How to Split a Picture Into Two Pages

By Filonia LeChat

Cut an image in half with Microsoft Paint.
i Paul Tearle/Stockbyte/Getty Images

Splitting a digital image isn’t as difficult as splitting an atom, but it’s also not as easy as cutting up the real thing. With software included in your Windows operating system, though, you can precisely spit a picture into two pages, without having to worry about cursor or ruler placement. Using a quick workaround with Paint’s limited capabilities, you can cut an image exactly into two or design something that makes a single picture into two equal or not-so-equal images. Your original never feels the blade, a nice step up from carnage seen in scrapbooking.

Step 1

Launch Paint and open the picture that needs to be split. Click the “View” tab, then click the “Zoom Out” or “Zoom In” button so you can see the entire picture on your screen.

Step 2

Click back to the “Home” tab. Click the “Select” button on the ribbon and choose the “Rectangular Selection” button. Note the cursor turns into a target.

Step 3

Press and hold down the left mouse button, then click and drag until the bottom half or top half of the image (or the left or right side, if you prefer) is selected. It doesn’t matter if your selection includes a portion of the blue Paint background, as it won’t be part of your image transfer. Note that your selection is now enclosed by blue dashes.

Step 4

Click the “Copy” button on the ribbon.

Step 5

Click the “Select” button again and choose “Select inverse.”

Step 6

Click the “Crop” button on the ribbon. Note that now the opposite of what you selected and copied into Paint’s memory is showing. So, if you copied the bottom half, then performed the inverse, the top half is now showing.

Step 7

Click the “File” tab and select “Save As.” Enter a new name for the file. (Don’t save it with the original name, as that would overwrite the original image.) After saving, close the document.

Step 8

Click the “File” tab and select “New.” When the blank Paint screen opens, click the “Paste” button. The bottom half – or the half you copied – is now on the screen. Save the split image with another new file name, such as a variation of the one you just saved. You’ll now have a total of three images, including the original, the first half, and the split second half.

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