The enclosed scanned drawings were originally created as an
aid to help young children learn to use a computer mouse. Since
paper colouring books have been around for years, the concept of
an Electronic Colouring Book (ECB) seems a natural in the 1990's.
(The "crayons" don't melt in the sun, or get broken, or eaten;
and the pictures can be reused many times - make a `working copy'
of this ECB disk, and save each coloured picture under its own
name.  The pictures can even be printed).  The Electronic
Colouring Book also provides many exciting options not available
on paper.  Although not as vibrant as colour, the use of various
patterns and shading in monochrome is impressive.

     In addition to the colouring pictures, which range from
simple to advanced, I have also included two "Connect-the-dots"
pictures for a different kind of mouse practice.

     As an adult I enjoyed colouring some of this pictures, and
trying different patterns and colour arrangements ranging from
the conservative to the wildly ridiculous, blending, and even
animation.  My mouse-ability increased considerably because
sometimes a small error in pointing would lead to truly
spectacular results!  Thank Heavens I have learned to SAVE every
ten or fifteen minutes.

     You are encouraged to use this disk, make copies for others,
and/or to scan and make your own pictures.  But please respect
the original artists' copyright!  Also be aware that there may be
some expense involved in photo-reducing pictures, and that the
"cleanest" scanned picture requires some touchup while "dirty"
pictures or pictures with lots of zigzag lines can require a half
hour or more to make presentable.  And make sure that all areas
are truly enclosed with a solid line, even a single pixel "leak"
will create a flood of colour.  Lastly, you may require a
graphics conversion program to convert scanned (TIFF or .TIF)
graphics to a format suitable to your paint program; such as PC
Paintbrush, Paint-It, DR Halo, Paint Show Plus, EGA/VGA Paint,
etc.

     Most or all of the pictures can be loaded in as Black and
White.  But because of the different sizes of the pictures - from
8200 to 27000+ bytes, only a few pictures can be loaded in as
Colour.  Your graphics program and the amount of memory in RAM
will determine which you can load directly as colour.  However,
you should be able to take any B&W picture and scale it down
(shrink it) small enough to allow it to be coloured.



     Three other 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" Double density (XT) disks, with
all pictures less than 13,000 bytes, are available for $10.00
each (in Canadian or American funds).  Presently available disks
are similar in content to this disk, but negotiations are
underway for speciality disks (any suggestions?). 

     Please state the graphics program you will be using, or the
file extension you wish, and the level of difficulty desired
(easy, medium, or advanced).  Send orders to: 

                    Electronic Colouring Books
                    c/o  John Plaxton
                    16 Alameda Court
                    Kelowna, BC
                    Canada V1V 1C7

     If you are using this disk now, remember that it is a
Shareware disk, with the author entitled to $5.00 for his efforts
and to cover the costs of equipment and copyright.