Moderator: Forum moderators
hello
in mtpaint
i have an image of a person reading a book.
i know how to scale the canvas of that image.
i reduce it to the size of the cover of the book.
i want to put that reduced image on the book
cover to create an image of a person reading
a book, on the cover of which is an image of
a that person readng that book.
trial and error failed. some research brought me here.
help wanted. thank you.mm
Is this what you try to do?
This is made as an example using layers.
Select the image (ctrl+a), copy (ctrl+c), then make a new layer from clipboard.
Press v to get a preview of the next steps.
Resize and rotate the new layer and in the right viewer pane (!) drag it into position.
From the menu layers select save composite image.
HTH
Have fun and stay curious 
hello herrbert
directions worked until i rotated
the 'rescaled' image to put in the
correct orientation for book cover.
at that point the image became
a black shape, rotated, against a red
background, which showed the original,
unrotated, place of the rescaled image.
i could drag it to the cover of the book
but i could not change the black/red shape
back to the image for the book cover.
thanks so far. mm
Are you serious 
Seems it gets beyond basic knowledge at this point.
I used an svg file for my example. Loaded in mtpaint it has an alpha channel for transparency, so there are no red shapes after rotating...
What you can try to do is adding an alpha channel to the new layer to 'hide' anything, you don't want in your overlay image.
What i don't understand is:
at that point the image became
a black shape, rotated, against a red
background, which showed the original,
unrotated, place of the rescaled image.
Can you please post/pm a reduced size screenshot of whatever this means?
(subject is just a suggestion...)
hello herrbert,
first note: i started with jpg
second note: image in left pane
changed from black shape on red
background to fullsize image i started
from.
image in right pane did not change.
the black shape, which was the resized
original, on the red backround is where
i dragged it.
my cousin and i recently exchanged selfies.
he is the reader. the cover of the book is behind
the black shape. i thought it might be amusing
to put the image of him holding the book, on
the cover of the book.
third note: i have obscured, i hope, all
personal details with broad red stripes,
as they play no part in this issue.
thank you, mm
Looks like your new layer is an empty image...
Let's start over again:
Open your image in mtPaint
Select your image either by pressing CTRL+a or from menu Selection -> Select all
Copy selection into clipboard either by pressing CTRL+c or from menu Edit -> Copy
Create a new layer from menu Layers -> New Layer
This brings up a dialog where you have to tick From Clipboard
Since JPG has no alpha channel you have to add it from menu Channels -> New ...
This brings up a dialog where you have to tick Set
Alpha should be selected by default
Make sure that menu Channels -> Couple RGBA Operations is selected
Press v for the preview
Now edit the layer to your liking
Save the preview image using the menu Layers -> Save Composite Image ...
By default this will save as PNG, but can be changed to JPEG
As another example i edited the image from my earlier post as jpg
I have scaled it to fit into the book cover and then skewed it instead of rotating to fit the angle
hello herrbert,
many thanks for the detailed reply.
once again, i will make use of it
later to day. mm
@HerrBert That is one of the clearest and concise explanations, ever! 
Thank you.
Mods. Might I suggest that the full subject be copied across to the 'HOW-TO' section of the forum for long-term viewing.
hello herrbert,
things went according to
directions, thanks very much.
i think the result will amuse my
cousin.
i used the forum for years
and rejoined when it was resurrected.
one feature of the new forum is
'thanks/been thanked'. it is not
obvious to me how it works.
it is
clear that yr instructions are exemplary,
as fossil has pointed out.
cheers, mm
@mmmrr
Don't worry about 'thanksgiving' 
Editing images may be trivial.
If it comes to editing personal photos it can be very emotional...
If my instructions were of help to you, we all did right.
You asked, i tried to help
Maybe a moderator will help renaming the subject or even moving this thread to an appropriate place...
Go to the first post on this page, in that post click the pencil (left next to your avatar) to edit the post and change the subject by adding (SOLVED)