CHAPTER 7
Working with Images
Whether you load your images from a digital camera or a scanner, download them from the Internet, or draw them yourself, Windows comes with a number of useful tools for working with those images. In this chapter, you learn how to import images from a camera and from a scanner. You learn how to navigate your Pictures folder, view your images, and run a slideshow. This chapter includes a number of sections on enhancing photos and repairing photo problems, including adding effects, and cropping and rotating images. You also learn how to delete images.
Import Images from a Digital Camera
Import Images from a Digital Camera
You can import photos from a digital camera and save them on your PC. If your camera stores the photos on a memory card, you can also use a memory card reader attached to your PC to upload the digital photos from the removable drive that Windows sets up when you insert the card.
To perform the import directly from your digital camera, you need a cable to connect your camera to your PC. Most digital cameras come with a USB cable. After you have the digital photos on your system, you can view or print the images.
Import Images from a Digital Camera
Plug in your mobile device, camera, or memory storage card reader.
Note: If Windows displays a notification, click the notification and then skip to step 5.
Click File Explorer (
).
Click This PC.
File Explorer displays a list of the devices attached to your PC.
Right-click your digital camera.
Click Import pictures and videos.
Note: If your device asks if you want to allow access to its photos, click Allow.
The Import Pictures and Videos dialog box appears.
Click Import all new items now (
changes to 
).
Type a name to use for the import.
Click Import.
Windows imports the photos.
When the import is complete, File Explorer displays your imported photos.
Windows stores the imported photos in your Pictures folder in a folder named after today’s date.
Scan an Image
You can create a digital copy of a photo or other image by using a document scanner, or the scanner component of an all-in-one printer. The scanner copies the image to your computer, where you can then store it as a file on your hard drive.
You can use a scanned image in many ways. For example, you can scan a photo to email to friends or publish on a web page. You can also scan a logo or other image to use in a document.
Scan an Image
Turn on your scanner or all-in-one printer and position a photo or other image on the scanner bed.
Click Search (
).
Type scan.
Click Windows Fax and Scan.
The Windows Fax and Scan window appears.
Click the Scan tab.
Click New Scan.
Note: If you see the Select Device dialog box, click the scanner you want to use and then click OK.
The New Scan dialog box appears.
Click the Source 
to select from where in the device the document will be scanned.
Click the File Type to select the file type you want to use for the scanned image file.
Click the Resolution 
to specify the scan resolution.
Note: The higher the resolution, the sharper the image, but the larger the resulting file.
Click Preview.
A preview of the scan appears here.
Click and drag the square handles at the corners of the rectangle to set the scan area.
Click Scan.
Windows Fax and Scan scans the image.
Navigate the Pictures Folder
Before you can work with your images, you need to view them on your PC. You do that by using the Photos app to open the Pictures folder, which is a special folder designed specifically for storing images.
To get more out of the Pictures folder, you need to know not only how to open it, but also the basic techniques for opening any albums that you have stored in the folder.
Navigate the Pictures Folder
Click File Explorer ().
The File Explorer program window appears.
Click Pictures.
The Pictures folder appears.
Items with folder icons are subfolders.
Items without folder icons are individual images.
Double-click a subfolder.
File Explorer displays the subfolder’s images.
View Your Images
If you want to look at several images, Windows gives you two methods to navigate backward and forward through the images in the Pictures folder. First, you can use File Explorer to open an individual image for viewing in the Photos app and then navigate through the other images in the same folder. Second, you can use the Photos app directly to view your images by collection or by album.
View Your Images
View Individual Images
In File Explorer, open the folder that contains the images you want to view.
Note: See the previous section, “Navigate the Pictures Folder,” for details.
Double-click the first image that you want to view.
The image appears in the Photos app.
Click the right-pointing arrow (
) to scroll right.
The Photos app displays the next image from the album.
Repeat step 3 to continue viewing the album images.
You can return to the previous screen of images by clicking the left-pointing arrow (
) to scroll left.
You can also press 
to see the next image and 
to see the previous image.
View Images by Collection or Album
Click Start (
).
Click Photos.
The Photos app appears.
Note: The first time you start Photos, you might see an introduction to the app. If so, click Next to run through the screens and then click Let’s go.
Click Collection.
Alternatively, you can click Albums to view your pictures by album.
Scroll down and up to view your images by collection or album.
Start a Slideshow
Instead of viewing your photos one at a time, you can view multiple photos by running them in a slideshow. A slideshow is a method for displaying multiple photos automatically without intervention. After you start the slideshow, it displays each photo for a few seconds and then automatically moves on to the next photo. You run the slideshow from within the Photos app.
Start a Slideshow
In the Photos app, display the collection or album that contains the photos you want to display in your slideshow.
Click the first image you want to display in the slideshow.
Photos opens the image.
Click See more (
).
Click Slideshow.
The Photos app begins the slideshow.
Note: You can also start the slideshow by pressing 
.
Set an Image as the Desktop Background
You can set one of your photos as the image that appears as the Windows desktop background.
You can make your copy of Windows more fun and more personal by using one of your photos as the desktop background image. You normally set the desktop background via the Settings app. However, if you are already working in the Photos app, it is much easier and faster to locate the photo you want to use and then set that photo as the desktop background. You can also set the same photo or a different photo as the Lock screen background. See Chapter 2 for more about the Lock screen background.
Set an Image as the Desktop Background
In the Photos app, display the collection or album that contains the photo you want to use.
Click the image you want to set as the desktop background.
Photos opens the image.
Click See more ().
Click Set as.
Click Set as background.
The Photos app displays the image as the desktop background.
Repair an Image
You can use Photos to improve the look of digital photos and other images. When you open an image in Photos, the application bar offers a number of tools for repairing various image attributes.
The easiest way to repair an image is to use the Enhance Your Photo filter, which automatically adjusts an image’s brightness, color, and clarity. You can also correct any of these elements manually, as well as remove red-eye and hide photo flaws.
Repair an Image
Repair an Image Automatically
In Photos, display the image you want to repair.
Click Get creative with this photo (
).
Click Edit.
Note: You can also select the Edit command by pressing 
+ 
.
Photos displays the image-editing tools.
Click Filters.
Click Enhance your photo.
Click and drag this slider until the image looks the way you prefer.
Photos enhances the image automatically.
Repair an Image Manually
In Photos, display the image you want to repair.
Click Get creative with this photo ().
Click Edit.
Photos displays the image-editing tools.
Click Adjustments.
Use the sliders to repair the image as needed.
Photos adjusts the image as you move the sliders.
Click this and then click Save.
Photos saves your changes.
If you prefer to leave the original as is, you can click Save a copy instead.
Add a Photo Effect
You can enhance the look of an image by applying one or more of the effects offered by the Photos app.
The Vignette effect darkens the edges and corners of the photo, which adds a natural frame around the image and draws attention to the interior of the photo. You can enhance the look of a photo by applying a filter. Some filters lighten the photo’s colors to make the image stand out more, while other filters darken the image to create a moodier look. There are also several black-and-white filters you can apply.
Add a Photo Effect
Apply a Vignette Effect
In Photos, display the image you want to work with.
Click Get creative with this photo ().
Click Edit.
Note: You can also select the Edit command by pressing + .
Photos displays the image editing tools.
Click Adjustments.
Click and drag the Vignette slider until the vignette is at the level you want.
Click this and then click Save.
Photos saves your changes.
If you prefer to leave the original as is, you can click Save a copy instead.
Apply a Filter
In Photos, display the image you want to work with.
Click Get creative with this photo ().
Click Edit.
Note: You can also select the Edit command by pressing + .
Photos displays the image-editing tools.
Click Filters.
Click the filter you want to apply.
Click and drag the Filter intensity slider to set the intensity of the filter.
Click this and then click Save.
Photos saves your changes.
If you prefer to leave the original as is, you can click Save a copy instead.
Crop an Image
If you have an image containing elements that you do not want or need to see, you can often cut out those elements. This is called cropping, and you can do this with Photos. When you crop a photo, you specify a rectangular area of the photo that you want to keep. Photos discards everything outside the rectangle.
Cropping is a useful skill to have because it can help give focus to the true subject of a photo. Cropping is also useful for removing extraneous elements that appear on or near the edges of a photo.
Crop an Image
In Photos, display the image you want to crop.
Click Get creative with this photo ().
Click Edit.
Note: You can also select the Edit command by pressing + .
Photos displays the image-editing tools.
The Crop & Rotate tab is selected by default.
Photos displays a cropping rectangle on the photo.
Click and drag any edge or any corner of the rectangle to define the area you want to keep.
Note: Remember that Photos keeps the area inside the rectangle.
Click this and then click Save.
Photos saves your changes.
If you prefer to leave the original as is, you can click Save a copy instead.
Rotate an Image
You can rotate and straighten an image using Photos. Depending on how you hold your camera when you take a shot, the resulting photo might show the subject sideways or upside down. To fix this problem, you can use Photos to rotate the photo so that the subject appears right-side up. You can rotate a photo either clockwise or counterclockwise.
Rotate an Image
Open the image you want to rotate.
Click Rotate (
) until the image is the way you want it.
Note: You can also rotate the image by pressing + 
.
Photos rotates the image and saves your changes.
Note: To straighten an image, click Get creative with this photo (), click Edit, and then drag the Straightening slider left or right until your image is straight.
Delete an Image
The images that you create may not always turn out perfectly. A photo may be blurry, or an edited image may not turn out the way that you want it to.
When you are viewing an album or watching a slideshow, having a bad image can make the experience less pleasant. You can prevent that from happening by deleting an image you no longer want to work with or view. You can delete a single image or multiple images with a single command.
Delete an Image
Open the image you want to delete.
Click Delete (
).
Note: You can also delete the image by pressing 
.
Photos asks you to confirm the deletion.
Click Delete.
Photos deletes the image.