Kidpainter Demonstration Version by D.A. Brumleve, M.A. M.L. Marks, M.Ed., Educational Consultant Copyright 1990 by D.A. Brumleve Kidpainter is a graphics design program for children ages 5-11. The commercial version can be configured to suit the needs, interests, and level of development of the child who will use it. This demo version contains all of the possible options, though SAVE and PRINT are disabled. The commercial version allows the parent or teacher to configure the disk to offer 1, 3, or 9 pictures, memory permitting; this demo provides 3 pictures. Many of the benefits of Kidpainter can be enjoyed without the benefit of SAVE and PRINT, so please do allow your child to work with this demo! While Kidpainter provides an introduction to the world of computer graphics design, a primary goal is to challenge, support, and develop thinking skills that will be used in unrelated endeavors. This special program, offering experiences in patterning and mirror-imaging, has the ability to provide both entertainment and challenge to all elementary-level students. It is a program that will grow with your child, and the flexibility to add or subtract options according to needs allows it to provide your child with years of enjoyment and exploration. Your budding artist or mathematician will love this program! This file does not provide all of the information available in the Kidpainter manual, but it will familiarize you with all the options you can experiment with in the program. Kidpainter offers four screens: The Main Screen, The Drawing Screen, The Stamp Maker Screen, and the Puzzle Maker Screen. Drawing is done on the Drawing Screen and the Stamp Maker Screen. Pictures become onscreen puzzles on the Stamp Maker Screen. The Main Screen allows the user to move between screens and to save and print pictures. (The SAVE and PRINT options in this demo are disabled.) Drawing Move to the drawing screen by clicking on the DRAW option on the main screen. The drawing screen provides six drawing functions (FILL, CIRCLE, BOX, LINE, FREEHAND DRAW, and TEXT). Each of these functions is performed using a mouse in the shape of a crayon. The drawing screen consists of a column of option boxes on the left, with a drawing easel occupying the remainder of the screen to the right. A row of color boxes is at the top of the screen. The screen offers the following options: BLANK erases the entire drawing easel. UNDO is used to restore the easel picture to a previous state. If you click on UNDO directly after performing a drawing or erasing operation (even BLANK), the picture will be shown as it was before that operation was performed. UNDO will not function if you have turned to another page or to the typing screen or if you have already selected UNDO since the last drawing function was performed. ERASE provides an eraser nib so that you can erase areas of the drawing easel. Three nibs are available. The first time ERASE is selected, the mouse crayon is replaced by a grey and pink rectangular eraser. The interior of the rectangle is hollow so that you can see your drawing as you move it across the easel, and there is a tiny pink dot in the middle of the hollowed-out area. This nib erases one pixel at a time. Position the nib so that the pink dot is directly over the pixel you want to erase on the easel. Then press the left mouse button. If you click on ERASE a second time (with no intervening option selections), the hollow eraser will change to opaque, and if you choose ERASE a third time in succession, the pink eraser will be much larger. In all cases, you may hold the mouse button down and "drag" the mouse to erase larger areas. You may also use the arrow keys to control these erasers. First choose a starting point by clicking on the drawing easel with the eraser of your choice. Then press an arrow key to continue the erasing process. FILL provides several fill patterns to use to fill shapes on the drawing easel. To select FILL, click on the pattern box once. To change the pattern, click on the box additional times until the desired pattern is displayed. Then move the mouse crayon to the easel and click the left button. If you click repeatedly on the fill pattern box with the left mouse button, you'll scroll through the available fill patterns in order. If you click with the right button, you'll scroll through the patterns in reverse order. CIRCLE allows you to draw a partial or complete circle within the easel area. Click on CIRCLE and move the crayon to the easel. Click the left button once and let go. This point serves as the center of a circle. As you move the mouse away from this center point in any direction, a "rubber" circle will become larger. When you have it the size you want, click the left mouse button again to set it in place. If you decide not to draw a circle, click the right mouse button. BOX is used to draw a frame, a hollow rectangle of any dimensions. After selecting BOX, click the left mouse button on the easel; this point will be one corner of your rectangle. Now release the mouse button and move the crayon to the point where you want the opposite corner. Click the left button to set the rectangle in place. If you decide you don't want to draw a rectangle after all, clicking the right mouse button will allow you to quit without drawing the shape. The LINE and FREEHAND DRAW options share the same option box on the drawing screen. When you first move to the drawing screen, FREEHAND DRAW (with a wavy line icon) will be selected. If you click this box when it is already selected, it will toggle to the LINE option (with a straight line icon). LINE allows you to draw a straight line between two points. Select LINE, and then click the left mouse button while the crayon is over the easel. Release the button. The point at which the mouse was clicked becomes the beginning point for a straight line. Select the ending point for your line and click the left mouse button again. To quit without drawing a line, click the right mouse button. FREEHAND DRAW allows you to draw one pixel at a time. Select FREEHAND DRAW and then press the left mouse button while the crayon is over the easel. If you want to draw a continuous (yet not-so-perfect) line, hold the mouse button down as you "drag" the mouse across the easel. The ARROW KEYS can also be used to draw. While the FREEHAND DRAW option is selected, move the crayon to the easel and choose a starting point for a line by pressing the left mouse button. Now press one of the arrow keys on your ST's keyboard. You may hold the key down to draw a continuous line. The TEXT option allows you to print text on your easel. To use this option, first select the TEXT option box with the mouse. Then move the crayon to the drawing easel and click once on the easel. It doesn't matter where you click; the position of the text is not determined until after you have typed it. Now use your computer's keyboard to type. The Backspace key may be used for editing. When you are finished typing, move the text around until it is where you want it. Click the left button to set the type into position. If you decide not to set the type after all, click the right button. A variety of styles and sizes of type are available. To scroll through these, click repeatedly on the TEXT box with the left mouse button. If you click with the right button, you'll see the styles in reverse order. As on the main screen, you may click PIC # box to see another drawing. Clicking PIC # repeatedly will allow you to scroll through all pictures in memory. If you click on PIC # with the left mouse button, you'll scroll through them in ascending order. If you click on PIC # with the right button, the pictures will be shown in descending order. Use the color boxes at the top of the screen to fill your pictures with color. To do this, click on the color box of your choice. Your mouse will change to a paintbrush shape of the chosen color. Now move the paintbrush to the easel and click either mouse button. The area of your picture under the tip of the paintbrush will fill with the color. The paintbrush colors cannot be used to fill black lines or dots drawn with the crayon mouse. The computer remembers these crayon drawings separately. You can, therefore, fill a black circle with the solid black paintbrush color, and then fill it with red, and the black circle will remain. You can draw with the FREEHAND DRAW, LINE, BOX, and CIRCLE functions, and the computer will create a corresponding shape "mirroring" the one you are drawing. For example, choose FREEHAND DRAW. Then press the F1 key on your keyboard; an image of the selected function key will appear in the upper right hand corner of the drawing screen. Move the crayon to the easel and begin to draw. You'll see that the computer creates a horizontally-mirrored image of your drawing. Now press F2 and draw some more. The computer will create a vertically-mirrored image of your drawing. If you select F3, the result will be a combination of horizontal and vertical mirroring. To turn off the mirroring function, press the currently-selected function key. If you click on an option box that does not support mirroring (any of the color boxes, for example), the mirror function will automatically shut off. To return to the main screen, click on DONE. Click DONE now, and then select STAMP MAKER on the main screen. You'll see that the stamp maker screen is essentially identical to the drawing screen. The drawing tools can be found in the same locations. The PIC # option is absent, however, and the mirroring function will not work on the stamp maker screen. The rubber stamp easel is considerably smaller. In fact, it is 1/15th the size of the easel on the drawing screen, so 15 "rubber stamps" will fit perfectly within the drawing easel. Use the mouse to draw a pattern on the rubber stamp easel and fill your pattern with color. When you are happy with the stamp, click DONE to move to the drawing screen again. You can place your rubber stamp anywhere you like on the drawing screen, or you can tell the computer to fill the easel with your stamp image. If you have more than one picture in memory, you can place that same stamp image on any or all of them. To do this, press the F10 key on your keyboard. Your mouse will be replaced by your rubber stamp. Move the stamp around the screen and place it wherever you like by pressing the left button. When you are done using the stamp, press the right mouse button or press the F10 key again to deselect it. To tell the computer to fill your easel with the stamp image, simply press F9. (Pictures created in this manner make especially challenging puzzles.) Even though the number of options is great, a good deal of effort has gone into the simplification of the program. "Dragging" the mouse with the button held down, which can be difficult for some children, is necessary only when drawing (with FREEHAND DRAW) or erasing a continuous line. When using the TEXT, CIRCLE, LINE, and BOX functions, it is not necessary to have the mouse over the easel when you press the left mouse button to set the shape (nor when you press the right mouse button to quit without drawing the shape). The BLANK option is out of the way at the top of the screen to avoid accidental selection. Picture icons have been used for each of the mouse-drawing options to make identification easier. The Puzzle Maker Once you have created a picture, try solving an onscreen puzzle. On the main screen, click on the PUZZLE MAKER option. The puzzle screen has just three option boxes: the puzzle piece box, PIC #, and DONE. An onscreen puzzle will be created using the currently-selected picture. Click on the puzzle piece box at the upper left-hand corner of the screen to begin play. The picture will be divided into 15 sections with a small border on all four sides. This border is important--it can help you figure out which piece goes where. Your mouse arrow will be replaced by a rectangle from your drawing. Move the mouse around the puzzle grid and "test" this puzzle piece in various blank rectangles in the puzzle. When you think you've found the right location for your puzzle piece, place the piece approximately over that location and click the left mouse button. If you are right and the puzzle piece belongs in that location, the computer will place the piece in the puzzle grid and a new puzzle piece will appear. If you are wrong and that piece belongs elsewhere in the grid, the computer will not place the piece in the grid and you may be given a different piece to work with. Continue this process until all of the pieces have been placed. The computer will score your effort and congratulate you when the puzzle is solved. If you decide to quit before solving a puzzle, simply click the right mouse button and your mouse arrow will return. If you change your mind before selecting PIC # or DONE, you can resume work with the same puzzle by clicking on the puzzle piece box again. When you click DONE, you'll return to the main screen. Getting the Most from the Kidpainter Demo There are many ways to use Kidpainter, and a good number of them will be available to your child in this demo even though SAVE and PRINT have been disabled. Fill the screen black solid fill using the paintbrush. Then use the eraser nibs and the arrow keys to cut paths in the black. Draw a picture. Then fill all the white areas with the black solid fill color. Then play a guessing game with a sibling. The sibling fills an area of the picture with white and tries to guess what the picture is. Or, fill the drawing easel with black solid fill and then draw! You'll be drawing blind. Then fill your picture with white and see if you drew things where you intended. Use the arrow keys in FREEHAND DRAW mode to make a maze. For experiences in patterning, try making a rubber stamp that will "match up" when mated to another copy. Move to the drawing screen and press F9. You may see that mating the stamps yields surprising results! After you've made one stamp and pressed F9, make a new one that will mate with the first stamp and place it on the easel by hand (press F10 this time) to create a pattern that alternates between the first stamp and the second. The mirroring function makes it easy to draw symetrical figures, three-dimensional rectangles, etc. Experiment with horizontal and vertical mirroring for some interesting effects. How to Order A fully-working version of Kidpainter is available for only US$ 35.00! To order, see your dealer or send a check to: D.A. Brumleve P.O. Box 4195 Urbana, IL 61801-8820 USA For MasterCard and Visa orders, please call us during business hours: 217 337 1937 Thank you!