About

"Tux Paint Config." is a graphical configuration tool for "Tux Paint." It provides a point-and-click interface that allows parents and teachers to alter Tux Paint's behavior -- disable sound effects, run in full-screen mode, etc. — without needing to manipulate a text-based configuration file.

License

Tux Paint Config. is an Open Source project, Free Software released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). It is free, and the 'source code' behind the program is available. (This allows others to add features, fix bugs, and use parts of the program in their own GPL'd software.)

See COPYING.txt for the full text of the GPL license.

Other Documentation

Other documentation included with Tux Paint Config. (in the "docs" folder/directory) include:

• AUTHORS
  List of authors and contributors
• CHANGES
  Summary of changed between releases
• INSTALL
  Instructions on how to compile and install
• COPYING
  Copying license (The GPL)
• README
  (This file)
• TODO
  A list of pending features or bugs needing fixed

Using Tux Paint Config.

Tux Paint Config.'s interface is divided into seven (7) tabs, each containing a different category of options that you can change in Tux Paint. (For full details on Tux Paint's options, we recommend reading Tux Paint's own documentation.)

At the bottom of the screen are three buttons:

• Defaults - This sets the options shown on the current tab to their default settings. (In other words, how Tux Paint would operate if you didn't make any changes to the options.)
• Apply - This saves settings of all the options, on all the tabs, to your Tux Paint configuration file. (On Linux and Unix, this is "~/.tuxpaintrc". On Windows, this is "tuxpaint.cfg". On Mac OS X, it is " ~/Library/Application Support/TuxPaint/tuxpaint.cfg".)
• Reset - This discards all unsaved changes on all the tabs. It loads whatever settings are currently stored in your Tux Paint configuration file.

Also at the bottom are two additional options:

• Settings for: - This lets you change which configuration file Tux Paitn Config. tries to save to when you click "Apply": either the Current User's, or All Users' (the system-wide config. file).
• Use "All Users" Settings - Checking this option causes all configuration options in Tux Paint Config. to be greyed out. When you click "Apply", the current user's config. file will be deleted, causing them to use only the system-wide ("All users") config. file!

The various tabs, and the options found within, are described below:

About

This tab simply contains some information about Tux Paint Config.

Video & Sound

• Fullscreen - This causes Tux Paint to (attempt to) run in fullscreen mode, rather than in a window on your desktop. It causes Tux Paint to display across your entire screen (or as much as it can, with a border around the outside), in essense turning your monitor into a Tux Paint-only display.
  • Native - This causes Tux Paint to run using your current desktop resolution when you run in fullscreen mode. Example: If you have Tux Paint set to run in a 800x600 window on your 1280x800 laptop, but you have this option enabled, it will run at 1280x800 when you launch Tux Paint in fullscreen mode (rather than dropping your laptop's LCD display down to 800x600, which might not look right).
• Window Size - By default, Tux Paint creates a relatively small window (800 pixels across by 600 pixels high). Since many people prefer a larger drawing canvas, or have screens at different aspect ratios or larger sizes, Tux Paint can be told to create a larger window, instead. If running in fullscreen, this also determines the monitor resolution Tux Paint will try to switch into, unless the "Native" option is set.
• Rotate Orientation - This option swaps the width and height values given in the "Window Size" setting, which can be useful for displays with portrait aspect ratios (e.g., a tablet PC in the tablet orientation, vs. the laptop orientation).
• Allow Screensaver - By default, the underlying system that Tux Paint uses for graphics disables your screensaver. You can set this option to allow your screensaver to appear, even while Tux Paint is running.
• Enable Sound Effects - By default, Tux Paint plays sounds for practically every action that takes place... drawing with the brush, displaying a pop-up dialog, painting a rainbow. By un-checking this option, you can turn sounds off.
• Use Alternative Color Palette - This allows you to specify a file containing colors that Tux Paint should provide to the user. (See Tux Paint's documentation for details on the format.)

Mouse & Keyboard

• Fancy Cursor Shapes - Normally, Tux Paint changes the shape of your mouse pointer when the mouse is inside the Tux Paint window. It turns into a large brush when painting, and a cross-hair when drawing lines, for example. However, the large brushes can cause problems on some systems, so you can disable this option if the brushes don't work right for you.
• Hide Cursor - Completely hides the mouse pointer in Tux Paint. Useful when using a touchscreen (such as a tablet PC or handheld device), rather than a mouse or drawing tablet.
• Enable Keyboard Shortcuts - Tux Paint supports some keyboard shortcuts ('accelerators'), like Control + S to Save and Control + Z to Undo. If your child hits the keyboard accidentally, you can disable these shortcuts to prevent them from being used accidentally.
• Grab Mouse Pointer - If you'd rather not run Tux Paint in fullscreen mode, but you want to keep children from getting at your desktop files or other applications, you can have Tux Paint 'grab' the mouse pointer, which prevents it from leaving the Tux Paint window.
• Mouse Wheel Support - If your mouse has a scroll wheel, Tux Paint will let you use it to scroll up and down through the selection menu on the right (e.g., the brush or stamp collections). However, if your child still lacks dexterity with the mouse, they may hit the scroll wheel accidentally, and get frustrated. You can tell Tux Paint to ignore the mouse wheel, if that is the case.
• No Button Distinction - Tux Paint notices if the user is accidentally clicking with the middle or right button on a mouse, and after a number of clicks, pops up a window explaining which button should be used. If this option is enabled, the pop-up does not appear, and the middle and right mouse button can be used (they act the same as the left button).

Simplification

If your child is very young, or is handicapped, the 'Simplification' options can help make Tux Paint even easier to use.

• Disable Shape Rotation - Tux Paint's 'Shape' tool works in three steps: (1) click where you want the center of your shape to be, (2) drag out from the center to determine the size of the shape, and (3) move the mouse to rotate the shape, and click once more to finalize it. The third step (rotation) can be tricky to get the hang of, and very young children are more interested in the shapes themselves, not the angles they can be drawn at. Hence, you can disable shape rotation by selecting this option.
• Simple Stamp Outlines - If your computer is very slow, or you're using Tux Paint on a thin client (displaying over a network), you can simplify the outlines drawn around stamps to help speed up the display.
• Show Uppercase Text Only - If your child is just learning to read, and hasn't yet mastered the lowercase alphabet, you can tell Tux Paint to display everything in uppercase. (LIKE THIS.)
• Disable Quit Button - This greys out the 'Quit' button in Tux Paint. The Escape key and the close button in the window's toolbar still work (though the latter can be made inaccessible by running Tux Paint in fullscreen mode, or in mouse-grab mode.)
• Disable Stamps Tool - This prevents Tux Paint from loading any stamps at start-up, this speeding up the load process and, of course, causing the 'Stamps' tool button to be greyed out.
• Disable Stamp Controls - Tux Paint allows stamps to be shrunk and grown, and many stamps can be flipped and/or mirrored. These options add four buttons to the Stamp tool's selector, however, which can confuse the younger users. Disable those controls with this option.
• Disable Magic Controls - Some of Tux Paint's Magic tools work as a painting tool, some apply their effect to the entire canvas, and some can do both. This option removes the button that selects which mode Magic tools run in. (If this option is set, tools will default to painting mode, unless they do not support it.)
• Initial Stamp Size - This lets you set a default size for all Stamps in Tux Paint. Normally, it picks a size based on the stamp's size, your canvas size, and/or settings provided specifically for the stamp.

Languages

• Language - Tux Paint has been translated into dozens of languages. While it can use your system's global language preference, you may prefer to run your desktop in one language, and have your children use Tux Paint in another. Select the language you want Tux Paint to run in from the pull-down menu. (Select "Use system's setting" to use your system's global language preference.)
• Mirror Stamps - Some people are used to things going right-to-left, rather than left-to-right. (Hebrew is written right-to-left, for example.) Most stamps are oriented left-to-right, and many can be mirrored using the 'Mirror' stamp control. You can tell Tux Paint to mirror all such stamps, by default, when it starts up.
• Load System Fonts - This causes Tux Paint to look around typical locations on your hard drive for fonts, and adds ones that seem useful to the fonts available in the "Text" tool.

Printing

• Allow Printing - If you wish to disable the 'Print' button in Tux Paint, un-check this option.
• Print Delay - If you wish to allow printing in Tux Paint, but limit it to, say, only once every 5 minutes, you can enter a delay value (in seconds). After printing, Tux Paint will wait that long before the 'Print' button works again.
• Show Printer Dialog - Tux Paint can bring up a system printer dialog if the [Alt] key ([Option] on Macs) is held while the "Print" button is clicked. These options allow you to disable this feature (never show a dialog), or to always show a dialog, even when [Alt] isn't being held.
• Use Alternative Print Command / Alternative Print Command - (Advanced! Unix/Linux only!) By default, Tux Paint under Linux and Unix uses the external program 'lpr' for printing pictures. You can specify a different command here. The command you specify must accept PostScript format on it's standard input (STDIN).
• Use Alternative Print Dialog - (Advanced! Unix/Linux only!) By default, Tux Paint under Linux and Unix uses the extnernal program 'kprinter' (KDE, the K Desktop Environment's printer tool). You can specify a different command here. The command you specify must accept PostScript format on it's standard input (STDIN).
• Paper Size - This lets you choose the size of paper that you're using with Tux Paint. You can use your system's default, or override it with a specific paper size (e.g., "A4" or "US Letter").

Saving

Save Over Earlier Work

Tux Paint has one 'Save' command, which works with one click. If you're done drawing a picture, click 'Save' and it is saved, no questions asked!

However, if you're re-saving a picture that you loaded using the 'Open' command, Tux Paint needs to know whether you want to save over the original, or save a new image. (In most other programs, this would be 'Save' versus 'Save As...', respectively.)

By default, Tux Paint will pop up a prompt asking whether to 'save over the older version of [the] picture.' Choosing 'Yes' will wipe out the old version, replacing it with the updated drawing. Choosing 'No' will preserve the old version, and save a completely new file.

To simplify the 'Save' process by never asking the 'save over?' question, you can tell Tux Paint what to do ahead of time:

• Ask Before Overwriting - This is the default behavior, described above. (Ask whether to save over, or not.)
• Always Overwrite Older Version - This will always wipe out the old version, replacing it with any updates to the drawing. (It's like 'Save' in other desktop applications.)
• Always Save New Picture - This will never wipe out older work, this preserving every single change that's ever been saved. (It's like always using 'Save As...' in other desktop applications.) Warning: Using this option obviously creates the potential for many files being stored in Tux Paint! You may want to go in and manually remove files for your child. (Tux Paint's 'Open' dialog uses thumbnails to show the saved pictures, and includes an 'Erase' button, so you can do this from within Tux Paint.)

Start Blank

This option tells Tux Paint to always start with a blank (white) drawing canvas, rather than re-loading the last-saved picture (its default behavior).

Save Directory

Since Tux Paint never asks where to save pictures (or what filename to use when creating the files), it keeps all of its pictures in its own special directory.

If you wish to change where Tux Paint saves pictures (and, of course, where it looks for them when the 'Open' command is used), you can do so here.

This can be useful in a school lab where all of the computers are shared by students, and students must log into a special network drive to save their files. You can tell Tux Paint to save on the mapped network drive, rather than on the local hard drive.

See Tux Paint's own documentation for more on the subject.

Disable 'Save' Button

If you wish for Tux Paint to be used only as a 'scratch pad' for drawing, you may disable the 'Save' button. Obviously, this makes it impossible to save any drawings, so most people will have no use for this option.

Auto-save on Quit

This tells Tux Paint not to ask whether you wish to save the current picture (if unsaved) when you quit. It will assume you always do. (If it needs to ask about saving over an old copy, it will still do so.)

Data

• Don't use lockfile - Normally, when Tux Paint is launched it creates a small data file called a 'lockfile.' If this file exists, and Tux Paint is launched again, the second copy will quit immediately. This was done to prevent multiple copies of Tux Paint from loading when children over-eagerly and/or impatiently click the launcher icon. However, if you're using Tux Paint on a networked filesystem, and all users share the same folder, this may prevent more than one computer from running Tux Paint. Enable this setting to ask Tux Paint to not use lockfiles, and ignore any that may be there.
• Use Alternative Data Directory - Similar to "Use Alternative Save Directory," above, this option lets you specify a different location for Tux Paint to look for its data files: brushes, stamps, etc. (This can be good if you have school-specific data for Tux Paint stored on a network drive that you'd like all your students to use, rather than Tux Paint's default data files, located on the local hard disk.)

More Information

For more information, see the other documentation files that come with Tux Paint.

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/