Is there any way to put text on a 56k JPEG graphic with MS Office or standard windows software. I don’t have Photoshop or anything like that.
using Paint would probably be the easiest option.
there are also several free alternatives to Photoshop like GIMP if you want to try a program with more features/options.
aaronpoley, you’ll need an image editor, not a text editor.
Your options are either Paint (provided in windows - you can open the image and use the text tool to add what you want), Paint.NET (a free image editor) or GIMP (a free open source alternative to Photoshop) - there are others but one of those will do you fine. 
I tried Paint. It left a swath of white blocking the image around the text. Not what I was hoping for. I’ll have to try the other options you guys mentioned.
at the very bottom of the toolbar on the left…there are two similar icons with shapes. select the bottom of the two to add text without a white box. the top icon is selected by default and creates a surrounding box of the background color.
If you are after some really basic functionality of just layering text on top of a photo then any of these will probably do.
10-free-web-based-alternatives-to-photoshop
I’ve briefly used some of them when I’m stuck away from my computer and in need of a quick fix to an image. Just look for the toolset and make sure that there is a Text button and you are away, some of those listed are more aimed at adding filters/effects to images.
GIMP is a good option. Here is a list of other Free image editing programs for PC:
That’s actually pretty cool. +1 best bet. Although MS Paint has really come a long way (comparing win 7 paint to win 3.1)