Figure 7.4: The default Microsoft Paint setup
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Since Windows 3.1, a basic bitmap-editing program has been bundled with Microsoft Windows. The original program was called Paintbrush For Windows or simply Paintbrush. Since Windows 95, the program has been called Paint and has changed very little since then, although the Windows XP version of Paint supports PNG images. Paint is a very simple program to master and creates equally simple pictures. More advanced artists usually prefer The GIMP or Photoshop, both of which are more powerful tools.
In this section we will explore the basics of MS-Paint and show how one can create small images with it. You can access Paint by going to Start > (All) Programs > Accessories > Paint. It will also come up if you type mspaint into the Run dialog.
Figure 7.4: The default Microsoft Paint setup
Microsoft Paint starts with a blank white canvas on which to draw. It can be resized by dragging the handles along the bottom and right edges, and in the bottom-right corner of the screen. You can also edit the size of the canvas with precise pixel, centimeter, or inch measurements (such as 32px x 32px or 1" x 1") by going to Image > Attributes or pressing Ctrl + E.
Figure 7.5: Changing an image's size with the Image Attributes dialog
NOTE
You cannot drag the top and left edges of the canvas.
CAUTION
If you make the canvas boundaries crop off part of the drawing you're working on, it will be permanently lost. (You can recover it through the Edit > Undo function.)
In Microsoft Paint, you draw and edit your image by using a selection of 16 tools. They are each represented by an icon in the toolbox, which lines the left edge of the screen. You select the tools by clicking on them. Only 1 tool can be selected at once.
Along the bottom edge of the screen is the palette, a selection of 28 colors from which you can select. You can have 2 colors on your "paintbrush" at once, a foreground color and a background color. The foreground color is the color that you'll be painting onto the canvas. The background color is used for erasing.
Figure 7.6: The default Paint palette. At this time, the user has selected blue as the foreground color and yellow as the background color.
You can change the colors on the palette. To do this, double-click any color on the palette and select one of the pre-mixed colors, and click OK. That will cause the color you selected to appear on the palette in the slot you double-clicked. If you do not want to use one of the premixed colors, you can click "Define Custom Colors" and use a standard color-picker dialog to mix up a custom color.
When you start Paint, the Pencil tool is selected. This is the most basic tool, as it allows you to draw one pixel at a time. By clicking and dragging, one can create lines and doodles one pixel wide.
Use the Pencil tool for changing a single pixel at a time. Using it for many other things can quickly become tedious. In many cases, it's preferable to use the Brush tool.
The Brush tool is probably one of the tools you'll use most. It works just like the Pencil tool but allows you to draw a wider line. When you click the tool, a smaller square appears below the toolbox which allows you to select the size and shape (square or rounded) of the brush.
The eraser tool erases wherever you click and drag. The color it leaves behind is the same as the currently selected "background" color.
TIP
There's really no reason to use the Eraser tool at all, as one can easily paint with the background color with other tools, by using the right mouse button.
The Fill With Color tool, also sometimes known as the Flood tool, will change a region of color to a different color.
Figure 7.7: The effect of Fill With Color
Be careful when using the Flood tool. Be sure to inspect the boundaries of the region you're filling - small breaks, even just a pixel, can cause a Flood operation to wreak havoc on your drawing. (Thank goodness for the Undo button!)
The Color Picker will take any color you pick and set it as the foreground color. (If you right-click a color, it will become the background color.) This is especially convenient for custom colors which don't appear in the palette.
Sometimes you need a closer view of part of your drawing. This can be done by using the Magnifier tool. Click this tool and then click any part of your image to zoom into it 400%.
If you need to zoom in farther, you can by going to View > Zoom > Custom... and selecting a zoom level from the dialog that appears.
Figure 7.8: The Custom Zoom dialog
The Airbrush tool allows you to use a brush with a random pattern of holes in it. As you hold down the mouse button, the paint becomes more dense, as if you were using a can of spray paint.
These three tools work about the same. You click and drag from one corner of where you want the shape to the opposite corner. As you drag, the shape appears.
When you click one of the shape tools, a box appears where you can select whether you want the newly minted shape to be filled with color or empty (the default).