Re: [Tuxpaint-users] New to list, but not to TuxPaint

[Bill K. <nb...@so...>]

On Sat, Aug 22, 2020 at 08:30:19AM +0200, Pere Pujal i Carabantes wrote:
> El dj. 20 de 08 de 2020 a les 18:38 -0700, en/na Anat & Aviv va
> escriure:
> > Hi!
> > 
> > We're new to the user list, but have been using (and recommending) 
> > TuxPaint for a while. We use TuxPaint with an eye-tracker and all
> > painting takes place with the eyes! It's pretty awesome and TuxPaint 
> > is pretty much the only mechanism by which we can input continuous
> > inputs (as opposed to clicking buttons) in a 2D interface, so we like TuxPaint A LOT.

Hi!  I'm so glad to hear it!


> > That said, we have a few limitations that if you can help us get past, 
> > would make our use even better.
> > 
> > First, we would love to import backgrounds more easily. Presently, to import a background (for example, a PNG or JPG of a worksheet for school that we want to mark up), we have to:
> > 1) save an image in TuxPaint (let's call it 20200820_1831img.jpg) and note its location on the file system along with the thumbnail location
> > 2) Take the worksheet image. Resize it to the TuxPaint size, and also save a separate file as a thumbnail. 
> > 3) replace that earlier TuxPaint saved file by renaming the worksheet images to 20200820_1831img.jpg and the associated thumbnail 20200820_1831Thumbnailimg.jpg
> > 4) reopen TuxPaint and we have basically "faked" tuxpaint to open an older saved file while in fact we opened the worksheet.
> > 
> > Let me tell you-- this is tedious to do on a regular basis for worksheets. 
> > It's hard enough to get our instructional assistant at school to get the pdf's 
> > of worksheets saved as png's and jpgs. And certainly with COVID, it's all my job now... 
> > so how can I get around this arduous process and just open background images of our choice?

I wonder if it'd be worth supporting PDFs for Starters and Templates...?

Right now, we support PNG, JPEG, SVG, and KPX (KidPix -- a wrapper
around JPEG).

Note that PNGs with solid white backgrounds are supported,
allowing for a plain black-and-white image to be used as a
starter (with the white being interpreted as 'transparent').
(Prior to 0.9.21, Starter PNGs _had_ to be "black & transparent".)


> There are alternatives:
> The first one that comes to my mind is "tuxpaint-import", it is a shell
> script that runs on Linux and other *nixes. If you are not on Linux,
> you could try to run it in a Linux/Unix emulator, it's usage is
> described in the README.html
> 
> A second alternative is to add your image to the Tux Paint's "starters"
> folder, either in the global Tux Paint's installation folder or in the
> user's saving folder and rename it to imagename-back.png .
> 
> The third alternative are Templates, basically you put your image in
> the Tux Paint's "templates" folder, either in the global Tux Paint's
> installation folder or in the user's saving folder.
> 
> Starters and templates appears in the "New" dialog, their thumbnail is
> created automatically by Tux Paint, instead images imported with
> tuxpaint-import appears in the Open dialog
> Starters are more powerful than templates in the sense that you can do
> more creative things with them, yet templates are more simple to setup.
> 
> I suggest reading
> http://www.tuxpaint.org/docs/en/html/EXTENDING.html
> http://www.tuxpaint.org/docs/en/html/README.html
> 
> 
> 
> > Second issue is that no matter how hard I've looked into the configuration options, 
> > I've been unable to find a way to resize the teeny tiny keyboard that comes up 
> > when we want to use text. I'm sure it's obvious and there, but I've not been able 
> > to locate it.
> > 
> This is an overdue feature that is not implemented yet, sorry :(

Pere, I'm going to try to take a stab at this, right now...
I may give up, because I didn't work on the OSK feature, and
it may be too hairy for me. :)


> > Third issue is just a question about stamps and how we might 
> > be able to add stamps of our own?
> 
> This is covered too in the EXTENDING.html I pointed above, basically
> put your stamp in the "stamps/|category|" folder, either in the global
> Tux Paint installation folder or in the user's Tux Paint saving folder.
> 
> Note that in the saving user's folder maybe will not exist the folders
> I mentioned and you may have to create them.
> 
> Also is worth to note that there is documentation in case you want to
> improve the quality of the stamps
> http://www.tuxpaint.org/docs/en/html/ADVANCED-STAMPS-HOWTO.html
> 
> > Those are pretty much it for now. All of these would make our lives 
> > so much easier with Tux Paint and facilitate my kiddo to do so much 
> > more school work and fun painting!
> > 
> > Looking forward to hearing from developers or users.
> > 
> > Thanks!!
> > 
> > anatandaviv.
> 
> 
> Hope this helps
> Pere

Thanks, all!

-- 
-bill!
Sent from my computer