Tux Paint is a drawing program for young children. It is meant to be
easy and fun to use. It provides a simple interface and fixed canvas size,
and provides access to previous images using a thumbnail browser
(i.e., no access to the underlying filesystem).
Unlike popular drawing programs like "The GIMP," it has a very limited
toolset. However, it provides a much simpler interface, and has entertaining,
child-oriented additions such as sound effects.
OPTIONS - INFORMATIONAL
--help
Display short, helpful information about Tux Paint.
--version
Output the version info.
--verbose-version
Output the version info and compile-time build options.
--usage
Display a list of all commandline options.
--copying
Show the license (GNU GPL) under which Tux Paint is released.
OPTIONS - INTERFACE
tuxpaint accepts the following options to alter the interface.
They can be used along with, instead of, or to override options set in
configuration files. (See below.)
--fullscreen --windowed
Run Tux Paint in full-screen mode, or in a window (default).
--native
When in fullscreen mode, use the system's default screen resolution.
--WIDTHxHEIGHT
Run Tux Paint in a particularly-sized window, or at a particular
fullscreen resolution (if --native is not used). Default is 800x600.
Minimum is 640x480. Portrait and landscape orientations are both supported.
--nosound --sound
Disable or enable (default) sound.
--noquit --quit
Disable or enable (default) the on-screen Quit button and Escape
key sequence for quitting Tux Paint. Instead, use the window close
button in the titlebar, the Alt+F4 key sequence, or the
Shift+Control+Escape key sequence.
--noprint --print
Disable or enable (default) the Print command within Tux Paint.
--printdelay=SECONDS --printdelay=0
Only allow printing (via the Print command) once every SECONDS
seconds. Default is 0 (no limitation).
--printcfg --noprintcfg
(Windows only.) Enable or disable loading and saving of printer settings.
By default, Tux Paint will print to the default printer with default
settings. Pressing [ALT] while pushing the Print button
will cause a Windows printer dialog to appear (as long as you're not in
fullscreen mode.) If --printcfg is used, your previous settings will
be loaded when Tux Paint starts up, and setting changes will be saved
for next time.
--papersize=PAPERSIZE
(Only when PostScript printing is used - not Windows, Mac OS X or BeOS.)
Ask Tux Paint to generate PostScript of a particular paper size.
Valid sizes are those supported by libpaper. See papersize(5).
--simpleshapes --complexshapes
Disable or enable (default) the rotation step when using the
Shape tool within Tux Paint. When disabled, shapes cannot be
rotated; however, the interface is easier (click, drag, release), which can
be useful for younger or disabled children.
--uppercase --mixedcase
In uppercase mode, all text prompts and the Text drawing tool
will display only uppercase letters. This is useful for children who are not
yet comfortable with the lowercase characterset. Default mode is
mixed case.
--grab --nograb
Grab the mouse and keyboard input (if possible), so that the mouse is
confined to the Tux Paint window. Default is to not grab.
--noshortcuts --shortcuts
If noshortcuts mode, keyboard shortcuts (e.g., Ctrl+S for Save)
will be disabled. Default mode is shortcuts enabled.
--nowheelmouse --wheelmouse
By default, the wheel (jog dial) on a mouse will be used to scroll the
selector on the right of the screen. This can be disabled, and the
wheel completely ignored, with the --nowheelmouse option.
This is useful for children who aren't yet comfortable with the mouse.
Default is to support the wheel.
--nobuttondistinction --buttondistinction
By default, only mouse button #1 (typically the leftmost mouse button
on mice with more than one button) can be used for interacting with
Tux Paint. With the --nobuttondistinction option,
mouse buttons #2 (middle) and #3 (right) can be used, as well.
This is useful for children who aren't yet comfortable with the mouse.
Default is to only recognize button #1.
--nofancycursors --fancycursors
Disable or enable (default) the 'fancy' mouse pointer shapes in Tux Paint.
While the shapes are larger, and context sensitive, some environments have
trouble displaying the mouse pointer, and/or leave 'trails' on the screen.
--hidecursor --showcursor
Completely hide, or enable (default) the mouse pointer in Tux Paint.
This can be useful on touchscreen devices, such as tablet PCs.
--nooutlines --outlines
In nooutlines mode, much simpler outlines and 'rubber-band' lines are
displayed when using the Lines, Shapes, Stamps and
Eraser tools. (This can help when Tux Paint is run on slower
computers, or displayed on a remote X display.)
--nostamps --stamps
With nostamps set, Rubber Stamp images are not loaded, so the
Stamps tool will not be available. This option can be used to reduce
the time Tux Paint takes to load, and reduce the amount of RAM it requires.
--nostampcontrols --stampcontrols
Disable or enable (default) buttons to control stamps. Controls include
mirror, flip, shrink and grow. (Note: Not all stamps will be controllable
in all ways.)
--mirrorstamps --dontmirrorstamps
With mirrorstamps set, stamps which can be mirrored will appear
mirrored by default. This can be useful when used by people who prefer
things right-to-left over left-to-right.
--keyboard --mouse
The keyboard option lets the mouse pointer in Tux Paint be
controlled with the keyboard. The arrow keys move the pointer.
Spacebar acts as the mouse button.
--nosysfonts --sysfonts
Tux Paint normally attempts to search for additional TrueType Fonts
installed in common places on your system. If this causes trouble, or you'd
prefer to only make fonts installed in Tux Paint's directory available,
use the nosysfonts option to disable this feature.
--savedir DIR
Specify where Tux Paint should save files. By default, this is
"~/.tuxpaint/saved" under Linux and Unix, and "userdata\" under Windows.
--saveover --saveovernew --saveoverask
If, when saving a picture, an older version of the file will be overwritten,
Tux Paint will, by default, ask for confirmation: either
save over the old file, or create a new file. This prompt
can be disabled with --saveover (which always saves over older versions
of pictures) or --saveovernew (which always saves a new file).
The default is to prompt (--saveoverask).
--nosave --save
The nosave option disables Tux Paint's ability to save files.
This can be used in situations where the program is only being used for
fun, or in a test environment.
--autosave --noautosave
The autosave option prevents Tux Paint from asking whether you
want to save the current picture when quitting, and assumes you do.
--startblank --startlast
When you start Tux Paint, it loads the last image that was being worked
on. The --startblank option disables this, so it always starts with
a blank canvas. The default behavior is --startlast.
--colorfile FILE
This option allows you to override the default color palette in Tux Paint
and replace it with your own. The file should be a plain ASCII text file
containing one color description per line. Colors may be in decimal or
6- or 3-digit hexadecimal, and followed by a description. (For example,
"#000 Black" and "255 192 64 Orange".)
OPTIONS - LANGUAGE
Various parts of Tux Paint have been translated into numerous languages.
Tux Paint will try its best to honor your locale setting
(i.e., the LANG environment variable), if possible.
You can also specifically set the language using options on the command-line
or in a configuration file.
--locale LOCALE
Specify the language to use, based on locale name (which is typically of the
form language[_territory][.codeset][@modifier],
where language is an ISO 639 language code,
territory is an ISO 3166 country code, and
codeset is a character set or encoding identifier like ISO-8859-1 or
UTF-8.)
For example, de_DE@euro for German, or pt_BR
for Brazilian Portuguese.
--lang LANGUAGE
Specify the language to use, based on the language's name
(as recognized by Tux Paint). Choose one of the language names
listed below:
With this option, Tux Paint will not attempt to read the
system-wide configuration file (typically /etc/tuxpaint/tuxpaint.conf).
--nolockfile
By default, Tux Paint uses a lockfile (stored in the user's
local Tux Paint directory) which prevents it from being launched more than
once in 30 seconds. (Sometimes children get too eager, or user interfaces
only require one click, but users think they need to double-click.)
This option makes Tux Paint ignore the current lockfile.
ENVIRONMENT
While Tux Paint may refer to a number of environment variables indirectly
(e.g., via SDL(3)), it only directly accesses the following:
HOME
to determine where picture files go when using the Save and Open
commands within Tux Paint, to keep track of the current image,
when quitting and restarting Tux Paint, and to get the user's
configuration file.
LANG
to determine langauge to use, if setlocale(3) refers to 'LC_MESSAGES'.
FILES
/etc/tuxpaint/tuxpaint.conf
System-wide configuration file. It is read first
(unless the --nosysconfig option was given on the command-line).
(Created during installation.)
$HOME/.tuxpaintrc
User's configuration file. It can be used to set default options
(rather than setting them on the command-line every time), and/or to
override any settings in the system-wide configuration file.
(Not created or edited automatically; must be created manually.
You can do this by hand, or use 'Tux Paint Config..')
$HOME/.tuxpaint/saved/
A directory of previously-saved images (and thumbnails). Only files in this
directory will be made available using the Open command within
Tux Paint. (See tuxpaint-import(1).)
(Created when Save command is used.)
$HOME/.tuxpaint/current_id.txt
A reference to the image which was being edited when Tux Paint was
last quit. (This image is automatically loaded the next time Tux Paint
is re-run.)
(Created when Tux Paint is Quit.)
$HOME/.tuxpaint/lockfile.dat
A lockfile that prevents Tux Paint from being launched more than once
every 30 seconds. Disable checking the lockfile by using the
'--nolockfile' command-line argument.
(There's no reason to delete the lockfile, as it contains a timestamp
inside which causes it to expire after 30 seconds.)
COPYRIGHT
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
With patches, fixes, extensions, translation, documentation and more from
lots of people, including, but not limited to:
Khalid Al Holan,
Daniel Andersson,
Joana Portia Antwi-Danso,
Adorilson Bezerra de Araujo,
Ben Armstrong,
Dwayne Bailey,
Martin Benjamin,
Denis Bodor,
Herman Bruyninckx,
Lucie Burianova,
Laurentiu Buzdugan,
Albert Cahalan,
Pere Pujal Carabantes,
Ouychai Chaita,
Wei-Lun Chao,
Jacques Chion,
Urska Colner,
Helder Correia,
Ricardo Cruz,
Laurent Dhima,
Yavor Doganov,
Dawa Dolma,
Kevin Donnelly,
Alberto Escudero-Pascual,
Doruk Fisek,
Dovix,
Korvigellou An Drouizig (Philippe),
Fabian Franz,
Martin Fuhrer,
Gabriel Gazzan,
Torsten Giebl,
The Greek Linux i18n Team,
Robert Glowczynski,
Sam "Criswell" Hart,
Tedi Heriyanto,
Pjetur G. Hjaltason,
Knut Erik Hollund,
Khaled Hosny,
Song Huang,
Karl Ove Hufthammer,
Roland Illig,
Juan Irigoien,
Dmitriy Ivanov,
Mogens Jaeger,
Lis GЬthe М JАkupsstovu,
Nedjeljko Jedvaj,
Aleksandar Jelenak,
Rasmus Erik Voel Jensen,
Wang Jian,
Amed г. Jiyan,
Petri Jooste,
Richard June,
Andrej Kacian,
Kazuhiko,
Gabor Kelemen,
Mark Kim,
Thomas Klausner,
Koby,
Marcin 'Shard' Konicki,
Ines Kovacevic,
Mantas Kriauciunas,
Freek de Kruijf,
Andrzej M. Krzysztofowicz,
Niko Lewman,
Arkadiusz Lipiec,
Ricky Lontoc,
Dag H. Loras,
Burkhard Luck,
Vincent Mahlangu,
Ankit Malik,
Fred Ulisses Maranhao,
Martin,
Marco Milanesi,
Kartik Mistry,
Mugunth,
Steve Murphy,
Shumani Mercy Nehulaudzi,
Mikkel Kirkgaard Nielsen,
Daniel Nylander,
Gareth Owen,
Alessandro Pasotti,
Flavio Pastor,
Patrick,
Primoz Peterlin,
Le Quang Phan,
Henrik Pihl,
Pablo Pita,
Milan Plzik,
Sergei Popov,
John Popplewell,
Leandro Regueiro,
Robin Rosenberg,
Ilir Rugova,
Samuel Sarpong,
Kevin Patrick Scannell,
Pavithran Shakamuri,
Gia Shervashidze,
Clytie Siddall,
Sokratis Sofianopoulos,
Geert Stams,
Peter Sterba,
Raivis Strogonovs,
Tomasz 'karave' Tarach,
Michal Terbert,
Tarmo Toikkanen,
TOYAMA Shin-ichi,
Niall Tracey,
tropikhajma,
Matej Urban,
Rita Verbauskaite,
Daniel Jose Viana,
Charles Vidal,
Darrell Walisser,
Damian Yerrick,
Muhammad Najmi Ahmad Zabidi,
Eugene Zelenko,
and
Martin Zhekov.
