Have you ever wanted to change the background of an image, but can't afford Adobe Photoshop or other expensive programs? Or perhaps you just want to remove the background and replace it with a solid color or pattern. Whatever you want to do, there's an easy way to do it - it's called green-screening.
Method 1 of 3: Select the Image
1Open the image that you want to green screen in Microsoft Paint. Other compatible formats include:
- Bitmap (BMP)
- Digital decompression (commonly referred to as JPEG)
- Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)
2If the image is larger than your screen, move to the bottom-left corner. Zoom in to 800 percent by clicking on the magnifying glass icon (on the tool bar) and then selecting 8.
Method 2 of 3: Select the Color Palette & Outline the Image
1On the color palette, select the lime green color. Lime green is commonly used because it seldom appears anywhere on the image to be cut out.
2Select the line tool and start outlining the object to be cut out.
3If the object is against a light background, use the pencil tool to touch out any missed pixels. At this point you should have a thick green line around your object.
4Right-click on the lime green color (palette) and use the select tool to select and delete rectangular areas of the background. Make sure you don't go into the object. Don't worry too much about accuracy, there's a way to get rid of redundant triangles around the shape in the next step.
5Click the eraser tool and select the smallest square on the menu that appears. Erase all of the spots around the shape that you missed whilst deleting the rectangles.
6You now have a green screened object. If you want to make a solid color tool, zoom out to 100 percent (1 on the zoom menu) and click on the fill (paint bucket) tool. Then select your chosen background color from the palette, and click anywhere on the green area - it will change the background.
Method 3 of 3: Move the Image
1To move the object to another background, click on the white color from the palette and use the fill tool (explained in the step above) to turn the whole green screened background white.
2Press Ctrl+A. Then click on the second (bottom) icon of the toolbar that appears.
3Ensure that the new background for your object is open in another window of MS Paint. Now, copy the work (Ctrl+C).
4In the second Paint window, paste your work (Ctrl+V). Drag it into position and click anywhere on the toolbar. Save your work and you're done.Ad
We could really use your help!
LCD monitor repair?
- In order for this method to work, the paste settings MUST be set to transparent. Failure to do this will result in the background from the original picture being pasted over the new background. The paste settings toolbar appears below the main toolbar at the left hand side of your image when either selection tool is used.
- If you have a rounded edge you can use the curved line tool - click on the curvy line option from the toolbar and draw the straight line from the beginning of the curve to the end. then drag the line outwards with your mouse to suit the curve.
- Using this method, green screening is not as easy as it is using software like Adobe Photoshop. But it does a reasonably good job provided you are careful.
- It's much easier to edit more detailed images if you zoom in all the way. You can do this by clicking "View" "Zoom" and "Custom", or the zoom icons on the tops if you're using a newer version of paint.
- The larger your image is, the longer it will take to go around it. If you want to make it smaller, press Ctrl+A and drag the bottom-right adjustment notch upwards - try to keep the proportion, as your image will be contorted if you don't.
- Quite often you're likely to make a mistake, or redo a line. keep your fingers on the Ctrl+Z keys, as this key combination allows you to undo the last action.
- Don't be tempted to use your mouse pad's scroll wheel while holding down the eraser - a fundamental bug in MS Paint causes a huge green streak down your object, and it cannot be undone with the undo (Ctrl+Z) tool.
- It goes without saying that if your computer crashes or you close paint accidentally, any unsaved changes will be lost. To prevent loss of too much work, tap Ctrl+S periodically.
- Don't make too many mistakes at once! The Undo tool in Paint only works on the last 3 actions in Windows XP, 10 in Vista, and 50 in Windows 7 and 8. If you make a mistake, reverse it immediately.
Things You'll Need
- MS Paint
- A Picture
Categories: Microsoft Paint
In other languages:
Español: Cómo cambiar el fondo de una imagen en MS Paint (pantalla verde), Deutsch: Bildhintergrund in MS Paint ändern, Português: Como Mudar o Plano de Fundo de uma Imagem no MS Paint (Tela Verde), Italiano: Come Modificare lo Sfondo di un'Immagine con MS Paint (Green Screen), 中文: 在MS Paint （绿屏）更改图像背景, Русский: изменить фон рисунка в MS Paint (Метод зеленого экрана), Français: Comment modifier une image d'arrière plan dans MS Paint (écran vert), Nederlands: De achtergrond van een afbeelding wijzigen met Paint
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 872,950 times.