- Tux Paint
Infobox_Software
name = Tux Paint
caption = A blank drawing canvas in Tux Paint
developer =Bill Kendrick , et al
latest_release_version = 0.9.20
latest_release_date =June 30 ,2008
operating_system =Cross-platform
genre =Raster graphics editor
license =GNU General Public License
website = http://www.tuxpaint.org/"Tux Paint" is a free and open source
bitmap graphics editor (a program for creating and processingraster graphics ) geared towards young children. The project was started in 2002 byBill Kendrick who continues to maintain and improve it, with help from numerous [http://www.tuxpaint.org/developers/ volunteers] . It is licensed under theGNU General Public License , and seen by many as a free-software alternative to a similar proprietaryeducational software product,Kid pix . [ [http://www.macmerc.com/news/newsbite/893 MacMerc review of Tux Paint] ,June 18 ,2003 .]History
Tux Paint was initially created for the
Linux operating system, as there was no suitable drawing program for young children available for Linux at that time. [ [http://www.osnews.com/story.php/1549/Interview-with-Bill-Kendrick-of-NewBreedSoftware/ Interview with Bill Kendrick of NewBreedSoftware at OSNews] ,August 16 ,2002 .] It is written in the C programming language and uses various free and open source helper libraries, including the Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL), and has since been made available forMicrosoft Windows , Apple Mac OS X,BeOS and other platforms. (See the [http://www.tuxpaint.org/download/ Tux Paint downloads page] .)Selected Milestone releases
* 2002.06.16 (
June 16 ,2002 ) - Initial release (brushes, stamps, lines, eraser), two days after coding started
* 2002.06.30 (June 30 ,2002 ) - First Magic tools added (blur, blocks, negative)
* 2002.07.31 (July 31 ,2002 ) - Localization support added
* 0.9.11 (June 17 ,2003 ) - Right-to-left support, UTF-8 support in Text tool
* 0.9.14 (October 12 ,2004 ) - Tux Paint Config. configuration tool released, Starter image support
* 0.9.16 (October 21 ,2006 ) - Slideshow feature, animated and directional brushes
* 0.9.17 (July 1 ,2007 ) - Arbitrary screen size and orientation support,SVG support,Input Method support
* 0.9.18 (November 21 ,2007 ) - Magic Tools turned into plug-ins,Pango text renderingFeatures
Tux Paint stands apart from typical graphics editing software (such as The GIMP or
Photoshop ) in that it was designed to be usable bychildren as young as 3 years of age. Theuser interface is meant to be intuitive, and utilizes icons, audible feedback and textual hints to help explain how the software works. The brightly-colored interface,sound effects and cartoon mascot (Tux , the mascot of the Linux kernel) are meant to engage children.Tux Paint's normal interface is split into five sections:
* Toolbox, containing the various basic tools (see below) and application controls (undo , save, new, print)
* Canvas, where the images are drawn and edited
* Colorpalette , where colors can be chosen (when applicable to the current tool)
* Selector, providing various selectable objects (e.g., brushes, fonts or sub-tools, depending on the current tool)
* Information area, where instructions, tips and encouragement are providedA simple
slideshow feature allows previously-saved images to be displayed as a basic flip-bookanimation or as a slidepresentation .Basic drawing tools
Like most popular graphics editing and composition tools, Tux Paint includes a paintbrush, an eraser, and tools to draw lines, polygonal shapes and text. Tux Paint provides multiple levels of
undo andredo , allowing accidental or unwanted changes to be removed while editing a picture.Interacting with the operating system
Tux Paint was designed in such a way that the user does not need to understand the underlying
operating system or how to deal with files. The "Save" and "Open" commands were designed to mimic those of software forpersonal digital assistant devices, such as the Palm handheld. [ [http://www.tuxpaint.org/reviews/communitykids/ "Tux PaintGreat Fun for Your Kids... If They Can Get You Off the Program!"] , Community Kids Magazine, December 2007] When one saves a picture in Tux Paint, they do not need to provide a file name or browse for where to place it. When one goes to open a previously-saved picture, a collection ofthumbnail s of saved images is shown.Similarly, printing is typically a 'no questions asked' process, as well.
Advanced drawing tools
Tux Paint includes a number of 'filters' and 'special effects' which can be applied to a drawing, such as blurring, fading, and making the picture look as though it was drawn in
chalk on pavement. These are available through the 'Magic' tool in Tux Paint. Starting with version 0.9.18, Tux Paint's 'Magic' tools are built asplugin s that are loaded at runtime and use a C API specifically for creating such tools. [ [http://www.tuxpaint.org/latest/tuxpaint-0.9.18-press-release-en.php3 Tux Paint 0.9.18 press release] ,November 21 2007 .]A large collection of
art work and photographic imagery are also available (under alicense allowing free redistribution), and may be placed inside drawings using Tux Paint's "Rubber Stamp" tool. Stamps can be in either raster (bitmap) format (in PNG format, supporting 24bpp and full alpha transparency), or asvector graphics (in SVG format) on many platforms Tux Paint supports. As of mid-2008, over 800 stamps are included in the stamps collection.Parental and teacher controls
As features are added to Tux Paint, configuration options have been added that allow parents and teachers to disable features and alter the behavior to better suit their children's or students' needs, or to better integrate the software in their home or school computing environment. Typical options, such as enabling or disabling sound effects and full-screen mode are available. There are also options that help make Tux Paint suitable for younger or
disabled children, such as displaying text using onlyuppercase letters or ignoring the distinction between buttons on the mouse.Localization
Tux Paint has been translated into numerous languages, and has support for the display of text in languages that use non-Latin character sets, such as Japanese, Greek, or Telugu. As of June 2008, over 80 languages are supported. [ [http://www.tuxpaint.org/help/po/ "Help Us Translate"] page at Tux Paint website] Correct support for complex languages requires
Pango .Sound effects and descriptive sounds for stamp imagery can also be localized. Tux Paint includes its own form ofinput method support, allowing entry of non-Latin characters using the 'Text' tool. [ [http://www.tuxpaint.org/latest/tuxpaint-0.9.17-press-release-en.php3 Tux Paint 0.9.17 announcement] ] Japanese (Romanized Hiragana and RomanizedKatakana ), Korean (Hangul 2-bul) and Traditional Chinese are currently supported.Wikiversity Tux Paint Storyboard Artwork Project
Wikiversity has a to create artwork for Rubber Stamps of human figures which turn Tux Paint into a storyboarding program for kids to storyboard their movies.Gallery
The [http://www.tuxpaint.org/ Tux Paint website] includes an [http://www.tuxpaint.org/gallery/ online gallery] of over 500 drawings submitted by over 150 children and adults.
Distributors
Tux Paint is included with the software that comes with the
ASUS Eee PC . It is also a standard package in educationally-orientedLinux distribution s, such asDebian Jr. andEdubuntu , as an optional package in numerous other Linux distributions, as well as part of numerous educationally-oriented LinuxLive CD s. It is included in various software collections for Windows (such asGNUWin II andOpen Source Software CD ), as well as in portable software collections for Windows, since it can be run as a stand-alone application (without needing to be installed system-wide). Tux Paint is also available as an activity within the free and open source educational suiteGCompris . [ [http://tuxpaint.org/links/#distributors Tux Paint distributors] ]See also
*
GCompris
*Kid Pix
*List of raster graphics editors
*Comparison of raster graphics editors
*Tux (Linux mascot penguin)
*Tux Typing
*Tux, of Math Command References
External links
* [http://www.tuxpaint.org/ Tux Paint official website]
* [http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/tuxpaint/ "Tux Paint" project] at SourceForge.net
* [http://www.tux4kids.com/ Tux4Kids]
* [http://translate.sourceforge.net/wiki/decathlon/tuxpaint Tux Paint localisation]
* [http://www.o.ne.tz/tuxpaint/ TuKsi Koti la Rangi (Tux Paint in Swahili)]Swahili translation project
* [http://www.huftis.org/nynorsk-programvare/tux-paint/ Tux Paint in Norwegian Nynorsk] NorwegianNynorsk translation project
* [http://www3.autistici.org/ironbishop/tuxpaint/ Tux Paint Localizzazione in Italiano (it_IT l10n)] Italian translation project
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/tuxpaint-au/ "Tuxpaint Stamps for Australian Schools" project] at SourceForge.net
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