The number one enemy of books? Dirt and natural oils from your hands as you handle them. When you're handling your books, make sure to wash your hands with warm, soapy water, and thoroughly dry them before picking up and thumbing through your books, or cleaning them. Very old, leather-bound, or rare books should be handled while wearing latex gloves. Never eat or drink around old books that you want to protect. Books need to be cleaned regularly to keep dust from accumulating on them. Generally, unless books become very soiled, basic dusting and proper temperature and environment control should be enough to keep them clean long-term. Start dusting by removing all the books from your shelves and cleaning the shelves thoroughly, dusting them and wiping them down before reshelving the books. The best way to clean old books is with a microfiber cloth that traps dust inside. Instead of just blowing the dust around, as with a feather duster, these types of cloths will trap the dust and remove it completely. They've commonly sold at most home retail stores. Don't use water or other solvents to Try to clean books. If you have a very rare book that's gotten dirty, take it to a book dealer in your area and talk about restoration methods. Most books should not need to be cleaned in any way other than gentle dusting. If you're storing books upright on the shelf, most books will only be dusty or dirty at the top of the cover, and on the top binding of the book. The bottoms will usually be mostly clean. When you're cleaning then, start at the top, wiping down gently with the cling-cloth and wiping dust from the book. If your books are very dusty, it may be good to use a small hand-vac, or the tube function on your regular vacuum cleaner to gently suck the dust out of the hinge in the binding. Run the vacuum over the top of the books while they're still stacked to get the most dust out of there, before you go back over them individually with a cloth. This can be a good way to get the worst out of the way first. Most of the dust in a book room will be tracked in from the floor, actually. While dusting the shelves themselves is important, paying attention to cleaning the room regularly will help to keep your books in their prime condition. Vacuum and sweep the floors at least once a week, if your books are in a high-traffic area, to keep your books from needing more substantial cleaning.

Summary: Wash and dry your hands before handling books. Dust rooms with books regularly. Wipe books down with a clean magnetic or lint-free cloth. Start cleaning from the "head" to the "tail" of the book. Use a small hand-vac in the hinges. Vacuum the room regularly.

Click Image Canvas Size. In the window that appears, click the chain icon to unlink the width and the height. Change the canvas size to a size that shows the subject well, and ensure that both width and height are set to the same number. Use the Offset values to center the image in your new canvas before clicking the Resize button. Once you've resized the image, right-click on the layer and select "Layer to Image Size". This will change the layer boundary to match the canvas size. If you want, you can use GIMP's color tools to change the coloration of the image. The easiest way to do this is to click Color Colorize and then play with the settings until you find the color you feel looks best. The final step in creating an icon is ensuring that the image supports all the different icon sizes. This is essential if you want to be able to use the icon in different areas of the operating system and want them to scale when icon size is increased or decreased. Copy the layer. Click the Layer in the Layers window and press Ctrl+C. Scale the original layer. Open the Scale tool by pressing Shift+T and change the image scale to 256 X 256 px. Click Image Fit Canvas to Layers. (Note: if you are creating the icon set for OS X, start with a 512 X 512) Create the first copy. Press Ctrl+V to paste the layer. Click Layer To New Layer. Open the Scale tool and change the size to 128 X 128. Create the second copy. Press Ctrl+V to paste the layer. Click Layer To New Layer. Open the Scale tool and change the size to 48 X 48. Create the third copy. Press Ctrl+V to paste the layer. Click Layer To New Layer. Open the Scale tool and change the size to 32 X 32. Create the fourth copy. Press Ctrl+V to paste the layer. Click Layer To New Layer. Open the Scale tool and change the size to 16 X 16. You should have 5 layers, each one with an image smaller than the last. If any of them look blurry, open the Sharpening Tool by clicking Filters Enhance Sharpen. Adjust the slider until the image is clearer. Click File Export. In the Export Image window, change the extension in the top field to ".ico" and choose a location to save the icon. A window will appear, asking if you want to compress any of the layers. Check the box to compress the two biggest layers, unless you are using Windows XP. Once you've exported the image into .ico format, you can use it to replace the icon for any file or folder you'd like. See this guide for changing the icons on your Windows computer. See this guide for changing the icons on your Mac OS X computer. You will need to use a free online converter to change the ICO file to an ICNS file (Mac's icon file format).

Summary: Change the canvas size. Adjust the color. Create the different icon sizes. Examine your layers. Save the image as an icon. Use the icon.

Avoid vague language or general statements, as they will not be useful for the reader. Instead, use language that is simple and clear so the article is accessible for all readers. Keep your sentences no longer than 2-3 lines and break up any sentences that are too long or run-on. For example, rather than write, "The missing girl's mother thought it had to do with school," you may write, "The missing girl's mother thought bullying at school may have caused her daughter's absences." The active, rather than passive, voice places the subject of the sentence first, making it more immediate and informative. Most newspaper articles are written in the third person so they remain objective and do not present a personal or subjective perspective. For example, rather than write, "A press conference will be held by local police tomorrow to address the missing girls and the public's concerns," you may write, "Local police will address the missing girls and the public's concerns in a press conference tomorrow." A newspaper article should not show any bias or have any stated opinions about the topic. Instead, it should present a factual account of the event or incident. Avoid using hyperbolic language and do not exaggerate any details in the article. For example, if you're writing about two political candidates running against each other in an election, present both candidates in an equal light, rather than giving extra details about 1 candidate.
Summary: Use specific, clear language that is easy to follow. Write in the active, third person voice. Maintain an objective, informative tone in the article.