TealPaint User's Manual

By Vince Lee, Tex Tennison, and Amanda Epume
Version 3.31
Last Updated: Jun 20, 1999

Description

Thank you for trying TealPaint. This is full-featured and easy-to-use paint, sketch, and now an animation program too.

TealPaint offers a host of easily-accesible features, including:

Installing

This archive contains the files:
TEALPNT.DOC
This document in text format
TEALPNT.HTM
This document in HTML format
TEALPNT.PRC
The TealPaint program file
PAINTDOC.PRC
This document in TealDoc format
PAINTMGR.EXE
Image Database import/export/print utility (Win95)
PICUTIL.EXE
Image Database import/export utility (DOS)
REGISTER.HTM
TealPoint Registration form in HTML format
REGISTER.DOC
TealPoint Registration form in text format
PAINTDOC.PRC
This manual in TealDoc document format
Use the Pilot application installer to install the program file TEALPNT.PRC.

Using the Program

TealPaint's intuitive interface is largely self-explanatory for anyone with experience using a traditional PC-based drawing package. It consists of two main interface screens: the drawing page and the index page.

The Index pages lists all the pictures in a single image database. From the index page you can create, delete, or goto other image databases. The current database is shown in the upper right-half corner of the screen. Click on it to bring up a list of all active databases. Menu selections are available to create or delete databases.

The images stored in a database are shown as small dithered thumbnail representations, and are accompanied by optional descriptive text. Up to four images in the list can be shown at any one time, with the rest accessible by the up and down scroll buttons. To create an image, click on the New button. To view, edit, or animate an image, click on its thumbnail representation to go to the drawing page. Choose which of these to do by selecting one of these three options from the pushbuttons on the bottom of the screen. When you animate, all the pictures in the database will cyclicly play in sequence until you press a button or tap on the screen. To delete, sort, or replicate an image, select it by clicking in its descriptive text and choosing an appropriate item from the Recs menu.

The drawing page provides an interface for creating or modifying images. At the top of the display is is the viewing window which shows the current image. If the image is larger than the display area, the page may be scrolled using the Hand tool or using the hardware buttons if they are mapped to the scrolling controls. By default, the page-up and page-down buttons are mapped to vertical scrolling.

At the bottom of the display are the drawing tools and options. On the left hand side are three selection buttons, all of which show the current item and bring up a popup window of choices when pressed. The first of these is the tool button, which allows selection of the current drawing tool. These include various line, freeform, and shape tools, along with a text tool, selector tool, magnify tool, and paint can tool. The second button is the pattern selector which selects the current pattern or color (black or white) used by the current tool. The last button is the brush selector, which determines the pen tip shape used by the current drawing tool.

Two final buttons appear on the drawing screen: Undo and Done. The Undo button reverts the image back to before its last change. Pressing it twice undoes the last Undo, reinstating the image to the way it was before. The Done button saves all changes and returns to the index page.

Special Drawing Functions

Magnifying Glass

The magnifying glass operates in two modes, viewing and editing. The viewing mode allows you to preview the magnified area in normal size and drag the around the box defining the magnified area. In edit mode, the magnified area can be drawn on using the pen tool, but appears at 4x size. All patterns and brushes operate in magnified mode too. When the magnifying tool is active, it can be switched from one mode to the other using the EYE button which appears in the lower right hand corner of the drawing area. To erase in magnify mode, simply draw with the white drawing pattern

Screen Grab

The Grab Screen menu item is available on the index page. The Screen Grabber can capture the screen image from most any program and import it into TealPaint as an editable image record. This is particularly useful for, say, importing images drawn in other drawing programs.

To use it, select Grab Screen from the Edit menu and choose an elapsed time. Then, switch applications to the one you wish to grab and wait. When the elapsed time passes, an alert will appear informing you that the image has been capture. When you return to TealPaint, the image will appear as a new record in your image list.

If you grab an image from a greyscale screen, the image will be automatically dithered (converted to patterns) when imported.

Text Tool

The Text tool allow entry of text onto an image. To use it, select the text item ('T') using the popup tool button, click on the display area at the location to type text, and enter text and numbers using Graffiti. To change fonts, use the Set Text Font item from the Options menu. Here you can also select white text on black instead of the default black on white.

Grid Snap

The Grid snap selector, present in the lower left corner of the drawing screen, constrains the tools to starting and ending onto an 8x8-pixel grid, when selected. It allows easy lining-up of shapes drawn on the drawing surface. It has not effect on freehand, curve, or fill tools, or when drawing in magnified mode.

Selector Tool

To use the selector tool, activate it and drag the pen diagonally across the drawing surface to highlight a rectangular region. Then, click and drag within the highlighted region to copy the selected pixels to another location on the screen. To move the region and delete the area below, use the Cut command below in conjunction with the selector Tool.

Cut/Copy/Paste

When the selector tool is active, the Copy and Paste menu items are available. The Copy item saves the current selected area to a temporary buffer. The Paste menu, in turn, draws the current contents of the temporary buffer into the selected area. If no area is selected, the Paste menu will draw into the upper left corner of the display. The Copy and Paste menus can be used to duplicate regions of an image or copy pixels from one image to another. Normally, the selector tool copies the area below to wherever you drag it. The Cut menu item erases the area below a selected region so when you drag it away, the area below is blank.

Paste with scaling

When the selector tool is active and an image has previously been copied to the clipboard, you can use this menu to paste the image into the selected region. The image will be scaled up or down to fit the dimensions of the selected area.

Rotate Copy Buffer

This menu rotates imagery in the copy buffer clockwise by 90 degrees. It can be repeatedly called to perform a 180 or 270 degree rotation.

Nudge Menu Items

The Nudge menu items allow you to finely move a selected region up, down, left or right, a single pixel at a time. It is ideal for fine-tuning the placement of items on screen.

Clear/Fill/Flip Menu Items

Use the Clear, Fill, and Flip menu items in conjunction with the selector tool to erase a selected area, fill it with the current drawing pattern, or vertically or horizontally mirror the pixels in the selected region.

Abandon Changes

The Abandon Changes menu item returns one to the List Page without saving any changes made to the image since entering the Drawing Page or the last page scroll.

Special Animation Functions

New to TealPaint are simple animation tools that let you use the program as a simple paintbox for testing character animations or creating animated storyboards. All the images in a single animation database can be treated as consecutive frames in a linear animation flipbook. The following functions help you to draw the individual frames in a flipbook animation.

Previous/Next Image

These menu items appear both under the Edit and Anim menus. They allow you to conveniently move to the next or last image in the database. Often, it's convenient to map hardware buttons to these features (see below for more info on how to do this).

Replicate Frame

This makes a duplicate of the current frame after the current image and moves forward to this image. This is useful for doing cell animation.

Junk Current Frame

Deletes the current frame and moves forward to the next

Go Play

Animates the images in the current database by cyclically stepping forward through them until you press a button or tap on the screen. You cannot currently adjust the speed or direction of the animation.

Button Mappings

The Button Mappings Options menu item allows you to map a variety of functions to any of the four hardware applications buttons or to the up or down scrolling buttons. This allows you to customize the buttons for quick access to commonly-needed functions. When an application button is not mapped, it switches applications normally. You may create separate mappings for when you are in Edit mode or View mode. The following function mappings are available.

Scroll Up/Down/Left/Right

Scrolls the image around on screen. The screen defaults to the upper-left-hand corner of a canvas limited in size only by memory. The canvas expands as you use it. By default, the page-up and page-down buttons are mapped to the vertical scrolling controls while in Edit mode.

Prev/Next Image

Moves forward or backwards through the list of images in the current database. By default, the page-up and page-down buttons are mapped to the Prev/Next controls when in View moding.

Prev/Next Tool/Pattern/Brush

Moves forward or backwards through the list of available brushes, tools, or patterns.

Draw/Erase/Hand Tool

Selects the indicated tool if it is not the current one, or switches back to the last-selected one if the button is pressed again.

Black/White

Selects the indicated color if it is not the current one, or switches back to the last-selected pattern if the button is pressed again.

Undo/Done

Functions the same as the on screen buttons.

Replicate Frame/Junk Frame/Go Animation

These commands allow you to easily access animation tools when using TealPaint as a simple animation-test drawing tablet.

Notes

When using OS 1.0, the Graffiti state (Caps) indicator overwrites the left-hand side of the Undo button on the menu screen due to the older, large Caps symbol. This does not affect the functionality of the program.

Using TealPaint Image Manager

When you hotsync your pilot, the most current TealPaint image databases are stored on the PC in a directory called BACKUP\, which resides in a directory named after your User ID. These files are named the same as the databases and have a '.PDB' extension, like PICTURES.PDB.

Use PAINTMGR.EXE under Windows 95 to manage your database files. You can view images in each database, print them, or export them as Windows Bitmap (.BMP) files. You can also create new database files, or add to existing ones by importing .BMP files into them.

To run TealPaint Image Manager, double-click on its icon. Open a database by choosing the Open Database menu selection and finding a path to the .PDB file containing the images you wish to view. Use the vertical scroll bar to go up and down the list of images. Click on an image's name to view that image. Choose the Print menu item to print the current selection, or Export to .BMP to convert the currently-selected image to a Windows .BMP file.

To add an image to the current database, choose the Import .BMP menu item. The .BMP files must be Version 3 .BMP files (ie not Windows 3.x or Win 95 files). **To see the changes on your PalmPilot, you must use the PalmPilot Install tool to reinstall the database file back onto the PalmPilot

To create a new database, select the New Database menu selection. You will be prompted for the name of a new .PDB file to create. Note that the name of the file you select will also be the name of the database as it appears on the PalmPilot. Do not choose a name that already exists on your PalmPilot, as it will overwrite any database of the same name. Use the PalmPilot Install tool that came with your PalmPilot to upload any databases you create to your PalmPilot.

Revision History

Contact Info

TealPaint is by TealPoint Software
(c) 1997-1998 All Rights Reserved.
TealPoint Software
454 Las Gallinas Ave, Suite #318
San Rafael, CA 94903-3618
We look forward to hearing from you.

Please visit us at www.tealpoint.com, or
email us at contact@tealpoint.com.

Thank you.

Registering

Currently, you may register by snail mail, electronically through our website with a credit card and a secured server, or through PilotGear HQ at 1-800-741-9070. For the first option, the enclosed registration form is provided for your convenience. You may use this form or simply send the following to the address above. When you register, you will be sent an email containing a registration code you can enter into TealPaint to turn off the "Please Register" messages.

Disclaimer

We at TealPoint Software are committed to providing quality, easy-to-use software. However, this product is provided without warranty and the user accepts full resposibility for any damages, consequential or otherwise, resulting from its use.

This archive is freely redistributable, provided it is made available only in its complete, unmodified form with no additional files and for noncommercial purposes only. Any other use must have prior written authorization from TealPoint Software.

Unauthorized commercial use includes, but is not limited to:

  1. A product for sale.
  2. Accompanying a product for sale.
  3. Accompanying a magazine, book or other publication for sale.
  4. Distribution with 'Media', 'Copying' or other incidental costs.
  5. Available for download with access or download fees.
This program may be used on a trial basis for 30 days. The program will continue to function afterwards. However, if after this time you wish to continue using it, please register with us for the nominal fee listed in the program.

Thank you.