If you've got Microsoft Office loaded on your computer somewhere, there's a good chance you can find Microsoft Photo Editor by going to Start > Programs > Microsoft Office Tools > Microsoft Photo Editor. There are a great many things it doesn't do. However, if you already own it and you want to play around with some of the things you can do, it's worthwhile trying it.

One overview site that has a lot of the steps outlined in Microsoft Photo Editor is from Microsoft. You can get to it through this link.

Another good overview of all the steps is provided by a user at:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/6470/photoed.htm

For the fundamentals, check out either of the two sites I've just mentioned. What I will do is show you some simple effects you can get with the tools in Microsoft Photo Editor and how I went abou getting them.


Sharpen and Emboss
In this example, I took a large photo and then only used a small portion of it for the background I was creating. Here are the steps:
1. Open photo.
2. Use the select tool and draw a marquee (the dotted line) around the area of the photo you want.
3. Click on Edit, Copy.
4. Click on Edit, Paste as New Image.
5. Click on Effects, Sharpen.
6. Click on Effects, Emboss.

Notice that when you clicked on Effects, Emboss, there was a drop down menu that allowed you to change the angle of light for the embossing, as well as there being a slider bar that let you play with the depth of the effect.

Remember: Whenever you don’t like the effect that you have just created, you can always click on Edit, Undo right away.

Photo Example: Sharpen and Emboss




Texturize and Emboss   
1. Crop - Matting - .75 all around + Fillet corners for the matting
2. Effects, Texturizer - Using Sandstone option
3. Effects, Emboss

Photo Example: Texturize and Emboss


Notepaper
1. File, New, then specified dimensions greater than the picture I was going to paste into this page - about 1" on all sides - at least.
2. File, Open. Open up a photo you want to use for your notepaper effect. A strong simple design seems to work well.
3. Edit, Select All.
4. Window - now move to where your blank page is that you made in step 1.
5. Edit, Paste.
6. Position your image on the page.
7. Turn off the marquee select (the little dotted square in the toolbar).
8. Effects, Notepaper.

Photo shows Notepaper effect


Texture + Sharpen + Emboss
1. File, Open - find the picture you want to use.
2. Click on Effects, Texturizer.
3. Click on Effects, Emboss.

Photo shows Texturizer, Sharpen, and Emboss used in Effects in Microsoft Photo Editor


Chalk and Charcoal Effect
1. File, Open - find the picture you want to use.
2. Click on Effects, Chalk and Charcoal Effect.



Blue and Green Channels Selected under Effects, Negative
1. File, Open - find the picture you want to use.
2. Click on Effects, Negative and have dots next to Blue and Green only.



Red and Green Channels Selected under Effects, Negative
1. File, Open - find the picture you want to use.
2. Click on Effects, Negative and have dots next to Red and Green only.


Red, Green, and Blue Channels Selected under Effects, Negative
1. File, Open - find the picture you want to use.
2. Click on Effects, Negative and have dots next to Red, Green, and Blue.



Red and Blue Channels Selected under Effects, Negative
1. File, Open - find the picture you want to use.
2. Click on Effects, Negative and have dots next to Red and Blue.



Watercolor Effect
1. File, Open - find the picture you want to use.
2. Click on Effects, Watercolor.



Matted, Cropped, and Notepaper Effects
1. File, Open - find the picture you want to use.
2. Click on Image, Resize.
3. Choose effects for width of the matting you want to use on the photo. At the bottom of the Resize dialog box, you can also choose the type of corners you will use for your photo when it is matted.
4. After cropping and resizing the photo, click on Effects, Notepaper.


Wide border with Texture Effect - Sandstone + Embossing
1. File, New, and then specify a page size much larger than the photo you will be using.
2. File, Open - and get the picture you want to use in the center.
3. File, Edit, Select All.
4. Edit, Copy.
5. Click on Window and then choose the blank page you just created.
6. Edit, Paste.
7. Move photo into position on the page.
8. Click on Effects, Texturize - Sandstone.
9. Effects, Emboss.