If you have Windows, you have Paint. It's simple, it's easy, and it's free. However, quite a few people don't like to use Paint. They think you can't do anything real good with Paint. Now, what I say is, if you have a better program...go for it! However, if you're like most of us...or at least like me...you don't have Photoshop and don't want to buy it. Now, this tutorial is for people who just don't know how to use Paint, and for those who only moderately know how to use Paint. Or for anyone who might want to learn a little more about it.
To begin, open Paint. This is the easiest part, you should be able to do this, but in case you don't know, click on Start, hover over All Programs, find your way to Accessories, and look! There it is. Paint. (Now click on it! There you go...)
Alright, first I'll walk you through all the things you can do with Paint. First, get to know the Tool Bar. It's the most important thing in Paint. Without it, you can do NOTHING!
You'll notice that at the moment you have the Pencil tool selected. The Pencil is only good for free drawing (don't ever do this for something professional. No matter how good you think you can free draw, you really can't!) and for laying single pixels. I hardly ever use it. If you've never done it before, just draw a few lines and stuff with it. Okay, moving on.
Next to the Pencil is the Paintbrush. I also don't use this often, but it can be pretty useful. First of all, notice that the once empty box now has something in it. This determines what exactly the brush will lay down when you click. Test it out for a while.
Under the Pencil is the Spraypaint tool. The box determines the size of the spray. Use it, and you'll see what it does. This is good for clouds, smoke, and spray such as water or blood. However, it may look...not done well.
Next is the Line tool. I use this a lot. Here you can select a varying line thickness. Note that any changes to the line thickness you make here effects the thickness of the line on any of the shape tools, such as the rectangle and the oval. The Line tool draws a single straight line of any length you drag it out to.
Next, the Curve tool. With this you make a straight line, and then click anywhere to make it curve towards the click. Then click once more, and it's set in stone! This isn't very useful, but it works when needed.
Now the Zoom tool. With this you can zoom to 200%, 600%, and 800%. Notice that if you are zoomed, then the default click will bring you back to 100% zoom. This is good for getting up close and personal.
Now the Fill tool. Here we should probably tell you about Primary Colors, and Secondary Colors. (No, I'm not talking color wheel or anything...I'm talking Color Box.) If you left click when using a tool, it will lay down the Primary selected color. If you
right click, however, it will lay down the Secondary selected color. With the Fill tool you can change one color into another. You simply click on the color you want to change, and every single pixel of the same color, as long as they touch (besides diagonally) change to the specified color. (Primary if you left click, Secondary if you right click...unless you changed your mouse setting, but whatever.)
Basically, it fills the area with the color you choose.
Now for the Rectangle. With this you always draw a
perfect rectangle. You'll notice the three settings in the box. The top one lays down just an outline. The second one lays down an outline with the primary (unless you right click, then it's the secondary) color, filled with the secondary (unless you right click, then it's the primary) color. The last one lays down just the pie filling, without the crust. The same is true with all the other shapes (oval, polygon, round rectangle)
The oval and round rectangle tools are self-explanatory, but the Polygon is just odd. Basically, say you want to make a shape that isn't one of the other tools. This makes any polygon. Polygon means it has at least three sides, is always closed (it will close itself, every time) and has no curves. Basically you drag out the first side, and then click at every point (vertex) of the shape you're making.
If you have fill selected, it will fill it automatically.
So what now...how about the Color selector? Also known as the eyedropper. Why? Who cares? This is for selecting colors that are not in your Color Box. (Well, okay, you can select colors that are in the box, but why?) Click on any color in the picture. Left click to make it primary, right click to make it secondary. This is how I found just the right pink in my signature. It wasn't in my color box, but it was in the picture I used. The color selector is great when you want matching colors.
Next, the most important tool of all (well...maybe not...) the Square Selection tool. All it does is select a square portion of the picture. Try it.
Now move it. Go on, move it! Yes, you see that annoying square? And the overlapping?
No matter what, when you select something and move it, it will always leave behind the secondary color underneath it. Also, everything you move, even the background color, will overlap everything else...on opaque mode. So, if you don't want that annoying secondary-color-square (in my example the white square) then change the secondary color to black (right click on black in the color box. Or whatever color you want "left behind."
Now look, you can also switch between "opaque" mode and "transparent" mode.
I almost always use the not opaque mode. In transparent mode (not opaque) your secondary color becomes transparent, in whatever you have selected. You can then move an object over something else, and the color of the something else will show through the secondary color areas in the selected object.
The Free Select tool does the same thing, only without the square. Look at the reasons for using this below.
The problem with free select is that the select line is so...thick. Anyway...now onto the eraser.
It's really quite simple. Pick a size, then drag it along. It will lay down whatever you have selected as your secondary color.
CONTINUED BELOW!