GeoPaint Editing by Dick Estel One area where confusion can arise in discussing geoPaint is the fact that there are two different meanings to the term "edit." The top right item in the geoPaint toolbox is the Edit Box tool, which I often refer to as the framing tool. When you click on this, the pointer becomes a crosshair. It is used to define an area to be cut or copied as a photo scrap; or an area into which a scrap can be pasted. To use the Edit Box tool, the crosshair is positioned at one corner of the area you wish to select. After clicking, move the crosshair to the diagonal corner. A rectangular outline will appear, and the second click sets the region in place. The frame that appears is a guideline only, and does not become part of your document. Once an area has been defined, click on EDIT in the top menu line. To create a photo scrap of the defined area, click on CUT or COPY (CUT will also clear the defined area). If you want to paste a photo scrap into your document, click on PASTE. You will then be offered several options, including the ability to scale the size of the scrap. Once you make your choices and click OK, the current photo scrap is pasted into the defined area. The other method of editing is to select one of various options from the bottom of the screen. This menu area appears whenever you have selected the EDIT tool. The choice selected will affect the area inside your frame. The default selection is MOVE. Once you have defined a frame area, two small black squares appear at the upper left and lower right corners of the frame. Clicking on the lower right box allows you to change the size of the frame. Clicking on the upper left box allows you to move the frame around within the drawing window. COPY allows you to make a copy of the framed area in the drawing window (it does NOT create a photo scrap). Just click on the upper left box; wherever you move the frame, a copy of the framed area will appear. The other options are: ROTATE: Rotates the area one quarter MIRROR X: Flips the area left to right MIRROR Y: Flips the area top to bottom INVERT: Changes the area to a negative image (black becomes white; white becomes black) CLEAR: Blanks the framed area (you can recover by immediately clicking UNDO, but once you make any other selection, the cleared area is permanently lost) GEOS is a program with many features. During the learning period this adds greatly to the complexity and difficulty of figuring everything out. The best way to deal with it is to load the program, and try out all the features and menu items. Don't be afraid to experiment...you can always dump your failed efforts into the waste basket!