Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows XP in 24 Hours

By Greg Perry

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Wake Up with Windows XP
  • Hour 1. Taking a Bird's-Eye Look at Windows XP
  • Hour 2. Getting Started with Windows XP
  • Hour 3. Managing the Windows XP Interface
  • Part II: Morning Windows Desktop Exploration
  • Hour 4. Working with the My Computer Window
  • Hour 5. Navigating Files with Windows Explorer
  • Hour 6. Calling for Help
  • Hour 7. Improving Your Windows Desktop Experience
  • Part III: Early Afternoon Windows Exploration
  • Hour 8. Installing Programs with Windows XP
  • Hour 9. Finding Files, Folders, and Friends
  • Hour 10. Using the Desktop Accessories
  • Part IV: Late Afternoon Internet Integration
  • Hour 11. Surfing the Web with Internet Explorer
  • Hour 12. Tying Windows into the Web
  • Hour 13. Networking with Windows XP
  • Hour 14. Managing E-mail and Newsgroups with Outlook Express
  • Part V: An Evening with Advanced Windows
  • Hour 15. Exploring Your Hardware Interface
  • Hour 16. Understanding Printing and Fonts
  • Hour 17. Using Windows on the Road
  • Hour 18. Giving Windows XP a Tune-Up
  • Hour 19. Managing Your Hard Drives
  • Hour 20. Tinkering with the Advanced System Tools
  • Part VI: Having Fun at Nighttime
  • Hour 21. Using Media Player
  • Hour 22. Picturing Windows XP Graphics
    • Reasons for Using Digital Images
    • The Scanners and Cameras Window
    • Working Inside My Pictures
    • You Can Store Digital Images on CDs
    • Internet Explorer's Image Toolbar
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 23. Making Movies with Windows XP
  • Hour 24. Advanced Windows XP Tips
  • Part VII: Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Differences Between the Windows Home and Professional Edition
  • Appendix B. Glossary
  • Appendix C. Answers to Quizzes

Working Inside My Pictures

Although your captured image will appear, by default, in the My Pictures window, and the My Pictures window appears right after you capture an image, you can always return to the My Pictures window from your Windows XP Start menu by selecting My Pictures. All of your pictures appear in the window as thumbnail (miniaturized) pictures, and any image you click to select appears in the enlarged area so you can work with that image.

The following To Do item explains how to work with a picture inside the My Pictures window.

To Do: Working with the My Pictures Window

1. Open the My Pictures window.
2. Select a folder, such as the Pictures folder, and click on an image to select it and to enlarge the image in the preview area.
3. Table 22.1 explains what each control under the enlarged image does. You can practice zooming into an image, for example, by clicking one of the Zoom buttons.

Table 22.1. Controls Within the My Pictures Window

4. To capture additional pictures, you can request the capture wizard once again, directly from the My Pictures window, by selecting the option labeled Get Pictures from Scanner or Camera.
5. You can set up selected pictures from the My Pictures window to appear as a slide show, one displaying after another, by selecting the option labeled View as a Slide Show. When you select this option, your screen will go blank, the first image will appear, and the image's size will consume your entire screen. A set of mouse controls appears in the upper-right corner of the screen that you can click to pause the slide show, return to previously viewed images, and close the slide show.
6. When you select the option labeled Order Prints from the Internet, a wizard begins prompting you through screens, such as the one in Figure 22.4. These screens ask which online processing service you want to order from and then that service's own wizard downloads to collect information from you about the order options, payment, and so on. Microsoft plans to add to the initial group of companies and, with an Internet connection, you'll always see the latest services.
   

   Figure 22.4 Order prints from your digital images from the Internet services available.

7. The Print Pictures option does more than the typical File, Print command inside other Windows XP windows and applications. A wizard begins when you select Print Pictures that helps you format and print your digital images the way you want them to appear. The wizard walks you through the selection of printers and paper. You then can select the kind of layout you want your images to take on, as shown in Figure 22.5.

   

   Figure 22.5 Specify exactly how you want your printed images to appear.

   As you select layouts, the image preview adjusts to show you how the printed picture will look with that selected layout. When you click Next, the image prints.

8. The option labeled Set as Desktop Background enables you to select an image and use it for your Windows XP wallpaper. After selecting this option, when you close all your open windows, you'll see the image in the background where your original Windows XP desktop wallpaper used to be.

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