Jan's Working with Windows 10:

Step-by-Step: Create & Save Image

Start with:  

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What you will learn:

to open a program from Windows Search to resize the canvas in Paint to create a text image with Paint to save an image

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Start a Program from Windows Search

Search can find a program faster than digging down through the All Apps list.

1. Click in the Search box on the Taskbar.

2. Type the letter p.
   The Results list shows and changes as you type to show objects on the computer whose names start with the letter p. Programs (apps) are listed first.

   The illustration shows Paint at the top as a 'Best match'. Then the results show groups for Apps, Settings, and Search suggestions. Other groups that might appear include Folders, and Documents.

   Problem: Paint is not showing in the list
   Sometimes Search is too "smart" for its own good. If you have several programs that start with "p" that you use more often than Paint, they may show up in the Search list and Paint may not show at first.

   Solution: Keep typing. By the time you get the whole word typed in, Search will have found the program. Keep this behavior in mind when you are looking for other programs or files.

   Example: Corel PaintShopPro
   The graphics program that I use the most, PaintShopPro, did not show in this initial list. It did show after I typed the first two letters, pa. The offical name is Corel PaintShopPro. The program appeared as a Best match when I typed a c instead of a p!

3. If necessary, click Paint in the list to select it.
4. Press the ENTER key.
   The program starts. The size of the window and the size of the blank canvas depend on their sizes the last time Paint was used.
   Alternate methods:
   • Double click the item in the list if it is not currently selected.
   • Use the arrow keys to select the item and then press the ENTER key.

   For experience, let's see what happens if you type more letters.  

5. Slowly type the whole word paint in the Search box.
   As you type each letter, watch how the results list changes.

   The program Paint is still in the list. You may see other programs or files that have the word paint in the name or as part of the attributes. 

   Remember that Windows 10 divides the results into different categories.
   

6. Delete the word paint from the Search box.  
   The actual name of the file that opens the Paint program is mspaint.exe. Let's try that in Windows Search.  
7. 

   In the Search box, type the word mspaint. As you type, watch the changes in the list.
   There may be no matches at all when you have only typed a few characters, depending on what documents and programs you have on your computer.

   After typing 'msp', my Windows 10 computer showed Paint and Publisher 2016. Unexpectedly, there are no files listed in the results, not even mspaint.exe. That file is what starts Paint. Windows does show the app Paint.

8. Click on the Desktop to close the search results.

   Paint is still open from your earlier work.

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Resize Canvas

Paint remembers the size of the last picture you worked with. If the canvas size is too small or too large to work with comfortably, you can resize it. You are going to be typing in your name in a large font size. How large a canvas you will need will depend on how long your name is!

1. If necessary, resize the window itself to be large enough to show the whole canvas by dragging a corner or side of the window.
   This allows you to grab the resize handle at the bottom right of the canvas.

   Problem: Cannot see the bottom and far right edge handles
   The canvas is larger than the window.
   Solution: Drag the Zoom slide on the Status bar to reduce the size in the window until you can see the handles.
   

2. Resize the white canvas by dragging the tiny handle at the bottom right corner of the canvas to make the drawing area the size that you want to work in.
   

   Alternate method: Set the dimensions
   File > Properties > set pixel sizes for width and height.

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Working with Paint Tools

1. On the Home tab, select the Text tool  by clicking on it.

2. Move your pointer to the white canvas and drag from the upper left of the canvas. A box of dashed lines (a marquee) will appear. Your text will go inside this box shortly.
   

3. Release the mouse button.

   A new ribbon tab, Text Tools: Text, appears on the ribbon.

   Your pointer turns to a vertical line cursor to show where your typing will appear.

4. Click on the down arrow in the box that shows names of the fonts that are installed on this computer.
   (The fonts listed depend on which version of Windows you have and on what other programs have been installed.)
5. Scroll until you find Segoe UI Black.
   
6. Click on Segoe UI Black (or another font with wide, bold letters) to select it.
   
7. Select the font size 20 in a similar way.
8. If necessary, click on Color 1 and then on the color of your choice in the color palette on the ribbon.
   This is the color that your text will use.
   

9. Type your name in the marquee box.
   The marquee box can enlarge down as you type, as far as the edge of the canvas, but it will not get any wider automatically. What won't fit on the canvas will be chopped off after you click outside the selection box.
   

   Text converts to picture: As long as you don't click outside the box, you can edit what you type by selecting, backspacing, and deleting. BUT...once you click outside the box, the text becomes part of the picture. Then you make any changes only with graphics methods like erasing. No more backspacing and deleting!

   Problem: Name does not fit on canvas
   Solution: Enlarge the canvas by dragging the handles.
   You can use the Zoom slider to see the canvas edges.

   Problem: Name does not fit neatly in marquee box
   When a marquee box automatically gets taller, some letters of a word may be on different lines.
   Solution: Drag the handles of the marquee box wider.
   If your name still won't fit, you may need to enlarge the canvas (see solution above) and start over with a new box. Clear the canvas using  Edit  >  Select All , and press the DELETE key. You are back to a blank canvas. Enlarge the canvas as necessary. Then drag a larger box, and try again.  

10. Unavailable commands:
    Observe the Clipboard section of the Text Tools ribbon at the far left.
    It contains buttons for the most common commands: Cut, Copy, Paste. They are gray because they are not available at the moment. Something must be selected before you can copy or cut. Something must be copied or cut before you can paste.

    Undo and Redo are arrow buttons at the top of the window in the Quick Access toolbar.
    

11.    Key combos:

    Undo = CTRL + Z     reverses your last action.
    Redo = CTRL + Y     reverses your last Undo.
    Cut    = CTRL + X    removes the selection and copies it to the Windows Clipboard
    Copy = CTRL + C    copies the selection to the Windows Clipboard and leaves the selection in place
    Paste = CTRL + V    places whatever was on the Windows Clipboard at the cursor's location

    Many applications use CTRL + Z for Undo and CTRL + Y for Redo/Repeat. These are a particularly useful key combos to learn to use. It is MUCH faster to execute menu commands from the keyboard, so watch for the ones that execute the commands you use a lot. Undo certainly gets a lot of work!  

12. Press CTRL + Z to undo what you just did.
    Your typing vanishes! But do not despair.
    Warning: Everything you do in the marquee box counts as 1 action, so it is easy to wipe out all of your changes and including your text!

    Undo limits: Paint will allow you to undo up some large number of actions. I stopped counting at 48. In older versions of Windows there were far fewer steps in the Undo history list.

    Some programs only remember the last action. Others allow you to select how many steps to remember. Sometimes there is a question about what a program counts as an "action". Selecting is usually an action. Clicking the mouse somewhere is usually an action, too.  

13. Use the key combo to redo the step that you just undid. 
    (CTRL + Y)
    Voila! Your name appears again. Rescued!!

    No visible Undo list: Since Paint does not keep a visible list of what actions it is remembering, it is easy to get confused when going back and forth between Undo and Redo.

14. Experiment: Font, Font Sizes
    • Select your name inside the selection box.
    • Apply different fonts and font sizes.
      You can apply your changes to just part of the name, or use several copies of your name to show the difference.
      
    • Use the keystrokes you just learned to undo the changes that you make and to recover your deletions when you change your mind.  
    • Don't click outside the box yet or you will no longer be able to edit the text.
15. Experiment: Change Colors
    
    
    • Click on the Color 1 box to select it. The box highlights to show it is selected.
    • Drag across your name to select it.
    • Click on one of the colors on the Color Palette to change the primary color, Color 1.
      Your typing changes color. Color 1 is the foreground color and is used by text and the borders of shapes.
      
    • Click on the Color 2 box and then on one of the Color Palette colors to change the secondary color, Color 2. Nothing changes! Color 2 is used as the color of the inside of a shape and the background color that appears if you delete part of the picture but no longer for the text area.
    • Try out different colors for Color 1.
16. Create a custom color:
    • Click the Edit Colors button .
      A palette of standard colors opens.
    • If necessary, click the button Define Custom Color.
      The palette expands to the right.
    • Drag to slide the cross-hairs to a new position.
      You can also drag or click the vertical color bar to select a shade of the new color, from very pale to very dark.

    • Save you new color to the palette by clicking on Add to Custom Colors.
      The new color is now the color of Color 1 or Color 2, whichever was selected.
      
      

      If you want to save additional custom colors, first click on an empty Custom color square in the dialog. Then create the color and add it to the palette. Otherwise a new custom color will replace an existing custom color.

    • Use your custom color in your picture somewhere.

17. When you are satisfied with the appearance of your work, click on the canvas somewhere outside of the box. Your name is now part of the picture and you can no longer use the Text tools on it.

18. Experiment: Other Tools
    Try out the rest of Paint's tools - Fill, Shapes, Lines, Eraser.
    Change the colors for fil and border and lines. Remember that Color 2 is for fill.

    You can look at Paint's Help information if you get stuck. Remember that this info was online in Help about Paint in Windows 7.
    

19. Click the File tab and then on the New command.
    File > New
    A new blank canvas replaces your work.
20. Use your new skills to create a drawing that include:
    • your name one or more times
    • at least two text colors
    • at least two fonts
    • at least one shape
    • a background color that is not white

    Example: Using fonts, font size, text color, background color, shape, eraser.
    Your picture should NOT match the example below. Be creative.

    

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Save a Picture

1.  Insert the Class disk into the drive if it is not already there. 
2. Save the file: Click the File ribbon tab and then the command Save.
   
   

   Since the picture has never been saved before, the Save As dialog box appears.

   The default file type is PNG.

   The default location is This PC.

   But, Paint remembers the last location you used.
   

3. Instead of maneuvering through the folder tree to your Class drive, type in the File name text box the full path to where the file should go, using the letter for your removable disk drive:

    d:\class\paint docs\myname.bmp

   (Type this exactly as written here or copy and paste it, except use the correct drive letter for your own removable disk. Yes, the path is wrong on purpose!)

4. Click in the 'Save as type' to open the drop list of types and then click on 24-bit Bitmap (*.bmp, *.dib).
   This file type will create the largest file size, which is not usually what you want. In the next lesson you will use this file while learning how to reduce the file size.

5. Click the Save button in the dialog.

   Error: An error message appears saying either that the path you typed does not exist or that the file name is invalid.

   The problem is that we previously renamed the folder paint docs to win project2 so part of the path does not exist.

   Many programs will, instead of this error message, ask if you want to create the missing folder. A very useful feature! Paint is not that cooperative. You must create the folder yourself.

   Other error messages:

   • File name not valid: This message might mean that you have tried to use an illegal character in the file's name or path. But it can also mean that Windows just cannot find the location.
     
   • No such drive: You type a drive letter that does not match any of the drives on the computer. The message will say that the path is not valid or that the drive does not exist.
     
   • No media in the drive: There is no disk in the drive. The message asks you to insert a disk. This may happen with a CD/DVD drive as well as a media slot or USB drive that shows even when empty.
      

   Spaces and spelling: These are important in file names! It is easy to make a mistake with spaces!

   Work around for path with spaces: When you are using an application that doesn't like spaces in the name, put quotes " " around the whole path like: "e:\class\paint docs\myname.bmp".  

6. Click the OK button in the error message.  
7. To edit the path, click in the space between the words  paint  and  docs  in the File name text box.  
8. Press the DELETE key enough times to erase the word  docs .  
9. Press the BACKSPACE key enough times to remove the word  paint .  
10. Type  win project2 
    This folder was created on your Class disk in a previous lesson so it should be there!  
11. Click on the Save button.
    Problem: Error message appears again after entering the correct path
    Solution: Close the Save As dialog and start over, typing in the correct path this time.

    File Size: If your canvas is really large and you are saving in a BMP format, the file can be really large. Will it fit on your disk? If you get a message that there is not enough space on your disk, use the technique in the section Resize Canvas above to reduce the canvas to a more reasonable size.  

12. Close Paint for now.
    Your creative image is safely stored on your Class disk.