Windows Media Center is a nice application for managing and displaying your personal photos, but you may occasionally need to make some basic edits to your pictures. Today we’ll take a look at how to crop, edit, and print photos right from Windows 7 Media Center.

From within the Picture Library in Windows Media Center, choose a photo to work with, right-click and select Picture Details. You can also access this option with a Media Center remote by clicking the “i” button. Note: You’ll notice you have the option to rotate the picture from this menu. It is also available on the next screen. 

Rotate a picture

Now you’ll see more options on the Picture Details screen. From here you can rotate, Print, or Touch Up, Delete, or Burn a CD/DVD. To rotate the picture, simple select Rotate. Note: If you want your photo saved with the new orientation, you’ll need to select Save from the Touch Up screen that we will look at later in the article.

Each click will rotate the picture 90 degrees clockwise. You’ll see the new orientation of the picture displayed on the Picture Details screen after you have clicked Rotate.

Print a picture

From the Picture Details screen, select Print.

Click Print again. Media Center automatically prints to your default printer, so make sure your desired target printer is set as default.

Crop and Edit Photos

To edit or crop your photo, select Touch Up.

Touch Up options includes, Crop, Contrast, and Red Eye removal. First, we’ll select the Crop button to crop our photo.

You will see a cropping area overlay appear on your photo.

Select one of the buttons below to adjust the location, size, and orientation of the area to be cropped.

When you’re happy with your selection, click Save.

You’ll be prompted to confirm your save. Click Yes to permanently save your edits.

You can also apply Contrast or Red Eye adjustments to your photos. There aren’t any advanced settings for these options. You merely toggle the Contrast or Red Eye on or off by selecting the option.

Be sure to click Save before exiting to if you’ve made any changes you wish to permanently apply to the photos. This includes rotating the images.

While this method is not likely to be replace your favorite image editing software, it does give you the ability to make basic edits and print photos directly from Windows Media Center. With a Media Center remote, you can even do all your edits from the comfort of your recliner.