Printing images

In this Computing Guide, Kai Chandler controls the size of printed images using Paint Shop Pro.

I recently emailed an image taken on a digital camera to a friend who asked how to print it in a certain size.

Uncertain of the details of the image file, I loaded it into top graphics shareware Paint Shop Pro v 7 for examination. The original image was 425 x 425 pixels (picture elements or dots) but my friend wanted to frame it and required it to be 100x150 mm when printed.

A two step operation was needed: first to crop the image into the right shape, and then to resize it to print correctly.

To crop to the right shape, select the crop icon on the vertical toolbar at the left of the screen. Drag it over the area you want to keep, while holding the mouse button down. To remove the remainder, select Crop from the Image menu (or press Shift-R)

To resize it to print correctly, select Resize from the Image menu (or press Shift-S) to display the Resize window. Here, ensure that you have a check (tick) mark in the box to maintain aspect ratio - that's the ratio between width and height. If you do not do this, the final image will be distorted. Select Actual/Print size and change one of the sizes to suit. Notice how the other dimension adjusts automatically because you have chosen to maintain aspect ratio.

Now, when you print the image, it should be both of the correct shape and size.

A simpler way, if you don't need to crop the image, is to use Microsoft Word. To do this, first Insert Picture from File by using the Insert menu. Then, when you have the image displayed, right click the image and select Format Picture. Here you can set the Height or the Width of the picture and print it.

Kai Chandler reviews top tools for family friendly surfing at www.surfcontrols.com