Working with Picture Files


We're not done yet My Pictures has a few more functions up its sleeve. Read on and I'll tell you about some more image-specific tasks integrated into the My Pictures folder.

Printing Pictures

If you have a color printer, you can make good-quality prints of your image files. In fact, some manufacturers sell photo printers specifically designed for making photographic prints. If you take a lot of digital photos, one of these printers might be a good investment.

Printing a picture from within the My Pictures folder is as easy as clicking a link. All you have to do is select the picture(s) you want to print, then click the Print Pictures link in the Picture Tasks pane. Windows XP now launches the Photo Printing Wizard, which walks you step-by-step through the printing process. You get to select which printer you want to use, what type of paper you'll be printing on, and how many (and what size) prints to print on a page (see Figure 12.6). When you complete the wizard, the printing starts, just as you specified.

Figure 12.6. Use the Photo Printing Wizard to determine what size and how many pictures to print on a page.


Ordering Prints

If you don't have your own photo-quality printer, you still need to use a professional photo-finishing service. There are a number of ways you can create prints from your digital photos:

  • Copy your image files to disk or CD-ROM and deliver the disk by hand to your local photo finisher

  • Go to the Web site of an online photo-finishing service and transfer your image files over the Internet

  • Use the Order Prints Online option in Windows XP's My Pictures folder

The first option is the most traditional, and perhaps the most convenient for a lot of people. There also are no shipping charges involved.

The second option should appeal to those of you plugged into the online world. You may even find that prices are a tad cheaper, although you will have to pay shipping charges to get your prints sent back to you.

The third option is Microsoft's favorite, and perhaps the most convenient of all. Microsoft has arranged with a number of online photo-finishing sites to provide services to Windows users. Microsoft links to these sites from within the My Pictures folder and receives a cut of the revenue generated. Although that fee doesn't come out of your pocket (it's a kind of commission that the partner sites pay), if you're adverse to lining Microsoft's pockets any more than you have to, you might want to bypass the My Pictures option and deal directly with the sites, instead.

If you do want to order prints from within Windows XP, it's a simple procedure. All you have to do is select the files you want to print, and then click the Order Prints Online option in the Picture Tasks panel. This launches the Online Print Ordering Wizard. The wizard lets you pick which service you want to use (as shown in Figure 12.7), as well as what kind of and how many prints to make. You'll have to fill in all the normal shipping and payment information, of course. But then you'll receive your prints in a few days, just like you would if you ordered from that site without Microsoft's assistance.

Figure 12.7. Use the Online Print Ordering Wizard to order photo-finishing services from within the My Pictures folder.


Turning a Picture into a Desktop Background

There's one final thing you can do from within the My Pictures folder. With a few clicks of your mouse, you can select any picture in the folder to be your Windows desktop background.

All you have to do is select a file, then click the Set as Desktop Background option in the Picture Tasks pane. Minimize the My Pictures window so you can see your desktop, and you can see that the selected file is now your desktop background.

(You can change the background to another image through the traditional Display Properties dialog box method, as discussed in Chapter 2, "Changing the Way Windows Looks and Acts.")



Microsoft Windows XP for Home Users Service Pack
Windows XP for Home Users, Service Pack 2 Edition
ISBN: 0321369890
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 270

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