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In XP there is a very versatile "My
Pictures" folder.
Open it now and lets explore. I hope that by
now you have folders in your My Pictures folder to sort your pictures. Did
you forget how to do it? Right click anywhere on a blank spot; click New
and Folder; a new folder is created with the flashing words New Folder
underneath it. Take those words out and name it what you want; for example
"06-02" or "06- Easter" or "06-Family"; click on the outside of it, and
that's it. You will notice that I always start with the year; that is
because if I put these on disc later, they will be arranged in order of
date, with 06-02 coming before 06-03; it makes for easier viewing. I
learned this the hard way.
Ok, open a folder that has pictures in it. Open
it full screen so you can see all the possibilities. The most important
button for us at this time in the top bar is the last one, the one
that has a little arrow next to it. By clicking the arrow and
clicking each of these in the dropdown menu, you will see the different
ways you can have your information for your pictures. I personally prefer
the filmstrip one because I can see the pictures easily and I can hover
over each thumbnail at the bottom and readily see a large version of my
picture. However, sometimes to work at organizing my photos I change to
the thumbnail view ; I find it easier that way. You'll see what I
mean later.
OK, let's have a look at the pane on the
left and see what we can do here.If you click on "view as a slideshow, you
will see your pictures scrolling on your monitor; that's nice. You can
stop this by clicking on the X in the right top corner. Can't see it?
Hover in the corner; it'll appear.
You will see also Print on the left. You know
what that is for; right?
In the second part of the pane, you have tasks
you might want to perform with your pictures.That would be for the picture
that is highlighted. At the very bottom of this pane, you have "details".
If it is not showing details of your highlighted picture, click on the
little arrow next to the word "details"
Anytime you are not sure what a button means,
just hover on it; a little window opens with the explanation for it.
Did you notice the little buttons under the large picture when you are in
filmstrip mode?
You see that the first 2 are to scroll back and
forth through your pictures. The next 2 are to flip your pictures
around.
OK before we move on, one little
trick:
Do this in thumbnail mode. If you would like to
call your pics in a folder "My House" for example and you just want them
all numbered from 1 to as many as you have, here is the trick, and it is
called batch naming:
Highlight the first picture; at the top of the
page, click on "edit" and "select all"; now, on your keyboard, at
the top, press F2. Now go to your selected picture; write "Home.jpg" (jpg
is the kind of file it is. You have to have this or the picture will not
open.) after writing Home.jpg, press enter on your keyboard.
There, all your pics in this folder are called
Home.jpg, and they are numbered.
If you want to edit your pictures, such as
clarify them, or make them smaller, or put a frame around them and
thousands of other things, you will have to consider buying a photo
editing program. I have Paintshop Pro which is a middle of the road
program and affordable.
You can do a search on Google to check out
different ones and ask around for people's opinions about what is the best
value for your dollar. | 
