Yes, I am not ashamed to say it, but I had a short-lived affair with Microsoft Paint.
My first love
Back in the heady days of Windows 3.1 (if you can remember it, you were never there), I was a big user of Paint (or Paintbrush, as it was called then.) It was cool to be able to create works-of-art.
Love Lost
As I started finding my way in the world, I started using Paintbrush less, and less. I was never a graphics designer, and didn’t really need to use such tools. At most, I needed to be able to take screen shots, and manipulate these if necessary (things like trimming unwanted parts out, slicing sections out of the middle, adding text, etc.). For this I found Snagit to be an excellent tool.
New Worlds
Then I moved into the world of Business Analysis, and wire-frames, and mock-ups. If an existing system needed changes to the user interface, it was often necessary to be able to demonstrate what the interface would look like once the changes had been incorporated.
Love, rekindled
I had started a new position at a financial company, and my beloved Snagit was no longer available. I was required to document web site/application changes, and what did I have available…Paintbrush, (or as it was now know, Paint). “How can I work like this!?” I screamed to myself.
Having no choice, I started using this infantile tool. And, you know what? I was amazed at what I could do. Once I got the hang of it, I could easily paste in a screen shot, trim out unwanted elements, move elements around, even replace text. (This last one was not straight-forward – it involved getting the new text to look like it was the same as the old.) I quickly became a MS Paint advocate.
It didn’t last long
This adding the next text bit, however, got me frustrated. it was clumsy, and required a lot of fart-arsing around.
That’s when I discovered what I could do with a browser’s Developer tools …
…to be continued
I still like and use PAINT. For quick little things like screenshot care, it’s unbeatable and it is free. For things like adding text, though, I generally use something like Word, screenshot it and then cut and paste. Cumbersome, but it works and I don’t think anything of it now. Still, PAINT is a very useful tool. And, don’t forget, there are those who ONLY use PAINT…like that 93 year old man who makes lovely art with only Paint.
It certainly is a great tool. And I was really surprised at what I could do with it, (and quickly!). I definitely like your tip about the text. I hadn’t thought of that. However, s I alluded to it in the end of the post I did find an easier way. I’ll explain more in a future post.
(Thanks for your comment. it’s good to confirm that at least one person has read the post :O) )
🙂 I understand…I rarely get any ‘real’ comments, most are bots and I never approve them. It is good to know that people do read.
I use the Word Art feature as well. Powerpoint, if you have that, is also good for text and adding baubles as well. I love Office…
Ha- I know what you mean (about “comments”). I Lose count of the number of “comments” I’v got that have absolutely nothing to do with the post where they are made.
I checked out your blog, (and left a real comment). You’ve got a great writing style!
Hey, thanks for checking out the blog. It’s mostly tech oriented, but I try not to get overly geeky. I write about many other things as well. Theme parks and family are two of my other favorite things to write about.
Yeah – I saw that. I thought that it was quite cool. Here there was a post where you had gone into insane detail about the system you were building, followed closely by a post about the theme park you visited. Really interesting mix. Told me a lot about your writing style.