Microsoft Picture It! Companion Guide X0883103FRT.
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Table of Contents Welcome to Microsoft Picture It! ........................................................................................................................... 1 What’s New? ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 Other Helpful Resources .....................................................................................................................................
Using the Self-Timer ......................................................................................................................................... 32 Getting Yourself into a Photo .................................................................................................................... 32 Taking Long Exposure Shots ..................................................................................................................... 32 Ten Tips for Great Pictures ........................
Applying Text .................................................................................................................................................... 64 Help Resources ................................................................................................................................................. 65 Online Help ................................................................................................................................................ 65 Product Tour .........
Chapter 10: Creating Projects .............................................................................................................................. 95 Creating Photo Cards ........................................................................................................................................ 95 Creating Calendars ............................................................................................................................................ 96 Chapter 11: Sharing Photos .
1 Welcome to Microsoft Picture It! Congratulations on your purchase of Microsoft Picture It! Photo, a unique combination of robust photo-editing tools and high-quality photo projects. Although easy to use, Picture It! also offers powerful imaging technology that helps you improve your photos. What’s New? Since the release of Picture It! 1.0 in 1996, Microsoft has repeatedly updated Picture It! with new features, improved design, and innovative projects.
2 Welcome to Microsoft Picture It! Microsoft Picture It! Companion Guide
1 3 Installation Starting Setup To install Picture It!, you must be running Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, or Windows XP or higher. On Windows 2000 and Windows XP systems, you must have administrative privileges. For information regarding privileges, please refer to the operating system Help. On most computers, Picture It! setup will begin automatically when you insert the Picture It! CD into your CD-ROM drive.
4 Chapter 1: Installation Completing the Installation Wizard The Installation Wizard will show you a series of dialog boxes that provide setup status and some installation preference options. For most users, the default preferences will be appropriate. Information about the different setup options is provided below. Installation Folder Dialog Box The Installation Folder dialog box allows you to choose where the program will be installed on your computer.
Chapter 1: Installation Special Circumstances Other Picture It! Products Upgrading from a Different Picture It! Product The family of Picture It! products includes programs with the following brands: If you already have a Picture It! product installed on your machine, several scenarios may occur when you try to install another Picture It! product: ■ ■ ■ 5 Previous versions If you have a Picture It! product previous to version 7.0 already installed, installing a version 7.
6 Chapter 1: Installation To remove or reinstall Picture It! on Windows XP: 1 From the Windows Start menu, click Control Panel. 2 Click Add or remove programs. 3 From the list of installed programs, click the version of Picture It! you want to remove or reinstall. 4 Click Change. The Installation Wizard opens. 5 Follow the instructions on the screen.
2 Making the Most of Your Camera No matter how polished and creative you are as a photographer, Picture It! is a valuable tool for helping you get the most out of your photos. With Picture It! features, you can easily correct common photo problems such as red eye and overexposure. And you can use features like filters and layers to create photos strikingly different from your originals.
8 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera The first section of this chapter contains information specific to digital cameras: concepts such as resolution and compression that don’t have direct counterparts in film photography. Later sections cover universal photography concepts that apply to both film and digital cameras. About Digital Cameras If you’re new to using digital cameras, several camera features may seem foreign to you.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera 9 The number of pixels that make up a photo is the photo’s resolution. Resolution and compression are key factors in determining the quality of a digital photo. The following sections explain resolution and compression. Resolution Resolution is one of the main determinants of photo quality since it is a measure of the total number of pixels that make up a photograph.
10 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Megapixel rating Dimensions Total pixels Approx. JPEG file size (with slight compression*) Maximum print size One of the main factors in the price of a digital camera is its megapixel rating. The megapixel rating indicates the maximum number of pixels (in millions) that are captured by the camera’s image sensor. 320 x 240 76,800 23 KB Wallet size 640 x 480 307,200 91 KB 4” x 6” 1280 x 960 1,228,800 (1.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Compression You’ve seen one way to reduce photo file size: lower the resolution at which you shoot the photo. You can also reduce file size by having the camera compress the photo file as it saves the file to the camera’s memory. Compression consolidates similar information in the photo, and discards some information. With JPEG compression, for example, series of similarly colored pixels are grouped together and considered to be the same color.
12 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera File formats compatible with Picture It! For important photos that you want to make into prints, it’s good practice to use little or no compression. Or, if your camera offers it, you can take your photos in a format, such as TIFF, that offers lossless compression. Lossless compression reduces file size, but retains all of the photo quality. Picture It! can open photo files in any of the following formats: File Formats Adobe Photoshop (.psd) AutoCAD (.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Using Zoom Features 13 Expand your perspective A zoom lens lets you adjust the focal length of the lens, making your subject appear closer to or farther from the camera. Some cameras have built-in adjustable zoom lenses; others accommodate interchangeable zoom lenses of different focal lengths. Digital cameras may offer optical zoom or digital zoom.
14 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera The best rechargeable batteries Lithium-ion batteries and nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries both work very well with cameras, providing power and convenience. find, even if you’re traveling abroad. Floppy disks, however, have very limited storage capacity. Memory cards are small, durable, and reusable. And storage technology has been steadily improving, so you can now find cards that store as much as 1 gigabyte (GB).
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera To ensure longer shooting, you can buy rechargeable batteries, which last longer than disposable alkaline batteries. Keep your spares charged so they’ll be ready when you need them. If you are running low on power and don’t have a spare battery, conserve remaining power by trying the following: ■ ■ ■ Turn off your LCD screen and compose through the viewfinder. Turn off your flash so that it doesn’t fire automatically.
16 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Fixing red eye with Picture It! If you end up with red eyes in your photos, Picture It! makes it very easy to remedy this problem. For more information, see the section on removing red eye in Chapter 5, “Basic Touchup.” No Flash Contrary to what you might think, you may be better off without your flash in many situations. If you think the scene is too dark to take without a flash, try increasing the ambient light by turning on lamps and opening the drapes.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera 17 Fill Flash You can use the fill flash setting to fill in deep shadow areas caused by bright overhead sunlight, or in a scene where the light is behind the subject. In the left photo, the strong backlighting creates a shadow that covers the subject’s whole face. For the photo on the right, fill flash was used to counteract the backlighting and keep the shadows off the subject’s face.
18 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera For serious camera users, the manual SLR cameras were usually the best option, since they offered so much control. The creative process was not left to the automatic settings of a camera. Automatic point-and-shoot cameras were good for novice photographers who didn’t want to worry about setting the camera controls. Many automatic cameras could produce adequate or even excellent photos without requiring knowledge of advanced photography concepts.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera 19 The water glass analogy When taking a photograph, your goal is to achieve a perfect exposure. To create the right exposure, you need to understand the relationship between the three exposure factors: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO rating. Achieving perfect exposure can be compared to filling a glass completely without spilling any of the water. For a perfect exposure, the glass should become completely full with no water spilling over.
20 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Increasing your chances with bracketing If you’re not sure what the best exposure setting is, try bracketing. Bracketing involves taking multiple photos of the same scene. Start by using the automatic exposure, and then use exposure compensation to take additional frames with increased and decreased exposure levels. With a series of photos taken at different settings, there is a good chance that one has the exposure just right.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Some cameras have a fixed aperture that can’t be adjusted. If you’re adjusting the aperture yourself, a setting of f/8 is a good place to start, since it gives you a fairly wide zone of sharpness. If your camera allows you to adjust the aperture, use the settings to regulate the depth of field in your photo. Depth of field refers to the zone in your photo that is in acceptably sharp focus.
22 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Of course, adjusting the aperture also affects how much light is let into the camera. But if a specific depth of field is important for your shot, you can switch to manual mode, set the aperture, and then set the shutter speed to get the correct exposure level. Some cameras also offer an aperture priority mode that automatically selects the correct shutter speed to produce the correct exposure for the aperture you select.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera At the other extreme, you might set the shutter to stay open for four seconds, or even more for low-light night photography without a flash. But shutter speeds slower than 1/30th of a second increase the likelihood that slight movements in your hand while you take the shot will cause a blurred photo. To avoid camera shake, mount your camera on a tripod or other firm surface for slow shutter speeds.
24 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Avoid sharpening a photo with noise Do not to use the sharpen feature in Picture It! on digital photos with noticeable noise; sharpening accentuates the inaccurate pixels. The film speed is measured by ISO number. A high-speed film, such as ISO 800, is ideal for low-light situations or action photography, since the film requires less light to properly expose the photo.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera However, in some lighting conditions, the camera fails to correctly set the white balance. If you’re shooting indoors, for example, incandescent lights give off a yellowish or reddish glow. This color is not really visible to the naked eye, but often shows up in indoor photos. To counteract this problem, most digital cameras have preprogrammed color balance settings that compensate for different kinds of light.
26 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera If your camera does not allow you to adjust settings manually, the automatic modes may be the most likely way for you to take successful photos in these situations. The following sections describe the most common automatic modes available on many digital and film cameras. Since the type and implementation of automatic modes vary for each camera, read your camera’s manual for availability and usage instructions.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera When using macro mode, make sure to turn off the flash, since the flash does not provide proper illumination at such close range. Tripods are a good way to keep the camera steady for a close-up shot. If you don’t have a tripod, set the camera on a firm surface, focus the photo, and then activate the shutter with the self-timer. This way, your hand does not have to touch the camera and accidentally introduce any movement to the shot.
28 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera One way to compensate for the shutter lag is to anticipate your shot. Imagine you are photographing a runner with a camera that has a four-second shutter lag. (The four-second shutter lag will not be highlighted on the camera’s packaging, but you can figure it out through your own experience.) First, focus your camera on a spot that the runner will cross in about 10 seconds.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera 29 Burst Mode Burst mode is a feature that allows you to take a series of photos in quick succession. Most cameras’ burst modes allow you to take 10 to 15 photos in 5 to 15 seconds. Even on digital cameras with slow shutter lags, the burst mode still allows you to take many frames in a short time span. The burst feature uses a buffer to temporarily hold the information from the image sensor.
30 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Relaxing your subject An important aspect of portrait photography is to get your subject relaxed and comfortable for the pose. Try using conversation or other pleasant distractions to get your subject’s mind away from the camera. Portrait Mode For portraits and candid shots, using your camera’s portrait mode is a convenient way to get good results. Portrait mode is set to use a relatively wide aperture, creating a shallow depth of field.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera 31 Panoramic Mode For landscapes, large groups of people, and other long horizontal shots, a camera’s panoramic mode helps you compose the photo without too much sky or ground in the photo. Panoramic shots have a different aspect ratio than standard shots, meaning the width of the frame is proportionally much greater than in a photo with a standard aspect ratio.
32 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Creating a makeshift tripod If you’re outdoors, try propping the camera on a rock or car roof. Then fine-tune the positioning by putting the camera on a jacket or other object that you can shape to adjust the camera angle. Using the Self-Timer Many digital cameras, even inexpensive ones, come with a self-timer feature.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera 33 Ten Tips for Great Pictures The following 10 tips offer suggestions for developing your photography approach, technique, composition, and habits. If you are an inexperienced photographer, some of these tips might be new ideas for you. If you’re a photography veteran, these tips might be a good reminder of things you haven’t heard in a while. Either way, we hope they inspire you to get out and shoot some great photos! 1.
34 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Planning for the imperfect Learning to nail the exposure takes a lot of experience, and no one gets it right with every shot. If you suspect the lighting might make it difficult to nail the exposure, you can increase your chances of success by bracketing, as explained in tip #7. 2. Nail the Exposure In a finished photo, exposure is something that you usually only notice when it is out of adjustment.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera 35 One problem (but certainly not the only problem) with these photos is that they capture people out of their element, without context or a story. There are no interesting details in the background to draw in the viewer, and the subject often looks impatient or uncomfortable. When you are the photographer, you can strive to capture people, events, and places that tell a story.
36 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Many photographs are shot in bright or moderately bright sunlight. This type of light produces photos that closely match the way we remember seeing the scene. That is part of the reason we respond to them with a positive sense of familiarity.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera 5. Follow the Rule of Thirds 37 Recomposing a photo with Picture It! When composing a photograph, many beginning photographers always center their subject directly in the middle of the frame. While this technique may be the easiest way to get the subject in focus with a point-and-shoot camera, it is not always the most interesting way to present the subject.
38 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera If you have a person or animal in your photo, you can place the subject’s face on one of the four points, looking toward the center of the scene. If the horizon is in a photo, it should run about one-third from the top or one-third from the bottom, depending on whether the terrain or the sky is the center of focus. The rule of thirds is not an absolute law, and there have been many great photographs taken that don’t abide by it.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Use your imagination to compose some original, creative photos that you won’t find anywhere else. Capture some of the local color by photographing a lively food vendor stationed near the monument, and the monument can be the backdrop in your frame. Or use the self-timer to capture you and your companion sampling the local fare that you’ve bought from the food vendor in front of the monument. 7.
40 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Depending on your camera, pressing the shutter button halfway down may lock in the exposure and the focus. If this is the case, you need to set the exposure on an object that is exactly the same distance away from the camera as the subject. Otherwise, your subject will not be in focus when you take the photo. 8. Analyze and Shoot Again Photography takes practice.
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera 41 9. Shoot Every Single Day To become a talented and confident photographer, make photography part of your daily routine. Fortunately, digital cameras have made it much more convenient and inexpensive to shoot lots and lots of photos. Once you’ve purchased your digital camera, you can take as many photos as you want. The only cost is for batteries and storage for your photos.
42 Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera Find other photographers in your community. You can look at each other’s work and give feedback. This kind of mutually beneficial arrangement also helps you to develop your critical eye. A Web-based photo site such as MSN Photos makes it convenient to share your photos with lots of other people, both your local connections and distant family and friends.
3 Using the File Browser In most cases, you can use the file browser to locate your photos and open them in Picture It!. The file browser can be used to open photos from: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 43 Opening Photos in Picture It! A digital camera that is a USB Mass Storage Class device. (A USB Mass Storage Class device works as a “virtual drive,” letting you browse and open photos from the device as you would from a hard disk or floppy disk.) A digital photo card reader. The hard drive on a computer. A CD or DVD.
44 Chapter 3: Opening Photos in Picture It! This picture identifies the main features of the file browser: 1 2 3 6 7 4 5 8 9 10 1 Folders tab Click the Folders tab to see the folder structure on your computer. Click a folder to display its contents and subfolders. The folder structure includes internal and external drives on your computer, including disk drives, card readers, and USB Mass Storage Class digital cameras.
Chapter 3: Opening Photos in Picture It! 7 Files of type menu Use this menu to change the types of image files to be displayed. 8 Thumbnails Small versions of your photos stored in the current folder. 9 Open Opens the selected thumbnails. 10 Cancel Closes the file browser without opening any photos. About TWAIN and WIA The file browser provides a quick view of the photos on your compatible camera or card reader, and allows you to open the photos directly without using additional programs.
46 Chapter 3: Opening Photos in Picture It! Using your camera’s software Some digital cameras— especially older models—may not function as a virtual drive or be TWAINor WIA-compliant. For these cameras, use the software provided by the camera to download the photos to a folder your computer, and then open them in Picture It!. To open photos from a camera or card reader that is a USB virtual drive: 1 Make sure your camera or card reader is turned on and connected to your computer.
Chapter 3: Opening Photos in Picture It! Scanning a Photo 47 File formats compatible with Picture It! Picture It! works with your scanner’s software so that you can scan directly by using the Picture It! scanner task. To scan a photo with a flatbed scanner: 1 Make sure the scanner drivers are installed and the scanner is connected and turned on. 2 Lift the scanner lid, place the photo face down on the scanner surface, and then close the scanner lid.
48 Chapter 3: Opening Photos in Picture It! Finding the correct drive letter To open a photo stored on your computer’s hard disk: 1 On the File menu, click Open. The File Browser dialog box opens. 2 Click the Folders tab. 3 Browse through the folders to locate the photos you want. When you click a folder, you can see thumbnails of the photos in that folder. 4 Select a photo. To select more than one photo, press CTRL while you click the photos. 5 Click Open.
Chapter 3: Opening Photos in Picture It! Opening a Photo Sent Through E-mail Many friends and family members enjoy sending photos through e-mail. When you receive photos through e-mail, you can save them to your computer and then work on them with Picture It!. Many photos sent through e-mail are low-resolution photos, which are not suitable for large prints. But low-resolution photos may be fine for online viewing or printing at small sizes.
50 Chapter 3: Opening Photos in Picture It! Saving images from a Web site When saving an image from the Web, make sure to click Save As on the File menu so you can specify the folder where the image is saved. Otherwise, the image may be saved in a temporary Internet files folder. To capture an image from a Web page, you can drag it from the Web page to the Picture It! Tray.
Chapter 3: Opening Photos in Picture It! After you have uploaded photos to the MSN Photos Web site, you can open them from any computer with Internet access. In Picture It!, you can download photos directly from MSN Photos to edit on your computer. To open a photo from MSN Photos: 1 Make sure that your computer is connected to the Internet. 2 On the File menu, point to Get Picture From, and then click MSN Photos. 3 Follow the instructions on the screen.
52 Chapter 3: Opening Photos in Picture It! Microsoft Picture It! Companion Guide
4 53 Picture It! Basics This chapter covers the fundamental aspects of Picture It! that you’ll need to get started. You’ll find information on the Startup Window, the work area, basic image manipulation, applying text, and Help resources. Startup Window The Startup Window is a quick launching point to photos, projects, tasks, recently opened files, and Help. By default, the Startup Window opens every time you start Picture It!.
54 Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics 4 Edit Multiple Pictures Click this button to open Mini Lab, where you can perform routine editing tasks—such as rotating, levels auto fix, cropping, and saving—on multiple photos at the same time. 5 Create a Project Click this button to pick a project design. You’ll find a variety of projects—such as calendars, greeting cards, and album pages— designed to work with your photos. Projects are organized by type and by theme.
Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics 1 2 3 4 5 7 1 2 3 4 5 Common Tasks list Canvas Workspace Menu bar Toolbar 6 8 6 7 8 9 55 9 Stack Tray Zoom tool Pan control Common Tasks list The Common Tasks list is an easy way to locate features. This list provides convenient access to some of the most common Picture It! tasks, as well as single-click access to Mini Lab, project selector, and the Startup Window.
56 Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics Expanding the workspace Minimizing the Common Tasks list will increase the size of the workspace, letting you see more of your picture while you work. Canvas The white area is called the canvas, and it represents the printable area of the page. When you open a photo, the canvas is often not visible because it is covered entirely by the photo. You can use the zoom controls to magnify or reduce the canvas so that it covers more or less of the workspace.
Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 57 The zoom percentage control displays the size of the canvas in the workspace, expressed as a percentage of its actual size, such as 50, 100, or 200 percent. To change the view size, type a new percentage in the box, and then press ENTER. The Zoom to entire page button magnifies or reduces the canvas so that its largest dimension fits just inside the workspace.
58 Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics Choosing a resolution While resizing an image, select a resolution appropriate for its intended use. For high quality printing, choose 300 dpi; for Web and e-mail, choose 72 dpi. Basic Image Formatting When a picture is on the canvas, you can manipulate the image to a different size or orientation. You can make many of these changes directly on the canvas by dragging the different handles on a picture. All of these controls can also be accessed through the menus.
Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics Manipulating Objects by Using Object Handles 59 Centering an object on the canvas Each element you add to a picture on the canvas is considered an individual object. Photos, text, clip art, and even some effects are all considered separate objects, and they can be edited individually. When you’re working with a composite, which consists of multiple objects on the canvas, you can manipulate each object without affecting the other objects.
60 Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics Resizing to fit the page You can automatically resize an object to fill the whole canvas On the Format menu, point to Resize Object to Fit Canvas Canvas, and then click a resize option. By default, the object handles are visible every time you select an object, but you can set them so they are not visible. To show or hide object handles: ■ On the View menu, click Object Handles.
Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics 61 To resize an object: 1 Select the object you want to resize. 2 Hold the mouse pointer over one of the corner resize handles until the resize handle appears. 3 To resize the object from the center point of the object, press CTRL. 4 Drag the resize cursor. Stretching an object When you select an object, you can stretch it by moving one of its top, bottom, or side resize handles.
62 Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics Setting snap rotation Rotating an object The rotate handle lets you rotate an object by dragging it around its center axis. Snap rotation helps you rotate your objects to exact 45-degree increments. To turn snap rotation on or off, on the Tools menu, click Snap Rotation Rotation. By dragging the rotate handle clockwise or counterclockwise, you can rotate objects right on the canvas. To rotate an object: 1 Select the object you want to rotate.
Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics 63 Grouping shortcut You can group and ungroup objects that have been multiple selected by clicking the or icon at the bottom of the selection. These three objects are a multiple selection, as indicated by the icon at the bottom of the selection box. The objects can now be edited as a set and then separated later. While the objects are a multiple selection, you can use the objects’ object handles to edit them as a set.
64 Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics Adding text to your project You can add text to any photo, giving it a title, a caption, or comments about the picture. You can also change the default text and messages in Picture It! projects. These three objects have now been grouped, as indicated by the group icon at the bottom of the selection box. Grouping objects lets you edit the objects as a set if you don’t plan to separate them later. To ungroup objects: 1 Select the group of objects you want to ungroup.
Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics After the text has been added, you select the text to edit it. You can also select the text and use the toolbar buttons to change formatting. If text is selected, the following tools are available on the toolbar for formatting: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ The font menu provides access to 126 different fonts. The font size menu provides access to sizes from 8 to 620 points. The font color button offers a standard palette of colors and custom colors.
66 Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics This picture identifies the main features of the Help window. 1 2 3 6 7 4 8 5 9 1 Show/Hide button Click this button to expand or collapse the left pane of the Help window. 2 Back button Click this button to go back to the last Help topic. 3 Options menu This menu has options to print a topic or to set options such as Internet Options, where you can change the font size in the Help window. 4 Content pane displays the current Help topic.
Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics 67 Using the table of contents You can use the table of contents to locate information by subject. The table of contents is a useful way to see all of the features available in each category of features. To use the table of contents: 1 In the left pane of the Help window, click the Contents tab. 2 To expand a book in the contents, click the plus sign next to it. 3 To display a topic, in the contents list, click the topic title.
68 Chapter 4: Picture It! Basics To take the product tour: 1 On the Help menu, click Picture It! Tour. The Tour opens, displaying icons to represent different categories of features. 2 Click an icon. A feature list appears on the left side of the window. 3 Click a feature. Graphics and text appear that explain the feature. 4 If more features appear to the right of the feature you’ve selected, roll over the features to see the effect. 5 Repeat steps 2-4 to learn about more features.
5 69 Basic Touchup Almost all photos can be improved with basic touchup. Picture It! touchup tools can be used to correct common photo problems such as red eye or lighting problems, and similar distractions that can ruin a photo. In many cases, Picture It! helps you eliminate basic problems with just a few clicks. Touchup tools can, in many cases, help compensate for problems with exposure, lighting, or composition. Touchup tools can even hide flaws such as blemishes or stains on clothing.
70 Chapter 5: Basic Touchup Setting the white balance on a digital camera Many digital cameras allow you to set the white balance for specific types of light, such as sunlight, incandescent, and flash. Using this feature can help reduce tint problems in your photos. Zooming in to find white If there are no significant areas of white in your photo, use the zoom tool to magnify the photo on the screen.
Chapter 5: Basic Touchup 71 To fix red eye: 1 On the Touchup menu, click Fix Red Eye. 2 Use the pan and zoom controls to magnify your photo and focus on the red eyes. 3 Click the red part of the eyes. You can click up to two eyes at once. 4 Click Red-eye auto fix. The redness in the eyes disappears. 5 Repeat steps 3 and 4 as necessary. 6 Click Done. Using the Airbrush The airbrush tool can help to hide minor flaws such as facial blemishes or stains.
72 Chapter 5: Basic Touchup To use the airbrush tool: 1 On the Effects menu, point to Paint Brush, and then click Freehand. 2 Under Pick a paint tool, click the airbrush tool. 3 Click the color palette next to More color choices. The pointer becomes an eyedropper. 4 With the eyedropper, click the color you want to paint with, and then click Done. 5 Click a brush size. 6 Paint by dragging the brush on the photo.
Chapter 5: Basic Touchup 73 Cropping a photo allows you to eliminate distractions and improve the composition. Cropping your photo to a specific proportion lets you control exactly where the photo will be cut. Otherwise, if your photo is not the same proportion as the print size, more of the photo will be automatically removed when you print it. To crop a photo to a specific proportion: 1 On the Format menu, point to Crop, then click Canvas. 2 Under Select a proportion, click a print size.
74 Chapter 5: Basic Touchup The sharpen tool can help blurry photos look more focused. For the best results, sharpen the focus of your photo last, after you finish all other enhancements. To sharpen a photo: 1 On the Touchup menu, click Sharpen or Blur. 2 Drag the slider to the right until the photo is adequately sharpened. 3 Click Done. For best results with the sharpening tool: ■ ■ Microsoft Picture It! Companion Guide Be careful to use the sharpen tool in moderation.
6 75 Using Special Effects After you have touched up your photos, you can transform these images using the many tools that Picture It! provides. Some special effects—such as the film grain filter—mimic effects from traditional film photography. Other special effects—like the chrome and glowing edges filters—give you access to the creative possibilities unique to digital imaging.
76 Chapter 6: Using Special Effects Getting more Help with cutouts You can create cutouts in four different ways. Select the method that best fits your photo and your intended use for the cutout. ■ See the online Help topic “Use cutouts” for more detailed instructions on specific cutout methods. ■ ■ ■ The Edge Finder works well if your photo has well defined edges along where you want to cut. Tracing on your own gives you the most precise control when cutting irregular shapes.
Chapter 6: Using Special Effects Filters The term filter originates from the colored glass covers placed over a camera lens. The first filters in digital imaging sought to mimic the results of these physical camera filters, providing a slight shift in color, or increasing the intensity of colors. But the filters in Picture It! can create many other effects, from sharpening an image to making the photo look like a painting or a mosaic.
78 Chapter 6: Using Special Effects Color Effects You can give a color photo a new look by applying a color effect. Turn a favorite color photo into an instant classic by changing it to black and white. Or, apply the antique effect, which “ages” your photo by giving it a sepia tone.
Chapter 6: Using Special Effects 79 To use the freehand paint brush: 1 2 3 4 On the Effects menu, point to Paint Brush, and then click Freehand. Click a painting tool, and then click a color. Click a brush size, and then paint by dragging on the photo. Click Done. You can enliven your pictures with a rubber stamp effect. Choose from a variety of stamp designs or make your own. Paint with a single stamp design, or use multiple stamps on the same photo.
80 Chapter 6: Using Special Effects Microsoft Picture It! Companion Guide
7 Batch Editing and File Management 81 If you take photos regularly, it can be time consuming to edit all of your photos as you download them from your camera. And once the photos are on your hard disk, it can be a challenge to keep them all organized. Picture It! contains tools that can help you save time with: ■ ■ Routine editing on a batch of photos. File management that helps you keep your photos organized.
82 Chapter 7: Batch Editing and File Management 1 2 3 5 4 6 1 Open more files opens the file browser to let you find more photos to edit. 2 The editing options list shows all of the tasks available for batch editing. 3 File options let you save or print multiple photos. 4 The Workspace contains thumbnails of all of your opened photos. 5 Done closes Mini Lab, keeping the photos open and maintaining the changes you have made.
Chapter 7: Batch Editing and File Management Mini Lab does not automatically save your batch edits. To save your photos, select photos and click Save. If you click Done to leave Mini Lab without saving, the edits will remain in the photos for you to continue editing, but will not be saved.
84 Chapter 7: Batch Editing and File Management Duplicate It’s never a good idea to edit your original photos, and the duplicate feature makes it easy to ensure that you have copies. The duplicate feature copies each selected photo and adds “Copy of” to the beginning of the copied photo’s file name. To manage files with the file browser: 1 On the Tools menu, click Manage Files in File Browser. The Tasks tab is already selected.
8 Adding Edges, Mats, and Frames When you’ve finished editing a photo, you can add polishing touches by surrounding it with an edge, a border, a mat, or a frame. Shrinking a photo to show the edge effect Edge Effects Some edge effects appear only behind and outside the photo. So if your photo reaches the edge of the canvas, you might not be able to see the edge effect when you print it or save it to the Web. Edge effects alter the outside edge of a photo. For portrait photos, try the soft edge effect.
86 Chapter 8: Adding Edges, Mats, and Frames Choosing the right mat When choosing a mat, consider the colors in your photo and the colors of your frame. A mat should not overpower the subject of the photo. Try selecting a soft-colored mat that matches one of the photo’s secondary colors. Mats and Frames If you plan to put a photo in a traditional photo frame, you can add a Picture It! mat to your photo before you print it.
9 87 Saving Photos If you’re like most people, you can’t stand to throw photos away, even if they’re imperfect. You probably have a large box or two filled with envelopes of old negatives and photographic prints. Keeping track of all your old prints and negatives can be a formidable task. Fortunately, digital photography makes saving, storing, and organizing photos much easier.
88 Chapter 9: Saving Photos Choosing a File Format Picture It! allows you to save photos in a number of image file formats. You can determine the best format for saving your photos based on what you will use the photo for, compatibility with other computers, and file size. To help you understand the difference between file formats, here are some important characteristics of three common image formats: ■ ■ ■ Picture It! PNG Plus (.png+) saves the layers in your photo projects so you can edit them later.
Chapter 9: Saving Photos To save a photo for e-mail or the Web: Avoid sending large photos in e-mail 1 On the File menu, point to Save Special, and then point to Save as Webready Picture. 2 Click a picture size, and then click Next. The file browser opens. 3 On the Folders tab, click the folder to which you want to save the photo. 4 In the File name box, enter a file name, and then click Save.
90 Chapter 9: Saving Photos To copy photos to a Zip disk: 1 Insert a blank Zip disk into your Zip drive. 2 On the File menu, click Open. The file browser opens. 3 On the Folders tab, click the drive or folder containing the photos or folders you want to copy. 4 In the right pane, select the photos or folders you want to copy. To select multiple photos, press CTRL while you click the photos. 5 Click the Tasks tab, and then click Batch copy. The Batch copy dialog box opens. 6 Click Browse.
Chapter 9: Saving Photos To copy photos to a CD in Windows XP: 91 Copying to a DVD burner 1 Insert a blank, writable CD into the CD recorder. 2 Click Start, and then click My Computer. 3 Click the Folders button, and then in the left pane, browse to the folder containing the pictures you want to copy. 4 Click the photos or folders you want to copy to the CD. To select more than one photo, hold down the CTRL key while you click the photos you want. 5 Click the Folders button again.
92 Chapter 9: Saving Photos 4 Click the Tasks tab, and then click Batch copy. The Batch copy dialog box opens. 5 Click Browse. The Browse for folder dialog box opens. 6 Click a location where you want to create the backup folder. 7 Click Make New Folder. A new folder named New Folder is created. 8 Click OK. 9 In the Batch copy dialog box, click OK. The photos are copied to the new folder. 10 In the file browser, click Cancel.
Chapter 9: Saving Photos 93 Archiving Photos in the Gallery Picture It! enables you to archive your pictures in the Gallery using custom categories, which you can name and organize in whatever way makes sense to you. The Gallery is not a storage location for your pictures. It simply stores information about your pictures, including the file name, storage location, categorization, keywords, and a date.
94 Chapter 9: Saving Photos To find and open a photo from the Gallery: 1 On the File menu, point to Get picture from, and then click Gallery. The Gallery opens. 2 Click the Find tab. 3 Do one or more of the following: ■ Type one or more words describing the item(s) you want to find. ■ Check the Advanced find box, and then enter a date range. ■ Check the Advanced find box, and then select the type of item you want to find. 4 Click Find. 5 Click the thumbnail you want, and then click Open.
10 95 Creating Projects A great way to present your photos and share them with friends and family is to create photo projects. Picture It! offers a range of designs that you can use to showcase your photos. Choose from greeting cards, calendars, business cards, and more. Creating Photo Cards Use your own photo to personalize a greeting card for a holiday, a party invitation, or any other occasion. To open a photo card design: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Open a photo so that it is in the Tray.
96 Chapter 10: Creating Projects To change the fold style of a card: ■ On the Format menu, click Change Card Fold. Creating Calendars Calendars are a great way to showcase your favorite photos. Calendar projects are available in one-week, one-month, 12-month, and one-year formats. A one-week calendar. A one-month calendar. Microsoft Picture It! Companion Guide A one-year calendar.
Chapter 10: Creating Projects 97 These are the first three pages of a 12-month calendar. To create a calendar project: 1 2 3 4 5 6 On the File menu, click Create a Project. Click Calendars. Click a calendar type. Click a theme, click a design, and then click Open. Set the start date for the calendar, and then click Next. Follow the instructions on the screen to add a photo to your calendar, and then click Next. 7 Move or resize your photo on the calendar.
98 Chapter 10: Creating Projects Microsoft Picture It! Companion Guide
11 99 Sharing Photos One of the biggest advantages of digital photography over traditional film photography is the ease with which you can share your photos. Rather than creating paper prints for everyone who wants to see your photos, you can share a digital copy of a photo with an unlimited number of people. When you post photos on MSN Photos, send photos through e-mail, or post photos on a Web site, friends and family around the world can see your photos just minutes after you take them.
100 Chapter 11: Sharing Photos Signing up with Microsoft .NET Passport To use MSN Photos, you must have a Microsoft .NET Passport. All hotmail.com and msn.com e-mail addresses are .NET Passports. If you don’t yet have a .NET Passport, it’s free to sign up, and you can get to the sign-up page by following the instructions for saving to MSN Photos. Sharing on MSN Photos MSN Photos is a convenient and fast way to share a group of photos or share photos with a whole group of people.
12 101 Printing Photos Picture It! offers several options for printing photos on your desktop printer. You can optimize settings for the print size, print quality, orientation, and photos per page. This chapter describes the procedures for printing a single print or multiple prints. You’ll also learn how to get great prints by selecting the right print size, settings, ink, and paper.
102 Chapter 12: Printing Photos Rotating photos for printing To print multiple photos on the same page: 1 Open the photos you want to print, and make sure that they all have the same orientation. 2 On the File menu, point to Print Special, and then click Multi-photo Sheet. 3 Under Click a printer, click a printer, and then click Next. 4 Under Click a category, click your brand or type of photo paper. 5 Click an orientation, click a template, and then click Next.
Chapter 12: Printing Photos 103 7 To fit your entire photo into the print area, click Fit within area. - or To fill the print area with your photo, click Overlay and crop. 8 Drag your photo or photos from the Tray into the template, and then click Next. 9 Select the number of copies you want to print, and then click Print. Printing Cards Greeting cards often require printing on both sides of the paper, so they often require a few extra steps in the printing process.
104 Chapter 12: Printing Photos Turning on color management Check your printer’s manual to see if it offers color management. Color management can help your printer to produce colors that match the ones on your monitor. If your printer offers color management, click Change picture settings while performing the Print task. Your printer’s dialog box will open, and you can adjust the settings for color management.
Chapter 12: Printing Photos 105 To check a photo’s pixel dimensions: 1 On the Format menu, click Resize Image. 2 Under Select a page size, set the Units box to pxl. The Height and Width boxes fill with the pixel dimensions. 3 Click Cancel. How large a print can you get? When you print a photo, you can set the printer to print at a variety of sizes, which is expressed as dots per inch (dpi), or sometimes called pixels per inch (ppi).
106 Chapter 12: Printing Photos Choosing Photo Paper If you want your images to look like traditional photographs, choose paper that is clearly labeled as photo paper. Photo paper comes in a range of thickness and texture. Paper weight ranges from ordinary office-document weight to a fairly heavy watercolor paper. If you choose a heavyweight paper, check your printer’s manual to make sure that your printer can handle it. The quality of the image will be affected by the kind of paper stock you choose.
Chapter 12: Printing Photos Printing from MSN Photos Order prints of your photos online at MSN Photos and have the prints sent to you or your family and friends. On MSN Photos, you can also use your photos to create a variety of photo gifts. To order prints and enlargements: 1 On the File menu in Picture It!, point to Print Professionally Online, and then click Prints and Enlargements.
108 Chapter 12: Printing Photos Microsoft Picture It! Companion Guide
109 Index A AC power adapter 14 action mode 27, 28 action photography burst mode feature 29 children 27, 29 compensating for shutter lag 28 digital cameras 27 freezing action 22, 27, 28 higher speed film 24 moving subjects 27, 28 shutter speeds 22, 23 adjusting aperture 21 depth of field 21 exposure settings 19 lens focal length 13 Advanced Photo System (APS) cameras 31 airbrush tool 71 ambient light 16 aperture action mode 27 adjusting 21 affecting depth of field 21 affecting focus 21 automatic mode 18 co
110 Index composing photos 37 composition assessing 40 improving 72 techniques 33 transforming 38, 72 compression artifacts 11 definition 11 experimenting with settings 12 JPEGs 11, 88 lossless 12, 88 reducing file size 11, 87 TIFFs 12, 88 computers memory requirements 12 storage options 89 contrast, adjusting 69 copying images 49, 83, 84, 87 copyrights 49 correcting light levels 20, 69 creating calendars 96 photo cards 95 projects 95 cropping images 72 cutouts 75 D daylight.
Index G Gallery 93 gifts 107 graininess 24, 74 greeting cards 95, 103 grouping objects 63 incandescent lights 25, 40, 70 installing Picture It! 3 printer drivers 101 interpolation 10, 13 ISO rating 18, 19 H J Help resources 65 high-capacity storage 89 JPEGs compressing 11, 88 file sizes 9, 88 overview 12, 88 I image sensors buffering 29 capturing photos 13 controlling exposure time 21 definition 10 digital cameras 10, 24 increasing sensitivity 16 megapixel rating 10 overexposure 18 setting resolution
112 Index P paint effects 78 pan control 57 panning 28 panoramic cameras 31 mode 25, 31 perspectives 38 photo cards 95 Photo CD 48 photo gifts 107 photo paper 102, 106 photo quality affected by camera quality 10 automatic cameras 18 correcting problems 69 deciding file formats 12, 88 interpolation 13 JPEGs 88 manual cameras 18 pixel visibility 8 printing considerations 105 red eye 16, 70 reduced by compressing 11, 88 resolution 9 setting correct exposure 18 settings 10 shutter speed 18 TIFFs 12, 88 undere
Index showing photos 42 shutter. See also shutter speeds activating with self-timer 27 autofocusing 32 definition 22 lag 28, 29 priority mode 23 shutter speed action mode 27 definition 18 determining correct setting 22 measurements 22 night photography 23 reducing blurriness 23 stopping action 22 SmartMedia 13 snow 20 special effects 75 special paper 102 splotchy color 11 Startup Window 53 stopping action 22, 28.
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