Choose Custom Paint Colors in PhotoDraw 2000 Version 1 

Suppose you want to choose paint colors for a room that contains your favorite painting or a stained glass window.

Draw a room in your house

1. Open a new picture in Microsoft PhotoDraw.
2. Draw a rectangle to represent one wall in your room:
   • On the toolbar, click the Rectangle button.
   • On the Outline workpane, click the black color square and change the Width to 1.00 pt.
   • In the picture area, drag out a rectangle.

     

3. Add a side wall to your room:
   • Click the AutoShapes button, point to Basic Shapes, and then click Trapezoid.
   • Drag out a trapezoid. This shape uses the same line color and width that you used for the rectangle (black 1.00 pt).
   • Use the Rotate handle to turn the trapezoid 90 degrees in a clockwise direction.
   • Move the trapezoid so that its left edge lines up with the right edge of the rectangle.
   • Use the resize handles to stretch thetrapezoid vertically until its top left corner meets the rectangle's top right corner, and its lower left corner meets the rectangle's lower right corner.

     

4. Add the other side wall to the room.
   • Select the trapezoid and click Duplicate on the Edit menu.
   • On the Arrange menu, point to Flip, and then click Flip Horizontal.
   • Move the flipped trapezoid to the left side of the rectangle, and then line up its right edge with the rectangle's left edge.

     

5. Add a ceiling to your room:
   • Select the left trapezoid and click Duplicate on the Edit menu.
   • Rotate the trapezoid 90 degrees in a clockwise direction.
   • Position the trapezoid above the rectangle so that its corners line up with the tops of the rectangle and the other two trapezoids. If necessary, drag the yellow diamond to change the slant of the trapezoid's sides.

     

Create an optimized palette

In this example, you'll create a palette from the colors used in a stained glass window that appears in your room.

1. On the Insert menu, click Visual Insert.
2. Insert CD2 and select this file: \\photodrw\content\pdclips\houshold\ct0641.mix.
3. Resize the stained glass window so that it fits on the far wall (the rectangle).

   

4. Create a palette that uses the colors in this picture:
   • With the Outline workpane still open, click the arrow to the right of the color box, and choose More Colors.
   • On the Custom Palette tab of the More Colors dialog box, click New.
   • Type a name in the Palette name box of the New Color Palette dialog. Make sure that the Palette size is 256 and Dither by is set to Error Diffusion. Click OK.
   • Click Generate Colors. In the Generate Colors dialog box, change the Number of colors to 256, and then select Picture from the Generate from list. Click Add, and then click Close.
   • In the More Colors dialog box, select Hue from the Sort palette by list. Click OK.

The window palette you just created is now the active palette:

Fill your room with color

Now you can fill the shapes you drew with colors that match the stained glass window.

1. Select a wall or the ceiling.
2. In the Outline workpane, click No Line.
3. At the top of the workpane, click Fill, and then click the arrow to the right of the color box.
4. Point to Active Palette, and then click a color.

The wall is filled with the color you chose. Repeat these steps until you have filled all the shapes with colors that you like.