Jan's Files and Folders: Files

Step-by-Step: Resize & Print Image

Start with:

What you will learn:

to open an existing picture from the File menu
to resize the canvas
to save an existing picture
to print a picture

Open an Existing Picture from File menu

Start with: Paint is closed

Start Paint using the method of your choice.
(Hint: From the Start menu or Run in Win98/WinXP.
From the Start menu or Search in Vista)
From Paint's menu bar select File .
After the menu appears, look at the entries at the bottom of the list just above Exit . There is a list of the last 4 images that Paint used.
Click on myname.bmp or press the key 1, which is the shortcut key for the first file in the list.
Problem: myname.bmp is not in the list
Either you did not save the file, you didn't save it using this computer, or four other files have been opened in Paint since you saved the your file.
Solution 1: If you did save the file, select Open from the File menu and use the dialog box to open myname.bmp.
Solution 2: If you did not actually save the file, go back to the previous lesson and create the file. Then return to this page to continue.

Check File Size

Select from the menu bar File > Save As . Display the contents of my docs on your Class disk.
Show the Details view.
Click on the Details button in the toolbar of the Save As dialog.
From the View button, select Details.
Use the Views button to select Details.

Notice the size of the original file! The size of the canvas determines the size of the bitmap image.

Ways to reduce file size
- Resize the canvas, without changing anything else about the picture except the amount of white space.
- Save in a file format, such as PNG or GIF, that compresses the image information.
- Resizing the whole picture
A more advanced graphics program will produce a better result than Paint does when using a compressed file format or when resizing the picture!
Click on the Cancel button.

Resize the Canvas

Move your pointer to the bottom right corner of the canvas and place it over the handle there. The pointer will change to the Diagonal Resize shape.
A handle is a small square at the corners and side centers.

If your canvas is really large, you will have to use the scroll bars to see this handle. It is tiny! You may have to resize in steps since the display will not scroll by itself as you drag.
Drag the bottom right handle of the picture until your name just fits in the dotted box and then release the mouse button. The white canvas will resize to fit the box.
Save this new version with File > Save .
You will NOT see the Save As dialog box this time because the file has been saved previously. The Save command just replaces the old version with the new one.

If you want to save a file under a different name or in a different place, you must select Save As
To see how the file size has changed, select File > Save As one more time.
Click on the Details button.
In Windows Vista, click the Views button on the toolbar and select Details.
Look at the size reported. It should be much smaller now. The actual sizes for your file will almost certainly be different from those shown in the illustrations.

File size for myname.bmp after resizing canvas (Vista)

Print a Picture

From the menu bar select File > Page Setup . The Page Setup dialog box will appear. If you make changes in the settings, you can see the effect in the sample document.
Win98 shows a sample document, not your actual document.
WinXP and Vista show a placeholder for your image, rather than the image itself.
Check the orientation of the paper and the width of the margins.
Make changes if necessary and then click the OK button.
Never print without checking to see what your print settings are!
From the menu bar select File > Print Preview to see what your picture will look like when printed.
Click the Zoom In button to enlarge the page you are viewing.
Click the Zoom Out button to reduce the size of the page again.
Look carefully to see if the Next Page button is available. If the words "Next Page" are black, your print job will take at least one more sheet of paper. This happens when your image is wider than the space between the margins as set in Page Setup. Unfortunately Paint does not tell you how many pages there will be all together.
Problem: The picture is too wide or too tall to fit on one page
Solutions:
- Change the margins or orientation in Page Setup to keep your image on one page.
- Edit the picture to make its dimensions match the paper.
- Accept a divided picture and in the Print dialog box, choose to print just the page that has the part you want.
If you do need to change something, click the Close button and proceed with your changes, then return to this step.
Click the Print button after your image fits on one page. The Print dialog box appears.
Here is where you can choose to print only certain pages. Be sure your picture fits on one page.

Inspect the other choices on the Print dialog -
- which printer
- what pages to print or just what was selected.
- the number of copies
- preferences for how the printer behaves, including color or gray scale or black-and-white, orientation of the paper, quality of the paper (especially important if you are printing photos)
If you have a color printer, click on Properties button. Check to see if the page will print in color or in gray scale or in black-and-white. Change, if necessary, to the mode you want.
Click the OK button to print your picture.
Close Paint.