Special Education Services
Plano Independent School District

Hints for Importing Photos
into Vantage™, Vanguard™, Pathfinder™, or SpringBoard™

Critical Components:
· Crop photo and maximize quality (in photo software).
· Save in bmp format (in photo software or paint software).
· Save in 256 colors (in paint software).
· Give your photo a unique name.

General Steps:
1. Take the photo with an uncluttered background. I found the photos looked clearer on the devices if taken using a dark background.
2. Transfer the photo from your camera to your computer according to the directions with your camera.
3. Open your photo software, which is probably Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Deluxe. Select “Get and Fix Photo.” This is your opportunity to crop the photo and maximize the quality. When finished tweaking the photo, select “Save and Send,” and then “Export.” If “Other Export” is a choice, and within “Other Export,” bmp is a choice, you can save your photo as a bit map at this point. Save in My Documents. You are finished using the photo software.
4. Open Paint Shop Pro. Select File > Open, and get the photo you saved in My Documents. Select Colors from the menu bar, and change it to 256 colors. Save, or if you have not already changed it to a bit map, use Save As, and select "bmp." Be sure you give your photo a unique name.

Your photo is now ready to import!

Use the MTI to import the photo. On the device, select Import Icon. When you want to use the imported photo in the device, select Change Icon to open the Icon Library. Your photo should be in the “Imports” category. If it is not there, it has been masked by an icon in the library that has the same name. When this happens, rename your photo in My Documents with a unique name, and repeat the Import Icon procedure.