# A program for graphing a picture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 4, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-program-for-graphing-a-picture/227436 "2004-02-04T03:59:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![criminalcatalog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@criminalcatalog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/criminalcatalog)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-program-for-graphing-a-picture/227436/1 "2004-02-04T03:59:59Z")
I take high resolution pictures with a digital camera, and draw from their images on my monitor. Is there a good program that I could download that will put a graph on top of these images? I kind of get tired of drawing them myself. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-program-for-graphing-a-picture/227436/2 "2004-02-04T04:16:57Z")
I don’t really understand what you mean. Perhaps you could show us a sample of what you do? If you just want to trace a picture with a mouse instead of a pencil, use layers in Photoshop (or a similar program). Then you can draw anything you want on one layer, without touching the picture itself because it’s on a separate layer. If by “graph” you mean a square lattice, like graph paper, I think you want to use Photoshop “brushes,” but I don’t know much about that. If you want to draw outlines of the main subject of the photos, I think Photoshop can identify where the edges of objects are without much trouble. Again, I’m not a PS expert, but I hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![criminalcatalog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@criminalcatalog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/criminalcatalog)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-program-for-graphing-a-picture/227436/3 "2004-02-04T04:26:20Z")
What I mean is I’d like to lay a two-dimensional graph over the picture, turning the original photo into a field of miniature photos, to the specs I determine. You know, “graphing” a picture. Elementary art technique. Photoshop isn’t something I have access to at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-program-for-graphing-a-picture/227436/4 "2004-02-04T04:27:27Z")
In Photoshop you can also go to Tools - Show Grid and it’ll put a grid over your image, if you’re looking to have an image with gridlines. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-program-for-graphing-a-picture/227436/5 "2004-02-04T04:30:03Z")
I mean View - Show - Grids. :smack: I even opened up Photoshop to check this time. And under Edit - Preferences - Guides, Grid & Slice… you can change the size and style of your gridlines. This is Photoshop 7, btw. I think the prefs menu was in a different place in 5 and 6. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-program-for-graphing-a-picture/227436/6 "2004-02-04T04:33:42Z")
Ah, well, IANA artist, which explains why I didn’t understand. Maybe just make an image that’s a graph, then layer it over your photo. Of course, then you couldn’t vary the size of the graph squares very easily. If you don’t have photoshop, try googling for “photo editing software” or something. I think layering is considered a fairly basic operation. ---
**Author:** ![Phage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@Phage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phage)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-program-for-graphing-a-picture/227436/7 "2004-02-04T04:37:32Z")
If you cannot get Photoshop, what you want is The Gimp. Completely free, and can do everything that Photoshop can. You can get it here: [http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32/](http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32/) ---
**Author:** ![criminalcatalog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@criminalcatalog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/criminalcatalog)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-program-for-graphing-a-picture/227436/8 "2004-02-04T05:20:48Z")
thanks, **Phage**. I’ll give it a try. In other news, I’m making my first meatloaf.