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Microsoft Paint: Tools
Airbrush Tool  |
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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. |
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| Here's an example of some airbrush work. I used the airbrush to do the waves. |
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Microsoft Paint: Tools
Text tool  |
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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 to set 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 you’ve 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, you’ll have to use the text tool several times, with different settings each time. This means you’ll 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 pieces of text around, and this can be quite tedious. Remember to use theUndo command if you make a mistake, by pressing Ctrl-Z.
As long as the text tool is active, you’ll 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 you’re 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 can’t be edited or moved as though a distinct object in the image. |
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Example: |
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Here's some samples of text created by the Text Tool in various colors, fonts, sizes, and styles. Notice that these words are just graphics; if you try to highlight them with the mouse to Copy them, you'll find that you can't do it. This is because the text in Paint is not "live" once it has been put into the image. |
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Microsoft Paint: Tools
Line Tool  |
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The Straight Line tool is pretty easy to work with. You can change the color and width of your lines by using the Toolbar Options. All you have to do to draw a line is click on the image where you want one of the line’s endpoints to be, then drag over to where you want the other endpoint to be. Then release the button. Easy! But the lines can only be straight. |
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Example: |
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| Here's some lines in varying colors and thicknesses. |
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| Tip: As with many of the other tools in Paint, holding down the Shift key constrains the Line Tool to making horizontal, vertical, or 45-degree angle diagonal lines. |
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