SegPlay® PC Documentation
SegPlay® PC is an amazing PC application that provides a digital, interactive color-by-number experience that can be customized for all ages and experience levels. Various modes can be adjusted to suit the preferences of each SegPlay® PC user.
Transparency, texture and even the time it takes to fill a pattern piece can be adjusted so that each SegPlay® PC experience is unique. Texture and transparency of surface (canvas) and color (paint) can be adjusted, as well as properties of numbers and the lines that delineate various areas of color. SegPlay® PC is packaged with around 20 images to color. Additional patterns will be available at the Segmation? Store.
Installation Requirements
Successful installation of SegPlay® PC requires Windows 2000 or XP [or higher] with 20 megabytes of available hard drive space, and DirectX 9.0 or higher.
DirectX is available from Microsoft's web site. It is recommended that you update your machine's DirectX version to the latest available.
A graphics card with a minimum of 64 Megabytes is also needed. You can verify this by looking at the Display Properties dialog on your PC-opened from the Control Panel.
Evaluation Mode Limitations
SegPlay® PC is a shareware product and there are some features which are limited until the product is purchased.
2. Printing is not possible.
3. Patterns are limited to the first three (3) shown.
4. You can not install any of the add-on pattern sets
5. Paint and paper textures are limited to the first three (3) shown.
Once you have purchased SegPlay® PC (see below), you can enter your authorization code and corresponding email address, and the program will be fully functional.
Starting and Exiting
You can launch the SegPlay® PC program by:
? Selecting the SegPlay® PC icon installed on the desktop.
You can close the SegPlay® PC program by:
? Pressing the Esc (Escape) key.
An important feature of SegPlay® PC is its ability to save your work between sessions. The coloring you have done on all patterns is remembered until the next time the pattern is selected. You can restart the pattern (see below) to remove the paint and start over.
Overview
We suggest opening the program and taking a moment to familiarize yourself with its features. The Canvas Area is the painting area, and it contains the picture you are working on and a background which can be adjusted to your preferred color. The Control Panel is the area to the right of your screen. Descriptions of what each control in the Control Panel does will appear ("hint help") when you roll your curser over that control. The bottom of that area, containing round-edged rectangular fields of color with numbers on them, is your Palette. The color swatch in the Palette that is currently being used will have a dark ring around it.
Canvas
Size: Drag the edges of the SegPlay® PC window to enlarge or collapse the window; we recommend hitting the maximize button at the top of the window to make the working canvas area as large as possible. You might also consider switching to full screen mode (see below), to completely maximize the size of your canvas area.
Navigation:
? To get back to original size, right-click the mouse to get back.
? Clicking and dragging on the canvas using the magnifying glass or paint tools will move the canvas around so you can see different parts of the whole image. (This works similarly to the "hand" tool in some graphics programs).
? If you mouse has a wheel, you can quickly zoom in and out of the pattern by spinning the wheel.
? See Control Panel (below) for how to control other variables in the Canvas.
Control Panel
Many of the functions of the Control Panel can be understood by rolling over that function with your mouse to see the "hint help" (in yellow) or by studying the Control Panel diagram, above. There are many different creative combinations of ways to use this program, which makes it all the more fun to use!
Below, however, are a few notes regarding specific buttons and sliders.
Print
2. Make sure to choose either a portrait or landscape layout so that the printed area is maximized.
3. Automatically, two pages will be printed: The Pattern Page and the Palette Page.
4. We suggest that if you want to print out the pattern for coloring, decrease the transparency of the line color and number color and decrease the font size.
Toggle to full screen mode: When the window is maximized, the image and the palette become large as possible, making it easier to see the numbers and select the palette colors This is the way we recommend using the program. Note that some operations (such as changing the numbers font and changing colors) might require the program to temporarily go into a windowed mode. The program will return to the full screen mode, once the particular operation has been completed. Also when running SegPlay® PC in full screen mode, screen savers may not be operational.
Reset to default settings: Resets program controls to their default settings.
Help: Brings up this help file.
2. Each pattern will have a different level of complexity (skill level) which is based on the number pieces needed to be filled. These are color-coded and indicate Simple, Easy, Medium, Difficult, or Complex.
3. Each pattern also has a pattern code which indicates which pattern set the pattern is from. For example in the start set for SegPlay® PC, all of the pattern codes start with SPP.
More Info: This will link to a web page which will provide more information about the artist or subject.
Background color: Select a color to use in the background of the canvas area.
Painting Basics: There are two basic tools that you will use to paint: the brush tool and the zoom tool.
2. In the painting area, find a pattern piece which contains the number matching the active color number. Select that piece and watch it be filled with the active color. Note that depending on the zoom level, its possible that the number may not be drawn totally within the piece.
3. You can zoom in and out of the pattern by using the zoom tools, which look like magnifying glasses. Select the + zoom tool and click on the pattern to magnify. There is a virtually no limit to how far you can zoom into the pattern.
4. You can zoom out by selecting the - zoom tool. You can also zoom out by right-clicking on the pattern.
5. You can reposition/pan the pattern (similar to the hand tool in many graphics applications) by holding down any painting tool and dragging in any direction.
Coloring Modes [the three box icons with radio buttons]
Select from one of three coloring modes:
2. Hint Mode: Only those pieces with a designated color number matching the current color contain a number. This makes it much easier to find the pieces to color and will greatly speed up your painting time. As in the Normal painting mode, when all pieces with the selected color are filled, that color is removed from the palette, and the next available color in the palette is automatically selected.
3. Free Coloring Mode: No numbers are drawn on the pieces. You are free to paint any piece with any color you like. No colors are removed from the palette.
Timing
2. To the left of the digital clock are radio buttons that indicate beginner, experienced, and expert. The pattern must be restarted before the user skill level can be set.
Restart Pattern: Use the restart button to set the timer to the countdown amount. The clock will start running once a mouse click is detected in the canvas/painting area.
Pause: The pause button will stop the clock, allowing the user a break. No mouse clicks are allowed when the timer is paused. You can restart timing by reselecting the pause button.
Fast Forward: You can see the pattern automatically completed by selecting the Fast Forward button. Jump to the end of the completed pattern by selecting the fast forward button a second time.
Toggle Clock: You can turn the clock on or off with the clock button. When the clock is off, you will not see the clock, nor the user level buttons.
Stats: At the bottom of the control panel, three figures are displayed:
2. A counter showing the number of colors remaining to be used, and
3. A counter which shows the number of "misses" made. A "miss" is an attempt to paint a piece with the wrong color.
Painting Options
Canvas: You can change the canvas color and texture. You can change the canvas transparency, which determines how much of the original image will appear when painting. You can also change the canvas texture scale. (see diagram)
Lines: You can change the line color and transparency. (see diagram) Numbers: You can change the number color, font, and number transparency. (see diagram)
Paint: You can change the paint texture and transparency. You can also change the paint texture scale and the speed at which the paint appears to fill in the piece. Also theres a button which controls the paint texture alignment which will produce a more "random" appearance with the paint texture. (see diagram)
Fun Suggestions?
Try Painting with no lines! Turn the transparency down on the lines so that you just see the numbers. Try painting by selecting an area close to the appropriate number.
Guess which Number! Turn the transparency down on the number so that you just see the lines. Turn the paper transparency down so that you can see some of the original image. Take a guess which color is the best match. Better yet switch to free coloring mode and fill the piece with the color you think is best.
AutoPaint! Turn the speed of applying paint way down and then fast forward to complete. Watching paint dry has never so much fun!
Additional Items
If you have more suggestions for how to improve SegPlay® PC please write to us at comments@segmation.com
Additional patterns for SegPlay® PC can be found here and future releases are available at the Segmation Store (http://store.kagi.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?storeID=6FCZN_LIVE).
License agreement is installed with in the program directory and is named "license.txt". Please review this file to completely understand the usage restrictions of this program.