Importing your Background Picture

The first step to designing your landscape is to take a picture of your house and property using a digital camera. For best results, take the picture on a clear day with the sun behind you (to avoid glare). Try to get as close as possible to the area you want to landscape. If the area is too big to fit in a single picture, then you can take several pictures and create a separate landscape design for each.

Once you have your picture, upload it to your computer using the software that came with your camera. (Scanned pictures will work as well.) Then use the following steps to import your picture into Realtime Landscaping Photo.

To import a background picture using the Picture Import Wizard:

1.   Start Realtime Landscaping Photo.

2.   From the welcome menu, click Import a new background picture using the wizard. Or, if the welcome menu is not active, select Tools > Picture Import Wizard. The following dialog will appear:

3.   Click Next. The following dialog will appear:

4.   Select Background as the type of picture you want to import (if it is not already selected) and click Next. You can also import plants and other objects using the wizard, but you always want to select Background when importing the picture you want to landscape on top of.

5.   A standard Windows file open dialog will then appear. Navigate to the picture you want to import and click Open. The following dialog will appear:

Tip: When you upload pictures from your digital camera, they are often placed in the My Documents\My Pictures folder (Windows XP), or Documents\user\My Pictures (Windows Vista).

6.   If this is the picture you want to use, click Next. Otherwise, click Select Picture and choose another one. The following dialog will appear:

6. Click Set File Name and enter the file name you want to use for your imported picture, then click Save. Use a descriptive name to make it easy to find your picture in the future. Click Next. The following dialog will appear:

7.   Click Finish to import your picture and finish the wizard. The background will change to the picture you just imported and you can begin designing your landscape.

Important: The wizard will make a copy of your picture, so if you change the original, then you will need to re-import it using the wizard.

Changing the Background Picture

Once you have imported a picture, you can choose it without having to import it again.

You can also edit it using the Realtime Picture Editor. See Editing the Background Picture for details.