options that can assist you in editing images for your Word documents, Power Point presentations and other media. Learn which tools in the Paint application allow you to add color, shapes, and text to an image as well as

• Copy
• Resize
• Crop and
• Correct an image.

Paint 3D, which allows you to create, edit and manipulate 3D images as well as convert 2D images into 3D images can be accessed from Paint but functions as its own separate app with its own menu, image library, and features. Therefore, the Paint 3D features are covered in a separate document. [Include link when available.]

Example

For example, the photo of pink roses below

Can go from a simple photo to a greeting with the addition of text.

NOTES Topics to Cover

The Paint Menu

As shown below, the main Paint functions are contained in the ribbon menu. The menu also contains three tabs File Home View

Select Function

The Select function allows you to copy all or part of an image. Once the selection is made it can be pasted back into the same image, pasted into another image, or pasted into a blank canvas and saved as its own individual image in the .png, .jpg, .bmp, or .gif formats.

The Select Function offers a mini-menu of further options. You can

• Select in rectangular shape
• Select in irregular shape
• Select as a transparency - this will remove the background from the selection so that it will paste into another image or onto a blank canvas without its background as if it was a transparency
• Select and delete.

It's important to know which option you've selected before making your selection.

Copy Function

The Copy function allows you to duplicate part or all of an image and paste the duplicate into the same image, a new image, or onto a blank canvas from which the duplicate can be saved as its own image.

INSERT IMAGE OF COPY AND PASTE ICONS

INSERT EXAMPLE OF COPYING

The Copy function is also an excellent tool for correcting imperfections in an image.

Image Correction

Although image correction is not an explicitly offered function in Paint, the tools that Paint provides allow for simple image correction. For example, a blemish can be removed by

1. Finding a clean section of the image
2. Selecting it
3. Copying it
4. Pasting it
5. Moving the selection over the blemish
6. Clicking to set the selection. The blemish is now removed and the image looks perfect.

INSERT EXAMPLE

Crop Function

The Crop function allows you to edit the image by removing any part of it you wish. It is different than deleting elements of an image as the Crop function automatically ...

INSERT CROP MENU OPTION

Resize Function

The Resize function allows you to reduce or enlarge the image while maintaining its proportions. Note: Image resolution or clarity may be diminished when enlarged. INSERT IMAGE OF THE RESIZE OPTION

Adding Text

The Add Text function allows you to increase your image's impact by including appropriate text. As listed in the original example, an image of a bouqute of roses is transformed from simply an image to a greeting with the addition of the words "I Love You". The Add Text funciton allows you to choose from a full range of font types and styles. This allows you to adjust the tone of the message.

Adding Color

Although the Color function is somewhat limited in Paint, in that it cannot literally change the color of items within an image (as you could with Adobe Photoshop), it can still be used to powerful effect. For example, you can add a border to an image.

You can also wash the image out to black and white [CONFIRM THAT]

Adding a Shape

As with adding text, the Add Shape function can also increase the impact of your image.

The heart shape reinforces the "I Love You" message which increases the impact of the image of the bouquet of flowers.

Best Practices

There are some best practices to follow when using Paint and GitHub. Keep them in mind once you become comfortable with using the basic Paint functions. Following these practices will save you time and protect you from major errors.

Using Paint

When editing images in Paint, always work on a COPY of the image, NOT THE ORIGINAL. That way if you make a catastrophic error that can't be undone by the Undo tool, you will still have the original image.

When creating an edited version of an image, save the edited version as a SEPARATE IMAGE. Again, this protects the original.

When applying multiple edits to an image (for example, resizing, then correcting, then cropping, then adding shapes and text, etc.) try to save each separate edit as a separate image. Paint does not have the layer functions of Photoshop. In Photoshop, you can edit each layer separately so that you can easily undo a major change without starting at square one. This is not possible in Paint. Saving each major change as a separate image is the next best thing.

Using GitHub

Before inserting an image into a GitHub Wiki, always create enough space in the text to allow one line of space above the image and one line of space below it when it's inserted. Otherwise the image will run right into the text and distort the text formatting.

Work with TWO TABS OPEN when adding images. That way you can keep your Wiki editing screen open while still being able to access the link to the images you need. Otherwise, you will continually have to close your Wiki document in order to retrieve the image link and reopen the document to insert it.