nt

MS Pai

ICT Training
May 2002

Job Aid

Contents

Prepared by Oksana Maibroda

Introduction
Images can be brought into the computer environment in two
ways; created as an artist creates a picture or as a photographer
captures an image. Computer paint applications are the usual
method for creating and manipulating images while scanners
and digitizers are used as tools to capture images. This
workshop is an introduction to the application Microsoft Paint.

Objectives

Workshop
objectives

The tools

Selection tools 3
Eraser tool
Fill tool
Eyedropper
tool
Magnifying
glass tool
Pencil tool

Paint programs allow users to do the following:

Create graphics from scratch.
Modify graphics from other sources.
Save images in the format required for other applications.

Paintbrush tool 5
Airbrush tool
Text tool
Line curve

The objective of this workshop is to familiarize participants with

the various tools in Microsoft Paint and use these tools to draw
a picture from scratch.

Shapes:
Rectangle
Polygon

Oval
Rounded
Rectangle

Color palette

Activity

10

Trainer Notes

11

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The tools
Microsoft Paint has an assortment of painting tools that you can
use for drawing shapes and applying color to areas of your image
in various ways. You switch between tools by clicking on the
appropriate icon on the toolbar, which is located on the left side of
the Paint window. The toolbar looks like this:
Free Form Selection Tool
Eraser Tool
Eye Dropper Tool
Pencil Tool
Airbrush Tool

Selection Tool
Fill Tool
Magnifying Glass Tool
Paint Brush Tool
Text Tool

Line Tool

Curve Tool

Rectangle

Polygon

Oval

Rounded Rectangle

The bottom portion of the toolbar changes when you select a tool
to reveal additional options or settings for that tool.
Most of the Tools are used to apply color in some way to a
portion of the image. In order to use these tools, you'll first want
to make sure that you have selected the correct color in the Color
Palette, which will be discussed later in the workshop.

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The selection tools

These tools are used to select portions of the image you are
working with. These selections can then be moved around, copied,
or edited without affecting the rest of the image. The freeform
selection tool, shaped like a star, allows the user to work with a
free form area of an image. The rectangle selection tool is used to
select a rectangle
shaped area.

Eraser tool
The eraser tool is simple to use. Just click on the eraser icon to
select it, then click on the part of the image that you want to erase.
Erasing changes the erased part of the image back to the
background color of the image file. This is usually white, but can be
changed to other colors using the color palette.
Clicking on the Options portion of the toolbar when the Eraser
is active can change the size of the eraser. Use a smaller eraser to go
after small details or the larger eraser to wipe out larger areas of
the image.

Fill tool
The fill tool applies color (or paint) to a large area of the image.
Just as if you were pouring a liquid in real life, using the fill tool
will fill an area or shape with color.
You have to be careful when using the fill tool. if you click in an
unbounded area of the image, the color will spill out and fill
more of the image than you originally bargained for, possibly
obliterating parts of the image that you wanted to save. Look
closely before applying the fill tool to an area to make sure it is
bounded on all sides and that no paint can seep out and go
where it is not supposed to go. If this happens by accident, do not
panic. Just Undo by pressing Ctrl-Z, find the leak and close it
with the pencil or line tool, and then re-apply the fill.

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Eyedropper tool
The eyedropper tool has only one function, but it is a useful one.
The eyedropper can be used to pick up colors that youve already
used in an image. Say youre working with an image with many
shades of green. You want to pick a specific shade, but there are
several that are so similar that its difficult for your eye to
distinguish between them. Just click on the eyedropper, and click
on the exact portion of the image that contains the color that you
want. The active color for your paint tools will automatically
change to the color that you picked with the eyedropper.
Additionally, the eyedropper will automatically switch over to the
previously selected tool, enabling you to rapidly resume work on
the image with the color you just selected.
You can use the eyedropper tool to select color for the background
color by using the right button on your mouse.

Magnifying glass tool

The magnifying glass, or zoom tool, can be used to get a closer,
more detailed view of an image. This is very useful if you are
working with the fine details of a part of an image. When you
activate the magnifying glass tool, you will have the option to
select between 1x, 2x, 6x, and 8x magnification. You can click on
the part of the image that you want the magnification to center on.
This will not affect the actual image in any way, just how it appears
on your screen. Once you zoom in, the magnifying glass will
automatically switch back to whatever tool you were using before.

Pencil tool
The pencil tool is your basic drawing tool. You can draw in
different colors, but other than that there are no other options. The
pencils stroke is a single pixel wide, which makes it useful for
working with fine details, but a poor choice for filling in large areas
of the image with color.
To draw straight lines, hold down the Shift key as you draw with
the pencil. Your pencil line will be limited to horizontal, vertical,
or a 45-degree diagonal.

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Paint brush tool

The paint brush tool is similar to the pencil, but has more features.
It too can be used in different colors, but the shape and size of the
paint brush can also be changed. You can use square, round, and
slanted shaped brushes, of various sizes, selected in the toolbar
options.
If you hold down Shift as you paint with the paint brush tool,
you can make perfectly straight horizontal or vertical
strokes. However, unlike the pencil tool, you cannot create
straight 45-degree angle diagonal lines using this method.

Airbrush tool
The airbrush tool is a bit more complicated than the regular
paintbrush. Instead of applying color to the image evenly, it applies
it gradually. The "spray" is a semi-random distribution of pixels.
Gradually, as the airbrush is left hovering over the same area while
it is painting, it will fill up with color. A skillful artist can use this
effect to create subtle differences in tone and variation, and even
achieve the illusion that colors are mixing, all by using the airbrush.
It does take some getting used to, however. The airbrush can paint
at three different sizes, selected through the options portion of the
toolbar.

Text tool
The text tool is used to position and enter text into your image.
The text may be of any color or font that you have active on your
computer. You also have the option of setting the text tool to
work so that the background color is used for the fill space
around the text, or if the text will be applied with transparent fill
space, allowing the image to show through behind the text.
To use the text tool, simply select it from the toolbar, and then
drag a rectangle within your image. This rectangle will be the
boundaries within which the text will appear. Once youve drawn
the text boundary, a floating window will appear, which will
enable you to choose the font, size, and formatting (ie, bold, italic,
or underline) for your text. Unfortunately, the text formatting will
be uniform. If you want to mix fonts, colors, sizes, or formats,
youll have to use the text tool several times, with different settings
each time. This means youll have to be careful in order to make
sure that the different applications of text line up properly.
You may need to use the selection tool quite a bit to move bits and
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pieces of text around, and this can be quite tedious. Remember to

use the Undo command if you make a mistake, by pressing
Ctrl-Z.
As long as the text tool is active, youll see that rectangular
boundary around the edge of the text area. You can move this
rectangle around by clicking and dragging on the very border of it,
or resize it by clicking on the tab buttons at the corners and
midpoints of the edges. But be careful; if you click outside of the
boundary accidentally, which is pretty easy to do, the text box will
deselect, and the text tool will think youre trying to draw a new
text box, and your old text will be set in place.
Once the text is in place, it will no longer behave as text, but rather
as pixels. The pixels just happen to be in the proper arrangement to
appear to be text in some font; they cant be edited or moved as
though a distinct object in the image.

Line tool
The straight line tool is fairly straightforward. You can change the
color and width of your lines using the toolbar options. All you
have to do to draw a line is click on the image where you want
one of the lines endpoints to be, and then drag over to where you
want the other endpoint to be. Then release the button. Easy! But
the lines can only be straight.
As with many of the other tools in Paint, holding down the Shift
key constrains the line tool to making horizontal, vertical, or 45degree angle diagonal lines.

Curve tool
The curve tool is trickier to use than the line tool. It can be
difficult to learn how to use, and equally tricky to explain. Your
best bet is to experiment with it, but be patient, because it may
take some getting used to before you get very good at making
curved lines that are the shape that you want.
Like the straight line tool, the curve tool can make lines in various
thicknesses and colors.
Try experimenting with various techniques for making lines. Try
clicking and dragging to make one kind of line, or clicking and
releasing two endpoints. Click a third point to determine the curve.

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Try dragging an already drawn, but still active, multi-point line to

distort its curve.
The curve tool can be frustrating, especially for beginners. Just
keep practicing!

Shapes
Paint provides many options for drawing various shapes. In the
following sections, we will look at the various shape tools in
Paint.

Rectangle
The rectangle tool draws three types of rectangles: outline, filled
with outline, and filled without outline. The interior of the outline
rectangle is transparent, whereas the filled types fill the rectangle
with the background color. To draw a rectangle, click on the
rectangle tool; then click a point on the image where you want
one corner to be, then drag diagonally and release the mouse
where you want the opposite corner to be.
To create a square shape, hold down the Shift key as you draw
the shape.

Polygon
The polygon tool is similar to the rectangle, but works a bit
differently. To create a polygon, activate the polygon tool from
the tool bar. Then, click on the image wherever you want your first
vertix to be. A vertex is like a corner. Draw the edges of the shape
like you would use the straight line tool, then simply connect the
last edge to the first vertix and the shape will finish. You have to be
pretty precise, though. If you just miss by a few pixels, the shape
will think that you want to continue adding sides to the polygon.
You can constrain the angle of the line segments of the polygon to
45-degree increments by holding down the shift key as you click to
create the next vertex.

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Oval
The oval tool works much like the rectangle tool. The only
difference is that since there are no corners, you will need to guess
where the corners would be in order to place your oval where you
want it to go. Imagine that the oval you are drawing is being
hugged by a rectangle that goes around it. Like up the top-most
and left-most peaks of the ovals curve to guess where the corner
of the imaginary rectangle is and click there. Then, drag down to
where the bottom-most and right-most peaks of the ovals curve
would be, and click again. Your oval should be about the right size
and in the right position if you estimated it correctly. It can take
some practice.
Like the other shapes, you can create ovals that are just empty
outlines, filled outlines, or filled with no outline.
To create perfect circles, hold down the Shift key as you draw the
shape.

Rounded rectangle
The rounded rectangle tool is like a cross between the rectangle
tool and the oval tool. It draws rectangles, but instead of having
sharp 90 degree angle corners, they will be somewhat rounded.
As always, you can create rounded rectangles with empty outlines,
filled outlines, or filled with no outline.
To create rounded squares, hold down the Shift key as you draw
the shape.

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The color palette

To select the color youre working with, you use the color
palette. The color palette is a part of the main Paint window, and
looks like this:
The box on the left side shows the active colors. The top,
overlapping rectangle (currently black) is the foreground color. The
foreground color is the color that will be used by the: text, pencil,
paintbrush, airbrush, fill, shapes, line, and curve tools. To change
the foreground color, click on the desired color in the color
palette with the left button on your mouse.
The bottom rectangle is the background color. The background
color is the default color of any new image that you create. When
you use the eraser tool, the eraser turns whatever you erase back to
the background color. To change the background color, click on
the desired color in the color palette with the right button on
your mouse. Usually, youll want to leave the background color
alone, but occasionally you may want to make it some color other
than white.
The background is also a secondary color for certain tools, such as
the shapes tools. If you set the tool options for the shapes to draw
filled shapes, the fill color will be the background color.
The tools can also use the background color if you draw using the
right button on the mouse instead of the left button. That
way, you can switch quickly between two colors that you are using
frequently.

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nt
MS Pai

Activity

Activity: Drawing with MS Paint

Using the tool buttons described in this workshop, draw a picture
that resembles the one below. You will be provided with a handout
with a demonstration by the presenter that will guide you step by
step through the drawing process.

nt
MS Pai

Trainer Notes
What you must do:

Be sure to explain that it is important to save the created

images as JPEGs or GIFs only.
Creating original images requires creativity and technique.
Assure the participants that their first attempts at using the tools
may not result in the desired effects as it takes practice
developing the techniques to manipulate the mouse and
apply the tools appropriately.
It is advisable to demonstrate the drawing process with a
projector as the participants follow the steps outlined for them
in the drawing exercise handout.

Things you will need for your workshop

Handouts for all participants

Projector and computer with access to Microsoft Paint Program
for the presenter
Computers for all participants with access to Microsoft Paint
Program

References
Grabe, M. & Grabe, C. (2001) Integrating Technology for
Meaningful Learning. Third edition. Houghton Mufflin Company,
Boston, New York, Toronto.

Draw Exercise using MS Paint

1. Open Microsoft Paint Program, a blank paint screen appears.
2. Go to File.. Save As name the file with your name.jpg and save as a JPEG document. This
procedure saves your work on the hard drive in a manageable file size and allows you to find
your work for future use.
3. Select the Rectangle Tool and draw a house. Draw a door with the same tool.
4. Select the Oval Tool to draw a tiny door knob. To make a perfect circle, hold the Shift key as
you draw the circle.
5. Select the Polygon Tool and draw the roof.
6. Select the Line Tool and draw the side of the house.
7. Select the Rectangle and hold the shift key down as you draw a window.
Note: You can undo any actions by going to Edit Undo. (Some programs allow you to
perform Undo from three to ten times.)
8. Select the Selection Tool and drag the mouse over the square you just drew. A box appears
around the square. Go to Edit Copy. Follow this command with Edit.. Paste. A copy of the
square should appear on your page. As you move your mouse over the copy you will see fourway arrows. This means you can move the object to
another location. Move the square to the other side of the door.
9. With the same Rectangle tool, draw two small window boxes. Use the Magnifying Tool to get
a better view.
10. Use the Eraser Tool to correct any mistakes.
11. Use the Curve Line Tool to draw a tree with branches. Be sure to close off the ends of the
branches.
12. Draw a tree with the Pencil Tool.
13. Select the Fill Tool and choose a color from the Color Palette to fill the trunk of the tree. If the
color fills more than the tree, you have a hole somewhere. Use the Magnifying Tool to enlarge
the picture to find the gap. Use the Pencil Tool with black as the chosen color fill the gap.
14. Use the Line Tool to draw the horizon.
15. Select the Fill Tool to start filling the different areas of the drawing with the appropriate colors.
16. Select the Airbrush Tool to draw in the leaves on the tree. You can change the size of airbrush
at the bottom of the tool bar. Change colors in the Color Palette as you complete the picture.
Make a sun, clouds, smoke, leaves and flowers.
17. Use the Paintbrush Tool to draw the flower stems.
18. Select the text Tool to add an address next to the door and to sign your artwork.
19. Save your work.
Enjoy your masterpiece!