In Paint

Lots of big photos coming up!

Several of you have asked how I manipulate photos to test colors and placement.  I have no idea what equipment is required to do those YouTube videos and show you, but that would be fun!  So here's the best I can do.  A few screen shots for the basics.

 

The more I looked at the Heart, I was concerned that the blue bird was too close to the middle cleavage (or whatever you call that dip in the center).  So I took the photo, opened in Paint, and rotated the bird horizontal so the tail would be out of the way.  Here's how.

 

First, right click on your photo from it's current location (Pictures folder, Photo Gallery, camera file) and choose Open with ..... Paint.  If the photo is too large, click on VIEW at the top menu and then  .. zoom out. 

On the Paint HOME page, click on SELECT (you can't copy or paste without it).  Your little cursor cross can then be positioned in the top corner area of what you want to change.  Hold your left button/touchpad while dragging the cross around the area, let go. The dotted lines around the bird indicate the "selection". 

 

  Once you let go, move the cursor into the selection area, right click .....COPY.  Then right click .. PASTE.  Your selection will appear in the top left.  Don't touch anything or it will stick.  Move the cursor into the paste and drag it to (hold down mouse/touchpad) where you want.

 

Let go (lift off) when positioned, move out of the area, and click to finish the move.  Not right?  Just hit the top left blue BACK arrow and start over.  You can hit it several times to go back even further to remove prior actions.  You can also just hold the mouse/touchpad and drag your selection to the new location WITHOUT right clicking for copy and paste, but that area will then be a vacant spot of white. 

 

 

You can also select an area of linen to copy and paste over an area to block out any stitching.  This is mostly how I removed the diamond shapes in the original chart, some were covered with the brush option. 

But regardless of how messy the work is, you can get a sense of the changes before actually stitching, and determine if they are a good or bad idea.  Many times, the new move will not cover an area completely and a small selection of bare linen can be pasted to hide it.

 

In this case, I wanted to rotate the bird so after making the selection with the cursor, I clicked ROTATE on the menu, and chose FLIP HORIZONTAL, which did just that.  You can continue choosing the position to rotate before you anchor it.  Not right?  Just hit that blue arrow and start again. 

 

When you are finished, you will have the option to save the photo.  IF YOU DO, your original is gone and you have the changed photo.  But.  The thing to do - click FILE, SAVE AS, JPEG picture, and just add a number or letter to the original file name when the box opens, and then save.  That way, you keep the original and also created a new file with the changes.

And keep in mind - you can close the entire page and choose DON'T SAVE, which will go back to the start.  Remember that clicking the blue arrow to go back will remove any errors or changes you want to do over before ending your work. 

 

I wanted it over more, and also the brown bird, so I selected and moved both to the right.  There will be overlaps and such but it will give a general idea as to whether the changes you are considering will work.   And because I did this, I can see now it will be much better for the heart shape giving me more space for the center cut, worth the time to remove and restitch. 

 

 

I hope this explains the Paint method I use, maybe one day I'll be a FlossTube star and show you more detail .

 

This also works for changing colors, but not as easily. Same method if you have an area of the color you are considering, with small copy and paste sections.  Otherwise, you must use the brush menu, edit the colors, and it takes a while.

 

Did I make it harder or easier for you to try??

 Or was it a big snooze fest?

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