This wikiHow teaches you how to use the “Invert Colors” effect in Microsoft Paint to change an image's color to the opposite side of the color spectrum. If you're using Windows 10, make sure you open the image in the Paint program, not Paint 3D. Paint 3D doesn't have a tool that allows you to invert the colors in an image.
Step
Method 1 of 2: On Windows 10, 8, and 7
Step 1. Open Microsoft Paint
If you are using Windows 10, you have two different Paint applications on your computer. One application is called Paint, and the other is called Paint 3D. Paint 3D does not have an “Invert Colors” option. A program that can be used to invert colors is Paint, and you can open it with the following steps:
- Click the Windows search bar or the magnifying glass icon on the taskbar.
- Type paint.
- Click " Paint " The icons look like palettes and paintbrushes.
Step 2. Open the image in Paint
To open the image, click the menu File ” in the upper left corner of the screen, select “ Open ”, and search for the desired image. After the image is found, select the image and click the button “ Open ”.
Step 3. Click the Select menu
This menu is in the toolbar that appears at the top of the application window, in the " Image " pane. The list of selection options will be expanded afterwards.
Step 4. Click Select All on the menu
Use this option if you want to invert the colors in the image as a whole. If you only want to select a certain part of the image, select “ Free-form selection ”, then use the mouse to select the desired area.
Step 5. Right-click the selected area
The menu will expand afterwards.
Step 6. Click Invert color on the menu
This option is a last resort.
To perform a color inversion quickly, press the shortcut Ctrl+⇧ Shift+I
Method 2 of 2: On Windows Vista and Earlier Versions
Step 1. Open the image you want in MS Paint
You can open from the Paint application directly or via a folder:
- From the Paint program: Open MS Paint by clicking on its icon on the desktop or searching for its icon in the “Start” menu. After the program opens, click the menu " File " and select " Open " After that, find and select the image whose colors you want to invert, then click the “ Open ”.
- From outside the Paint program: Right-click the image file, select “ Open with, and click " Paint ”.
Step 2. Click the Image menu
It's at the top of the Paint window.
Step 3. Click Invert Colors on the menu
The colors in the image will be instantly reversed.
For a quick inversion, press the shortcut Ctrl+I
Tips
- You can choose the equipment” Select " or " Free-form select ” to select a specific area of the image whose color you want to invert.
- Open files quickly using the Ctrl+O keyboard shortcut.
- The inverted colors in the image are a scientific complement to the original colors. For example, in the inverted version of the image, the yellow ball would be blue (and not purple, the standard complementary color).
- "BMP, "PNG", "JPG", and "GIF" are common file formats. Usually, the PNG format produces the smallest file size without sacrificing image quality. Choose-j.webp" />
