Kid Pix is the first paint program designed just for kids. It's loaded with fun features - everything from crazy sound effects to brushes that paint in wacky ways and mystery tools that yield surprising results. The Kid Pix User's Guide is your complete reference guide to Kid Pix. It explains all of the program's features in detail. But you don't need to study it before you begin. In fact, lots of the fun with Kid Pix comes from discovering for yourself what the various tools will do. Read these help screens for a brief overview of the program; then start exploring for yourself. And don't worry. You can't get in trouble or make a mistake, because with Kid Pix there are no mistakes to be made!
Small Kid's Mode is something you'll want to know about right from the start. When it's in effect, the full menu bar at the top of the screen disappears so there's no chance of opening a menu and choosing an item accidentally. If you are using a system with Multifinder, a "bib" is put around the screen so that the user cannot accidentally open a background application.
You can see how useful this is when younger children are working with the program. It's a simple way of preventing them from getting stuck in situations they don't know how to handle, and of protecting other applications in your system.
To turn on Small Kid's Mode, simply choose "Small Kid's Mode" from the Goodies menu. The full menu bar will be replaced by a short Kid Pix menu. To turn off Small Kid's Mode, choose "Show Menu Bar" from the Kid Pix menu. Open the Goodies menu and choose "Small Kid's Mode" again.
Kid Pix tools appear at the left of the screen. The selected tool is highlighted. You use the tool to draw by holding the mouse button down and moving the mouse. You can select a new tool whenever you want by pointing to the tool and clicking the mouse button. The options that go with that tool will appear at the bottom of the screen. The only tool that has no options is the Undo Guy at the bottom of the column. Click him to undo your last action.
The tool options are one of the most appealing things about Kid Pix. They control such things as line width and pattern, and let you draw and erase in a variety of surprising ways. Experiment to see what all the options will do.
If you are using a color system, a color palette appears beneath the tools. The current color is displayed in a box at the top of the palette. This is the color in which the selected tool will draw. To select a new current color, point to the color you want and click the mouse button.
For further discussion of the tools and their options, see the Kid Pix User's Guide.
Kid Pix sound effects add fun to the program. Paint gurgles as it pours. Letters speak their names. Bells, chimes, and explosions abound. Kids - adults too - love this stuff, but if you want a little peace and quiet you can turn the sound off by choosing "Tool Sounds" from the Goodies menu. To turn sounds back on, choose "Tool Sounds" again.
If you are using a system with a microphone, you can record voice messages to accompany your drawings. To record a message, simply choose "Record" from the Goodies menu; to play back a recorded message, choose "Play." For complete details on recording and playing back messages and on saving them with your drawings, see the Kid Pix User's Guide.
Saving and printing Kid Pix drawings is easy. The commands for performing these functions are listed under the File menu. To save a drawing, choose "Save". Give your drawing a descriptive name. You can save a previously named drawing under a different name by choosing "Save As...". To retrieve a saved drawing, choose "Open". To start a new drawing choose "New". You can also start a new drawing by simply using the Eraser tool to clear the drawing area. To print out a drawing, choose "Print".
Everything you create with Kid Pix can be printed. If you have a color system you can print in color. Everything you see in the drawing area on the screen will appear on the printed page. The size of the print-out will be approximately the same size as the drawing on the screen.
Kid Pix menus include standard Macintosh features. The File menu lets you open files, close files, save your work, print, and quit the program; the Edit menu lets you perform basic editing functions.
The Goodies menu gives you access to special Kid Pix features. As already mentioned, this is the menu to use when you want to turn Small Kid's Mode or Tool Sounds on and off or when you want to record a voice message. The Goodies menu also lets you edit the "rubber stamp" pictures contained in Kid Pix, and enter new letters, number or symbols for the Wacky Brush Alphabet Line option.
For more information on using these features, see the Kid Pix User's Guide.
