In: Root » Computers and technology » Windows XP » Photo Printing Wizard in Windows XP
To use the Photo Printing Wizard: 1. Choose Start -> My Pictures. This opens a copy of Windows Explorer with the My Pictures folder in the right pane and task list commands in the left pane. 2. Select the picture you want to print, and then click the wizard’s Print This Picture command. This starts the Photo Printing Wizard. The wizard displays a “welcome” page. Ho hum. 3. Click Next. The wizard displays thumbnails of the pictures in the folder. Above each picture is a check box. The picture you selected has its check box checked, indicating that this picture will be printed. You can select additional pictures to make the wizard print more than one at a time. 4. Click Next. The wizard displays a panel of printing options. This panel lets you select the printer to use (if you have more than one printer). The Printing Preferences button opens a dialog box that lets you set options such as the type of paper you’re printing on, the level of print quality you want, and whether to print in black-and-white or color. The options displayed depend on the type of printer you have. 5. Click Next. The wizard displays a page that lets you select a layout and set the number of times to print each picture You can choose among a full-page layout (one print per page) and several options that put two or more smaller pictures on a page. The latter options are useful if you selected several images or told the wizard to print a picture more than once. 6. Click Next. The wizard displays a panel with a progress bar while it prints and then displays a panel that says it is finished. 7. Click Finish to close the wizard. The Windows Explorer View menu lets you select several different views of your pictures. The Thumbnails view and the Filmstrip view are particularly useful. Try both to see which you prefer. The plain old Details view is not quite so plain in the My Pictures folder. It displays some additional information that you may find useful: the date each picture was taken, if recorded, and the dimensions of the picture in pixels. When your pictures are in the My Pictures folder, you can organize them any way you want. For example, you can put them in one folder for “Vacations,” one for “The Kids,” one for “Blackmail” (just kidding), and so forth. You can create two or more levels of folders if you want. As long as you keep your folders inside the My Pictures folder, they inherit the My Pictures folder’s task lists, and they show the same additional information in the Details view. Advanced printing softwareThe Photo Printing Wizard is okay for making an unmodified print of an entire picture. But suppose you want to print just part of a family portrait to omit the rude gesture one of your kids was making? Or suppose the light in your back yard made Aunt Gertrude’s face look a little green, and you want to make the color balance more flattering? Want to chop your ex’s head off? It’s easier than you think. The wizard can’t do those things, but many commercial photo printing programs can. If you’re interested in capabilities like these, look into programs like Adobe Photoshop (the professional’s choice), Microsoft Picture-It, PaintShop Pro, MGI Software’s PhotoSuite, and Ulead PhotoImpact. Troubleshooting Here are some suggestions to try if you have a problem with one of the procedures described in this article: - I plugged my camera into the computer, but the Scanner and Camera Wizard doesn’t believe it’s there. Be sure the cable is secure at both ends, the camera is turned on, and its batteries are charged. If your camera’s controls must be set a certain way to permit a transfer, be sure they are set. If you haven’t used this camera with Windows XP before, be sure it’s on the Windows XP hardware compatibility list. If it isn’t, install and use the file transfer application provided with the camera. - I displayed the My Pictures folder in Windows Explorer, but the left pane doesn’t show the Picture Tasks list just the usual map of my folders. Exit Windows Explorer and start it again directly from the Start menu. (Choose Start -> My Pictures.) This is the easiest way to make it display the Picture Tasks list. - My pictures look pretty good on the screen, but when I print them they look awful. The quality of many color inkjet printers leaves a lot to be desired, but here are some things you can do that may help: • Use the highest quality settings available: Superior will produce a much better image than Normal. • Use an appropriate paper. Paper formulated for printing photos on inkjet printers is best. Any coated (glossy) paper is likely to work better than ordinary printer paper. Photo-quality paper produces the best results of all. • Be sure you have a photo printer. Many older color inkjet printers are designed for printing things like business charts, with large areas of solid color. They can’t handle the subtle gradations of a photograph very well. - This is fascinating, and I want more information about one of the topics you discussed. See the answer to the next question. - I’m totally confused! Lots of information about digital photography is available on the Internet. One good place to start looking is www.zdnet.com. Enter a topic like “digital camera” in the Search dialog box and see what the site comes up with. For easy-to-read background information, look for the “Quick Start guides.” |
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