using the mouse

You won't be using the mouse for drawing. Laying characters on the canvas is done with the keyboard. However, you most likely will use the mouse for tasks like choosing colors and making selections.

Choosing Colors

 

4-bit Palette

Tundradraw opens with the 4-bit palette selected by default. Using this palette, you have a whole 16 colors to choose from. You'll notice that the palette toolbar also has 16 swatches. These are your colors!

Figure 4.1: The Traditional 4-bit Color Palette

 

 

That's all you get. Working with this palette is incredibly simple. Select your foreground color by Left Clicking with your mouse on a color swatch. Select your background color by Right Clicking with your mouse on a color swatch. Note that you can only use the top row of colors as background colors.

 

24-bit Palette

Working with the 24-bit palette is a little more complicated. To enter 24-bit mode, go to the Edit menu, then select Mode -> 24-bit Color. Now that you are in 24-bit mode, there are some interface changes to understand. You can now change the colors in the swatch boxes in the palette. Try Double Clicking one of the palette swatch boxes. You will notice that this brings up the 24-bit color picker, shown below.


Figure 5.1: 24-bit color palette

You can now pick a color from the grid of Basic colors, or from grid of Custom colors, or by moving the slider in the color well, or by specifying a value in the Huse/Sat/Val boxes or Red/Green/Blue boxes. You can set the custom colors by clicking on a custom color swatch box, and then moving the slider in the color well.

Once you click OK, the color you have chosen will appear in the palette swatch box in which you double-clicked. Now you can use that color just as you did a 4-bit color. You could have also Double Clicked the boxes representing your current foreground/background colors to select a color without replacing a swatch in the palette.

Finally, you can save more time by Dragging and Dropping colors between the boxes representing your current foreground/background colors and swatch boxes, as well as from one swatch box to another.

Making Selections

 

Aside from using the mouse in the menu system and to pick colors, the only other thing you'll really be using the mouse for is to make a selection. Make a selection by Left Clicking and Dragging the mouse on the canvas. You will notice the colors inverse on the canvas. After you have made your selection, you can use the keyboard to perform block operations as noted in the last section, or you can use the menu items found under the Edit menu.