Microsoft have for sometime included some free image software in their operating systems.

Now it does not have the flexibility or power of software like SnagIt (by Techsmith) or Photoshop (by Adobe) BUT its free and very useful.

Image cropping simply means "chopping" part of a picture off.

There are times when you perhaps take a picture with your digital camera and you have too much background - all you want is the persons standing in the middle of the shot.

...so you can use image cropping to remove the person from the rest of the photo and create a new image!

To do this cheaply you can use Microsoft Paint.

...follow these simple instructions:

Step One

Go to your START MENU and select ALL PROGRAMS then ACCESSORIES and then PAINT.

This will then launch Microsoft Paint.

Step Two

Click on the FILE drop down menu and choose OPEN.

When the OPEN window appears use this to navigate to the photo you wish to use. Once you have found it click the OPEN button and the image will now appear in Microsoft Paint.

Step Three

Maximize Microsoft Paint so that you can see as much of the photo as possible. If needed, depending on the size of your photo, use the horizontal and vertical scroll bars to position the area you want to crop.

Step Four

Now choose the SELECT button on the left hand toolbar - see the RED arrow.

Now look at the area of the image you want to crop and start at the top left of the area (see the YELLOW arrow) and holding the LEFT button down on your mouse and drag the SELECT AREA down to the bottom RIGHT of the area you wish to crop.

When you are happy with the selection let go of the mouse button. The area you have selected to crop will now be shown with a dotted line around it - as in the image below.

If you make a mistake simply start again and re-draw the selection area.

Step Five

Now you have selected the area you wish to crop, we need to save it as a separate image.

On the FILE drop down menu choose EDIT then select COPY TO and then choose a location of where you wish to save the new image. Remember to give it a name you can remember.

Click the SAVE button to save the image.

Now you can use Windows Explorer to locate the image and see the finish results.

If you wish to save to using other formats or add arrows or lots of other objects to an image then consider using SnagIt from www.techsmith.com

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Kind Regards

Marc Liron - Bio
Microsoft Digital Media MVP
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This page was last updated 29th May 2006

Image Cropping In Windows XP

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