Paint – Microsoft’s free image program that comes with Windows- has a few tricks that Microsoft doesn’t want you to know about. Well, at least it seems that way because these functions aren’t on any of the tool menus. But I’m going to show you where they are.
Now, we’ve already covered a lot of tips and tricks for using Paint in previous articles. If you haven’t read them yet, click here to learn about all that Paint can do for you.
We’ll start out assuming you already know how open or create an image in paint. If not, check out the previous tutorials mentioned above. Now let’s learn a few tricks.
1. Stamp Tool
This trick allows you to take pixels from one part of the image and copy them somewhere else. Let’s begin with an image I took of a country church on a visit to my hometown in Southern Ohio. I’ve opened this image in Paint.
What I’d like to do is remove the power lines in front of the church. First, we’ll zoom in on the image by selecting the magnifying glass icon from the menu at the top.
Then select the area where we wish to zoom in.
Left-click on the mouse button once to begin to zoom in.
And just keep clicking to get as close as you want. To Zoom out, right-click.
Choose the select tool from the top menu.
You can choose either rectangular or free-form for the shape.
Here, we’ve chosen a rectangular shape from the siding of the church to cover up the power lines.
Now, hold down the Ctrl key, left-click the mouse and move the portion of the image you’ve selected to where you’d like to paste it and release the mouse button.
You can paste a selection multiple times as long as you keep control depressed. You can select other portions of the image to copy as well.
The power lines are gone from part of the image here. I’ll admit this is not the best stamping job. If you really took your time and were selective about which portions of the siding to clone, it would look a lot sharper.
It’s also a useful tool for taking people you’d rather forget about out of photos.
You can also use it to add images.
I copied a bat with the free hand selection tool and stamped it in other places in the image.
Enjoy experimenting with Paint!
~ Cynthia
Hi Cynthia,
You’ve taken comparatively circuitous route. I would use the ‘Rubber’ tool for these changes.
In either method, one also encounters a white patch appearing for the removed portion.
I love the the hand left on the lady’s left arm after the removal of the gentleman standing next to her!
Thing from the Adams Family was paying a visit…
ilove too
Why is that ‘stamp’ thing in Windows Paint any different than the clone brush in PSP7? Maybe I’m missing something? Thanks.
It’s basically the same thing. But MS Paint doesn’t have a clone or stamp tool option.
Cynthia
you never told us how remove images.
Same process as removing the wires from the church.
ok, but when you say “move the portion of the image you’ve selected to where you’d like to paste it” what do you mean by that?
Gary
Once you’ve selected a portion of the image you wish to copy, move your cursor to where you want to paste that portion of the image and click the mouse button.
I never tried that Paint program in my Windows but have used PSP since V8 and love the clone tool, also the eraser tool words great in PSP.
your images have all disappeared.