Microsoft Paint file types

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mayayana
  • Start date Start date
M

Mayayana

|
| And for real power Gimp (free)

I've been waiting for v. 2.8 to come out, hoping that it
will be worth trying. I thought it was due last winter. As I
understand it, they're *finally* going to create an MDI UI,
rather than the existing design of having separate tool
windows just floating all over the Desktop.
 
Using WinXP. In Microsoft Paint, the default file type for saving an image
is .bmp. Is there a way to change the default to .jpg so I don't have to
keep choosing it?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne
 
Better yet, don't use MSPaint. There are lots of free
programs around. MSPaint is barebones. It won't even
let you choose the level of compression when saving
to JPG. The reason to use JPG is to get a smaller file.
(Or, occasionally, to send a picture to an Apple Seed
who can't read BMPs.)

There's little advantage to JPG if you can't even control
the file size/quality ratio. In the same vein, one
should never save to JPG until the final operation. In
other words, if you want to work on an image or edit
a photo, save as something "lossless" like BMP until
such time as you want to have a smaller file size in order
to send via email, post online, etc. Then save a copy
as JPG. (But don't do it in MSPaint.) If you handle images
in JPG format they will degrade. Each time you open
the file and resave it, at least a little of the data is lost
because JPG compression works by dropping out color
information. The compression scale is 1-100. (It's a
random number range; not percentage.)
If you save a BMP to JPG at, say, 80 compression you
will have a much smaller file that looks about as good as
the original. But if you then open and resave that file, each
time it drops out more data. Eventually the picture is so
bad that it is visibly composed of colored rectangles.

A lot of people think of JPG as a standard format because
digital cameras default to JPG. But that's not because JPG
is a good choice for photos. It's because JPG is usable on
all operating systems, it's relatively compact, and people
taking digital photos usually don't care very much about
image quality. If you're working with digital photos and don't
take pictures in RAW format then you should always save
your work-in-progress as something like BMP.

Possible editor options:

IrfanView is free and can handle just about anything
in terms of filters, resizing, etc. but doesn't have a
canvas to start from scratch.

If you want to draw from scratch there's the GIMP for
free. (Similar to Photoshop) and there are countless
simple programs for free. The free Paint.Net has also
had good reviews. I've never tried it as it requires .Net,
which is a massively bloated Java-type "virtual machine"
that Microsoft created. In other words, it's sort of like
an operating system within an operating system.
If you don't have the latest version of the .Net runtime
files installed then it means adding something like 1/2
GB of pointless bloat. But if you've already had to install
.Net 3.5 for some other reason then installing software
that depends on it is not a problem. In that case Paint.Net
might be worth a try.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint.NET
Click to expand...

I agree with Mayayana,

IrfanView is a great program, I also like XNView a lot

http://xnview.com/

And for real power Gimp (free) or Photoshop (not free) are really good.
I couldn't be happier with Photoshop.

Mike
 
No there isn't!

MSPaint, if opening a picture-file, will default to saving in the *same*
format (*.jpg for *.jpg; *.bmp for *.bmp; etc.,)...

But MSPaint will always default to saving a new image in 24-bit Bitmap
format (or the max color-depth your adapter is able to display in), if the
program is opened originally with no file to start off with.

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)
 
Yes there is a workaround for it which I got from the net sometime ago.
Try this:

1. Open a blank screen in Paint and save it as a .jpg in the location
you want as your default with the name "default.jpg". {PLEASE
WRITE-PROTECT THIS FILE TO AVOID OVER-WRITING)

2. Right click and drag the Paint program from the Start, Programs,
Accessories location onto the desktop and select copy here. (or create
a shortcut on the desktop using any method you have learned so far)

3. Right click on the Paint icon and then click Properties. You should
see a line like this "%SystemRoot%\system32\mspaint.exe" (without the
quotes.)

4. Place the cursor after the .exe and type a space.

5. Type the full path and filename for the default.jpg file you saved
(if there is any spaces in the path you need to enclose anything you
type in quotes. The final line should look something like this

%SystemRoot%\system32\mspaint.exe "C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\My
Documents\My Pictures\default.jpg"

Change the USERNAME to your own liking

6.click OK.

Double click on the new desktop icon, the file will open and the Save As
default location will be where the file is located. .
 
Better yet, don't use MSPaint. There are lots of free
programs around. MSPaint is barebones. It won't even
let you choose the level of compression when saving
to JPG. The reason to use JPG is to get a smaller file.
(Or, occasionally, to send a picture to an Apple Seed
who can't read BMPs.)

There's little advantage to JPG if you can't even control
the file size/quality ratio. In the same vein, one
should never save to JPG until the final operation. In
other words, if you want to work on an image or edit
a photo, save as something "lossless" like BMP until
such time as you want to have a smaller file size in order
to send via email, post online, etc. Then save a copy
as JPG. (But don't do it in MSPaint.) If you handle images
in JPG format they will degrade. Each time you open
the file and resave it, at least a little of the data is lost
because JPG compression works by dropping out color
information. The compression scale is 1-100. (It's a
random number range; not percentage.)
If you save a BMP to JPG at, say, 80 compression you
will have a much smaller file that looks about as good as
the original. But if you then open and resave that file, each
time it drops out more data. Eventually the picture is so
bad that it is visibly composed of colored rectangles.

A lot of people think of JPG as a standard format because
digital cameras default to JPG. But that's not because JPG
is a good choice for photos. It's because JPG is usable on
all operating systems, it's relatively compact, and people
taking digital photos usually don't care very much about
image quality. If you're working with digital photos and don't
take pictures in RAW format then you should always save
your work-in-progress as something like BMP.

Possible editor options:

IrfanView is free and can handle just about anything
in terms of filters, resizing, etc. but doesn't have a
canvas to start from scratch.

If you want to draw from scratch there's the GIMP for
free. (Similar to Photoshop) and there are countless
simple programs for free. The free Paint.Net has also
had good reviews. I've never tried it as it requires .Net,
which is a massively bloated Java-type "virtual machine"
that Microsoft created. In other words, it's sort of like
an operating system within an operating system.
If you don't have the latest version of the .Net runtime
files installed then it means adding something like 1/2
GB of pointless bloat. But if you've already had to install
..Net 3.5 for some other reason then installing software
that depends on it is not a problem. In that case Paint.Net
might be worth a try.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint.NET

--
--
| Using WinXP. In Microsoft Paint, the default file type for saving an image
| is .bmp. Is there a way to change the default to .jpg so I don't have to
| keep choosing it?
|
| Thank you!
|
| Jo-Anne
|
|
 
| Thank you, Mayayana! I hadn't realized I could simply paste the screen
print
| into IrfanView, which I downloaded a while back. It works like a charm!
The
| only problem now is that I need to change my default viewing program from
| Microsoft Office Picture Manager to IrfanView...
|

Options -> Properties/Settings -> Extensions.

If you also click the Miscellaneous button on that tab
you get the option to choose a default icon other than
"roadkill". :)

And a few other things if you don't already know
about them:

* I think IrfanView defaults to a "fit to screen for large
images" setting on the Fullscreen tab. And/or it might
be the View -> Display Options setting. That will distort
anything bigger than the monitor dimensions.

* On the Image menu are numerous options for
resizing, sharpen, etc. And if you download the plugin
pack you get even more. There are a remarkable number
of functions stashed away in various places on the
menu. It can do most effects/filters that Photoshop
can do, including screenshots, but it does lack the basic
tools for drawing.
 
Thank you, JD! As Tim pointed out, though, when you save a file that wasn't
in a particular format (mine are usually webpages), it will default to .bmp.

Jo-Anne
 
Thank you, Tim! That's indeed what's happening. I generally save screen
prints of webpages, so that's the problem. maybe it's time to look at
another program...

Jo-Anne
 
Thank you, Mayayana! I hadn't realized I could simply paste the screen print
into IrfanView, which I downloaded a while back. It works like a charm! The
only problem now is that I need to change my default viewing program from
Microsoft Office Picture Manager to IrfanView...

Jo-Anne
 
Mike S said:
I agree with Mayayana,

IrfanView is a great program, I also like XNView a lot

http://xnview.com/

And for real power Gimp (free) or Photoshop (not free) are really good. I
couldn't be happier with Photoshop.

Mike
Click to expand...

Thank you, Mike! I do have IrfanView and will also check out XNView. I don't
think I need GIMP, but I'll bookmark it for reference.

Jo-Anne
 
Mayayana said:
| Thank you, Mayayana! I hadn't realized I could simply paste the screen
print
| into IrfanView, which I downloaded a while back. It works like a charm!
The
| only problem now is that I need to change my default viewing program
from
| Microsoft Office Picture Manager to IrfanView...
|

Options -> Properties/Settings -> Extensions.

If you also click the Miscellaneous button on that tab
you get the option to choose a default icon other than
"roadkill". :)

And a few other things if you don't already know
about them:

* I think IrfanView defaults to a "fit to screen for large
images" setting on the Fullscreen tab. And/or it might
be the View -> Display Options setting. That will distort
anything bigger than the monitor dimensions.

* On the Image menu are numerous options for
resizing, sharpen, etc. And if you download the plugin
pack you get even more. There are a remarkable number
of functions stashed away in various places on the
menu. It can do most effects/filters that Photoshop
can do, including screenshots, but it does lack the basic
tools for drawing.
Click to expand...
Thank you again, Mayayana! I had no idea how versatile IrfanView was. And
since drawing is something I don't ever do, it should work very well. Thanks
to you, I was able to make IrfanView the default viewer for my JPG files; I
also changed the icon for IrfanView files. And then, after going into
Properties for the IrfanView shortcut, I was able to change the icon for the
shortcut as well. I've copied your posts to my hard drive for later
reference on the aspects of this program that you pointed out.

Jo-Anne
 
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