Microsoft Paint (aka MSPaint and Fresh Paint** in Win 10)

Ref: (and other Microsoft web pages) Edited and compiled by Gord C. - November 2015

Paint in it's various versions does not show up in Windows versions unless you 'dig' for it. Go to All Programs and then Accessories. To make it more convenient to use, right click on Paintand choose Create Shortcut or Pin to Start Menu.

Or just Open Paint by clicking the Start button, clicking All Programs, clicking Accessories, and then clicking Paint each time you start..

In this article, we are referring to the MSPaint or Paint program that comes with Windows 7 or 8. It can also be downloaded free for those with Windows 10. Paint has some better features for general use than FreshPaint in Windows 10.

Although digital pictures come in a variety of file formats, most pictures on your computer probably use the common JPEG format. This is the file format most digital cameras use to save quality images without creating large files. In addition, most programs can open pictures that are saved in the JPEG format.

However, you might have pictures (or drawings) that you want to convert and save as a different type of picture file. When you save a picture in a different format, the original picture isn't replaced; instead, a new picture file is created and saved.

Note: When saving a new picture MS Paint will show a box of file types. JPEG is best for most usage, but BMP, GIF, PNG and TIF file types can be used if needed.52

Some common applications of Paint(besides drawing)

To crop a picture using Paint

  1. Click the Paint button, click Open, search for and click the picture you want to crop, then click Open.
  2. Using the Home tab, in the Image group, click Select.
  3. Click and drag to select the area you want to keep from the picture, and then click Crop.
  4. Click the Paint button, point to Save as, and then click the picture file type for the cropped picture. I suggest always keeping the original in case of other uses.
  5. Type a new file name in the File name box, and then click Save.

Note:

If you can't view the entire picture while trying to select the part of the picture you want, using the View tab, click the Zoom Outbutton until you can view the whole picture.

Note 2:

In all of your Paint program changes, pressing Ctrl+Z will undo 1 or more actions before going to the Save function.

To remove Red Eye

  1. Click the Paint button, click Open, search for and click the picture you want to fix, and then click Open.
  2. Using the View tab, Zoom to get the eyes larger for easier fixing.
  3. Go back to the Home tab, click Pencil (or Brushes, then likely the oval shape, then Fill and Solid colour) and the widest or next widest usually. Then pick a dark colour or black.
  4. Click and Pencil in over the red or hover over each eye with the Brush. Then ESC to leave this function and check
  5. Save or Save As if satisfied.

Note:

Removing red eye is just a free-hand painting over the red with another colour. Drawing and the like are not covered in this paper, but feel free to try some.

To re-size a picture using Paint

  1. Click the Paint button, click Open, search for and click the picture you want to Re-size, and then click Open.
  2. Using the Home tab, in the Image group, click Re-size.
  3. In the Re-size and Skewdialogue box, select the Maintain aspect ratio check box so that the Re-sized picture will have the same aspect ratio as the original picture.

If the Maintain aspect ratio check box is selected, you only need to enter the horizontal value (width) or vertical value (height). The other box in the Re-size area is updated automatically.

  1. Do one of the following in the Re size area, and then click OK:
  2. To Re-size your picture by a certain percentage, click Percentage, and then enter a percentage to reduce the width by in the Horizontal box or a percentage to reduce the height by in the Vertical box.
  3. To Re-size the picture so it's a specific size, click Pixels, and then enter a new width in the Horizontal box or new height in the Vertical box.
  4. Click the Paint button, point to Save as (or Save), and then click the picture file type for the Re-sized image.
  5. Preferably, type a new file name in the File Name box, and then click Save.

Note

Paint doesn't work with all types of picture files. For example, you can't open a picture in RAW format using Paint. For file types that Paint doesn't support, you'll need to use some other photo editing program.

Inserting text intoa Photo

  1. Click the Paint button and open the desired picture file.
  2. Adjust the view so the area for Text will be visible on the screen.
  3. Using the Home tab, click on the “A” box in the Tools area. With the cursor, draw a box around the desired area for text.
  4. Now a Text dialogue ribbon comes up. Depending on the picture size, choose a font size (36-72 range) and style. Transparent is fine and any colour, (the default is black first time).
  5. Press ESC on the your keyboardto end this function, and then the Paint button for Save or whatever.

Fresh Paint** (part of Windows 10)

In Windows 10, Microsoft changed features that made it a quick tool for photo manipulation, to become more of a simple drawing tool. The ability to paste images is gone, which was the only reason someused Paint, so that one could open a picture, write something on it, then save it. But some of the new features are likeable, it appears to have the ability to recognize various shades, which is good. A good tool for any artist, but lacks some previous tools. Result: mixed feelings.

The more or less original MSPaint is available for free download from Microsoft so it can be used on a Win10 computer.