This tutorial will be very helpful to those who are just learning to use NIH Image. It progresses in a simple, step-wise fasion to introduce new commands and techniques.

Opening a Picture
1. Start NIH Image
2. From the File menu, drag the mouse to Open...
3. In the box that pops up, select your picture

Drag down the Special menu to Windows to Stack. This makes a copy of your picture. If you make a mistake, you can back to Windows and make a fresh stack.

Adding Text
It is nice to place text on an image. This helps others to identify features within the image.
1. Click on the text tool - A
2. Click on the image, and type a label for your picture.
3. If the paint brush color on the tool bar is black, the text will be black.
4. Hit the delete key enough times to erase what you wrote.
5. Click on the white at the bottom of LUT This time the text is white. Test it by writing more text.
6. Go to the Options menu and drag down to the Font, Size, and Style. Try different fonts, sizes, and styles. Some fonts and styles are easier to read than others. This may change depending on the color of the image.
7. Go to the File menu and drag down until it says Revert to Saved. This will bring back a fresh image.
8. Another very useful tool is the magnifiying glass. Click on the magnifiying glass and then click on the image. The image is magnified. Click agaln and it is magnified even more. If you keep clicking, the image will finally become unrecognizable.
9. To zoom back out, hold down the option key and click again. You will notice that the plus sign in the magnifiying, becomes a minus sign.
10. After you have looked at an image, don't save any of your changes. When you close the file, the program will asked if you want to save changes, select NO.