Tip of the week # 516
30 June 2017


Crop and resize images (Microsoft Paint) *

Microsoft Paint is a basic image creation and manipulation program that is part of all versions of Microsoft Windows. It lets you effortlessly crop and resize photos. When you crop photos you can cut off distracting or unwanted parts. Resizing images can help making them small enough for certain websites.

Here's how:

  1. Right-click the image and select Open with, followed by Paint.
  2. To crop, click on the Select button (not its drop-down arrow), drag the cursor around the area you want to capture and click the Crop button.
  3. To resize, click on the Resize button and change the resize dimensions.
  4. Press CTRL + S to save the modified image or select Save As from the drop-down button in the top left hand corner.

The dimensions you choose depend on whether your image is landscape (horizontal) or portrait (vertical). For example, the optimum image size on the Cambridge Network website (https://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/home/) is 550 x 400 pixels. If your image is landscape, choose 550 pixels horizontally and make sure the final version of the image is less than 400 pixels vertically. If your image is portrait, choose to make it 400 pixels high in the vertical box and ensure the width is no larger than 550 pixels. (With thanks to the editor of the Cambridge Network for today's tip inspiration.)

Oh, and if you're struggling to find Paint in your list of applications, simply press the WIN key and type paint.

Related tips:
Tip 386: Capture, edit, save and share snippets of your screen (tip_386.php)
Tip 513: Resize and position photos in SmartArt (tip_513.php)


* Unless stated otherwise, these tips were written for Microsoft Office 2010.