Suitable for simple 'pixel art'. Draws 8x8 pixel rectangles on a grid across the canvas. Sound effect created via a small Atari BASIC program sampled in the open source 'Atari800' emulator (emulating the POKEY sound chip), and trimmed in Audacity.
987 lines
43 KiB
Text
987 lines
43 KiB
Text
Tux Paint
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version 0.9.26
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A simple drawing program for children
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Copyright 2002-2021 by various contributors; see AUTHORS.txt
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http://www.tuxpaint.org/
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June 14, 2002 - January 6, 2021
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+-------------------------------------------+
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|Table of Contents |
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| * About |
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| * Using Tux Paint |
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| * Loading Tux Paint |
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| * Title Screen |
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| * Main Screen |
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| * Available Tools |
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| * Drawing Tools |
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| * Other Controls |
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| * Loading Other Pictures into Tux Paint |
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| * Further Reading |
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| * How to Get Help |
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+-------------------------------------------+
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About
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What Is 'Tux Paint?'
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Tux Paint is a free drawing program designed for young children (kids
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ages 3 and up). It has a simple, easy-to-use interface, fun sound
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effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who helps guide children as
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they use the program. It provides a blank canvas and a variety of
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drawing tools to help your child be creative.
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License:
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Tux Paint is an Open Source project, Free Software released under the
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GNU General Public License (GPL). It is free, and the 'source code'
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behind the program is available. (This allows others to add features,
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fix bugs, and use parts of the program in their own GPL'd software.)
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See COPYING.txt for the full text of the GPL license.
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Objectives:
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Easy and Fun
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Tux Paint is meant to be a simple drawing program for young
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children. It is not meant as a general-purpose drawing tool.
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It is meant to be fun and easy to use. Sound effects and a
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cartoon character help let the user know what's going on, and
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keeps them entertained. There are also extra-large
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cartoon-style mouse pointer shapes.
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Extensibility
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Tux Paint is extensible. Brushes and "rubber stamp" shapes can
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be dropped in and pulled out. For example, a teacher can drop
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in a collection of animal shapes and ask their students to
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draw an ecosystem. Each shape can have a sound which is
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played, and textual facts which are displayed, when the child
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selects the shape.
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Portability
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Tux Paint is portable among various computer platforms:
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Windows, Macintosh, Linux, etc. The interface looks the same
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among them all. Tux Paint runs suitably well on older systems
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(like a Pentium 133), and can be built to run better on slow
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systems.
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Simplicity
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There is no direct access to the computer's underlying
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intricacies. The current image is kept when the program quits,
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and reappears when it is restarted. Saving images requires no
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need to create filenames or use the keyboard. Opening an image
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is done by selecting it from a collection of thumbnails.
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Access to other files on the computer is restricted.
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Using Tux Paint
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Loading Tux Paint
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Linux/Unix Users
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Tux Paint should have placed a laucher icon in your KDE and/or GNOME
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menus, under 'Graphics.'
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Alternatively, you can run the following command at a shell prompt
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(e.g., "$"):
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$ tuxpaint
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If any errors occur, they will be displayed on the terminal (to
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"stderr").
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Windows Users
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[Icon]
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Tux Paint
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If you installed Tux Paint on your computer using the
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'Tux Paint Installer,' it will have asked you whether you wanted a
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'Start' menu short-cut, and/or a desktop shortcut. If you agreed,
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you can simply run Tux Paint from the 'Tux Paint' section of your
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'Start' menu (e.g., under "All Programs" on Windows XP), or by
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double-clicking the "Tux Paint" icon on your desktop.
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If you installed Tux Paint using the 'ZIP-file' download, or if you
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used the 'Tux Paint Installer,' but chose not to have shortcuts
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installed, you'll need to double-click the "tuxpaint.exe" icon in
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the 'Tux Paint' folder on your computer.
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By default, the 'Tux Paint Installer' will put Tux Paint's folder in
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"C:\Program Files\", though you may have changed this when the
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installer ran.
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If you used the 'ZIP-file' download, Tux Paint's folder will be
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wherever you put it when you unzipped the ZIP file.
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macOS Users
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Simply double-click the "Tux Paint" icon.
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Title Screen
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When Tux Paint first loads, a title/credits screen will appear.
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[Title Screenshot]
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Once loading is complete, press a key or click on the mouse to
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continue. (Or, after about 30 seconds, the title screen will go away
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automatically.)
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Main Screen
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The main screen is divided into the following sections:
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Left Side: Toolbar
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The toolbar contains the drawing and editing controls.
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[Tools: Paint, Stamp, Lines, Shapes, Text, Magic, Label, Undo, Redo, Eraser,
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New, Open, Save, Print, Quit]
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Middle: Drawing Canvas
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The largest part of the screen, in the center, is the drawing
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canvas. This is, obviously, where you draw!
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[(Canvas)]
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Note: The size of the drawing canvas depends on the size of
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Tux Paint. You can change the size of Tux Paint using the
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Tux Paint Config. configuration tool, or by other means. See
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the OPTIONS documentation for more details.
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Right Side: Selector
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Depending on the current tool, the selector shows different
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things. e.g., when the Paint Brush tool is selected, it shows
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the various brushes available. When the Rubber Stamp tool is
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selected, it shows the different shapes you can use.
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[Selectors - Brushes, Letters, Shapes, Stamps]
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Lower: Colors
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A palette of available colors are shown near the bottom of the
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screen.
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[Colors - Black, White, Red, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Purple,
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Brown, Grey]
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On the far right are two special color options, the
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"color picker", which has an outline of an eye-dropper, and
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allows you to pick a color found within your drawing, and the
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rainbow palette, which allows you to pick a color from within
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a box containing thousands of colors.
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(NOTE: You can define your own colors for Tux Paint. See the
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"Options" documentation.)
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Bottom: Help Area
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At the very bottom of the screen, Tux, the Linux Penguin,
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provides tips and other information while you draw.
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(For example: 'Pick a shape. Click to pick the center, drag, then let go when it
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is the size you want. Move around to rotate it, and click to draw it.)
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Available Tools
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Drawing Tools
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Paint (Brush)
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The Paint Brush tool lets you draw freehand, using various
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brushes (chosen in the Selector on the right) and colors
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(chosen in the Color palette towards the bottom).
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If you hold the mouse button down, and move the mouse, it
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will draw as you move.
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As you draw, a sound is played. The bigger the brush, the
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lower the pitch.
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Stamp (Rubber Stamp)
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The Stamp tool is like a set of rubber stamps or stickers.
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It lets you paste pre-drawn or photographic images (like a
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picture of a horse, or a tree, or the moon) in your picture.
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As you move the mouse around the canvas, an outline follows
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the mouse, showing where the stamp will be placed, and how
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big it will be.
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There can be numerous categories of stamps (e.g., animals,
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plants, outer space, vehicles, people, etc.). Use the Left
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and Right arrows to cycle through the collections.
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Prior to 'stamping' an image onto your drawing, various
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effects can sometimes be applied (depending on the stamp):
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* Some stamps can be colored or tinted. If the color
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palette below the canvas is activated, you can click
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the colors to change the tint or color of the stamp
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before placing it in the picture.
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* Stamps can be shrunk and expanded, by clicking within
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the triangular-shaped series of bars at the bottom
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right; the larger the bar, the larger the stamp will
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appear in your picture.
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* Many stamps may be flipped vertically, or displayed as
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a mirror-image, using the control buttons at the bottom
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right.
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Different stamps can have different sound effects and/or
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descriptive (spoken) sounds. Buttons at the lower left (near
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Tux, the Linux penguin) allow you to re-play the sound
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effects and descriptive sounds for the currently-selected
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stamp.
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(NOTE: If the "nostampcontrols" option is set, Tux Paint
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won't display the Mirror, Flip, Shrink and Grow controls for
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stamps. See the "Options" documentation.)
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Lines
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This tool lets you draw straight lines using the various
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brushes and colors you normally use with the Paint Brush.
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Click the mouse and hold it to choose the starting point of
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the line. As you move the mouse around, a thin 'rubber-band'
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line will show where the line will be drawn.
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Let go of the mouse to complete the line. A "sproing!" sound
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will play.
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Shapes
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This tool lets you draw some simple filled, and un-filled
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shapes.
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Select a shape from the selector on the right (circle,
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square, oval, etc.).
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Use the options at the bottom right to choose the shape
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tool's behavior:
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Shapes from center
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The shape will expand from where you initially
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clicked, and will be centered around that
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position. (This was Tux Paint's only behavior
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through version 0.9.24.)
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Shapes from corner
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The shape will extend with one corner starting
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from where you initially clicked. This is the
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default method of most other traditional
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drawing software. (This option was added
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starting with Tux Paint version 0.9.25.)
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Note: If shape controls are disabled (e.g., with the
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"--noshapecontrols" option), the controls will not be
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presented, and the "shapes from center" method will be used.
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In the canvas, click the mouse and hold it to stretch the
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shape out from where you clicked. Some shapes can change
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proportion (e.g., rectangle and oval may be wider than tall,
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or taller than wide), others cannot (e.g., square and
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circle).
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Let go of the mouse when you're done stretching.
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Normal Mode
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Now you can move the mouse around the canvas to
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rotate the shape.
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Click the mouse button again and the shape will
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be drawn in the current color.
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Simple Shapes Mode
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If simple shapes are enabled (e.g., with the
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"--simpleshapes" option), the shape will be
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drawn on the canvas when you let go of the
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mouse button. (There's no rotation step.)
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Text and Label
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Choose a font (from the 'Letters' available on the right)
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and a color (from the color palette near the bottom). Click
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on the screen and a cursor will appear. Type text and it
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will show up on the screen.
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Press [Enter] or [Return] and the text will be drawn onto
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the picture and the cursor will move down one line.
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Alternatively, press [Tab] and the text will be drawn onto
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the picture, but the cursor will move to the right of the
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text, rather than down a line, and to the left. (This can be
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useful to create a line of text with mixed colors, fonts,
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styles and sizes: Like this.)
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Clicking elsewhere in the picture while the text entry is
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still active causes the current line of text to move to that
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location (where you can continue editing it).
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Text versus Label
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The Text tool is the original text-entry tool
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in Tux Paint. Text entered using this tool
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can't be modified or moved later, since it
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becomes part of the drawing. However, because
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the text becomes part of the picture, it can be
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drawn over or modified using Magic tool effects
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(e.g., smudged, tinted, embossed, etc.)
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When using the Label tool (which was added to
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Tux Paint in version 0.9.22), the text 'floats'
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over the image, and the details of the label
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(the text, the position of the label, the font
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choice and the color) get stored separately.
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This allows the label to be repositioned or
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edited later.
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The Label tool can be disabled (e.g., by
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selecting "Disable 'Label' Tool" in
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Tux Paint Config. or running Tux Paint with the
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"--nolabel" command-line option).
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International Character Input
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Tux Paint allows inputting characters in
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different languages. Most Latin characters
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(A-Z, ñ, è, etc.) can by entered directly. Some
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languages require that Tux Paint be switched
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into an alternate input mode before entering,
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and some characters must be composed using
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numerous keypresses.
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When Tux Paint's locale is set to one of the
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languages that provide alternate input modes, a
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key is used to cycle through normal (Latin
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character) and locale-specific mode or modes.
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Currently supported locales, the input methods
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available, and the key to toggle or cycle
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modes, are listed below. Note: Many fonts do
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not include all characters for all languages,
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so sometimes you'll need to change fonts to see
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the characters you're trying to type.
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* Japanese — Romanized Hiragana and
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Romanized Katakana — right [Alt]
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* Korean — Hangul 2-Bul — right [Alt] or
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left [Alt]
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* Traditional Chinese — right [Alt] or
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left [Alt]
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* Thai — right [Alt]
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Fill
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The 'Fill' tool 'flood-fills' a contiguous area of your
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drawing with a solid color of your choice.
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Note: Prior to Tux Paint 0.9.24, this was a "Magic" tool
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(see below).
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Magic (Special Effects)
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The 'Magic' tool is actually a set of special tools. Select
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one of the "magic" effects from the selector on the right.
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Then, depending on the tool, you can either click and drag
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around the picture, and/or simply click the picture once, to
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apply the effect.
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If the tool can be used by clicking and dragging, a
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'painting' button will be available on the left, below the
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list of "magic" tools on the right side of the screen. If
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the tool can affect the entire picture at once, an
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'entire picture' button will be available on the right.
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See the instructions for each Magic tool (in the
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'magic-docs' folder).
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Eraser
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This tool is similar to the Paint Brush. Wherever you click
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(or click and drag), the picture will be erased. (This may
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be white, some other color, or to a background picture,
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depending on the picture.)
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A number of eraser sizes are available, both round and
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square..
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As you move the mouse around, a square outline follows the
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pointer, showing what part of the picture will be erased to
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white.
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As you erase, a "squeaky clean" eraser/wiping sound is
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played.
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Other Controls
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Undo
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Clicking this tool will undo the last drawing action. You
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can even undo more than once!
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Note: You can also press [Control]-[Z] on the keyboard to
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undo.
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Redo
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Clicking this tool will redo the drawing action you just
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"undid" with the 'Undo' button.
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As long as you don't draw again, you can redo as many times
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as you had "undone!"
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Note: You can also press [Control]-[R] on the keyboard to
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redo.
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New
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Clicking the "New" button will start a new drawing. A dialog
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will appear where you may choose to start a new picture
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using a solid background color, or using a 'Starter' or
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'Template' image (see below). You will first be asked
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whether you really want to do this.
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Note: You can also press [Control]-[N] on the keyboard to
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start a new drawing.
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'Starter' & Template Images
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'Starters' can behave like a page from a coloring book — a
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black-and-white outline of a picture, which you can then
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color in, and the black outline remains intact — or like a
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3D photograph, where you draw in between a foreground and
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background layer.
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'Templates' are similar, but simply provide a background
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drawing to work off of. Unlike 'Starters', there is no
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layer that remains in the foreground of anything you draw
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in the picture.
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When using the 'Eraser' tool, the original image from the
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'Starter' or 'Template' will reappear. The 'Flip' and
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'Mirror' Magic tools affect the orientation of the
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'Starter' or 'Template', as well.
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When you load a 'Starter' or 'Template', draw on it, and
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then click 'Save,' it creates a new picture file — it
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doesn't overwrite the original, so you can use it again
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later (by accessing it from the 'New' dialoge)..
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Open
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This shows you a list of all of the pictures you've saved.
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If there are more than can fit on the screen, use the "Up"
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and "Down" arrows at the top and bottom of the list to
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scroll through the list of pictures.
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Click a picture to select it, then...
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* Click the green "Open" button at the lower left of
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the list to load the selected picture.
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(Alternatively, you can double-click a picture's icon
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to load it.)
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* Click the brown "Erase" (trash can) button at the
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lower right of the list to erase the selected
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picture. (You will be asked to confirm.)
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Note: As of version 0.9.22, the picture will be
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placed in your desktop's trash can, on Linux only.
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* Click the "Export" button near the lower right to
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export the image to your export folder. (e.g.,
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"~/Pictures/TuxPaint/")
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* Click the blue "Slides" (slide projector) button at
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the lower left to go to slideshow mode. See "Slides",
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below, for details.
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* Or click the red "Back" arrow button at the lower
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right of the list to cancel and return to the picture
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you were drawing.
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If choose to open a picture, and your current drawing hasn't
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been saved, you will be prompted as to whether you want to
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save it or not. (See "Save," below.)
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Note: You can also press [Control]-[O] on the keyboard to
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get the 'Open' dialog.
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Save
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This saves your current picture.
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If you haven't saved it before, it will create a new entry
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in the list of saved images. (i.e., it will create a new
|
|
file)
|
|
|
|
Note: It won't ask you anything (e.g., for a filename). It
|
|
will simply save the picture, and play a "camera shutter"
|
|
sound effect.
|
|
|
|
If you HAVE saved the picture before, or this is a picture
|
|
you just loaded using the "Open" command, you will first be
|
|
asked whether you want to save over the old version, or
|
|
create a new entry (a new file).
|
|
|
|
(NOTE: If either the "saveover" or "saveovernew" options are
|
|
set, it won't ask before saving over. See the "Options"
|
|
documentation.)
|
|
|
|
Note: You can also press [Control]-[S] on the keyboard to
|
|
save.
|
|
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Print
|
|
|
|
Click this button and your picture will be printed!
|
|
|
|
On most platforms, you can also hold the [Alt] key (called
|
|
[Option] on Macs) while clicking the 'Print' button to get a
|
|
printer dialog. Note that this may not work if you're
|
|
running Tux Paint in fullscreen mode. See below.
|
|
|
|
Disabling Printing
|
|
|
|
If the "noprint" option was set (either with
|
|
"noprint=yes" in Tux Paint's configuration
|
|
file, or using "--noprint" on the
|
|
command-line), the "Print" button will be
|
|
disabled.
|
|
|
|
See the "Options" documentation.)
|
|
|
|
Restricting Printing
|
|
|
|
If the "printdelay" option was used (either
|
|
with "printdelay=SECONDS" in the configuration
|
|
file, or using "--printdelay=SECONDS" on the
|
|
command-line), you can only print once every
|
|
SECONDS seconds.
|
|
|
|
For example, with "printdelay=60", you can
|
|
print only once a minute.
|
|
|
|
See the "Options" documentation.)
|
|
|
|
Printing Commands
|
|
|
|
(Linux and Unix only)
|
|
|
|
Tux Paint prints by generating a PostScript
|
|
representation of the drawing and sending it to
|
|
an external program. By default, the program
|
|
is:
|
|
|
|
lpr
|
|
|
|
This command can be changed by setting the
|
|
"printcommand" value in Tux Paint's
|
|
configuration file.
|
|
|
|
If the [Alt] key on the keyboard is being
|
|
pushed while clicking the 'Print' button, as
|
|
long as you're not in fullscreen mode, an
|
|
alternative program is run. By default, the
|
|
program is KDE's graphical print dialog:
|
|
|
|
kprinter
|
|
|
|
This command can be changed by setting the
|
|
"altprintcommand" value in Tux Paint's
|
|
configuration file.
|
|
|
|
For information on how to change the printing
|
|
commands, see the "Options" documentation.
|
|
|
|
Printer Settings
|
|
|
|
(Windows and macOS)
|
|
|
|
By default, Tux Paint simply prints to the
|
|
default printer with default settings when the
|
|
'Print' button is pushed.
|
|
|
|
However, if you hold the [Alt] (or [Option])
|
|
key on the keyboard while pushing the button,
|
|
as long as you're not in fullscreen mode, your
|
|
operating system's printer dialog will appear,
|
|
where you can change the settings.
|
|
|
|
You can have the printer configuration changes
|
|
stored by using the "printcfg" option, either
|
|
by using "--printcfg" on the command-line, or
|
|
"printcfg=yes" in Tux Paint's own configuration
|
|
file ("tuxpaint.cfg").
|
|
|
|
If the "printcfg" option is used, printer
|
|
settings will be loaded from the file
|
|
"print.cfg" in your personal folder (see
|
|
below). Any changes will be saved there as
|
|
well.
|
|
|
|
See the "Options" documentation.)
|
|
|
|
Printer Dialog Options
|
|
|
|
By default, Tux Paint only shows the printer
|
|
dialog (or, on Linux/Unix, runs the
|
|
"altprintcommand", e.g., "kprinter" instead of
|
|
"lpr") if the [Alt] (or [Option]) key is held
|
|
while clicking the 'Print' button.
|
|
|
|
However, this behavior can be changed. You can
|
|
have the printer dialog always appear by using
|
|
"--altprintalways" on the command-line, or
|
|
"altprint=always" in Tux Paint's configuration
|
|
file. Or, you can prevent the [Alt]/[Option]
|
|
key from having any effect by using
|
|
"--altprintnever", or "altprint=never".
|
|
|
|
See the "Options" documentation.)
|
|
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Slides (under "Open")
|
|
|
|
The "Slides" button is available in the "Open" dialog. It
|
|
can be used to play a simple animation within Tux Paint, or
|
|
a slideshow of pictures. It can also export an animated GIF
|
|
based on the chosen images.
|
|
|
|
Chosing pictures
|
|
|
|
When you enter the "Slides" section of
|
|
Tux Paint, it displays a list of your saved
|
|
files, just like the "Open" dialog.
|
|
|
|
Click each of the images you wish to display in
|
|
a slideshow-style presentation, one by one. A
|
|
digit will appear over each image, letting you
|
|
know in which order they will be displayed.
|
|
|
|
You can click a selected image to unselect it
|
|
(take it out of your slideshow). Click it again
|
|
if you wish to add it to the end of the list.
|
|
|
|
Set playback speed
|
|
|
|
A sliding scale at the lower left of the screen
|
|
(next to the "Play" button) can be used to
|
|
adjust the speed of the slideshow or animated
|
|
GIF, from slowest to fastest. Choose the
|
|
leftmost setting to disable automatic
|
|
advancement during playback within Tux Paint —
|
|
you will need to press a key or click to go to
|
|
the next slide (see below).
|
|
|
|
Note: The slowest setting does not
|
|
automatically advance through the slides. Use
|
|
it for when you want to step through them
|
|
manually. (This does not apply to an exported
|
|
animated GIF.)
|
|
|
|
Playback in Tux Paint
|
|
|
|
To play a slideshow within Tux Paint, click the
|
|
"Play" button. (Note: If you hadn't selected
|
|
ANY images, then ALL of your saved images will
|
|
be played in the slideshow!)
|
|
|
|
During the slideshow, press [Space], [Enter] or
|
|
[Return], or the [Right Arrow] — or click the
|
|
"Next" button at the lower left — to manually
|
|
advance to the next slide. Press [Left] to go
|
|
back to the previous slide.
|
|
|
|
Press [Escape], or click the "Back" button at
|
|
the lower right, to exit the slideshow and
|
|
return to the slideshow image selection screen.
|
|
|
|
Exporting an animated GIF
|
|
|
|
Click the "GIF Export" button near the lower
|
|
right to have Tux Paint generate an animated
|
|
GIF file based on the selected images.
|
|
|
|
Note: At least two images must be selected. (To
|
|
export a single image, use the "Export" option
|
|
from the "Open" dialog.) If no images are
|
|
selected, Tux Paint will NOT attempt to
|
|
generate a GIF based on all saved images.
|
|
|
|
Pressing [Escape] during export will abort the
|
|
process, and return you to the "Slideshow"
|
|
dialog.
|
|
|
|
Click "Back" in the slideshow image selection screen to
|
|
return to the "Open" dialog.
|
|
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Quit
|
|
|
|
Clicking the "Quit" button, closing the Tux Paint window, or
|
|
pushing the [Escape] key will quit Tux Paint.
|
|
|
|
You will first be prompted as to whether you really want to
|
|
quit.
|
|
|
|
If you choose to quit, and you haven't saved the current
|
|
picture, you will first be asked if wish to save it. If it's
|
|
not a new image, you will then be asked if you want to save
|
|
over the old version, or create a new entry. (See "Save"
|
|
above.)
|
|
|
|
NOTE: If the image is saved, it will be reloaded
|
|
automatically the next time you run Tux Paint!
|
|
|
|
NOTE: The "Quit" button and [Escape] key can be disabled
|
|
(e.g., by selecting "Disable 'Quit' Button" in
|
|
Tux Paint Config. or running Tux Paint with the "--noquit"
|
|
command-line option).
|
|
|
|
In that case, the "window close" button on Tux Paint's title
|
|
bar (if not in fullscreen mode) or the [Alt] + [F4] key
|
|
sequence may be used to quit.
|
|
|
|
If neither of those are possible, the key sequence of
|
|
[Shift] + [Control] + [Escape] may be used to quit. (See the
|
|
"Options" documentation.)
|
|
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Sound Muting
|
|
|
|
There is no on-screen control button at this time, but by
|
|
pressing [Alt] + [S], sound effects can be disabled and
|
|
re-enabled (muted and unmuted) while the program is running.
|
|
|
|
Note that if sounds are completely disabled (e.g., by
|
|
unselecting "Enable Sound Effects" in Tux Paint Config or
|
|
running Tux Paint with the "--nosound" command-line option),
|
|
the [Alt] + [S] key sequence has no effect. (i.e., it cannot
|
|
be used to turn on sounds when the parent/teacher wants them
|
|
disabled.)
|
|
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Loading Other Pictures into Tux Paint
|
|
|
|
Since Tux Paint's 'Open' dialog only displays pictures you created with
|
|
Tux Paint, what if you want to load some other picture or photograph
|
|
into Tux Paint to edit?
|
|
|
|
To do so, you simply need to convert the picture into a PNG (Portable
|
|
Network Graphic) image file, and place it in Tux Paint's "saved"
|
|
directory:
|
|
|
|
Windows Vista
|
|
Inside the user's "AppData" folder, e.g.:
|
|
"C:\Users\(user name)\AppData\Roaming\TuxPaint\saved\"
|
|
|
|
Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP
|
|
Inside the user's "Application Data" folder, e.g.: "C:\Documents
|
|
and Settings\(user name)\Application Data\TuxPaint\saved\"
|
|
|
|
macOS
|
|
Inside the user's "Library" folder:
|
|
"/Users/(user name)/Library/Application
|
|
Support/Tux Paint/saved/"
|
|
|
|
Linux/Unix
|
|
Inside a hidden ".tuxpaint" directory, in the user's home
|
|
directory: "$(HOME)/.tuxpaint/saved/"
|
|
|
|
Note: It is from this folder that you can copy or open pictures drawn in
|
|
Tux Paint using other applications.
|
|
|
|
Using 'tuxpaint-import'
|
|
|
|
Linux and Unix users can use the "tuxpaint-import" shell script which
|
|
gets installed when you install Tux Paint. It uses some NetPBM tools
|
|
to convert the image ("anytopnm"), resize it so that it will fit in
|
|
Tux Paint's canvas ("pnmscale"), and convert it to a PNG ("pnmtopng").
|
|
|
|
It also uses the "date" command to get the current time and date,
|
|
which is the file-naming convention Tux Paint uses for saved files.
|
|
(Remember, you are never asked for a 'filename' when you go to Save or
|
|
Open pictures!)
|
|
|
|
To use 'tuxpaint-import', simply run the command from a command-line
|
|
prompt and provide it the name(s) of the file(s) you wish to convert.
|
|
|
|
They will be converted and placed in your Tux Paint 'saved' directory.
|
|
(Note: If you're doing this for a different user - e.g., your child,
|
|
you'll need to make sure to run the command under their account.)
|
|
|
|
Example:
|
|
|
|
$ tuxpaint-import grandma.jpg
|
|
grandma.jpg -> /home/username/.tuxpaint/saved/20020921123456.png
|
|
jpegtopnm: WRITING A PPM FILE
|
|
|
|
The first line ("tuxpaint-import grandma.jpg") is the command to run.
|
|
The following two lines are output from the program while it's
|
|
working.
|
|
|
|
Now you can load Tux Paint, and a version of that original picture
|
|
will be available under the 'Open' dialog. Just double-click its icon!
|
|
|
|
Doing it Manually
|
|
|
|
Windows, macOS, BeOS, and Haiku users must currently do the conversion
|
|
manually.
|
|
|
|
Load a graphics program that is capable of both loading your picture
|
|
and saving a PNG format file. (See the documentation file "PNG.txt"
|
|
for a list of suggested software, and other references.)
|
|
|
|
When Tux Paint loads an image that's not the same size as its drawing
|
|
canvas, it scales (and sometimes smears the edges of) the image so
|
|
that it fits within the canvas.
|
|
|
|
To avoid having the image stretched or smeared, you can resize it to
|
|
Tux Paint's canvas size. This size depends on the size of the
|
|
Tux Paint window, or resolution at which Tux Paint is run, if in
|
|
fullscreen. (Note: The default resolution is 800x600.) See
|
|
"Calculating Image Dimensions", below.
|
|
|
|
Save the picture in PNG format. It is highly recommended that you name
|
|
the filename using the current date and time, since that's the
|
|
convention Tux Paint uses:
|
|
|
|
YYYYMMDDhhmmss.png
|
|
|
|
* YYYY = Year
|
|
* MM = Month (01-12)
|
|
* DD = Day (01-31)
|
|
* HH = Hour, in 24-hour format (00-23)
|
|
* mm = Minute (00-59)
|
|
* ss = Second (00-59)
|
|
|
|
e.g.:
|
|
|
|
20020921130500 - for September 21, 2002, 1:05:00pm
|
|
|
|
Place this PNG file in your Tux Paint 'saved' directory. (See above.)
|
|
|
|
Calculating Image Dimensions
|
|
|
|
The width of Tux Paint's canvas is simply the width of the window
|
|
(e.g., 640, 800 or 1024 pixels), minus 192.
|
|
|
|
Calculating the height of Tux Paint's canvas requires multiple
|
|
steps:
|
|
|
|
1. Take the height of the window (e.g, 480, 600 or 768 pixels) and
|
|
subtract 144
|
|
2. Take the result of Step 1 and divide it by 48
|
|
3. Take the result of Step 2 and round it down (e.g., 9.5 becomes
|
|
simply 9)
|
|
4. Take the result of Step 3 and multiply it by 48
|
|
5. Finally, take the result of Step 4 and add 40
|
|
|
|
Example: Tux Paint running at fullscreen on a 1440x900 display.
|
|
|
|
* The canvas width is simply 1440 - 192, or 1248.
|
|
* The canvas height is calculated as:
|
|
1. 900 - 144, or 756
|
|
2. 756 / 48, or 15.75
|
|
3. 15.75 rounded down, or 15
|
|
4. 15 * 48, or 720
|
|
5. 720 + 40, or 760
|
|
|
|
So the canvas within a 1440x900 Tux Paint window is 1248x760.
|
|
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Further Reading
|
|
|
|
Other documentation included with Tux Paint (in the "docs"
|
|
folder/directory) include:
|
|
* "Magic" Tool Documentation ("magic-docs")
|
|
Documentation for each of the currently-installed "Magic" tools.
|
|
* AUTHORS.txt
|
|
List of authors and contributors.
|
|
* CHANGES.txt
|
|
Summary of changed between releases.
|
|
* COPYING.txt
|
|
Copying license (The GNU General Public License).
|
|
* INSTALL.txt
|
|
Instructions for compiling/installing, when applicable.
|
|
* EXTENDING.html
|
|
Detailed instructions on creating brushes, stamps and starters, and
|
|
adding fonts, to extend Tux Paint.
|
|
* OPTIONS.html
|
|
Detailed instructions on command-line and configuration-file
|
|
options, for those who don't want to use Tux Paint Config.
|
|
* PNG.txt
|
|
Notes on creating PNG format bitmapped images for use in Tux Paint.
|
|
* SVG.txt
|
|
Notes on creating SVG format vector images for use in Tux Paint.
|
|
* SIGNALS.txt
|
|
Information about POSIX signals Tux Paint responds to.
|
|
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
How to Get Help
|
|
|
|
If you need help, feel free to contact New Breed Software:
|
|
|
|
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/
|
|
|
|
You may also wish to participate in the numerous Tux Paint mailing
|
|
lists:
|
|
|
|
http://www.tuxpaint.org/lists/
|