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Tux Paint is a free, award-winning drawing application aimed at children ages 3 to 12 (preschool and K-6). Tux Paint is used in schools around the world as a computer literacy drawing activity. It has an easy-to-use interface that is combined with fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot called Tux, who appears at the bottom of the screen to give tips, hints and information to guide children as they use the application.
To begin, children are presented with a blank canvas and a variety of tools to help them be creative. The drawing tools are made available on the drawing canvas and are easily accessible. The canvas is a fixed size, so there is no need to worry about 'pixels' or 'inches' when making a new picture.The entire program fits on a screen as small as 640x480, and can be displayed full-screen, to mask the computer's underlying 'desktop' interface. (It defaults to 800x600 mode, but can run at larger sizes and in portrait or landscape mode, as well.)
To load and save images a simple thumbnail display is used, so no knowledge of the file system structure is required. Even file names are unnecessary. The interface is both entertaining and useful for children to use. It is also configurable and sound effects, print, and quit options can be disabled. Tux Paint has massive multi-language support, with parts of Tux Paint translated into 129 languages
Overall, Tux Paint is a great tool that allows pre-school children onward, the ability to explore their creativity. It has a simple interface that young minds can easily grasp and there are numerous different drawing tools available; from brushes and stamps to alternate colour palettes. Text can be input in various different fonts and there is also an effects tool to tinker around with too.
