Windows Paint
has all the colors of crayons but without the mess.
Teaching your kids to use a computer to color pictures will keep crayons out of the house, thereby keeping your walls clean. You will also save money from not buying crayons, paper and coloring books. This method allows you to draw your own black and white pictures, scan them to your computer and color them using Windows Paint. The Paint program comes packaged with every computer that has a Windows operating system. Windows Paint will help you and your children learn about photo editing and graphic design.
Instructions
1. Scan the black and white drawing and save the file to your computer. Consult your scanner's user guide for directions.
2. Locate the scanned copy of the black and white drawing and right click it. Then select "Open With" on the menu that appears. This will prompt a new menu.
3. Select "Windows Paint" from the menu of programs to open your black and white picture.
4. Select a color you want to use from the color options in the lower left corner. You can change colors at any time by clicking on the color you desire. You can also customize your colors. Double-click on any color to bring up the "Edit Colors" menu. Click on the available color that most resembles the color you want to create and click the "Define Custom Colors" button. This will prompt a menu to appear where you will find multiple columns of colors. Click on this menu to select a color. Clicking higher on the color will saturate the color, while clicking lower will fade the color. Use the color bar on the right to further saturate or fade the color. Clicking lower on this bar will deepen the color, while clicking higher will fade the color. Clicking too low will blacken the color. Once you are satisfied with your customized color, click "Add to Custom Colors" and then click "OK."
5. Click on the paintbrush icon and select the shape of paintbrush to use when coloring your picture. There are many shapes to choose from, and you can switch between them to suit your coloring needs as they change.
6. Left-click the mouse and, while holding down the left mouse button, move the mouse around the screen in the areas you want colored. If you make a mistake, click on the eraser icon and then click and hold the left mouse button while you move the mouse over the areas you want to erase.
7. Click" File" and then click "Save" if you would like to save your finished picture.
