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Beginner Lessons

Microsoft Windows XP Starter Edition

Lesson 4: Beginning Paint

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, you will understand:

Skills You Will Need

Before you learn the stated objectives, you should be familiar with:

  • The terms: mouse, keyboard

Session 1: The Basics of Paint

What Is Paint?

Paint is a software program used to draw, color, and edit pictures and add text to pictures. It comes free with Windows XP. You can use Paint to create drawings that range from simple pictures to a theater poster, a greeting card, or presentation graphics. Paint is flexible and allows you to change your work and exercise your creativity. You save time and materials when you work with Paint. With Paint, you can add the touch of a professional artist to your teaching materials.

You will now learn to create a picture in Paint that depicts the type of graphic you might need for a biology class assignment: the process of seed germination.

To start Paint

  • Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Paint. (See Figure 4.1.)

Figure 4.1: Starting Paint

Components of the Paint Interface

When you start the Paint program, a blank Paint window is displayed. The various components of the Paint interface are as follows. (See Figure 4.2.)

Title bar

  • The title bar displays the title of the picture along with the name of the program.

Menu bar

  • The menu bar appears below the title bar. It displays a list of menus, which include File, Edit, View, Image, Colors, and Help. Each menu displays a set of commands called menu items. When you click a menu item, Paint performs the corresponding action.

Toolbox

  • The toolbox is a floating toolbar, which contains a set of buttons with symbols on them. Each button is a tool that you can use in the creation of your artwork.

Drawing area

  • The drawing area is the area where you draw pictures.

Color box

  • The color box consists of a set of colors that you can use to draw or color pictures.
Toolbox   Menu bar   Title bar
  Color box   Drawing area

Figure 4.2: The Paint window

The Paint Toolbox

Table 4.1 describes the tools available in the toolbox.

Table 4.1: Tools in the Toolbox and Their Descriptions

ToolUsed To
Free-Form Select Select a free-form area of a picture
SelectSelect a rectangular area of a picture
Eraser / Color EraserErase a small area
Fill With ColorFill a picture with colors in the color box
Pick ColorCopy color from one area or object to another
MagnifierZoom (enlarge) the picture in the canvas area
PencilDraw a freeform line
BrushDraw a freeform line and color a picture
Airbrush Spray color in the drawing area
Text Type and format text
Line Draw geometric shapes
Curve Draw a curved line
Rectangle Draw rectangles and squares, cubes, and cuboids
Polygon Draw irregular shapes, such as a pentagon, hexagon, or trapezium
Ellipse Draw ellipses and circles
Rounded Rectangle Draw rectangular shapes with rounded corners

Drawing a Free-Form Line

You can create freehand drawings and predefined shapes by using the tools in the toolbox. One of the most commonly used tools is the Pencil tool. You can use the Pencil tool for free-form drawing. For example, you can use this tool to draw the picture of a seed for illustrating the process of seed germination.

To create a free-form drawing

  1. Click the Pencil tool in the toolbox.
  2. Drag the mouse pointer on the drawing area to draw the ground surface and the seed as shown in Figure 4.3.

Figure 4.3: Picture showing the seeds with a young shoot

You can increase or decrease the size of the drawing area by using the resize handles. The resize handles are located at the bottom right corner and at the centre of the bottom and right sides of the drawing area.

To resize the drawing area

  1. Point to the bottom right corner of the drawing area. (You can also point to the center of the bottom or right side of the drawing area.)

    The mouse pointer changes to , , or respectively. These are called resize handles.

  2. Drag the resize handle forward or backward to increase or decrease the size of the drawing area.

Erasing a Small Area in the Drawing

While drawing a picture, you may make mistakes. You can erase either the entire picture or a particular part of the picture, and then redraw it. To erase the drawing, you can use the Eraser tool.

In the picture depicting seed germination, the young shoot appears above the ground surface. You will notice that a part of the line representing the ground surface lies between the outline of the shoot and the seed. (See Figure 4.4.) To remove this line, you can use the Eraser tool.

To erase a small area

  1. Click the Eraser tool in the toolbox.
  2. Click the eraser size from the bottom of the toolbox. (See Figure 4.4.)
  3. Drag the pointer over the area that you want to erase. (See Figure 4.4.)

Note  You can erase larger areas by selecting an eraser of a larger size from the bottom of the toolbox.

Eraser sizes

Figure 4.4: Picture after erasing the line

Erasing a Large Area in the Drawing

You can also erase your drawing by selecting it by using the Select tool and pressing DELETE. The Select tool can be used to select large areas.

To erase a large area

  1. Click the Select tool in the toolbox. (See Figure 4.5.)
  2. Drag the pointer over the area that you want to erase.

    The selected area is highlighted by a dotted lined box, which is called the selection box. (See Figure 4.5.)

  3. Press DELETE. The selected area is deleted.

Figure 4.5: Figure showing the selection box

Note  You can also use the Free-Form Select tool to mark a selection. The Select tool is used to select a rectangular area, whereas the Free-Form Select tool is used to select an irregular area.

Saving a Picture

If you want to continue with the drawing later, it has to be saved on the computer so that you can retrieve it for future use. You can save a picture by using the Save or Save As commands on the File menu.

To save a picture the first time

  1. On the File menu, click Save.

    The Save As dialog box appears. (See Figure 4.6.)

    Figure 4.6: The Save As dialog box

  2. Type the file name Seed Germination in the File name box.
  3. Click Save.

The file is saved in the My Pictures folder.

Note  The Save As dialog box appears when you click Save if you are saving the file for the first time. When you save the file the next time by clicking Save, the Save As dialog box does not appear. Paint saves the changes to the file without any prompt.

To save a picture with a different name

You may want to save the picture in another folder or with a different filename.

  1. On the File menu, click Save As.

    The Save As dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 4.6.

  2. Click the Save in drop-down box in the Save As dialog box. (See Figure 4.6.)
  3. Type the new name in the File name box.
  4. Click Save.

    The picture is saved with a different name.

Note  The files created in Paint are saved with extensions that indicate the type of file, for example, .bmp, .gif and .jpeg. The .bmp extension stands for bitmap images. The .gif extension stands for Graphics Interchange Format. The .jpeg extension stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group.

Creating a new file

Once you have created a picture and want to draw another one, you do not have to start the Paint program again. Instead, you can create a new file in Paint.

To create a new file

  1. On the File menu, click New.

    A new file is created. However, if a picture is currently open and has not been saved, Paint displays a message prompting you to save the picture. (See Figure 4.7.)

    Figure 4.7: Message prompting you to save the picture

  2. You can click either Yes, No or Cancel.
    • Click Yes to save the picture. The Save As dialog box appears. After you save the picture, a new Paint window will appear.
    • If you want to open a new Paint window without saving the picture, click No.
    • If you decide not to create a new file, click Cancel.

Practice Your Drawing Skills

Start Paint and draw the figures mentioned below with the Pencil tool. If you make a mistake while drawing the picture, you can erase it with the Eraser tool. Save your pictures. Every time you save a file, start the filename with the first four characters of your name.

  1. Create a new file and draw the picture of a tree as shown in Figure 4.8. Save the picture as Tree. Save another copy of the picture as MyFirstPic.

    Figure 4.8: Tree

  2. Increase the size of your picture. Draw the flag as shown in Figure 4.9. Save the picture as Flag. Save another copy of the picture as MySecondPic.

    Figure 4.9: A Flag

  3. Create a new file and draw the picture of the flower shown in Figure 4.10.

    Figure 4.10: Hibiscus

  4. Create a new file and draw the picture showing the different shapes of viruses as shown in Figure 4.11.

Figure 4.11: Shapes of viruses

Check Your Learning

  1. What are the various shapes of a pointer in Paint?
  2. You can use the Eraser tool only to erase a small area of the drawing. State True or False. Give reasons for your answer.
  3. How many sizes of the eraser are available?
  4. When you save a picture with a different name by using the Save As command,
    1. The picture with the new name is active.
    2. The picture with the old name is active.
    3. Both the pictures are active.
  5. When you increase the size of the drawing area, what will the color of the increased area be?

Session 2: Working with Paint

You have learned to start the Paint program, draw pictures by using the Pencil tool, and save your picture files. Now you will learn to use the other tools available in the Paint toolbox.

Drawing a Picture Using the Brush Tool

In the picture depicting seed germination, you have drawn the ground surface and the seed with the Pencil tool. Next, you need to draw the roots for the young shoot. For this purpose, you can use the Brush tool.

To draw the roots

  1. Click the Brush tool in the toolbox.

    You will notice that the round brush style is selected. You can select any other brush style of your choice. The various brush styles are shown in Figure 4.12.

  2. Click the slanting line style at the bottom of the toolbox.
  3. Drag the pointer to draw the roots. (See Figure 4.12.)
Brush styles

Figure 4.12: Root drawn with the Brush tool

Similarly, you can draw the third stage of the seed germination process, which displays the mature shoot. (See Figure 4.13.)

Figure 4.13: Picture representing the first three stages of the seed germination process

You have used the slanting line brush style. The thickness of the shapes you draw differs from one brush style to another. The use of different brush styles is shown in Figure 4.14.

Figure 4.14: Lines drawn using various brush styles

Setting Foreground and Background Color

The next step is to draw a grown plant with leaves and roots to depict the final stage of the seed germination process. The plant would look attractive if its parts are drawn using appropriate colors. Generally, any picture you draw in the drawing area will appear in black. To make the picture colorful, you can use the list of colors present in the color box. For example, you can select the color green from the color box to draw the leaves of the plant. (See Figure 4.15.)

Foreground color   Color box
Background color

Figure 4.15: Color box

The color with which you draw lines and outlines of shapes and type text is called the foreground color.

The color of the drawing area on which you draw the picture is called the background color.

For example, consider a blackboard in a classroom. The background color is the color of the board and the foreground color is the color of the chalk you use.

To change the foreground color, click a color in the color box. To change the background color, right-click a color in the color box.

To draw the leaves

  1. Click the Brush tool in the toolbox.
  2. Click the color green in the color box.
  3. Drag the pointer to draw the leaves and the stem.
  4. Click the color brown in the color box.
  5. Click the slanting brush style at the bottom of the toolbox.
  6. Drag the pointer to draw the roots. (See Figure 4.16.)

Figure 4.16: Completed picture

Note  On the extreme left of the color box is an icon that shows the currently selected background and foreground colors. (See Figure 4.16.)

Using the Fill with Color tool

Using the Fill with Color tool, you can add solid colors to different parts of the picture.

To color the seeds in the Seed Germination picture

  1. Click the Fill with Color tool in the toolbox.
  2. Click the color orange in the color box to color the seeds.
  3. Click inside the seeds.

    The seeds are now filled with the color orange.

  4. Click the color green in the color box to color the leaves of the plant.
  5. Click inside the leaves of the plant to make it green. The picture appears as shown in Figure 4.17.

Figure 4.17: Picture colored using fill with color

Note  When you color a picture with the Fill with Color tool, the picture should not have any breaks in its outline. Otherwise, the color spreads to the rest of the drawing area.

Using the Airbrush Tool

If you want to draw soil in the Seed Germination picture, you can use the Airbrush tool. The Airbrush tool sprays color in the drawing area. You can select different spray sizes from the bottom of the toolbox.

To spray color using the Airbrush tool

  1. Click the Airbrush tool in the toolbox.
  2. Click the color brown in the color box.
  3. Drag the pointer to draw the soil in Seed Germination picture. (See Figure 4.18.)

Figure 4.18: Soil drawn with the Airbrush tool

Note  You can use the Pick Color tool to copy the color from one area of an object or a picture to another.

Opening an Existing File

To view a picture that you created earlier, you have to open the picture file.

To open a file

  1. On the File menu, click Open.

    The Open dialog box appears. (See Figure 4.19.)

    Figure 4.19: The Open dialog box

  2. Click the file name. For example, click Seed Germination to open the file containing the picture depicting seed germination.
  3. Click Open.

Note  If you want to open a file that you used recently, you can look for it on the File menu, which displays the list of the four most recently opened files.

Printing a Picture

If you want to show a picture you created with Paint to your family and friends, you can print your picture on paper.

To print a picture

  1. On the File menu, click Print.

    The Print dialog box appears. (See Figure 4.20.)

    Figure 4.20: The Print dialog box

  2. Under Page Range, click All.
  3. Click the printer you want to use.
  4. Click Print.

    The picture is printed.

Exiting Paint

When you have finished working with Paint, you can exit the program.

To exit Paint

  1. On the File menu, click Exit.

    If a picture is currently open and has not been saved, Paint prompts you to save the picture.

  2. Click Yes to save the picture, and then exit Paint. Click No to exit Paint without saving the picture. Click Cancel to continue working with Paint.

Practice Your Drawing Skills

Draw the figures given below with the Brush and Eraser tools. Click any foreground color of your choice to draw the figure.

  1. Create a new file and draw the picture of a budding hydra as shown in Figure 4.21. Save the picture as Hydra.

    Figure 4.21: Hydra

  2. Create a new file and draw the picture of an igloo as shown in Figure 4.22. Save the picture as Igloo.

Figure 4.22: Igloo

In this activity, you will draw pictures, color them by using the Fill with Color tool and the Airbrush tool and print the pictures.

  1. Open the picture of the tree drawn with the Pencil tool from the previous practice session. Color the upper half of the tree with green and the lower half with brown.
  2. Pick the same color as that of the upper half of the tree and draw the bushes with the Brush tool.
  3. Print both of the pictures.
  4. Exit Paint.

Now draw the figures given below with the Pencil and Brush tools. Use the Fill with Color and Airbrush tools to color the picture. Print the picture.

  1. Draw the different stages involved in the development of an embryo as shown in Figure 4.23. Save the picture as Embryo.

    Figure 4.23: Embryo

  2. Draw the picture of the sun over a hilltop as shown in Figure 4.24. Save the picture as SunOverHilltop.

    Figure 4.24: Sun over a hilltop

  3. Print both the pictures.
  4. Exit Paint.

Check Your Learning

  1. There are ______ different brush styles available in Paint.
  2. When you start Paint, what are the foreground and background colors?
  3. If you want to color a picture in patches, which tool will you use?
  4. Give an analogy for the Save command.
  5. What are the various situations when the Save As dialog box appears?
  6. Do you have to create a new file in Paint as soon as you start Paint? Give reasons for your answer.
  7. How many Paint files can you open at a time?
  8. What should you do to close a file in Paint?

Test Your Knowledge

  1. Suppose you want to create a blank drawing and leave the parts for your child to color, while also showing her the results of your coloring the drawing with Paint. How can you best save two files, one not colored in and the other completed?
  2. You draw a circle and want to color it in. You have chosen a color for the Fill with Color tool. But the tool has painted the entire picture area. Why did this happen?
    1. You did not select the item to be colored in.
    2. The picture in the picture area is not a closed figure.
    3. The Fill with Color tool always fills in the entire canvas area.
  3. You are drawing a picture of a house. You want to paint the background of the house with the color blue. How will you do this?
    1. Select the background color as blue, and paint with the Brush tool.
    2. Select the foreground color as blue, and paint with the Brush tool.
    3. Select the foreground color as blue, and erase the background area with the Eraser tool.
  4. Mark has drawn a picture of a mango. He saved the file as Mango and exited from Paint. He then wanted to paint the picture. What is the quickest way in which he can open the file?
    1. He can click Open on the File menu and click the name of the file in the File name box.
    2. He can open the file by clicking the filename in the recently opened files on the File menu.
    3. When he starts Paint, the file will open automatically, as it is the last saved file.
  5. Carlo is drawing a doll and has selected brown as the foreground color. Now he wants to change it to black. He right-clicks the black color in the color box. When he continues to draw, he finds that the picture he draws continues to appear in brown color. Why is this so?

Lesson Objective Checklist

Skills AcquiredYesNo
I can start Paint.
I can draw a picture.
I can erase a drawing with the Eraser tool.
I can save and create a file.
I can paint a picture.
I can color a picture.
I can open and print a file.
I can exit the Paint program.

Terms to Remember

  • Accessories are programs available as part of the Windows XP Starter Edition that help with common tasks.
  • The Background color used is the color on which you draw, while the Foreground color contains outlines of shapes and text.
  • Bitmap images are the images that are created by Paint. They are saved as .bmp files.
  • The .gif and .jpg files are additional graphics file types in addition to .bmp files. They typically use less space on a disk than .bmp files.
  • Toolbox is the term for the set of buttons that allow you to manipulate your picture in Paint.

Did You Know?

Psychiatrists attribute emotions to colors, and artists find deeper meaning to the colors they use. Children likewise give expression to their emotional and mental creativity by using colors. Providing a visual environment with the use of images, pictures, and colors can stimulate children's creativity and thus foster their mental and emotional growth. For example, the use of images and colors has been shown to improve children's spatial intelligence. Spatial intelligence refers to the ability to think in pictures, represent ideas graphically and perceive the visual/spatial world accurately.