From 3cb87d9b249c5b1e1060334a87cdd108774a47ae Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: William Kendrick Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 08:06:33 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Much expansion of the 'how to make starters' section of the docs. --- docs/README.txt | 120 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---- docs/html/README.html | 124 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------- 2 files changed, 209 insertions(+), 35 deletions(-) diff --git a/docs/README.txt b/docs/README.txt index f25688368..e20f1c9b6 100644 --- a/docs/README.txt +++ b/docs/README.txt @@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ bill@newbreedsoftware.com http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/ - June 14, 2002 - September 14, 2004 + June 14, 2002 - September 15, 2004 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- @@ -104,14 +104,14 @@ Loading Tux Paint Linux/Unix Users - Run the following command at a shell prompt (e.g., "$"): + Tux Paint should have placed a laucher icon in your KDE and/or GNOME + menus, under 'Graphics.' + + Alternatively, you can run the following command at a shell prompt + (e.g., "$"): $ tuxpaint - It is also possible to make a launcher button or icon (e.g. in GNOME - or KDE under Linux). See your desktop environment's documentation - for details... - If any errors occur, they will be displayed on the terminal (to "stderr"). @@ -130,13 +130,16 @@ Loading Tux Paint "stderr.txt" in the Tux Paint folder. See "INSTALL.txt" for details on customizing the 'Shortcut' icon to - Tux Paint, which lets you easily set program options (via the + Tux Paint, which is one way you may set program options (via the command-line). To run Tux Paint and provide command-line options directly, you will need to run "tuxpaint.exe" from an MSDOS Prompt window. (See "INSTALL.txt" for details.) + (The easy way to set program options is to do so using the + Tux Paint Config. application.) + ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mac OS X Users @@ -174,6 +177,9 @@ Options --nosysconfig + The recommended method for altering Tux Paint's configuration is + using the Tux Paint Config. application. + Windows Users The file you should create is called "tuxpaint.cfg" and it should @@ -183,6 +189,9 @@ Options save it as Plain Text, and make sure the filename doesn't have ".txt" at the end... + The recommended method for altering Tux Paint's configuration is + using the Tux Paint Config. application. + Available Options The following settings can be set in the configuration file. @@ -1130,6 +1139,21 @@ Available Tools right of the list to cancel and return to the picture you were drawing. + 'Starter' Images + + Along with pictures you've created, Tux Paint can provided + 'Starter' images. Opening them is like creating a new + picture, except that the picture isn't blank. 'Starters' + can be like a page from a coloring book (a black-and-white + outline of a picture, which you can then color in), or + like a 3D photograph, where you draw the bits in between. + + 'Starter' images have a green background in the 'Open' + screen. (Normal images have a blue background.) When you + load a 'Starter,' draw on it, and then click 'Save,' it + creates a new picture (it doesn't overwrite the original + 'Starter,' so you can use it again later). + If choose to open a picture, and your current drawing hasn't been saved, you will be prompted as to whether you want to save it or not. (See "Save," below.) @@ -1392,8 +1416,8 @@ Where Files Go Personal Files - You can also create brushes, stamps and fonts in your own directory - for Tux Paint to find. + You can also create brushes, stamps, fonts and 'starters' in your + own directory for Tux Paint to find. Linux and Unix @@ -1411,9 +1435,9 @@ Where Files Go C:\Program Files\TuxPaint\userdata - To add brushes, stamps and fonts, create subdirectories under your - personal Tux Paint directory named "brushes", "stamps" and "fonts", - respectively. + To add brushes, stamps fonts, and 'starters,' create subdirectories + under your personal Tux Paint directory named "brushes", "stamps", + "fonts" and "starters" respectively. (For example, if you created a brush named "flower.png", you would put it in "~/.tuxpaint/brushes/" under Linux or Unix.) @@ -1620,6 +1644,78 @@ Fonts font and provide four different sizes in the 'Letters' selector when using the 'Text' tool. + ---------------------------------------------------------------------- + +'Starters' + + 'Starter' images appear in the 'Open' dialog, along with pictures + you've created. They have a green button background, instead of blue. + + Unlike your saved pictures, however, when you select and open a + 'starter,' you're actually creating a new drawing. Instead of being + blank, though, the new drawing contains the contents of the 'starter.' + Additionally, as you edit your new picture, the contents of the + original 'starter' affect it. + + Coloring-Book Style + + The most basic kind of 'starter' is similar to a picture in a + coloring book. It's an outline of a shape which you can then color + in and add details to. In Tux Paint, as you draw, type text, or + stamp stamps, the outline remains 'above' what you draw. You can + erase the parts of the drawing you made, but you can't erase the + outline. + + To create this kind of 'starter' image, simply draw an outlined + picture in a paint program, make the rest of the graphic transparent + (that will come out as white in Tux Paint), and save it as a PNG + format file. + + Scene-Style + + Along with the 'coloring-book' style overlay, you can also provide a + separate background image as part of a 'starter' picture. The + overlay acts the same: it can't be drawn over, erased, or affected + by 'Magic' tools. However, the background can be! + + When the 'Eraser' tool is used on a picture based on this kind of + 'starter' image, rather than turning the canvas white, it returns + that part of the canvas to the original background picture. + + By creating both an overlay and a background, you can create a + 'starter' which simulates depth. Imagine a background that shows the + ocean, and an overlay that's a picture of a reef. You can then draw + (or stamp) fish in the picture. They'll appear in the ocean, but + never 'in front of' the reef. + + To create this kind of 'starter' picture, simply create an overlay + (with alpha transparency) as described above, and save it as a PNG. + Then create another image (without transparency), and save it with + the same filename, but with "-back" appended to the name. (e.g., + "reef-back.png" would be the background ocean picture that + corresponds to the "reef.png" overlay, or foreground.) + + The 'starter' images should be the same size as Tux Paint's canvas. In + the default 640x480 mode, that is 448x376 pixels. (If you're using + 800x600 mode, it should be 608x496.) + + Place them in the "starters" directory. When the 'Open' dialog is + accessed in Tux Paint, the 'starter' images will appear at the + beginning of the list with a green background. + + Note: 'Starters' can't be saved over from within Tux Paint, since + loading a 'starter' is really like creating a new image. (Instead of + being blank, though there's already something there to work with.) The + 'Save' command simply creates a new picture, like it would if the + 'New' command had been used. + + Note: 'Starters' are 'attached' to saved pictures, via a small text + file that has the same name as the saved file, but with ".dat" as the + extension. This allows the overlay and background, if any, to continue + to affect the drawing even after Tux Paint has been quit, or another + picture loaded or started. (In other words, if you base a drawing on a + 'starter' image, it will always be affected by it.) + ---------------------------------------------------------------------- More Information diff --git a/docs/html/README.html b/docs/html/README.html index db0e5660b..39862adda 100644 --- a/docs/html/README.html +++ b/docs/html/README.html @@ -147,16 +147,16 @@ New Breed Software

Linux/Unix Users

-

Run the following command at a shell prompt (e.g., "$"):

+

Tux Paint should have placed a laucher icon in your KDE and/or GNOME + menus, under 'Graphics.'

+ +

Alternatively, you can run the following command at a shell prompt + (e.g., "$"):

$ tuxpaint
-

It is also possible to make a launcher button or icon - (e.g. in GNOME or KDE under Linux). - See your desktop environment's documentation for details...

-

If any errors occur, they will be displayed on the terminal (to "stderr").

@@ -180,13 +180,16 @@ New Breed Software

"stderr.txt" in the Tux Paint folder.

See "INSTALL.txt" for details on customizing the 'Shortcut' icon to - Tux Paint, which lets you easily set program options (via the + Tux Paint, which is one way you may set program options (via the command-line).

To run Tux Paint and provide command-line options directly, you will need to run "tuxpaint.exe" from an MSDOS Prompt window. (See "INSTALL.txt" for details.)

+

(The easy way to set program options is to do so using the + Tux Paint Config. application.)

+
@@ -214,7 +217,8 @@ New Breed Software

Linux Users

-

The file you should create is called ".tuxpaintrc" +

The file you should create is called + ".tuxpaintrc" and it should be placed in your home directory. (a.k.a. "~/.tuxpaintrc" or "$HOME/.tuxpaintrc")

@@ -235,6 +239,9 @@ New Breed Software

--nosysconfig
+ +

The recommended method for altering Tux Paint's + configuration is using the Tux Paint Config. application.

@@ -247,6 +254,9 @@ New Breed Software

You can use NotePad or WordPad to create this file. Be sure to save it as Plain Text, and make sure the filename doesn't have ".txt" at the end...

+ +

The recommended method for altering Tux Paint's + configuration is using the Tux Paint Config. application.

@@ -1752,18 +1762,22 @@ New Breed Software

-

Along with pictures you've created, Tux Paint can provided - 'Starter' images. Opening them is like creating a new picture, - except that the picture isn't blank. 'Starters' can be like a page - from a coloring book (a black-and-white outline of a picture, which - you can then color in), or like a 3D photograph, where you draw - the bits in between.

+ 'Starter' Images -

'Starter' images have a green background in the 'Open' screen. - (Normal images have a blue background.) When you load a 'Starter,' - draw on it, and then click 'Save,' it creates a new picture - (it doesn't overwrite the original 'Starter,' so you can use it - again later).

+
+

Along with pictures you've created, Tux Paint can provided + 'Starter' images. Opening them is like creating a new picture, + except that the picture isn't blank. 'Starters' can be like a page + from a coloring book (a black-and-white outline of a picture, which + you can then color in), or like a 3D photograph, where you draw + the bits in between.

+ +

'Starter' images have a green background in the 'Open' screen. + (Normal images have a blue background.) When you load a 'Starter,' + draw on it, and then click 'Save,' it creates a new picture + (it doesn't overwrite the original 'Starter,' so you can use it + again later).

+

If choose to open a picture, and your current drawing hasn't been saved, you will be prompted as to whether you want to save it or not. @@ -2402,14 +2416,78 @@ New Breed Software

-

FIXME: To be written!

+

'Starter' images appear in the 'Open' dialog, along with pictures + you've created. They have a green button background, instead of blue.

+ +

Unlike your saved pictures, however, when you select and open a + 'starter,' you're actually creating a new drawing. Instead of being + blank, though, the new drawing contains the contents of the 'starter.' + Additionally, as you edit your new picture, the contents of the + original 'starter' affect it.

+ + Coloring-Book Style + +
+

The most basic kind of 'starter' is similar to a picture in a coloring + book. It's an outline of a shape which you can then color in and + add details to. In Tux Paint, as you draw, type text, or stamp + stamps, the outline remains 'above' what you draw. You can erase the + parts of the drawing you made, but you can't erase the outline.

+ +

To create this kind of 'starter' image, simply draw an outlined + picture in a paint program, make the rest of the graphic transparent + (that will come out as white in Tux Paint), and save it as a + PNG format file.

+
+ + Scene-Style + +
+

Along with the 'coloring-book' style overlay, you can also provide + a separate background image as part of a 'starter' picture. The + overlay acts the same: it can't be drawn over, erased, or affected by + 'Magic' tools. However, the background can be!

+ +

When the 'Eraser' tool is used on a picture based on this kind of + 'starter' image, rather than turning the canvas white, it returns that + part of the canvas to the original background picture.

+ +

By creating both an overlay and a background, you can create a + 'starter' which simulates depth. Imagine a background that shows + the ocean, and an overlay that's a picture of a reef. You can then + draw (or stamp) fish in the picture. They'll appear in the ocean, + but never 'in front of' the reef.

+ +

To create this kind of 'starter' picture, simply create an overlay + (with alpha transparency) as described above, and save it as a PNG. + Then create another image (without transparency), and save it with + the same filename, but with "-back" appended to the + name. (e.g., "reef-back.png" would be the background + ocean picture that corresponds to the "reef.png" + overlay, or foreground.)

+
+ +

The 'starter' images should be the same size as Tux Paint's + canvas. In the default 640x480 mode, that is 448x376 pixels. + (If you're using 800x600 mode, it should be 608x496.)

Place them in the "starters" directory. When the 'Open' dialog is accessed in Tux Paint, the 'starter' - images will appear at the beginning of the list. They can't be saved - over, since loading a 'starter' is really like creating a new image, - but instead of being blank, there's already something there to work - with.

+ images will appear at the beginning of the list with a green background.

+ +

Note: 'Starters' can't be saved over from within Tux Paint, + since loading a 'starter' is really like creating a new image. + (Instead of being blank, though there's already something there to work + with.) The 'Save' command simply creates a new picture, like it would + if the 'New' command had been used.

+ +

Note: 'Starters' are 'attached' to saved pictures, via a + small text file that has the same name as the saved file, but with + ".dat" as the extension. This allows the overlay and + background, if any, to continue to affect the drawing even after + Tux Paint has been quit, or another picture loaded or started. + (In other words, if you base a drawing on a 'starter' image, it will + always be affected by it.)