Accessing And Editing Files In Ms Paint

MS Paint is a convenient application for quick and minor edits. To open a saved file in MS Paint, you can go to File > Open and select the desired file. Another method is to right-click on the file, choose Open with, and then select Paint. It is important to note that the Save As location in MS Paint may differ from the file source location, which can be frustrating for users who want to save their progress quickly. Additionally, saving files with multiple layers in MS Paint can be challenging, as the layers may not be retained. To overcome this, each layer can be saved individually as a PNG file, and then combined using the import to canvas feature.

Opening a file in a new location

To open a saved file in MS Paint on Windows 10, you can follow these steps:

• Right-click on the file you want to open.
• Select "Open with" and choose "Paint" from the list of programs.
• This will open the file in MS Paint.

If you want to specify a new location for the file, you can do the following:

• Open MS Paint first.
• Go to "File" and then "Open" to browse and select the file you want to open.
• This will open the file in Paint, and you can then make any desired edits.
• Go to "File" and then "Save As" to choose the new location where you want to save the file.

It's worth noting that if you don't specify a new location, Paint will save the file in the same location as the last saved file. If you close Paint and open it again, the "Save As" location will remain the same as the last one used.

In Windows 8.1 and earlier versions, when you right-click on an image and select "Open with Paint", the "Save As" function will save the file back to where the original file was opened from. However, in Windows 10, the default behaviour of Paint is different, and it may not save to the same location as the original file.

If you want to ensure that Paint always saves to a specific location, you might need to use scripting or other workarounds. For example, you can create a script that launches Paint with the filename as an argument and then uses SendKeys to save the file in its desired directory.

Right-clicking and choosing 'edit'

To create a Paint shortcut, first, right-click on your desktop and hover over the "New" option. Then, select "Shortcut" and type "%windir%\system32\mspaint.exe" (without quotation marks) into the dialog box. Click "Next," name your shortcut "Paint," and then click "Finish."

Once you have the Paint shortcut on your desktop, you can simply right-click on any saved file (such as a .jpg file) and choose "Edit" from the drop-down menu. This will automatically open your file in MS Paint.

It's worth noting that this method may save your file in a different location than expected. By right-clicking and choosing "Edit," the file will be saved in the last location used, rather than the same location as the original file. To avoid confusion, you may want to make a note of the file path when saving.

Additionally, if you prefer to use the Start menu to access MS Paint, you can do so by navigating to the "All Apps" or "All Programs" tab and scrolling down to "Windows Accessories." From there, you can right-click on the Paint icon and select "Create Shortcut" to add it to your desktop.

Using 'open with'

To open a saved file in MS Paint, you can use the "Open with" feature. This method will allow you to open the file in Paint and save it to the last location you saved a file to.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do it:

• Locate the file you want to open in MS Paint. You can do this by using Windows Explorer to navigate to the file's location.
• Right-click on the file and select "Open with" from the menu.
• Choose "Paint" from the list of programs to open the file with.
• Once the file is open in Paint, go to "File" and then select "Save As".
• The file will now be saved to the last location you saved a file to. If you want to save it to a different location, you can browse and select the desired folder.

Using "Open with" is a convenient way to open saved files in MS Paint, especially if you frequently use the program for editing images. It saves time by automatically opening the file in Paint without having to first open the program and then navigate to the file's location.

It's important to note that the "Open with" method may save the file to a different location than the source file's location. This can be confusing if you're not aware of the default save locations in Paint. To avoid this, you can make sure to note the save location or change the default save location in the settings.

Saving in a different format

To save a file in a different format in MS Paint, follow these steps:

• Open the file you want to save in a different format by going to "File > Open" in the menu bar.
• Make any desired edits to the image.
• Go to "File > Save As".
• In the "Save As" dialog box, click on the "Save as type" drop-down menu and select the desired file format (e.g. JPEG, PNG, GIF, etc.).
• Enter a new name for the file if you want to keep a separate copy, or just click "Save" to overwrite the existing file with the new format.

It's worth noting that the default save format in MS Paint is typically PNG, but you can change the default to JPEG or another format by modifying the Registry. Here's how you can do that:

• Open the Registry Editor by typing "regedit" in the Start menu or Run dialog.
• Navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.jpg\UserChoice.
• Right-click on the "Progid" entry in the right pane and select "Modify".
• Change the value data to "pspfiles".
• Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\pspfiles and create a new key under it called "shell".
• Under the "shell" key, create another new key called "open".
• Under the "open" key, create a new key called "command".
• In the right pane, double-click on the "(Default)" entry and set the value data to "C:\Windows\System32\mspaint.exe" "%1".

Now, when you try to save a new image in MS Paint, it should default to the JPEG format.

Navigating to the saved file

To navigate to a saved file in MS Paint, you can use the "Open Recent" feature in the File menu. This provides quick access to the last few images opened and edited with the program, with each image accompanied by a thumbnail for easy identification. Hovering over an image will also display the file path.

If the file you're looking for isn't in the "Open Recent" list, you can try navigating to the default save location. In Windows Explorer, you can right-click on a .jpg file and choose "Edit," which will open the image in MS Paint. From there, you can use the "Save As" function to specify a new file name and location.

It's worth noting that the default "Save As" location in MS Paint is not the same as the file source location. This can cause confusion, as the file may be saved to a different folder than expected. To avoid this, you can open the file at a new location by going to "File" and then "Open," and then using "File" > "Save As" to save the file in that location. Alternatively, you can open Paint first, then go to "File" > "Open" to specify the file location, and then use "File" > "Save As" to save in the same location.

If you're using MS Paint for quick edits and want to save your progress, you might find it frustrating that the "Save" button opens "Save As" and defaults to a different file format and location. A workaround for this is to use the "Open Recent" feature to quickly access the file you were working on and continue editing.

Frequently asked questions