Jan's Files and Folders: Files

Step-by-Step: Create & Save Image

Start with:

What you will learn:

to open a program from Run (WinXP)
to open a program from Search (Vista/Win7)
to resize the canvas
to create a text image with Paint
to save an image

Start a Program from Run

Open the Start menu and choose Run .
In the Run dialog box, type paint and click on the OK button. Windows looks for a file that it can run, like paint.exe.
Error: You will see an error message because Windows can not find the file.

The problem in this case is that the file that starts Paint is actually named mspaint.exe instead of just paint. Run is smart enough to figure it out if the file uses a common extension for program files, like exe or dll or com. But it is totally fooled by the wrong name!

When this happens, first check the file name for misspellings. If the spelling is right, you may have to type in the full path to the file, like:

c:\windows\system32\mspaint.exe

That's an awful lot of trouble!!

Or, you can use the Browse button to get to a folder tree, find the right file, and double-click on it, which puts the full path into the Run text box.
Click on the OK button in the error message box.
Highlight the word paint in the textbox labeled Open: and type mspaint .
Click on the OK button. Paint will open. (Yes, even without the extension! I told you that Run was smart!)
The size of the window and the size of the blank canvas depend on their sizes the last time Paint was used.

Start a Program from Search in Start Menu

By default, Windows Vista and Win7 do not show the Run command on the Start menu. Instead you can use the Start menu's Search box to locate the command to start the program. This Search feature is more helpful than the Run command when you are not sure what the command is.

If you wish, you can customize the Start menu to show the Run command. Right click the Start button > Properties > Start menu tab > Customize > scroll the list and check the box to show the Run command

Click on the Start button. The cursor is already in the Search box at the bottom of the menu.
Type the letter p.
The menu above the Search box changes to show objects on the computer whose names start with the letter p. Programs are listed first. Happily the program you are looking for is probably first in the list.

At the bottom of the list there is a link to show all of the results. This is very useful when there are too many to show and the one you want is not showing.

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.
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.
If necessary, click Paint in the list to select it.
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 an item in the list .
- 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.
Open the Start menu again.
Slowly type the whole word paint in the Search box. As you type each letter, watch how the list above changes.

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

In the previous section on the Run box in WinXP, we had to type the actual name of the file that opens the Paint program, which is mspaint. Let's try that in Vista.
In the Search box, type the word mspaint. As you type, watch the changes in the list. There may be no matches at all, depending on what documents and programs you have on your computer... until you get the whole word in! Then the file name mspaint.exe shows up, instead of the Paint program name. Unexpected!
Press the ESC key at the upper left of your keyboard to close the Start menu. Paint is still open from your earlier work.

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!

If necessary, resize the window itself to be large enough to hold the canvas size you want by dragging a corner or side of the window.
Resize the white canvas by dragging on the tiny handles at the right and bottom edges of the canvas to make the drawing area the size that you want to work in.

Create a Text Image

Select the Text tool by clicking on it.
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.
Make your box large. Your name must fit inside!
Release the mouse button.
A Text toolbar appears.

Problem: The Text toolbar does not appear.
Solution: Select from the menu View > Text toolbar.

The Text Tools appear on the ribbon.
Click on the down arrow in the box that shows names of the fonts that are installed on this computer. (Different fonts come with different versions of Windows. Other fonts come with other programs.)
Scroll until you find Wide Latin or Impact. These fonts come with most versions of Windows.
Windows Vista & Win7 do not include Wide Latin but you may have it from other software.
Click on Wide Latin or Impact (or another font with wide, bold letters) to select it.
Select the font size 20 in a similar way.
Click inside the marquee box.
Your pointer turns to a vertical line cursor to show where your typing will appear.

As long as you don't click outside the box, you can edit what you type by backspacing and deleting. 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!
Type your name in the marquee box.
The marquee box will enlarge down as you type, as far as the edge of the canvas, but it will not get any wider. It will chop off what won't fit on the canvas.
If you type more than will fit in the marquee selection box, the text will start to scroll up. Once you click elsewhere, only the visible text will be left.
Problem: Name does not fit
Solution: If you need to enlarge the canvas, drag the handles.
If the marquee box was not big enough, drag the handles of the marquee box wider. If your name still won't fit, you'll have to start over with a new box. Use Edit > Select All , and press the DELETE key to remove everything from the canvas. Then drag a larger box, and try again.
From the menu bar select Edit and inspect the menu that appears. Any commands that are gray are not currently available.
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. Undo and Redo are arrow buttons at the top of the window in the Quick Access toolbar.
   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!
Press CTRL + Z to undo what you just did. Your typing vanishes! But do not despair.
Everything you do in the marquee box counts as 1 action, so it is easy to wipe out all of your text!
Paint will allow you to undo up to three actions in WinXP and ten actions in Vista, if you've done that many things. Paint in Win 7 remembers many more actions. (I stopped counting at somewhere over 40.)

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.
Use the key combo to redo the step that you just undid. (CTRL + Y) Voila! Your name appears again. Rescued!!
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.
Experiment with different fonts and font sizes. Don't click outside the box while you make changes or you will have to start all over (see the comment at step 8). Use the keystrokes you just learned to undo the changes that you make and to recover your deletions when you change your mind.
Click on a color square in the Color Palate at the bottom of the window. The top color box on the left changes and your text changes color! Experiment!!
Click on the Color 1 box to select it. The box highlights to show it is selected. Click on one of the colors on the Color Palette to change the primary color, Color 1.
Right click on a color square. The bottom color box on the left changes and the background behind your text changes color, but not the whole canvas.
Click on the Color 2 box and then on one of the Color Palette colors to change the secondary color, Color 2.
Create a custom color by clicking the Edit Colors button, slide the crosshairs to a new position. Save you new color to the palette by clicking on Add to Custom Colors.
When you are satisfied with the appearance of your name, click on the white canvas somewhere outside of the box. Your name is now part of the picture and you can no longer use the Text toolbar on it.

Save a Picture

Insert the Class disk into the drive if it is not already there.
From the menu bar select File > Save . Since the picture has never been saved before, the Save As dialog box appears. The default folder for WinXP is Desktop. The default folder for Vista is the Pictures folder in your personal folders, since you are saving a picture.

Save As dialog for WinXP and Vista

Click the Paint button at the upper left of the Quick Access bar and then choose Save on the menu that appears. The Save As dialog appears. The default location is the Pictures library, but Paint remembers the last location you used.
Rather than maneuver through the folder tree, type in the File name text box the full path to where the file should go, using the letter for your removable disk drive:
a:\my docs\paint docs\myname.bmp

(Type this exactly as written here, please, except use the correct drive letter for you removable disk. Yes, the path is wrong on purpose!)

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

When you are using an application that doesn't like spaces in the name, put quotes " " around the whole path like: "a:\my docs\paint docs\myname.bmp".
Error: An error message appears saying that the path you typed does not exist. The problem is that we previously renamed the folder paint docs to win project2.

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:
- No such drive: You type a drive letter that does not match any of the drives on the computer. The message says 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 says that Windows is unable to read the drive.
Click the OK button in the error message.
To edit the path, click in the space between the words paint and docs in the File name text box.
Press the DELETE key enough times to erase the word docs .
Press the BACKSPACE key enough times to remove the word paint .
Type win project2
This folder was created on your Class disk in a previous lesson so it should be there!
If necessary, select the file type 24-bit Bitmap, if it is in the list. If it is not, choose 256 color Bitmap.
Paint remembers the last file type you used.
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.
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.
Close Paint for now.