Educational Technology Center
212 Capen Hall - University at Buffalo - Buffalo, NY 14260
(716) 645-7700 etc@buffalo.edu

Using Microsoft Photo Editor

What is Photo Editor?

Photo Editor is a simple image editor that is included with Microsoft Office. You can scan images into Photo Editor and edit them, or you can edit preexisting images. With Photo Editor you can adjust color balance, rotate, crop, smudge, and set a transparent color in an image.

This workshop will show you how to scan with Photo Editor, and how to edit the scanned image.

How do I get Photo Editor?

Photo Editor is part of Microsoft Office. It is not installed by default. To install it when you install Office, you must choose Complete Install, then click on Office Tools, then Options. When the Options window opens, select Microsoft Photo Editor, and continue with the installation.

To install it after Office is installed, put your Office CD-ROM into the drive. If the disk doesn’t start by itself, double-click on My Computer, double-click on your CD-ROM drive, and then double-click on the file called setup.exe. This will start the installation interface. Click once on the Add/Remove Components button. Follow the steps in the above paragraph to select Photo Editor, and continue with the installation.

Using Photo Editor

As mentioned in the first paragraph, Photo Editor is a very simple image editing program. You can do very basic image editing with it. This workshop will touch on most of the things you can do with Photo Editor. Photo Editor will not do everything that you want it to, especially if you get into more complex image manipulation. You may find that you need to purchase a more robust program at that point. Adobe Photoshop is an industry standard, but can be very complicated. If you will be creating images solely for electronic presentation, such as Web pages, Adobe ImageReady or Macromedia Fireworks are good alternatives to Photoshop. They have fewer features and are more affordable and easier to learn than is Photoshop.

Scanning an Image

Please note that all scanner/computer/software setups are different. What you see in this workshop may or may not be what your computer will do. The instructions that follow are generic and will hopefully work on all systems. If you have any problems, please consult your scanner manual.

  1. Ensure that your scanner is turned on.
  2. Click on the scan button on the toolbar.
  3. Your scanning software will open and will probably do a preview scan of your image.
  4. When the preview scan is loaded, select the area you want to have in your final scan. You could eliminate unwanted backgrounds or objects at this point, focusing on the main object of the picture.
  5. If your scanning software allows, you should select your output type. If you’re scanning a color photo, you would select something like "true color" or "color photo." If you scanning a black and which line drawing, choose "black and white."
  6. When everything is set the way you want, make your final scan. The command for this will be different depending on your scanning software. Generally you’ll find the command under the File menu. It may be something like "Return to program" or "Place Image."
  7. The scanner will do its final scan. The scanning software will close, and you’ll see the picture appear in Photo Editor.

Editing the Image

For help on any option in Photo Editor, click the question mark button and then click the option you want help with.

To undo any option, click Ctrl-Z.

Select all or part of an image

Resize a selection

Do one of the following:

To otherwise resize an image:

  1. On the Image menu, click Resize.
  2. Enter the new width or height, or the percentage of the original.
  3. Select the other options you want to apply.

Rotate an image

To rotate an image 90 degrees clockwise:

To otherwise rotate an image:

  1. On the Image menu, click Rotate.
  2. Choose the options you want.
  3. If you select Arbitrary Angle, enter the number of degrees of rotation you want in the Angle box, and click the clockwise or counterclockwise option.

Zoom in or out of an image

You can change the magnification in two ways:

To zoom in, click the area you want to enlarge.

To zoom out, hold down SHIFT while you click.

Note: Each click doubles or halves the magnification within the range of 10 percent to 1600 percent.

Smudge part of an image

The Smudge Brush smears or blends adjacent colors as the brush is dragged across the image.

  1. On the Standard toolbar, click Smudge .
  2. Drag the pointer over the area you want to smudge.

Change the size and shape of the Smudge Brush

    1. On the Standard toolbar, right-click the Smudge button to bring up the Smudge Brush dialog box.
    2. Select the options you want.

Sharpen part of an image

The Sharpen Brush increases the difference between adjacent gray values as the brush is dragged across the image.

  1. On the Standard toolbar, click Sharpen .
  2. Drag the pointer over the area you want to sharpen.

Change the size and shape of the Sharpen Brush

    1. On the Standard toolbar, right-click Sharpen to bring up the Sharpen Brush dialog box.
    2. Select the options you want.

Create transparent areas in an image

You can use transparent areas to integrate an image into your document, presentation, or Web page. For instance, if you have an image of a person with a plain background, such as the sky or a wall, you can make the background color transparent. When the image is printed in a Word document, the background will have the color of the paper. In a PowerPoint presentation or Web page, the transparent area will have the color of the background.

  1. On the Standard toolbar, click the Set Transparent Color button.
  2. Position the tool over the color you want to make transparent, and click. The Change Color to Transparent dialog box appears.
  3. The preview window shows the color that will change to transparent when you click OK. You can modify the options to increase the range of colors that will become transparent or to change the degree of transparency.

Saving transparency in an image

Microsoft Photo Editor supports three file formats that save transparency: GIF, TIFF, and PNG. Transparency in an image is saved in two ways: as a transparent color or in an alpha channel.

GIF saves images as monochrome (line art) or 8-bit (grayscale or 256-color) images. GIF saves all transparency values by substituting a transparent color in place of the designated color. If you are concerned about loss of image data, use TIFF or PNG to save your image. If you prefer GIF and want to preserve all the image data, save a copy of your image in another format before saving transparency conversions in GIF.

TIFF saves images as monochrome, 8-bit, or 24-bit (true color) images. In 24-bit images, TIFF saves transparency in an alpha channel. For monochrome and 8-bit TIFF images, however, Photo Editor does not save transparency.

PNG saves images as 8-bit or 24-bit images. In 24-bit images, PNG saves transparency in an alpha channel. In 8-bit images, PNG substitutes a transparent color on the palette.

Note that Web browsers do not support TIFF images. You must save images as GIF, JPG, or PNG for the Web.

Adjust image quality automatically

You can automatically adjust the brightness and contrast levels of an image.

Adjust image quality manually

Adjust the brightness of an image

The Brightness control changes the amount of white in all colors and shades of gray.

      1. On the Standard toolbar, click the Image Balance button.
      2. Drag the Brightness slider to increase (100) or decrease (0) the brightness.

To adjust all colors, select All Colors in the lower-left list before dragging the slider. To adjust the color channels separately, select Red, Green, or Blue.

Adjust the contrast of an image

The Contrast control changes the difference between adjacent colors or shades of gray.

      1. On the Standard toolbar, click the Image Balance button.
      2. Drag the Contrast slider to increase (90) or decrease (0) the contrast.

To adjust all colors, select All Colors in the lower-left list before dragging the slider. To adjust the color channels separately, select Red, Green, or Blue.

Adjust the gamma of an image

The Gamma control changes the contrast in the dark areas of the image.

      1. On the Standard toolbar, click the Image Balance button.
      2. Drag the Gamma slider to increase (9.70) or decrease (0.10) the gamma.

To adjust all colors, select All Colors in the lower-left list before dragging the slider. To adjust color channels separately, select Red, Green, or Blue.

Crop an image

  1. Click the Select button on the Standard toolbar, and then drag over the area of your image you want to keep.
  2. On the Image menu, click Crop.
  3. Select the options you want.

Note: You can combine cropping and matting to create attractive framing effects.

Mat an image

  1. On the File menu, click Save As.
  2. In the Save as type box, click the file format type you want.

Change an image to true color, palette, grayscale, or monochrome

  1. On the File menu, click Properties.
  2. In the Type box, select a type from the list.
  3. If you selected Palette, click Custom, select the number of colors, and then click OK. If you selected Monochrome, click Custom, select the halftone options, and then click OK.

Change the resolution of an image

  1. On the File menu, click Properties.
  2. In the Resolution box, enter in the number you want. Images for the Web should be 72 dpi.
  3. Click OK.

Choose a palette of fewer than 256 colors

  1. On the File menu, click Properties.
  2. If your image is not 256-color, select Palette or 256 color in the Type box.
  3. Click Custom.
  4. For fewer than 256 colors, click Variable and enter the number in the Number of Colors box.

Note: The Standard palette type has 256 colors, which is the default setting for the Palette image type.

Apply special effects

The special effects are the first group of commands on the Effects menu.

  1. On the Effects menu, click the effect you want to apply.
  2. Adjust the controls.

Note: You can also apply an effect to part of an image by selecting the part you want to change and then applying the effect.

Apply artistic effects

The artistic effects are the second group of commands on the Effects menu.

  1. On the Effects menu, click the effect you want to apply.
  2. Adjust the controls.
  3. In the large Preview image, drag the preview frame over the part of the image you want to preview, and then click the Preview button.

Note: You can also apply an effect to part of an image by selecting the part you want to change and then applying the effect.

Educational Technology Center - 212 Capen Hall - University at Buffalo - Buffalo, NY 14260 - (716) 645-7700 - etc@buffalo.edu

 

Created Date: 02/26/2002  Last Reviewed: 02/26/2002  Rev. Date: