Tux Paint

Tux Paint is a program that was developed by Bill Kendrick and was first released in 2002. This program is an open source bitmap graphics editor that is used for creating and processing raster graphics. Tux Paint is designed for children ages 3 to 12 and is used in different schools and learning institutions around the world as a computer literacy drawing activity. Tux Paint was initially designed to be used in Linux operating systems and is written using the C programming language. This program also contains various open source helper libraries such as the Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL).

Tux Paint’s user interface contains five sections. First section is the toolbox, which contains basic editing tools, and applications controls such as undo, save, new, and print. The center space is the Canvas where users can draw and edit pictures. Next section is the color palette where users can choose colors for their drawing tools. Another section is the selector, which contains various editing and drawing tools. Last section is the information area where users may find instructions, tips, and hints. Tux paint provides a wide variety of drawing tools such as the paint brush, rubber stamp, line tool, shape tool, text and label tool, the eraser, undo button, and magic special effects tool that can create special textures and patterns in an area. In addition, Tux Paint features an animated mascot that provides audible feedback and textual tips to help explain how the program works. Users can also view a slide show of saved images using the program’s slide show function.