Digital Personalization Instructions

Laser-etching a name on a fountain pen is a form of digital personalization.

Digital personalization, in a broad sense, means using technology to add your personal information to a physical object. The nature of these objects and how you choose to personalize them varies. Generally, trained professionals and businesses use printing presses and lasers to personalize items -- for a fee, of course. However, if you have a personal computer, you can use a native image-editing application to perform your own digital personalization of such items as photos stored on your computer.

Instructions

1. Click "Start." Type "Paint" in the search box at the bottom of the "Start" menu. Press "Enter."

2. Click the blue "menu" icon in the left-hand corner of the Paint window. Select "Open." Browse to find a picture and click to highlight the file. Click "Open" to import the picture into Paint.

3. Click the icon shown as the letter "A" in the "Tools" section on the "Home" tab. This activates the cursor. Move the cursor to the photo. Click on a spot where you want to add personal text information. A typical location would be the bottom of the photo. An outlined text box will appear on the selected area.

4. Type your name or another personal information in the box. Click outside of the text box to deactivate further typing and lock the text box in place.

5. Click the "Menu" icon and click "Save" to replace the original picture. Alternatively, click "Save As" to save the image as a new picture. Type a new name for the second picture and click "Save."

Tips & Warnings

• Double-click on the newly typed text on the photo to activate the "Text" tab in Paint. Click the "Background" and "Color" options to change the look of your personalized text.

• If you post the photo on a social networking website or print it out on paper, the text will appear with the image.

References

• Microsoft Windows: Getting Started With Paint
• Microsoft Windows: Using Paint

Resources

• Design Taxi: Kodak Gives Wilen Direct Enhanced Digital Personalization Capabilities
• The Free Library: Digital Identification Solutions showcases world's first desktop laser color ...
• Microsoft Windows: Picture Printing: Frequently Asked Questions
• Microsoft Windows: Specialty Printing: Labels, Envelopes, Greeting Cards and Photos
• Microsoft Windows: Tag Pictures So They're Easier to Find