Make Your Pics More Pinteresting - Part 4 - Cropping

Hi. Welcome. I am so very happy that you decided to stop by for a visit.

This is part three of a series where I explain how to use Word to manipulate your photos to make them Pinteresting. Or really just for fun.

If you missed week one, please click HERE or week two - Removing the Background please click HERE. Week three – Adding Text, HERE.

As a recap:

When it comes to photos or images, Microsoft Word and Paint have all the features I need.  I’ve used to these programs so I was glad to be able to find a laptop that at least had the Starter version already installed. Buying Office Premium is on my list.

Realistically though the program does not cost too much. Plus you can work on your blog off line which can come in handy if for some reason your internet is not cooperating with you.

So, for all those bloggers out there who also have Word and Paint, or are considering getting those programs, I am going to show you what they can do.

Today we are cropping a picture. Sometimes there are elements in the photo that are wanted or needed and should be cropped out to focus on the important stuff.

So here we go.

Insert a Picture

Insert a picture. Click on the Insert tab then on the Picture icon. Find your picture and open.

This is the picture that I will be using.

Cropping

I want to crop out the pink case from my picture.

Click on your picture to select it. When you do this a new tab appears at the top of the window that says Picture Tools, Format. Click on that tab.

Diagram 3 depicts the Picture Tools Tab. Look over to the far right. Do you see the Crop icon? Good. Now click on it.

Do you see the lines on the pictures corner and in the middle of each side. See Diagram 4.

In this example, it is pretty easy to remove the unwanted parts. I put the curser on the middle black lines and pulled the whole side over and removed all of the pink case. I did this to all four sides. You can still see the unwanted parts of the photo but it is greyed out. See Diagram 5.

Once you click somewhere on the screen away from the picture the greyed out section disappears revealing your newly cropped photo. See Diagram 6.

If you look at Diagram 6, you will see the other cropping options. You can crop to shapes. See Diagram 7.

That's about it for now. Those are the most commonly used cropping options.

If you have any questions, I would be happy to help out.

Next week I'll show you how to make a collage of your photos.

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Thank you Debi and Charly for featuring my post at your party.

To see the other features, please click HERE.

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Thank you for featuring my post at your party.

To see the other features, please click HERE.

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Well thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. 

And don't forget to stop by my Etsy Shop, Little Shop of Treasures or check out a few other posts.

If you would like to receive my blog updates please subscribe via email or follow me on Twitter, Pinterest or Blog Lovin.

I look forward to reading your comments. Make my day and leave one! 

Pinteresting - Part 3 - Adding Text to Your Photo

Hi. Welcome. I am so very happy that you decided to stop by for a visit.

This is part three of a series where I explain how to use Word to manipulate your photos to make them Pinteresting. Or really just for fun.

If you missed week one, please click HERE or week two please click HERE.

Recap

When it comes to photos or images, Microsoft Word and Paint have all the features I need.  I am familiar with these programs so I was glad to be able to find a laptop that at least had the Starter version already installed. Buying Office Premium is on my to do list.

Realistically though the program does not cost too much. Plus you can work on your blog off line which can come in handy if for some reason your internet is not cooperating with you.

So, for all those bloggers out there who also have Word and Paint, or are considering getting those programs, I am going to show you what they can do.

Today we are adding text to a picture. I think the techy term is add a layer.

So here we go.

Insert a Picture

Click on the Insert tab then on the Picture icon. Find your picture and insert.

This is the picture that I will be using.

Just give me a minute to remove the background and make it black and add a border.

Insert Text

Let’s add a few words.

Click on the Insert Tab at the top of the window.

Click on the icon that says Text Box.

Now you will have a few options to choose from but I just go right down to the bottom and click on Draw Text Box. Diagram 1.

Your little pointer will look like a cross. So just right click and pull the mouse to make your text box. See mine in Diagram 2.

Okay, think of something clever to write and type it in. Sorry, I’m not so clever. I`ll just write Peek a Boo.

Format Text

I don’t want my text box to have a background so I need to change it. Click on the text box.

Go to:

• Drawing Tools,
• Format, 
• Shape Fill,
• No Fill

See Diagram 5.

Because my picture background is black and the text is black you can’t see my clever words. I need to change the colour of the font.

Double click inside the text box to highlight the lettering. Go to Home. Select the colour you want. I’m picking white because it is a nice contrast to the background. See Diagram 6.

Grouping

Lastly you want the picture and text to act as one. Right now if you move your picture the text will stay right where it is. You need to group them.

Click on your picture. Hold the shift key with your left hand and click on the text box with the mouse. Now both picture and text are highlighted.

Go to:

• Picture Tools Format,
• Group
• Group

No I did not stutter. Check out Diagram 7 to see exactly where you should be clicking.

Now you have successfully added text to your photo and grouped the two together. Congratulations. Now that wasn`t so hard was it?

Well that’s it for another week. 

Now you know how to add text to your picture. Oh, and you know how to group separate items. I guess you got a bonus this week. LOL. 

Until next time, best wishes, Darlene

You won't want to miss next week's post. I’ll have a tutorial ready for you about cropping pictures.

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Thank you so much Katie for featuring my post on your blog. I am very grateful.

If you would like to see the other features please click HERE.

***************************

Well thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. 

And don't forget to stop by my Etsy Shop, Little Shop of Treasures or check out a few other posts.

If you would like to receive my blog updates please subscribe via email or follow me on Twitter, Pinterest or Blog Lovin.

I look forward to reading your comments. Make our day and leave one! We all learn and grow together when we share!

Make Your Pics Pinteresting - Part Two - Remove Background

Hi. Welcome. I am so very happy that you decided to stop by for a visit.

This is part two of a series where I explain how to use Word to manipulate your photos to make them Pinteresting. Or really just for fun.

If you missed last week’s post please click HERE.

As a recap:

I’ve read quite a few blog posts lately with instructions for PicMonkey. It seems to be very popular with most bloggers.

I personally haven’t used it. When it comes to photos or images, Microsoft Word and Paint have all the features I need.  I’ve used these programs for a lot of years so I was glad to be able to find a laptop that at least had the Starter version already installed.

So, for all those bloggers out there who also have Word and Paint, or are considering getting those programs, I am going to show you what they can do.

Today we are removing the background from a picture.

There are several reasons you may want to get rid of a pictures background or actually change it. Maybe there are too many distractions from your center of interest. Maybe you want more impact or less.

Anyway, I’m sure you’ll have a reason to get rid of it. So here we go.

Insert a Picture 

Click on the Insert tab then on the Picture icon. Find your picture and insert.

This is the picture I’ll be working with.

Remove Background

Select your photo by clicking on it once. 

You will see a new tab appear at the top of the page that says Picture Tools and Format.

In the left corner is the Remove Background button. Click on it.

Your photo and screen will look like Diagram 3. 

You will need to make a few adjustments to customize your photo.

As you can see I need to remove some areas and add some in.

I start by pulling the frame of the picture out to the edge of the photo as seen in Diagram 4. 

Now you will mark areas right on your picture that you want to keep and other areas to discard. 

Look at the top left of the window. There are plus and minus signs. 

Click on the plus sign to add more areas to keep. Then click on the area you want to keep on your photo.

Do the same with the minus sign.

Diagram 5 to see the plus and minus signs that I had to add to my photo to get the areas I wanted removed.

Click anywhere away from your picture to see what it looks like. 

If you need to make adjustments then go back and click on the Remove Background button to remove or add to your picture. 

You can even delete a mark when you have to.

Now what? You have no background. There are a couple of things we can do. 

Add a Border

The first is to put a border around the picture – it looks a little weird right now.

• Click on your picture to select it.
• Click on the Picture Tools Format tab.
• You have loads of options here.
• Picture styles. I’m just selecting the simple black frame for now. See Diagram 7.
• Picture Borders. See Diagram 7 & 8.
• Color
• Weight
• Dashes
• Picture Effects. See Diagram 8.

Insert a Background

Oh boy. Look what I did. I was only going to show you how to remove the background in your photo but I have also showed you how to add a new background and add a border. Sorry about that. Maybe next time I will be able to keep to the topic that I choose. No wonder it takes me so long to write a blog post. I go over board with the information.

Was that too much info for one post?

Well that's it for this week's tutorial. Next week I'll show you how to add text to your image.

What program do you use?

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I was featured at Momma’s Meandering Mondays 33.

Co-host, Lydia, from  Lydia’s Flexitarian Kitchen chose this as her favorite!

Saying, “Most of us are familiar with Office software, but I wonder how many know just what it’s capable of? I rarely used MS Word for more than typing a memo, so to find out I could use it to edit photos like a boss was exciting.”

Thank you so much Lydia, for making my day.

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A great big thank you goes out to the hosts of the Four Seasons Blog Hop for featuring this post.

As always, I am grateful and thrilled.

Check out their sites:

• Terri/Shawna - Easy Life Meal & Party Planning 
• Betty - Loosing My Gut While Gaining My Insanity
• Kenneth - Guai Shu Shu
• Lynn - Turnips2Tangerines
• Sandra - Scruptilicious4You 

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Well thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. 

And don't forget to stop by my Etsy Shop, Little Shop of Treasures or check out a few other posts.

If you would like to receive my blog updates please subscribe via email or follow me on Twitter, Pinterest or Blog Lovin.

I look forward to reading your comments. Make our day and leave one! We all learn and grow together when we share!