Drawing Pictures

If you're feeling artistic, you can create a picture in the Paint program, which comes with Windows Vista. Paint was designed so that you can create and edit bitmap pictures in a variety of formats. (A bitmap is just that: a map created from small dots, or bits.) Although you can print your pictures if you want to, Paint pictures are usually inserted into other documents. You can also create a Paint picture and use it as the wallpaper for your Desktop.

Create a Picture

Click the Start button, type pain in the Search box, and click Paint to start the Paint program.

Choose Attributes from the Image menu to display the Attributes dialog box, set the dimensions and any other attributes you want for your drawing, and click OK.

Click a drawing tool.

Click an option for the selected tool. (Note that options aren't available for all tools.)

Click the color you want to use. Use the left mouse button to select the foreground or border color, and the right mouse button to select the background or fill color.

Click to start the drawing, and drag the end or the corner of the shape to create the shape you want. Continue experimenting with the different tools to complete your picture.

Try This!

Draw a shape. Click the Select tool and drag a selection rectangle around the shape. Drag it to a new location. Hold down the Ctrl key and drag the shape again. Hold down the Shift key and drag the shape one more time. Choose a command from the Image menu to rotate or resize the picture, or to invert the colors. Press Ctrl+C to copy the picture and then Ctrl+V to paste it.

Use the Tools

Drag the shapes you want by holding down

• The left mouse button to draw with the foreground color.

• The right mouse button to draw with the background color.

• The Shift key to modify the function of some of the tools, as shown in the table, below right.

See Also

"Compressing Files" on pages 212213 for information about using compressed folders.

Tip

An uncompressed bitmap picture, such as one stored in the .bmp or .tif format, can create a very large file. You can substantially reduce the size of a bitmap file (sometimes by more than 90 percent) by storing it in a compressed folder.

Change a Tool's Function with the Shift Key

Hold down the Shift key and	Result
The Ellipse tool	Creates a circle.
The Rectangle tool	Creates a square.
The Rounded Rectangle tool	Creates a square with rounded corners.
The Line tool	Draws a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line.