Whether you enjoy digitally doodling around or take your electronic art seriously, a couple of programs on your computer can help you turn your artwork into picture graphics. Use these graphics on your website, as your chat avatar, to print out as greeting cards or fliers or to start a portfolio of work. Creating picture graphics can be as simple as a couple of clicks through a sketching software program or as intricate as your artistic side desires.
Instructions
1. Open Paint, pull down the "Image" menu and click "Attributes." Set the picture dimensions to your preferred size, such as 8.5 inches by 11 inches for a whole page, and click the "OK" button. Click the "Paintbrush" tool and select the medium round brush head. Choose a paint color from the "Color Picker" at the bottom of the screen. Draw the outline of a graphic, such as a shamrock, wine glass or sports ball. Click the "Paint Bucket" tool and then click inside the graphic, which fills with the same color. Click the "Pencil" tool, switch to a new paint color and add designs and accents to the graphic, giving it fine details.
2. Create a picture graphic in Photoshop by pulling down the "File" menu and clicking "New." Name the file "MyPicture" and setting the size, such as 8 inches by 8 inches. Pull down the "Mode" menu and select "RGB Color." Click the "White" button in the "Contents" section and click the "OK" button; a blank white canvas opens. Click the "Shape" tool, which may look like a hollow rectangle, hollow circle, line or solid star. Pull down the "Shape" menu at the top of the screen and select a graphic, such as a heart or cloud. Position your cursor at the top left corner of the "MyPicture" box and drag it down to the bottom right; the shape appears and fills in with color. Click the "Paint Bucket" tool, pull down the "Fill" menu and select "Pattern." Click inside the "Pattern" box and select a design, such as tie-dye or checkerboard. Click your cursor inside the graphic you just drew, which fills in with the pattern.
3. Design a picture graphic with Publisher's selection of ready-made clip art by opening the program and clicking "Blank Print Publication." A standard size page of paper opens; to change the size, pull down the "File" menu, click "Page Setup," scroll to "Custom," input new dimensions and click "OK." Pull down the "Insert" menu, click "Picture" and select "Clip Art." Pull down the "Results should be" menu. Check the "Clip Art" box for a cartoon-like graphic, check the "Photographs" box for a realistic graphic or check both. Type a word or phrase, such as "cherries," "ping pong" or "cat" into the "Search for" box and click "Go." Scroll through the results and double-click a graphic; it appears on the Publisher workspace. Grab a corner of the picture and shrink it or enlarge it to fit the space. Add more graphics as space allows.
