COMPUTER/DIGITAL CAMERA CLUB
INSTRUCTIONAL INFORMATION
This tutorial was written to teach you how to create and save Windows screenshots using the free image-editing program that comes with your operating system - Paint. I will also explain how unnecessary parts of an image can be trimmed and I will describe possible applications for Paint’s various export options (without forgetting Paint’s somewhat odd behavior). This tutorial was designed using Windows XP Professional, but nearly everything should behave the properly in older operating systems.
Situate all windows in the way you would like them to appear in your screenshot, then press the Print Screen button (usually "PrtScn", located just to the right of your F-keys). This copies an image of your desktop to the clipboard (you can then paste it into any image editing program).
Launch Microsoft Paint (Start Menu -> Programs -> Accessories -> Paint) and when it has started press Control ("Ctrl") + V. This pastes the screenshot into the Paint program. From here you may select only a portion of the screenshot you want to keep, or you may simply save the full screenshot.
Saving a selection from the screenshot: To save only a portion of your screenshot use the select tool (the dotted box in the upper-right hand corner of the toolbar, preview to the right) and draw a box around the part you wish to save. Once you have highlighted the portion you wish to keep press Ctrl + C to copy, go to File -> New in the menu (you will be asked if you want to save the original screenshot, choose whatever option you like), and then press Ctrl + V to paste. (If you don't mind saving the selection as a BMP graphic, instead of the copy/open/paste combination you can right-click and select "Copy To…" -see below for preview - which will bring up the 'Save As' dialog box for the current selection with only BMP available as file type).
Once you are ready to save the image as a JPG (be it the whole screenshot or just a selection as described above) choose File - Save As from the Paint menu. You will then be presented with a normal Save As dialog box. Select a location to which the document can be saved, enter a file name, and then choose a file type from the drop-down menu at the bottom (see screenshot and explanation below). Review the explanations and choose the one that you feel would be best for your image.
Bitmap Options (2.25MBs): Bitmap images serve as Windows' uncompressed image file format. A pixel-perfect replica is generated including all Windows file (like previews, which enable OS specific features). Bitmap is, by default, incompatible with non-Windows operating systems.
To type and format text
You can only enter text into an image when you are in normal view. To display the normal view, on the View menu, point to Zoom, and then click Normal size.
In the toolbox, click Text .
To create a text frame, drag the pointer diagonally to the size you want.
On the text toolbar, click the font, size, and style you want for the text. If the text toolbar is not displayed, on the View menu, click Text Toolbar. You can drag the toolbar to any location in the window.
Type your text. You can also paste text into a text box, but not graphics.
The color of the text is defined by the foreground color. To make the background of the text transparent, click on the lower of two icons at bottom of Tool Bar. To make the background opaque and defined by the background color, click the upper icon.
You can enter text in a text box only once. When you click outside the box, the text is converted to a graphic image and you cannot make it active again.
To change the color of the text, click a color in the color box.
To undo up to three changes, on the Edit menu, click Undo for each change.
To Stretch and Skew Picture
You need to experiment depending on size of imported picture. Start high because you cannot increase from a smaller size without losing resolution. LC on Image then Attributes which will assist in establishing a reference point. Observe and note the width dimension and settle on the approximate percentage reduction you wish to achieve in the imported photo and LC Cancel.
LC on Image then Stretch and Skew. Change the 100% in both the Horizontal and Vertical boxes to the percentage determined above and LC OK. LC File, then Print Preview, to determine whether picture should be in a Portrait or Landscape format. LC File then Page Setup and make appropriate change. At this point you could also change the Scaling percentage up or down to achieve a more finite adjustment. An upwards change will affect resolution.