11: Quick Changes for Your Images in Software

Drawing Denso QR Bar Code in Software 11: Quick Changes for Your Images

4 If necessary, click the Options button to fine-tune the file format The Options button lets you specify the amount of image compression, number of colors the image will be saved in, and other properties 5 Click OK to save the file After saving the file, you ll have two copies one called myfilejpg and one called myfiletif, for instance You can delete the older file, or if you might still need it, keep both copies Of course, when you look at two files with the same name but different file extensions on the Windows desktop, it can be hard to tell them apart If in doubt, right-click the file and choose Properties

from the menu Verify the file extension before you possibly delete the wrong file Here you can see how both Windows 95/98/Me (on the left) and Windows XP (on the right) identify files

In the world of 35mm photography, editing your composition is not always easily done To crop an image or change its composition, you typically need your own darkroom or a local photo shop with which you can work closely to dictate crop marks and reprint photos to your personal specifications Of course, there are exceptions In many photo stores, you can insert your negative into a kiosk and the image is scanned and displayed on screen Then you crop the image on the screen and print the result minutes later These new image-editing stations are just big, in-store versions of the image-editing software you have on your PC In other words, you don t have to drive across town and pay money to do it in a store any more Now you ve got the tools to do it yourself at home

I wouldn t be surprised if this were the single most common edit made to digital photographs Since you can crop and recompose your images so easily on the computer, the need to compose your shot perfectly in the viewfinder is somewhat diminished Instead, you can tweak the shot to your heart s content afterward, when you have time to think about it and evaluate your options

In fact, the more megapixels your camera can shoot, the more cropping you can do If you have a 2- or 3-megapixel camera and intend to mount your shot as an 8 10-inch print, you can t throw away very many pixels But if you have a 5- or 6-megapixel camera, you have lots of extra resolution to work with You can discard a lot of your photo and still have sufficient resolution to print an enlargement Even if your shot is close to perfect to begin with, a little cropping can very likely make it better Here s how to do it: 1 Load an image into Paint Shop Pro Adjust it so that you can see the entire image on screen at once To do that, you may need the Zoom tool, shaped like a magnifying glass Click it, and then click the picture with the right mouse button to shrink it, or the left button to enlarge it, until it comfortably takes up most of the screen If you re not looking at a 100 percent magnification of the image, though, realize that the image you see may be ever-so-slightly distorted from the actual image

2 Click the Crop tool, shaped like the thick frame 3 Click in the image, and, holding down the mouse button, drag the Crop tool until you ve drawn a rectangular outline around the part of the image you want to keep

4 To move the crop box around within the image, move the mouse inside the box so that you see the mouse pointer change into a four-way arrow Click and drag the box around the image

5 To change the size of the crop box, hold the pointer over the box outline You should see a two-way arrow Now just click and drag to change the height or width of the box