Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Windows® XP Media Center®

■ Create a Cutout—Want to get creative?

Try using the cutout tool to trim away the

background. Then insert a new back-

ground photo, or create a shape to place

behind your cutout. The only limit now is

your imagination!

Adding Text or Shapes to Your

Photos

Picture It! enables you to add graphics and text,

and so on, to your images via the Add Something

menu item. Choices include the following options:

■ Text—This full-featured text tool lets you type a caption or greeting directly

into your image. Simply click and type. You can reposition the text box by

dragging it, in addition to resizing, stretching, or skewing it. Just click and

drag any handle to get the desired effect (see Figure 20.7).

CHAPTER 20 CUSTOMIZING THE MY PICTURES EXPERIENCE WITH PICTURE IT!

271

tip

You may want to use the

Soft Edges effect (see

“Adding Edges, Frames, and

Mats”) in conjunction with

the cutout tool to subtly blur

the edges and produce a

better blending effect in

your final image.

FIGURE 20.7

As shown in this

example, you

can easily tilt

the text, change

font styles, and

even vary text

colors to achieve

the look you

want.

■ Shaped Text—This feature allows you to

add text to your photo in a geometric

shape so that the letters conform to the

shape of a triangle, a circle, an arrow, or

other shapes. The addition of shaped text,

such as the arch-shaped greeting shown

in Figure 20.8, can enhance and comple-

ment the shape of the image’s subject.

■ Shape or Lines—Use this feature to add

a standard drawing object, such as a line

or shape, by choosing it from the Picture

It! gallery. Or choose one of the Draw

options to create a custom line or shape on

your image.

■ Picture from the Gallery/

My Computer/Scanner/

Digital Camera—These options allow

you to insert another image, which you

can blend with the existing image in vari-

ous ways. Choose the source of your image

(the Picture It! Gallery, another folder on your PC, or a scanner or digital

camera), and then choose some of the other actions described in this chapter

to adjust and blend the images.

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ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER

FIGURE 20.8

In this example,

the cutout tool

was used to

remove the

background,

which was

replaced by a

custom shape

with a gradient

fill.

tip

When you first insert the

new image, Picture It! tends

to plaster it on top of your

existing image. Your first step

will probably be to reorder

the objects on your screen

by right-clicking on the top

image, selecting Move Forward or

Backward, and then choosing an

option such as Send to Back. This

will reveal your original image in

front of the new image you just

added. Then you can select the

object you want to change, and

go to work on it.