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1994-09-21
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DELUXE PAINT
To create beautiful pictures on your computer's screen, get a
program called Deluxe Paint ___ or one of its cousins.
Deluxe Paint was invented in California by Dan Silva in 1985.
Then he invented an improved version (Deluxe Paint 2). Then he
developed a further improvement (Deluxe Paint 3), which included
advanced graphics tricks and also animation. His programs all ran
on the Commodore Amiga. They were published by Electronic Arts.
An Electronic Arts employee ___ Brent Iverson ___ developed an
IBM version of Deluxe Paint 2. Then another Electronic Arts
employee ___ Steve Shaw ___ developed an IBM version of Deluxe
Paint 3 and called it Deluxe Paint Animation. He also invented a
lesser version called Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced, which includes all
the features of Deluxe Paint 3 except animation.
Electronic Arts also developed an Apple 2GS version of Deluxe
Paint 2.
Electronic Arts also sells several paint programs for the Mac:
Studio 1 has animation but no color; Studio 8 and Studio 32 have
color but no animation. They were all developed by an independent
group of French programmers inspired by Dan Silva.
In this chapter, I'll concentrate on the IBM versions. Each IBM
version requires 640K of RAM and a mouse.
Choose an IBM version
Which IBM version should you buy ___ Deluxe Paint 2, Deluxe
Paint 2 Enhanced (which should be called Deluxe Paint 2½), or
Deluxe Paint Animation (which should be called Deluxe Paint 3)?
Intelligence Deluxe Paint Animation understands more commands
than the other versions, and it's the only version that produces
animation.
Price Deluxe Paint 2 has been included free with many computers
and software packages. That's because it's considered obsolete!
Discount dealers sell Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced and Deluxe Paint
Animation for about $100 each.
Hard disk Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced and Deluxe Paint Animation
require a hard disk. If you don't have a hard disk, you must buy
Deluxe Paint 2.
VGA Deluxe Paint Animation requires a VGA (or MCGA) video card.
If your video card is worse than that ___ if you have just EGA,
CGA, or Hercules ___ you must buy Deluxe Paint 2 or Deluxe Paint
2 Enhanced.
High resolution Unfortunately, Deluxe Paint Animation operates
just in low resolution (320-by-200). (Instead of using RAM to
store higher resolution, it uses RAM to store your animation.) If
you insist on full VGA resolution (640-by-480), buy Deluxe Paint
2 or Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced. To operate in Super VGA resolution
(800-by-600 or 1024-by-768), you must buy Deluxe Paint 2
Enhanced.
Summary Deluxe Paint 2
is obsolete. Use it only if you get it free or you're broke or
you lack a hard disk.
If your computer has a
poor video card (Hercules monochrome, CGA, or EGA), get Deluxe
Paint 2 Enhanced.
If your computer has a
good video card (MCGA, VGA, or Super VGA), get either Deluxe
Paint Animation or Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced. Deluxe Paint
Animation offers animation, but Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced offers
higher resolution.
Assumption In the rest
of this section, I assume you're using Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced or
Deluxe Paint Animation.
Copy to the hard disk
When you buy Deluxe
Paint 2 Enhanced or Deluxe Paint Animation, you get four 5¼-inch
floppies and two 3½-inch floppies.
Here's how to copy the
5¼-inch floppies to your hard disk. (Copying the 3½-inch floppies
is similar.)
Turn on the computer
without any floppy in drive A. When you see the C prompt, put the
PROGRAM Disk into drive A and type ``a:''. The computer will
display an A prompt.
Type ``install''. The
computer will say ``Installation''.
If you're using Deluxe
Paint Animation, press ENTER twice. If you're using Deluxe Paint
2 Enhanced instead, press ENTER once, then type ``dp'' (so the
screen says ``dp'' instead of ``DPAINT''), then press ENTER
again.
When the computer tells
you, put the other three disks in drive A and press ENTER.
The computer will say,
``Installation Complete!'' (Then if you're using Deluxe Paint 2
Enhanced, do this: type ``century'', press ENTER, and wait for
the computer to copy fonts to the hard disk.)
Turn off the computer,
so you can start fresh.
Run the paint program
To start using the paint
program, turn on the computer without any floppy in drive A.
To do Deluxe Paint
Animation, type ``do da''. To do Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced, type
``do dp''.
(That ``do'' method
works if you put the DO.BAT file onto your hard disk as I
recommended in the MS-DOS chapter. If you have not put DO.BAT
onto your hard disk, do Deluxe Paint Animation by typing ``cd
da'' and then ``da''; do Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced by typing ``cd
dp'' and then ``dp''.)
Choose a video mode
If you're using Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced, you must choose a
video mode. (If you're using Deluxe Paint Animation, you don't
have to choose a video mode, and you can skip ahead to the next
section.)
Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced shows you this list of video modes:
a. CGA 320 x 200 4 colors
b. CGA 640 x 200 2 colors
c. EGA 320 x 200 16 colors
d. EGA 640 x 200 16 colors
e. EGA 640 x 350 16 colors
f. MCGA 320 x 200 256 colors
g. MCGA 640 x 480 2 colors
h. VGA 320 x 200 16 colors
i. VGA 640 x 200 16 colors
j. VGA 640 x 350 16 colors
k. VGA 640 x 480 16 colors
l. Hercules 720 x 348 2 colors
m. Tandy 320 x 200 16 colors
o. Amstrad 640 x 200 16 colors
p. Extended VGA 640 x 400 256 colors
q. Extended VGA 640 x 480 256 colors
r. Extended VGA 800 x 600 2 colors
s. Extended VGA 800 x 600 16 colors
t. Extended VGA 800 x 600 256 colors
u. Extended VGA 1024 x 768 2 colors
v. Extended VGA 1024 x 768 16 colors
Type a letter from ``a'' to ``v''. Here's which letter to type:
Video you boughtType this letter
Hercules monochrome``l''
CGA ``a'' for lots of colors, ``b'' for high resolution
EGA ``e''
MCGA ``f'' for lots of colors, ``g'' for high resolution
VGA ``f'' for lots of colors, ``k'' for high resolution
A plain VGA system is limited to 640-by-480 resolution and has
a 256K video RAM. If your VGA system can handle higher resolution
or has extra video RAM, you have extended VGA, which lets you
type these letters instead:
Extended VGA you got
ResolutionVideo RAMType this letter
640-by-480512K ``q'' for lots of colors, ``k'' for high res.
800-by-600256K ``f'' for lots of colors, ``s'' for high res.
800-by-600512K ``t''
1024-by-768256K ``f'' for lots of colors, ``u'' for high res.
1024-by-768512K ``t'' for lots of colors, ``v'' for high res.
If you choose a letter near the end of the alphabet (``p''
through ``v'', you face two complications:
The computer might say, ``Specify which card is active''. To
reply, press the SPACE bar, look at the menu of VGA card
manufacturers, and type your manufacturer's code letter. (If your
VGA card is manufactured by a company that's not on the menu, try
pretending that your VGA card is an AST VGA Plus, which handles
video modes q and r.)
The computer might say, ``Not enough memory''. That means your
computer doesn't have enough expanded RAM. Choose a different
letter instead.
Move the mouse
Look at the computer's
mouse. The mouse's tail is a cable that runs from the mouse to
the computer. The area where the tail meets the mouse is called
the mouse's ass.
The mouse's underside
___ its belly ___ has a hole in it, and a ball in the hole.
Put the mouse on your
desktop and directly in front of you. Make the mouse lie flat (so
its ball rubs against the desk). Make the mouse face you so you
don't see its ass.
In the middle of the
screen, you'll see a cross, which is called the mouse pointer.
Move the mouse across
your desk. As you move the mouse, remember to keep it flat and
facing you. As you move the mouse, the cross moves also.
If you move the mouse to
the left, the cross moves to the left. If you move the mouse to
the right, the cross moves tot he right. If you move the mouse
toward you, the cross moves down. If you move the mouse away from
you, the cross moves up.
Practice moving the
cross by moving the mouse. Remember to keep the mouse facing you
at all times.
If you want to move the
cross far and your desk is small, move the mouse until it reaches
the desk's edge; then lift the mouse off the desk, lay the mouse
gently on the middle of the desk, and rub the mouse across the
desk in the same direction as before.
Draw a squiggle
On the top of the mouse,
you'll see 2 or 3 rectangular buttons you can press. The main
button is the one on the left.
The middle of the screen
is a white, rectangular area that's huge: it consumes most of the
screen. That area is called the painting area. It's where you
draw your pictures.
Try this experiment. Put
the cross in the middle of the screen, in the middle of the
painting area. While holding down the mouse's left button, move
the mouse. That activity ___ moving the mouse while holding down
the mouse's left button ___ is called dragging. As you drag,
you'll be drawing a squiggle.
For example, try drawing
a smile. To do that, put the cross where you want the smile to
begin (at the smile's upper-left corner), the depress the mouse's
left button while you draw the smile. When you finish drawing the
smile, lift the mouse's button. Then draw the rest of the face!
Click an icon
At the screen's right edge, you see these pictures:
One-Dot BrushSquiggle
Line Arc
Filled RectangleFilled Circle
Filled PolygonFilled Blob
Fill Spray
Brush PickupText
Grid Perspective
Magnify Hand
Color PickupSymmetry
Undo Clear
Gradient Pattern
Color Indicator
Color Palette
Those pictures are called icons (or tools).
Try this experiment: move the mouse pointer (the cross) to
those icons. When the cross reaches those icons, the cross turns
into an arrow.
Line Here's how to draw a line that's perfectly straight.
Move the mouse pointer until it turns into an arrow, and the
arrow's tip is in the middle of the Line icon. Then tap the
mouse's left button. (That's called clicking the Line icon.)
Then put the mouse pointer in the middle of the screen, in the
middle of the painting area, where you want the line to begin.
Drag to where you want the line to end (by moving there while
holding down the mouse's left button).
The line you desired will appear!
Practice drawing lines. When you finish drawing lines and want
to draw squiggles instead, click the Squiggle icon. (Since the
Squiggle icon looks like a paintbrush, it's also called the
Freehand Brush icon).
Practice! Draw lines, then squiggles, then lines, then
squiggles. When you feel comfortable, explore the following
icons, which are more advanced. . . .
Arc To draw an arc (a smooth curve), click the Arc icon (which
is also called the Curve icon). Then put the mouse pointer in the
painting area, where you want the arc to begin, and drag to where
you want the arc to end. Lift your finger off the mouse's button,
move the mouse until the arc has the curvature you wish, then
click.
Undo If you make a mistake, click the Undo icon. That makes the
computer erase the last object you drew (or undo your last
activity). The screen will look the same as before you drew that
object (or did that activity).
Clear To erase everything you drew on the screen (so the screen
becomes white and you can start over), click the Clear icon
(which says CLR). If you're using Deluxe Paint Animation, you
must then press ENTER.
Color Palette Normally,
the computer draws black shapes (on a white background). To draw
in a color other than black, look at the Color Palette icon
(which is divided into many colors), and click the color you
want. The color you choose is called the foreground color.
For example, to draw a
blue object, do this: click blue, then draw the object. To erase
part of an object, do this: click white, then cover the object by
drawing with white paint.
If you're using Deluxe
Paint 2 Enhanced and chose a 2-color video mode, the only colors
in the palette are black and white.
If you're using Deluxe
Paint Animation (or Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced in a 256-color mode),
the Color Palette icon shows just some of the colors. To see
other colors, repeatedly click the Right Arrow icon (at the
screen's bottom right corner). To go back to the colors you were
seeing before, click the Left Arrow icon. When you see your
favorite color, click it.
Color indicator In the
middle of the Color Indicator icon, you see the color that you
picked to be the foreground color.
Color pickup Suppose
you've drawn a picture, and one of the colors you've used is so
nice that you want to use it again. Click the Color Pickup icon
(which looks like an eyedropper that soaks up ink), then click
your picture's middle, where you used that color. That color will
become the foreground color.
Filled rectangle To draw
a rectangle whose sides are perfectly straight, and whose middle
is filled in, click the Filled Rectangle icon. Then put the mouse
pointer in the painting area, where you want the rectangle's top
left corner to be. Drag to where you want the rectangle's
opposite corner.
Filled circle To draw a
circle whose middle is filled in, click the Filled Circle icon.
Then put the mouse pointer in the painting area, where you want
the circle's center to be. Drag until the circle is as big as you
wish.
Filled polygon To draw a
polygon whose middle is filled in, click the Filled Polygon icon.
Then click in the painting area, where you want the polygon's
first corner to be.
Click where you want the
polygon's second corner to be. Presto ___ the computer draws a
line from the first corner to the second corner!
Click where you want the
polygon's third corner to be. The computer draws a line from the
second corner to the third corner.
Keep clicking, until
you've clicked all the corners. Then press the SPACE bar, which
makes the computer draw a line from the last corner back to the
first corner and fill in the polygon.
Filled blob To draw a
blob (lumpy circle) whose middle is filled in, click the Filled
Blob icon (which is also called the Filled Freehand Shape icon).
Then put the mouse pointer in the painting area, where you want
the blob to begin. Drag in a circular motion (so you're drawing a
lumpy circle). When you lift your finger from the mouse's button,
the computer completes the circular shape (by drawing a line back
to where you began) and fills in the middle.
Fill Suppose your drawing contains a big area that's all the
same color. For example, suppose you drew a big filled rectangle,
circle, polygon, or blob. Here's how to change the color of that
area.
Click in the Color Palette, at the new color you want, so it
becomes the foreground color. (The new color can be red, blue,
black, white, or any other color you wish.)
Click the Fill icon (which looks like a paint bucket).
The mouse pointer turns into a paint bucket. Move the mouse
pointer carefully, so the tip of the paint (spilling out of the
bucket) is in the middle of the large area whose color you want
to change. Then click.
The entire area's color will change to the foreground color.
If you make a mistake, click the Undo icon and try again.
You can use that technique to change the color of any big area
that's all the same color. For example, if you draw a big yellow
sun, you can change the sun's color to orange.
Here's how to start drawing a landscape. Clear the screen (by
clicking the Clear icon). Then draw the horizon, as follows: by
using the Squiggle icon, draw a horizontal black squiggle all the
way across the screen. Make sure the squiggle goes all the way
across the screen ___ from the screen's far left to the screen's
far right ___ so that there are no gaps in the horizon, and so
that it's impossible to travel from the sky (above the horizon)
to the ground (below the horizon) without crossing the horizon.
Then make the sky blue. To do that, click the blue part of the
Color Palette icon, then click the Fill icon, then click in the
middle of the sky. (If you're using Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced in a
2-color mode, pick black instead of blue and make a night scene.)
The entire sky will turn blue (or black).
If you made a mistake and forgot to make the horizon go all the
way across the screen, the sky's blue paint will leak through the
horizon and make the ground blue. Click the Undo icon and try
again!
To make the ground be desert brown or lawn green or
fantasy-land purple, click your favorite ground color in the
Color Palette, then click Fill, then click in the middle of the
ground.
Here's how to draw a face that's embarrassed. Clear the screen
(by clicking the Clear icon). Begin using the Squiggle icon, draw
the face's black outline (a circle with two bumps on it ___ for
the ears). Make sure the face's bumpy circle is a complete circle
and has no gaps. Make sure it's impossible to go from the middle
of the face to the screen's edge without crossing the face's
circle.
Then make the face turn red. To do that, click the red part of
the Color Palette icon, then click the Fill icon, then click in
the middle of the face. The entire face will turn red.
If you made a mistake and forgot to make the face's circle be
complete, the face's red paint will bleed through the gap in the
face's circle and make the rest of the screen be bloody. Yuk!
Click the Undo icon and try again!
Spray To vandalize your own drawing by using a can of spray
paint, click the Spray icon (which looks like a can of spray
paint and is also called the Airbrush icon). Then put the mouse
pointer in the painting area, where you want to begin spraying,
and drag!
Text To put words in the middle of your picture, click the Text
icon. Then click in the painting area, where you want the words
to begin. Type the words.
Grid To draw simple
diagrams more easily, click the Grid icon before you draw. Then
anytime you click or drag the mouse (except when drawing
squiggles), the computer will automatically nudge the mouse
pointer so that its X and Y coordinates are a multiple of 8.
For example, try this
experiment. Click the Grid icon. Draw a line (by using the Line
icon). Now try to draw another line that starts at exactly the
same point as the first line. Because of the grid, you don't have
to bother putting the mouse pointer exactly where the first line
began; just put the mouse pointer close to that point, and the
computer will automatically nudge the mouse pointer so that its
coordinates are a multiple of 8 ___ and exactly where the first
line began.
Magnify To magnify part
of the screen temporarily, so you can see more clearly what
you're drawing there, click the Magnify icon (which looks like a
magnifying glass). Then click in the part of painting area you
want to magnify.
The screen splits into
two parts. The left part of the screen shows the objects in their
actual size; the right part of the screen shows the objects
magnified.
Go ahead: continue
drawing! Whatever you draw will appear in the left part of the
screen (actual size) and simultaneously in the right part of the
screen (magnified).
When you finish needing
magnification, click the Magnify icon again. The screen will
return to its usual, unmagnified state.
Hand While looking at a
magnified part of the screen, here's how to nudge the magnifying
glass so you see a slightly different view.
Click the Hand icon.
(It's also called the Grabber icon.) Put the mouse pointer in the
middle of the magnified view. Drag a short distance in the
direction that you want to nudge the view.
Symmetry To create
perfect symmetry, click the Symmetry icon (which looks like a
snowflake or the image seen through a kaleidoscope). Then move
the mouse pointer near the center of the painting area. You'll
see the mouse pointer and 11 clones of it ___ 12 pointers
altogether, arranged in a circle.
Go ahead: continue
drawing! Whatever you draw will be duplicated 11 extra times, so
you'll see 12 copies of your drawing. The 12 copies are arranged
in a circle and rotated, and 6 of those copies are mirror images
(flipped backwards). Groovy!
When you finish
symmetric drawing, click the Symmetry icon again. Then you'll
have just one mouse pointer, instead of 12.
Pop out a menu
You can make the screen display extra icons. Here's how.
Zigzag Try this experiment. Point at the Line icon, then hold
down the mouse's left button awhile. A new menu pops out onto the
screen. (It's called a pop-out menu). The menu shows two icons.
One of them is a copy of the Line icon. The other is the Zigzag
icon: it's a line with a bend in it. To use the Zigzag icon, drag
to it.
Here's how to draw a zigzag (try it!). Drag to the Zigzag icon
(which pops out of the Line icon). Then click in the painting
area, where you want the zigzag to begin. Click where you want
the zigzag's first bend. Click where you want the zigzag's second
bend. Click at each additional bend. Click where you want the
zigzag to end. Then press the SPACE bar. (If the zigzag's ending
point is the same as where the zigzag began, pressing the SPACE
bar is optional.)
The Zigzag icon is also called the ``Connected Lines'' icon or
``Polyline'' icon.
After you've used the Zigzag icon, that icon stays on the
screen, where the Line icon used to be.
If you ever want to draw a simple line again, make the Line
icon reappear. Here's how. Point at the Zigzag icon. Hold down
the mouse's left button. You'll see the pop-out menu again. Drag
to the pop-out menu's Line icon.
Practice drawing zigzags, then simple lines, then zigzags
again. When you feel comfortable, explore the following icons,
which are more advanced. . . .
Zigzag arcs To draw a zigzag made of a series of arcs instead
of lines, drag to the Zigzag Arcs icon, which pops out of the Arc
icon. Then point in the painting area, where you want the first
arc to begin, and drag to where you want that arc to end. Lift
your finger off the mouse's button. Move the mouse until that arc
has the curvature you wish, then click.
Click where you want the second arc to end, and click where you
want that second arc to curve. Click where you want the third arc
to end, and click where you want the third arc to curve. Do the
other arcs.
When you finish the last arc, press the SPACE bar.
The Zigzag Arcs icon is also called the ``Connected curves''
icon or ``Polycurve'' icon.
Extended color palette If you're using Deluxe Paint Animation
(or Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced in a 256-color mode), try this trick.
In the Color Palette icon, point at one of the colors, and hold
down the mouse's left button awhile. You'll see a pop-out menu
displaying all 256 colors simultaneously. Drag to the color you
want. It becomes the foreground color.
If you're using Deluxe Paint 2 Enhanced in a 16-color mode, try
this similar trick instead. In the Color Palette icon, point at
your favorite color, and hold down the mouse's left button
awhile. You'll see a pop-out menu that displays 16 modifications
of that color. (The computer creates the modifications by adding
tiny polka dots made of the other colors. The modifications made
by polka dots are called dithers.) Drag to whichever dither you
like. That dither becomes the foreground color.
Modified rectangles
Point at the Filled Rectangle icon, and hold down the mouse's
left button.
You'll see four pop-out
icons. One of them is a copy of the Filled Rectangle icon.
Another (Filled Square) acts like the Filled Rectangle icon but
always produces a perfect square. The other two icons (Unfilled
Rectangle and Unfilled Square) let you draw an outline shape
whose middle is not filled in.
Modified circles Point
at the Filled Circle icon, and hold down the mouse's left button.
You'll see six pop-out
icons. One of them is a copy of the Filled Circle icon. The other
pop-out icons are Filled Ellipse, Filled Rotated Ellipse,
Unfilled Circle, Unfilled Ellipse, and Unfilled Rotated Ellipse.
To draw a filled ellipse
(oval), choose the Filled Ellipse icon. Then in the painting
area, imagine a rectangle just big enough to contain the ellipse
you want. (That's called the bounding rectangle.) Point at that
rectangle's top left corner, and drag to the opposite corner. The
ellipse will appear.
To draw a filled rotated
ellipse, choose the Filled Rotated Ellipse icon. Then click in
the painting area, where you want the ellipse's center to be.
Move the mouse until the ellipse is as fat and tall as you wish.
Then drag in a circular motion, until the ellipse is rotated to
the angle you wish.
Unfilled polygon The
Unfilled Polygon icon pops out of the Filled Polygon icon.
Modified squiggles Point
at the Squiggle icon, which looks like a paintbrush that's
drawing a squiggle. Hold down the mouse's left button. You'll see
three pop-out icons.
One of them is a copy of
the Squiggle icon.
Another popped-out icon
(Dotted Squiggle) acts like the Squiggle icon but makes the
squiggle be a series of dots instead of a continuous curve. If
you want the dots to be far apart, drag the mouse fast while
drawing the dotted squiggle. That icon is also called the
Discontinuous Freehand Brush icon.
The other popped-out
icon (Stopped Squiggle) produces just a single dot instead of a
complete squiggle. Since it stamps just one dot onto your screen,
it's also called the Single-Stamp Freehand Brush icon.
Magnification level When
you use the Magnify icon, it normally magnifies objects by a
factor of 4, so that each object appears 4 times as wide and 4
times as tall. That's called a magnification level of 4x.
To choose a different
magnification level, point at the Magnify icon and hold down the
mouse's left button. You'll see a pop-out menu that offers these
magnification levels: 2x, 3x, 4x, 6x, 8x, 12x, and 16x. Drag to
the magnification level you want.
Choose a brush
To draw without a computer, you can buy a collection of
paintbrushes. To draw a thick line, use a thick brush. To draw a
thin line, use a brush that's tiny and fine. To create a weird
texture, paint with a toothbrush. To create a big weird texture,
paint with a hairbrush. To create a gigantic weird texture, get
together with your friends, undress, cover yourselves with paint,
and roll around on a large sheet of canvas. (That's called
Technicolor mud wrestling. It's a quick, fun way to create an
abstract pop mural. The mural makes a great conversation piece
when you match the shapes on it with the various people and their
parts.)
Your computer lets you paint on the screen by using all kinds
of brushes. You can even invent your own brush, having any shape
you like!
Here's how to pick a brush.
Built-in brushes Point at the One-Dot Brush icon, and hold down
the mouse's left button.
You'll see 18 brush shapes. Some of them are round brushes.
Some are square. Some have multiple tufts (like a tiny
toothbrush, or like a paintbrush whose bristles have been
purposely frayed apart). Some are chisel-pointed (like a
miniature ax, for calligraphy and Japanese effects). They're
called the 18 built-in brushes.
Drag to whichever built-in brush interests you, and try it! The
computer will use that brush to draw all shapes (squiggles,
lines, arcs, etc.), until you switch to a different brush.
Custom brushes Here's how to invent your own brush.
First, decide what shape you want the brush to produce when you
tap the brush onto paper. Do you want the resulting shape to be a
tiny dot, or a circle, or a square, or an irregular blob, or blob
that's the same shape as a ear, or a blob that looks like Bart
Simpson's hair, or some other weird shape?
Draw that shape in the painting area. (For example, if you want
the brush's blob to look like Bart Simpson's hair, draw a picture
of Bart Simpson's hair.) When drawing that shape, use your
favorite colors!
To make that shape become your brush, click the Brush Pickup
icon. Then draw a rectangle around the shape: point where you
want the rectangle's top left corner, and drag to where you want
the rectange's opposite corner. When you lift your finger off the
mouse's button, the shape becomes your new brush. Its colors
become the new colors you'll be drawing in.
The computer will automatically click the Dotted Squiggle icon
for you. Go have fun! Drag the mouse wherever you wish! As you
drag, you'll be drawing dotted squiggles by using your new brush
and colors.
The brush you invented is called a custom brush. It will be
your brush until you invent a different custom brush or switch
back to one of the 18 built-in brushes (by clicking the One-Dot
Brush icon).
EXOTIC GRAPHICS
There's more to painting than just Deluxe Paint!
Mac Paint's children
Although Deluxe Paint is a good painting program, it wasn't the
first. The first popular painting program ever invented was Mac
Paint. It was invented in 1984 ___ the year before Deluxe Paint.
It was invented by Bill Atkinson at Apple Computer Ince. To use
it, you had to buy a Mac. At first, it was included free with the
Mac. Later, Apple priced it at $149.
In 1986, Ann Arbor Software published an improved Mac Paint
called Full Paint. A few months later, at the end of 1986,
Silicon Beach published an even fancier program, called Super
Paint. They understand all Mac Paint's commands, plus more.
Discount dealers sell Super Paint 1.1 for $79 and Super Paint 2
for $109.
In 1987, Apple created a spin-off company, Claris, to publish
Mac Paint. Claris developed Mac Paint 2, which is fancier than
the original Mac Paint but not as fancy as Full Paint, Super
Paint, or Deluxe Paint.
Clip art
Some artists sell little cartoons that you can insert into your
own masterpiece. Those cartoons are called clip art. You can buy
a disk containing hundreds of little cartoons, stick that disk
into your computer, and insert your favorite cartoons into your
Deluxe Paint masterpiece.
By using Deluxe Paint commands, you can modify the cartoons to
suit your own taste. For example, you can make a cartoon larger
or smaller, or change the expression on the person's face, or
change the writing in the bubble that comes out of the person's
mouth.
Computer dealers sell dozens of disks full of such cartoons.
Copying and editing those cartoons is much faster than creating
your own art from scratch.
Thunder Scan
You can attach the computer to a video camera, and feed the
video picture directly into the computer, so the computer can
manipulate the picture.
The cheapest way to do that is to buy a teeny-weeny video
camera called the Thunder Scan. It comes in a cartridge. To use
it, buy a Mac Imagewriter printer, remove the printer's ribbon
cartridge, and insert the Thunder Scan cartridge instead. Then
turn on the printer; but instead of inserting blank paper, insert
any page containing a photo. The printer tries to move the ribbon
back and forth, to print; but since the ribbon's been replaced by
the Thunder Scan camera, the printer moves the camera instead; so
the camera moves back and forth over the entire photo, scans the
photo, and feeds it through a wire to the Mac's RAM, which
displays the photo on the Mac's screen. Then you can copy the
photo to the disk, and edit the picture by using Mac Paint.
Thunder Scan was invented by Andy Hertzfeld, who also helped
invent the Mac. Thunder Scan lists for $249, but discount dealers
(such as Mac Connection) sell it for just $199.
CAD
To design a building (or
machine), you must create a blueprint. Making the computer create
a blueprint is called computer-aided drafting (or computer-aided
design or CAD). If those blueprints are fed to computerized
machines that manufacture the parts for the building, the whole
process is called computer-aided design & computer-aided
manufacturing (CAD/CAM).
Many architects and
engineers use CAD programs. The CAD programs resemble Deluxe
Paint but have several advantages. . . .
The CAD programs can do
math. They can look at your diagrams, compute all the
measurements (lengths, surface areas, and volumes), and write
those measurements on the blueprints.
The CAD programs can do
advanced geometry. For example, they can draw a circle, even if
you don't tell the center and radius. Just say three points that
you want the circle to touch! The CAD programs will figure out
which circle goes through those three points and will draw it.
After you've drawn an
object, the CAD programs can rotate it and show you the views
from different angles, in the form of blueprints or as artistic
perspective drawings.
The CAD programs let you
name the parts of your object and move the parts around. If one
part covers another part and hides it, the CAD programs remember
that the hidden part is still there, so that the hidden part will
automatically reappear if you ever more the other part out of the
way.
Although CAD programs
are excellent for drawing and analyzing straight lines, circles,
and ovals, they're not good at handling artistic squiggles. So if
you're an artist who likes to draw wild squiggles, do not get a
CAD program: instead, stick with Deluxe Paint. CAD programs are
strictly for architects, engineers, and other folks who do
technical drafting.
Traditional top-notch
CAD programs require you to sit at a fancy screen (called a
graphics workstation) attached to an expensive computer costing
over $50,000. Newer CAD programs work on microcomputers and are
almost as fancy.
The fanciest CAD program
for microcomputers is Autocad. The newest version of Autocad
lists for $3500; it requires an IBM AT (or AT clone) and a math
coprocessor chip (which helps the computer handle decimals
quickly). A stripped-down version, called Autocad Lite, sells for
about $400. A fun version, called Autosketch, lists for just $80
and runs on any IBM clone.
Autocad's main
competitor is Cadkey, which has more commands for 3-dimensional
drawing but fewer commands for 2-dimensional drawing. It lists
for $3195.
The first CAD program
for the Mac was Mac Draw. For elementary CAD applications, you
can get by with Super Paint, which includes some of the commands
of Mac Draw plus all the commands of Mac Paint. Better CAD
programs for the Mac are being developed.
Business graphics
Business executives like to turn tables of numbers into pie
charts and bar charts. The most popular way to produce those
charts is to use a spreadsheet program (such as Lotus 1-2-3),
which lets you type a table of numbers and then say ``Graph''.
Lotus 1-2-3 produces just a few types of graphs, and its graphs
look crude. To create graphs that are fancier and prettier, buy a
fancier spreadsheet program (such as Microsoft Excel) or a
presentation-graphics program (such as Microsoft Powerpoint or
Lotus Freelance or Harvard Graphics). Those presentation-graphics
programs are especially good for preparing slide shows and
overhead transparencies.
CLASSIC COMPUTER ART
During the 1960's, many creative ideas were generated about how
computers would someday create their own weird art, using a wild
combination of formulas and random numbers, and unshackled by the
bounds of human culture.
Here's how to make the computer produce wild art, by using the
wonderful classic tricks invented in the 1960's and 1970's. . . .
Gray levels
You can express every black-and-white photograph as a table of
numbers. Each number in the table represents the darkness of a
different point ___ the higher the number, the darker the point.
The ``darkness numbers'' are called gray levels. To feed a
picture into the computer, type in the table of gray levels. Or
aim a special camera at the object you want pictured; the camera
system will automatically compute the gray levels and send them
to the computer via a wire.
You can program the computer to change the gray levels in any
weird way you wish, and draw the result. In the 1960's, the
Computer Technique Group of Japan did this to an ordinary
photograph of John Kennedy:
Shot Kennedy Diffused Kennedy
Kennedy in a Dog
Here's what the group
did to a photograph of Marilyn Monroe:
Monroe in the Net
Csuri & Shaffer fed the
computer a realistic line drawing of an old man; here's what came
out:
Random Light and Shadow
I did this with the help of a computer:
Pin-Up
The Pin-Up has these specifications. . . .
scene: a scantily clad woman sitting on a stool
4 gray levels
4 symbols (1 for each gray level: a blank, a period, an asterisk,
and a dollar sign)
1537 symbols altogether (53 rows x 29 columns)
In the specification, the numbers are small, yet the picture is
clear. To obtain the clarity, I did non-computerized finagling.
At Bell Telephone Laboratories,
Knowlton & Harmon produced a picture with much larger
specifications. . . .
scene: two sea gulls flying in the clouds
16 gray levels
141 symbols (each gray level has several symbols; the computer
chooses among them at random)
11616 symbols altogether (88 rows x 132 columns)
Instead of using blanks, periods, asterisks, and $, they used
cats, battleships, swastikas, and other weird shapes. Here are
the 141, listed from lightest to darkest, with some repetitions:
The picture is several feet long. Seen from a distance, it looks
like this:
Gulls
Here's a close-up view of part of one of the gull's wings:
If you don't like sea gulls, how about Mona Lisa?
In 1971, Michael Hord
made the computer turn photographs into artistic sketches. Here's
what the computer did to a photograph of his boss, and to a
photograph of a colleague's girlfriend:
Boss
Woman
To draw each sketch, the computer's camera scanned the original
photograph and found the points where the photograph changed
dramatically from light to dark. Then, on a sheet of paper, it
plotted those points; and through each of those points, it drew a
short line perpendicular to the direction in which the original
photograph darkened.
More precisely, here's what the computer did. . . . It looked
at four adjacent points on the original photograph:
A B
C D
It computed the darkness of each of those points. Then it
computed the ``darkening in the X direction'', defined as:
(darkness at B) + (darkness at D) - (darkness at A) - (darkness
at C)
Then it computed the ``darkening in the Y direction'', defined
as:
(darkness at A) + (darkness at B) - (darkness at C) - (darkness
at D)
Then it computed the ``overall darkening'', defined as:
(darkening in the X direction)² + (darkening in the Y direction)²
If the overall darkening there turned out to be large, the
computer sketched a short line, in the vicinity of the points
ABCD, and perpendicular to the direction of darkening. More
precisely, the line's length was 1, and the line's slope was:
the darkening in the X direction
-
the darkening in the Y direction
Morphs
Here's how to make an L slowly become a V. Notice that the
letters L and V are both made by connecting three points:
Let 1" be the point halfway between 1 and 1'; let 2" be halfway
between 2 and 2'; and let 3" be halfway between 3 and 3'. Then
1", 2", and 3" form a shape that's halfway between an L and a V:
The process can be extended further:
Turning one shape into another (such as turning an L into a V)
is called a metamorphosis or morphing. The intermediate shapes
(that are between the L and the V) are called the morphs.
Using that method, the Computer Technique Group of Japan
gradually turned a running man into a Coke bottle, and then into
Africa:
Running Cola is Africa
The group turned this head into a square:
Return to a Square
The head on the left returns to a square by using arithmetic
progression: the lines are equally spaced. The one on the right
uses geometric progression instead: the lines are close together
near the inside square, but further apart as they expand outward.
Csuri & Shaffer exploded
a hummingbird:
Chaos to Order
The hummingbird at the far right was obtained from the one at the
far left, by moving each line a random distance and in a random
direction (between 45° and -45°).
Computers can make
movies. The best movie ever made by a computer is called Hunger
(or La Faim). It was made under the auspices of the Canadian Film
Board. It's a 10-minute cartoon, in color, with music; but it
goes far beyond anything ever done by Walt Disney. It uses the
same technique as Running Cola is Africa: it shows objects
turning into other objects.
It begins by showing a
harried, thin executive at his desk, which has two phones. One of
the phones rings. He answers it. While he's talking on that
phone, his other phone rings. To talk on both phones
simultaneously, his body splits in two. (How does a single body
become two bodies? By using the same technique as turning a
running man into a coke bottle.)
On the other side of his
desk is an armchair, which turns into a secretary, whose head
turns into a clock saying 5PM, which tells the executive to go
home. So he stretches his arms in front of him, and becomes his
car: his hands become the headlights, his arms become the front
fenders, his face becomes the windshield. You have to see it to
believe it.
He drives to a
restaurant and gets the waitress, who turns into an ice-cream
cone. Then he eats her.
As the film progresses,
he becomes increasingly fat, lustful, slothful, and miserable. In
the end, he falls into hell, where he's encircled by all the poor
starving naked children of the world, who eat his flesh. then the
film ends. (Don't see it before eating dinner!)
It combines computer art
and left-wing humanitarian politics, to create an unforgettable
message.
Now morphing is being applied to color photographs and video
images. For example, Hollywood movies use morphing to show a
person gradually turning into a monster; environmentalists use
morphing to show a human baby gradually turning into a spotted
owl; and portrait photographers who have gone high-tech use
morphing to show you gradually turning into the person you admire
most (such as your movie idol or your lover).
Order versus disorder
Computer artists are starting to believe that art is a tension
between order and disorder. Too much order, or too much disorder,
will bore you. For example, in Chaos to Order, the hummingbird on
the left is too orderly to be art. The hummingbird on the right
is more interesting.
Consider Gulls. Seen from a distance, it's an orderly picture
of gulls. Seen up close, it's an orderly picture of a cat or
battleship or swastika. But from a middling distance, it looks
like disorderly wallpaper: the symbols repeat, but not in any
obvious cycle. That element of disorder is what makes the picture
interesting.
At first glance, Pin-Up is just a disorderly array of periods,
asterisks, and dollar signs. At second glance, you see order: a
girl. Art is the formation of order from disorder.
A first glance at Monroe in the Net shows order: a piece of
graph paper. A second glance shows disorder: some of the graph's
lines are inexplicably bent. A third glance shows order: Marilyn
Monroe's face pops out at you. Her orderly face is formed from
the disorder of bent lines.
Return to a Square uses arithmetic progression and geometric
progression to create an over-all sense of order, but the basic
elements are disorderly: a head that's bumpy, and a panorama of
weird shapes that lie uncomfortably between being heads and
squares but are neither.
Many programs create disorder by random numbers. Chaos to Order
uses random numbers to explode the hummingbird. Gulls uses random
numbers to help choose among the 141 symbols.
An amazing example of random numbers is this picture by Julesz
& Bosche:
To your eyes, the picture seems quite ordered. Actually, it's
quite disordered. One pie-shaped eighth of it is entirely random;
the other seven eighths are copies of it. The copying is the only
element of order, but very powerful. Try this experiment: cover
seven-eighths of the picture. You'll see that the remaining
eighth is totally disordered, hence boring.
That program imitates a
child's kaleidoscope. Do you remember your childhood days, when
you played with your kaleidoscope? It was a cardboard
``telescope'' that contained a disorganized pile of colored glass
and stones, plus a series of mirrors that produced eight-way
symmetry, so that what you saw resembled a giant multicolored
snowflake. The program by Julesz & Bosche uses the same
technique, computerized. Hundreds of programmers have imitated
Julesz & Bosche, so that today you can buy kaleidoscope programs
for your Apple, Radio Shack, etc. Or try writing your own!
Take this test:
One of those is a famous painting (Composition with Lines, by
Piet Mondrian, 1917). The other was done by a computer
(programmed by A. Michael Noll in 1965). Which one was done by
the computer? Which one do you like best?
The solution is on the
next page, but don't peek until you've answered!
The computer did the top one.
The programmer surveyed 100 people. Most of them (59) thought
the computer did the bottom one. Most of them (72) preferred the
top one ___ the one that was actually done by the computer.
The test shows that people can't distinguish computer art from
human art, and that the computer's art is more pleasing that the
art of a famous painter.
The computer's version is more disordered than Mondrian's. The
computer created the disorder by using random numbers. The survey
shows that most people like disorder: Mondrian's work is too
ordered. It also shows that most people mistakenly think the
``computer'' means ``order''.
Envelopes
Try this experiment. On a piece of paper, put two dots, like
this:
The dots represent little insects, or ``bugs''. The first bug is
looking at the second bug. Draw the first bug's line of sight:
Make the first bug take a step toward the second bug:
Make the second bug run away, in any direction:
Now repeat the entire process. Again, bug 1 looks at bug 2;
draw its line of sight:
Bug 1 moves toward bug 2:
Bug 2 keeps running away:
If you repeat the process many times, you get this:
The ``motion of bug 1'' looks like a curve. (In fact, it's a
parabola.) The ``curve'' is composed of many straight lines ___
the lines of sight. That's how to draw a fancy curve by using
straight lines.
Each straight line is called a tangent of the curve. The entire
collection of straight lines is called the curve's envelope.
Creating a curve, by drawing the curve's envelope, is called
stitching the curve ___ because the lines of sight act as
threads, to produce a beautiful curved fabric.
You can program the
computer to draw those straight lines. That's how to make the
computer draw a fancy curve ___ even if you know nothing about
``equations of curves''.
To get a curve that's
more interesting, try these experiments:
What if bug 2 doesn't walk in a straight line? What if bug 2
walks in a curve instead?
What if bug 1 goes slower than bug 2, and takes smaller steps?
What if the bugs accelerate, or slow down?
What if there are three bugs? What if bug 1 chases bug 2, while
bug 2 chases bug 3, while bug 3 chases bug 1?
What if there are many bugs, all chasing each other, and their
starting positions are random?
What if there are just two bugs, but the bugs are Volkswagens,
which must drive on a highway having nasty curves? Show the bugs
driving on the curved highway. (Their lines of sight are still
straight; but instead of moving along their lines of sight, they
must move along the curve that represents the highway.)
What if each bug has its own highway, and all the bugs stare at
each other?
Here are some elaborate
examples. . . .
Four bugs chasing each
other:
The next example, called Compelling, appeared in the famous
book and movie, The Dot and the Line. (Norton Juster made it by
modifying art that had appeared in Scripta Mathematica.) It
resembles the example above, but makes the 4 bugs start as a
rectangle (instead of a square), and makes the bug in the upper
left corner chase the bug in the opposite corner (although
looking at a nearby bug instead).
Enigmatic (from The Dot and the Line) makes 3 bugs chase each
other, and a fourth bug stay motionless in the center:
I invented Kite, which has 8 bugs chasing each other:
I also invented Sails, which has 14 bugs chasing each other:
Elliptic Motion (by my
student Toby D'Oench) has 3 bugs staring at each other, as they
travel on 3 elliptical highways:
Archimedean Spiral (by
Norton Starr) has bugs on circles. The bugs stare at each other
but don't move:
Fractals
A fractal is an infinitely bumpy line. Here's how to draw one.
Start by drawing a 1-inch line segment:
In the middle of that segment, put a bump and dip, like this:
Altogether, that bent path is 2 inches long. In other words, if
the path were made of string, and you stretched the string until
it was straight, the string would be 2 inches long. That's twice
as long as the 1-inch line segment we started with. So here's the
rule: putting a bump and dip in a path makes the path twice as
long.
That bent path consists of seven segments. Put a bump and a dip
in the middle of each segment, like this:
Altogether, those bumps and dips make the path twice as long
again, so now the path is 4 inches long.
Again, put a bump and dip in the middle of each segment, so you
get this:
Again the path's length has been doubled, so now the path is 8
inches long.
If you again put a bump and dip in the middle of each segment,
the path's length doubles again, so the path becomes 16 inches
long. If you repeat the procedure again, the path reaches 32
inches.
If you repeat that procedure infinitely often, you'll develop a
path that's infinitely wiggly and infinitely long. That path is
longer than any finite line segment. It's longer than any finite
1-dimensional object. But it still isn't a 2-dimensional object,
since it isn't an ``enclosed area''. Since it's bigger than
1-dimensional but isn't quite 2-dimensional, it's called
1½-dimensional. Since 1½ contains a fraction, it's called
fractional-dimensional or, more briefly, fractal.
Look out your window at the horizon. What do you see? The
horizon is a horizontal line with bumps (which represent hills
and buildings and other objects). But on each hill, you see tiny
bumps, which are trees; and on each tree, you see even tinier
bumps, which are leaves; and on each leaf, you see even tinier
bumps, which are the various parts of the leaf; and each part of
the leaf is made of even smaller bumps (molecules), which have
even smaller bumps (atoms), which have even smaller bumps
(subatomic particles). Yes, the horizon is an infinitely bumpy
line, a fractal!
You can buy software that creates fractals. Computer artists
use fractal software to draw horizons, landscapes, and other
bumpy biological objects. For example, they used fractal software
to create landscapes for the Star Wars movies. You can also use
fractals to draw a bumpy face that has zillions of zits.
Now you understand the
computer artist's philosophy of life: ``Life is a lot of lumps.''
What's art?
To create art, write a
weird program whose consequences you don't fully understand, tell
the computer to obey it, and look at the computer's drawing. If
the drawing looks nice, keep it and call it ``art'' ___ even if
the drawing wasn't what you expected. Maybe it resulted from an
error, but so what? Anything interesting is art.
If the drawing ``has
potential'' but isn't totally satisfying, change a few lines of
the program and see what happens ___ or run the program again
unchanged and hope the random numbers will fall differently. The
last thing to invent is the title. Whatever the drawing reminds
you of becomes the title.
For example, that's how
I produced Kite and Sails. I did not say to myself, ``I want to
draw a kite and sails''. I just let the computer pick random
starting points for the bugs and watched what happened. I said to
myself, ``Gee whiz, those drawings remind me of a kite and
sails.'' So I named them Kite and Sails, and pretended that I
chose those shapes on purpose.
That method may seem a
long way from DaVinci, but it's how most computer art gets
created. The rationale is: don't overplan. . . . let the computer
``do its own thing''; it will give you art that escapes from the
bounds of human culture and so expands your horizons!
Modern style
Computer art has
changed. The classic style ___ which you've been looking at ___
consists of hundreds of thin lines in mathematical patterns,
drawn on paper and with little regard for color. The modern style
uses big blobs and streaks of color, flashed on a T.V. tube or
film, which is then photographed.
Uncreative art
You've seen that
computers can create their own weird art by using a wild
combination of formulas and random numbers, unshackled by the
bounds of human culture.
Today, programs such as
Deluxe Paint let people use computers to create art easily and
cheaply. Unfortunately, the typical person who buys a graphics
program uses it to create the same kind of junk art that would be
created by hand ___ just faster and more precisely. That's the
problem with computers: they make the production of mediocrity
even easier and more glitzy.
3-D DRAWING
The computer drew these three-dimensional surfaces:
Three Peaks
by John Szabo
Dip
Those were done for the sake of art. This was done for the sake
of science:
Population Density in the U.S.
by the Harvard University Mapping Service
The hardest part about three-dimensional drawing is figuring
out which lines the computer should not show, because they're
hidden behind other surfaces.
Coordinates
Try this experiment. Put your finger on the bridge of your nose
(between your eyes). Now move your finger 2 inches to the right
(so that your finger is close to your right eye). Then move your
finger 3 inches up (so that your finger is near the upper right
corner of your forehead). From there, move your finger 8 inches
forward (so that your finger is 8 inches in front of your
forehead).
Your finger's current position is called (2,3,8), because you
reached it by moving 2 inches right, then 3 inches up, then 8
inches forward. The 2 is called the X coordinate; the 3 is called
the Y coordinate; the 8 is called the Z coordinate.
You can reach any point in the universe by the same method!
Start at the bridge of your nose, and get to the point by moving
right (or left), then up (or down), then forward (or back).
The distance you move to
the right is called the X coordinate (if you move to the left
instead, the X coordinate is a negative number). The distance you
move up is called the Y coordinate (if you move down instead, the
Y coordinate is a negative number). The distance you move forward
is called the Z coordinate (if you move back instead, the Z
coordinate is a negative number).
Projecting the coordinates
To draw a picture of a
three-dimensional object, put the object in front of you, and
then follow these instructions. . . . Pick a point on the object.
(If the object has corners, pick one of the corners.) Figure out
that point's X, Y, and Z coordinates (by putting your finger on
the bridge of your nose and then seeing how far you must move
your finger right, up, and forward to reach the object).
Then compute the point's
projected X coordinate (which is X/Z) and the point's projected Y
coordinate (which is Y/Z). For example, if X is 2 and Y is 3 and
Z is 8, the projected X coordinate is 2/8 (which is .25) and the
projected Y coordinate is 3/8 (which is .375). On graph paper,
plot the projected X coordinate and the projected Y coordinate,
like this:
Then plot the point:
Go through the same procedure for every point on the object (or
at least for the corners). Connect the dots and ___ presto! ___
you have a three-dimensional picture of the object! And the
picture is mathematically accurate! It's what artists call a
``true perspective drawing''.
To make the picture look
traditionally beautiful, place the object slightly to the left of
you and slightly below your eye level, so that all the X and Y
coordinates become negative.
Computerizing the process
You can program the
computer so that if you input a point's X coordinate, Y
coordinate, and Z coordinate, the computer will calculate the
projected X coordinate (from dividing X by Z) and the projected Y
coordinate (from dividing Y by Z) and plot the point on the
computer's screen (by using high-resolution graphics).
The easiest way to draw
three-dimensional pictures is to buy a special three-dimensional
arm that attaches to an Apple computer. To draw a picture of an
object, move the mechanical arm until the arm's finger touches
the object. Immediately the arm's software computes the X
coordinate, Y coordinate, and Z coordinate of the touched point;
you don't need a ruler! It also computes the projected X
coordinate and the projected Y coordinate and plots the points on
your television. If you have a graphics printer, the software
also plots the point on your printer's paper.