Creating a banner using paint dot net

Creating a banner using Paint.NET Paint.NET is a powerful graphics and picture-editing program installed on college computers. This exercise shows you some of the basic functions that will enable you to create effective banners for you Moodle courses.

Paint.NET is a free program which you can install on your personal computer – just go to getpaint.net to download and install it.

Getting the images you need 1. Open the Intranet and search for andrewp 2. Open Andrew Price’s profile and scroll down to his “Publish” folder 3. Open it and click Staff > Staff Development > Moodle > Banner 4. Copy the two images to your desktop

Creating your canvas 1. Open Paint.net by clicking Start > All Programs > Paint.NET 2. Change the ‘canvas’ size to the correct size for a banner by clicking Image > Canvas size.

In the Canvas Size dialogue box (shown here), ensure the Maintain aspect ratio box is unticked and enter the width and height as shown.

Banners for moodle should be no bigger than 565 pixels wide by 200 pixels high.

Click the OK button.

If you wish, move the various tools to one side by clicking and dragging on their title bars.

3. Save the banner somewhere sensible.

1|Page

Adding layers & images Think of ‘layers’ as a stack of slides that, when viewed together, form a complete image.

In paint.NET, you can create each of the layers separately then merge them to form your banner.

1. Click and drag the image ‘business_costs’ from the desktop into paint.NET 2. Click Add layer. Note in the Layers box, two layers are now showing 3. Click the Move Selection tool (the white arrow) 4. Click on the image, drag its frame outside the banner and press the Delete key on the keyboard.

5. Click and drag the image ‘business_group’ from the desktop into paint.NET 6. Click Add layer. Note in the Layers box, three layers are now showing 7. Click the Move Selected Pixels tool (the blue arrow) 8. Drag the business_group image until the largest figure is on the white part of the banner:

9. Select the Move Selection tool, click on the image, drag its frame outside the banner and press the Delete key on the keyboard.

2|Page

Adding a text layer 1. In the Layers box, click the Add New Layer button 2. Double-click the new layer (Layer 4) and rename it ‘text’.

3. In the Tools box, click the Text button 4. Click the OK button 5. Click in the white area of the banner and type ‘Business Studies’ 6. Change the font and font size (you don’t have to highlight the text to do this) until you’re happy. Move the text around by clicking the four-headed arrow.

Applying effects 1. In the Layers box, select the business_costs

layer

2. In the Tool box, select the Gradient tool 3. From the gradient tool selections on the menu bar, select Transparency Mode 4. Click and drag from the left of the banner across the image until you are happy with the level of transparency

Click File > Save.

This is now saved as a paint.net project which you can return to later if you wish to make changes.

3|Page

Merging the layers 1. In the Layers box, click the top layer (‘text’) 2. Click the Merge Layer Down button until all four layers are merged.

3. Go to File > Save As, name your banner and in the Save as type box, select JPEG from the drop-down list.

4. Save your banner somewhere sensible.

5. Paint.NET will show a preview of the JPEG; click the OK button.

6. Close paint.NET, find your banner and open it.

Well done!

4|Page