Kid Pix
Encyclopedia
Bitmap
In computer graphics, a bitmap or pixmap is a type of memory organization or image file format used to store digital images. The term bitmap comes from the computer programming terminology, meaning just a map of bits, a spatially mapped array of bits. Now, along with pixmap, it commonly refers to...
drawing program aimed at children. Originally created by Craig Hickman
Craig Hickman
Craig Hickman is a computer programmer, photographer, and Professor of Digital Arts at the University of Oregon, where he teaches courses on programming for artists and digital imaging. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Portland State University and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the...
, it was first released for the Macintosh in 1989 and subsequently published in 1991 by Brøderbund
Brøderbund
Brøderbund Software, Inc. was an American maker of computer games, educational software and The Print Shop productivity tools. It was best known as the original creator and publisher of the popular Carmen Sandiego games. The company was founded in Eugene, Oregon, but moved to San Rafael,...
. Hickman was inspired to create Kid Pix after watching his son Ben struggle with MacPaint
MacPaint
MacPaint was a bitmap-based graphics painting software program developed by Apple Computer and released with the original Macintosh personal computer on January 22, 1984. It was sold separately for US$195 with its word processor counterpart, MacWrite. MacPaint was notable because it could generate...
, and thus the main idea behind its development was to create a drawing program that would be very simple to use. The product today retains much of the same principles as the original software created by Hickman in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The latest Mac and Windows versions of the product were developed by the owner and publisher of Kid Pix, Software MacKiev
Software MacKiev
Software MacKiev is a company specialized in consumer and educational software development and publishing for Macintosh, Windows, and mobile platforms...
, who had been involved in development of Kid Pix versions since 1998 prior to acquiring the brand from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in October 2011. Hickman had no involvement with the development of Kid Pix from the late 1990's until late 2011 when he began consulting with Software MacKiev
Software MacKiev
Software MacKiev is a company specialized in consumer and educational software development and publishing for Macintosh, Windows, and mobile platforms...
on the development of future editions. Kid Pix and all of the intellectual property, trademarks and copyrights associated with it are owned by Software MacKiev
Software MacKiev
Software MacKiev is a company specialized in consumer and educational software development and publishing for Macintosh, Windows, and mobile platforms...
.
History
- 1990 - Kid Pix Professional is released at a price of $25 with sound, color, the mixer tool, more stamps and bilingual menus in English and spanish
- Brøderbund offers to publish Kid Pix
- March 1991 - Kid Pix 1.0 is released with impressive sales and reviews
- 1992 - Kid Pix Companion adds new features and QuickTime movies
- 1993 - Kid Cuts, a derivative of Kid Pix that allows for creation of special projects, is released
- 1994 - Kid Pix 2 distributes both Kid Pix and the Companion together
- 1994 - Kid Pix Fun Pack adds new stamps and hidden pictures
- 1995 - Kid Pix Studio is released by Broderbund
- 1998 - Kid Pix Deluxe is released by Broderbund
- 1999 - Kid Pix Studio Deluxe is released by Broderbund
- 2004 - Kid Pix Deluxe 4 is released by Broderbund/Riverdeep
- 2004 - Kid Pix Deluxe 3X (Mac OS X Edition 1.0) is released by Software MacKievSoftware MacKievSoftware MacKiev is a company specialized in consumer and educational software development and publishing for Macintosh, Windows, and mobile platforms...
- 2006 - Kid Pix Deluxe 3X (Mac OS X Edition 1.1) by Software MacKievSoftware MacKievSoftware MacKiev is a company specialized in consumer and educational software development and publishing for Macintosh, Windows, and mobile platforms...
adds iPod movies export and enhanced integration with iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand, applications from the Apple's iLifeILifeiLife is a suite of software applications developed by Apple for organizing, editing, and publishing photos, movies, and music. The suite comprises five applications: iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and iWeb, all of which run on the Mac OS X operating system....
application suite. - 2008 - Kid Pix Deluxe 3X (Mac OS X Edition 1.2.3) by Software MacKievSoftware MacKievSoftware MacKiev is a company specialized in consumer and educational software development and publishing for Macintosh, Windows, and mobile platforms...
fixes compatibility with a new version of QuickTimeQuickTimeQuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
and adds compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" - 2010 - Kid Pix Deluxe 3D (Mac OS X Edition 2.0) by Software MacKievSoftware MacKievSoftware MacKiev is a company specialized in consumer and educational software development and publishing for Macintosh, Windows, and mobile platforms...
is a major upgrade, with path animation, 3D characters, movie backgrounds, and video narration - 2011 - Kid Pix Deluxe 3D (Windows Edition) is released by Software MacKievSoftware MacKievSoftware MacKiev is a company specialized in consumer and educational software development and publishing for Macintosh, Windows, and mobile platforms...
Features
http://pixelpoppin.com/kidpix/ The canvasCanvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
occupies most of the available screen face, and the entire canvas is visible at all times. The drawing tools available to the user are placed in a column of buttons down the left edge of the screen. Instead of using menus
Menu (computing)
In computing and telecommunications, a menu is a list of commands presented to an operator by a computer or communications system. A menu is used in contrast to a command-line interface, where instructions to the computer are given in the form of commands .Choices given from a menu may be selected...
to access the different options that each tool has, they are displayed in a row of icons
Icon (computing)
A computer icon is a pictogram displayed on a computer screen and used to navigate a computer system or mobile device. The icon itself is a small picture or symbol serving as a quick, intuitive representation of a software tool, function or a data file accessible on the system. It functions as an...
along the bottom of the screen. Selecting a new tool presents a new set of options, such as different styles for the Wacky Brush. The color palette is situated below the list of tools and consists of a collection of colored squares for each of the available colors.
Basic Drawing Tools
Here are the drawing tools used in Kid Pix:- Line Tool, used to create perfectly straight lines. Six line thickness are provided.
- Paint Bucket, used to fill an area with a solid colour or pattern.
- Square Tool, used to create perfect square or rectangular shapes. By changing the line thickness in the line tool you could change the thickness of the square.
- Circle Tool, similar to the Square Tool. It is used to create perfect circles, and the thickness can be changed using the line tool.
Special Drawing Tools
Kid Pix includes a selection of tools that go beyond drawing simple lines and shapes. These include:- Wacky Brush, contains an array of options to paint various effects onto the image, such as a line of dripping paint, a line of shapes or a random leafless treeTreeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
.
- Mixer Tool, provides various options to affect the entire image with distortion, blurring and fading effects.
- Rubber Stamps, a collection of small icons that can be added to the picture in a way similar to the use of clip artClip artClip art, in the graphic arts, refers to pre-made images used to illustrate any medium. Today, clip art is used extensively in both personal and commercial projects, ranging from home-printed greeting cards to commercial candles. Clip art comes in many forms, both electronic and printed. However,...
. The original stamps were taken from the Apple ComputerApple ComputerApple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
font Cairo. From Kid Pix Professional onwards the size of the stamp on the canvas could be enlarged. Eventually transformed into 8-Bit like images that could be edited by the user.
Selection and Erasing Tools
- Erasing Tools, these provide several different ways to erase various parts, or all, of your drawing. For example, the popular stick of dynamite would cause the entire image to explode in alternating black and white concentric circles.
- Moving Truck, allows various parts of the image to be selected and moved around the canvas. There are different shapes and sizes that the selections can be, such as circles or rectangles.
- Dye Tool, used to pick out colours already used somewhere in the canvas.
Text Insertion
- Text tool, includes "rubber stamps" of the letters of the alphabetAlphabetAn alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...
which speak the name of the letter when selected.
- Typing tool, includes basic abilities to add textWritingWriting is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
to the image in different fonts and various sizes.
Other Tools
- Sound tool, allows you to record your own sounds to add to your pictures (e.g. little pug noises, with a bark at the end).
Undo Guy
The Undo Guy acts as a standard undo button, undoing the last change made to the image. When clicked, the Undo Guy yaps out phrases such as "Oh no!", "Oops!", and "Wait a minute!" in an odd voice, including a robot and a little girl.Pick a Draw Me
The "Pick a Draw Me" addition (located under the 'Goodies' Section) gives you three random phrases for a drawing idea. Each phrase is said by a different person to create a strange idea for drawing. Such examples are quite humorous, "I'm a flying sea otter! With a set of sharp crooked toenails! Aaand! I love to dance...", "I'm a hairy eyeball, ten feet tall, with a magic cookie jar, in a beautiful fairy ice-castle", "I'm a singing mermaid with slosh in my noggin and maybe you saw me today", "I'm a troubled tarantula with a hundred toes, and a pickle in my nose and I rock the house" and, "I'm a flying sea otter with a sparkly fish tail and I blow smoke out my ears!", always followed finally with the ultimate challenge, "draw me!"Kid Pix 2
Kid Pix 2 added new features to the original. These features were originally available in an add-on known as Kid Pix Companion.SlideShow
A program allowing the creation of a Slide show of Kid Pix images with transitions and custom recorded sounds. By setting the time delay between slides to the lowest possible setting crude animations can be created using multiple Kid Pix images acting as each of the frames of animation.Wacky TV
The Wacky TV allows the user to watch video clips in common media formats such as *.mov or *.avi. The picture can then be distorted using various buttons. The CD came with various sample clips to watch. If a movie contained sound, there was also an option to speed up the audio by 50%, or play it in reverse.Kid Pix Studio
A later version of Kid Pix entitled "Kid Pix Studio" offers a complement of programs to the original Kid Pix. It opened up the ability for children to create not only static images but animated creations as well.SlideShow
Extended to allow the use of any Kid Pix, Moopie, Stampimator and Digital Puppet files in the slide show.Moopies
Very similar to the standard Kid Pix program except with a reduced canvas size and the ability to add several animated rubber stamps and wacky brush items. Music and sounds can also be chosen to play in the background of the "moopie."Stampimator
Again similar to the standard Kid Pix program and "Moopies," except the animated rubber stamps can be dragged across the canvas recording a path which they would then repetitively follow.Digital Puppets
Several pre-made computer puppets are provided in this program. The user can animate them like a real puppet including choosing facial expressions by hitting various keys on the keyboard. Sound and music can be added to go along with the movement of the puppet.Standalones
The "Moopies," "Digital Puppets," "Stampimator" and "Slideshow" creations can be saved as a standalone executableExecutable
In computing, an executable file causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instructions," as opposed to a data file that must be parsed by a program to be meaningful. These instructions are traditionally machine code instructions for a physical CPU...
that enables them to be viewed by others regardless of them owning a copy of Kid Pix Studio. "Slideshows" also have the added possibility of being exported to a video file, although this functionality is limited to slide shows that contain only Kid Pix drawings.
Wacky TV
This feature allowed users to watch movies and animations made in Moopies, and Slideshow, and even any movies the user may have on their computer. Several buttons are available for use in this feature, which allows users to watch the movies in several different ways, like in reverse or flipped screen. This was also available on the previous version of Kid Pix.Kid Pix Studio Deluxe
A later version entitled Kid Pix Studio Deluxe allows editing text items after they have been placed down; in previous versions this was not possible. It was also possible in this version to have the computer read the text aloud.Kid Pix Deluxe
Kid Pix received a significant makeover with Kid Pix Deluxe. It was updated with a new 3D looking interface and new sound effects which makes it almost unrecognizable from the older versions. The only surviving new feature inherited from Kid Pix Studio was the Slideshow. This is possibly because the others were rendered unnecessary with the addition of clip artClip art
Clip art, in the graphic arts, refers to pre-made images used to illustrate any medium. Today, clip art is used extensively in both personal and commercial projects, ranging from home-printed greeting cards to commercial candles. Clip art comes in many forms, both electronic and printed. However,...
pictures and animations to the basic Kid Pix program. Some believe this has given Kid Pix a stronger emphasis on the user using pre-drawn images rather than creating their own.
Added Tools
- Background, to select a premade background from a large library.
- Static Clip Art, a large library of premade static clip artClip artClip art, in the graphic arts, refers to pre-made images used to illustrate any medium. Today, clip art is used extensively in both personal and commercial projects, ranging from home-printed greeting cards to commercial candles. Clip art comes in many forms, both electronic and printed. However,...
.
- Animated Clip Art.
- Sound Tool, used to select sounds for the image from the provided library or to record your own.
- Play Button, upon being clicked, the animated clip artClip artClip art, in the graphic arts, refers to pre-made images used to illustrate any medium. Today, clip art is used extensively in both personal and commercial projects, ranging from home-printed greeting cards to commercial candles. Clip art comes in many forms, both electronic and printed. However,...
on the page would animate, the selected sound (if any) would begin to play and text typed would be spoken by the selected voice.
Kid Pix Deluxe 3X
A new version of Kid Pix Deluxe 3, this version featured Mac OS X compatibility, increased canvas size and integration with applications from the Apple's iLife application suite, such as iMovieIMovie
iMovie is a proprietary video editing software application which allows Mac, iPod Touch 4th generation, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2 users to edit their own home movies. It was originally released by Apple in 1999 as a Mac OS 8 application bundled with the first FireWire-enabled consumer Apple...
, iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
, iPhoto
IPhoto
iPhoto is a digital photograph manipulation software application developed by Apple Inc. and released with every Macintosh personal computer as part of the iLife suite of digital life management applications...
and GarageBand
GarageBand
GarageBand is a software application for Mac OS X and iOS that allows users to create music or podcasts. It is developed by Apple Inc. as a part of the iLife software package on Mac OS X.-Audio recording:...
. Also, it features export of Kid Pix projects to iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
video format, giving kids a head start in creating their own podcasts.
The exploding screen eraser from the previous Kid Pix Deluxe 3 Edition is replaced with a fire hose, which was less destructive and noisy.
Kid Pix Deluxe 3D
A significant upgrade from Kid Pix Deluxe 3X, the 3D edition was published for the Mac by Software MacKiev in October 2010 and for Windows in October 2011. While retaining the features of the previous "3X" edition, Kid Pix Deluxe 3D emphasizes digital storytelling with video narration and export to YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. The "3D" part of the name comes from the newly added 3D animations and backgrounds, and an export to 3D feature that creates anaglyph video images that can be viewed using red/blue 3D glasses (included in the package).