The
new KidPix 3 program has taken the best parts of the old version,
tweaked some, added more, and created a very user friendly slide
show generator.
If you are looking for a fun, educational
project, this could be for you.
This was designed as a grade 1 - 2 project,
but it could be adapted to many grade levels.
Kid Pix Workshop
Open KidPix3.
Enter your name on the login screen.
Backgrounds: We are going to
try a sample primary project, All About Me. There are some templates
available, so go the the Backgrounds button.
You can scroll through the menu by clicking on the directional arrows,
or you can click and hold on the words and see all the choices. We
are going to use a template from the All About Me section, and select
the All About Me background. To place the background, click on it and
drag it onto the work area.
Text: Once
we have a background, we’ll want to place some text on it. Click
on the text Icon to create a text frame.
You can resize the frame by grabbing any of the corners
and dragging.
You can select a font style, size, colour, alignment, etc here. To
move the frame, drag it by the blue bar at the top. Let's put our name
in the text box. Re-size and place it in the poster.
Painting: If this is going to
be a printed copy, we wouldn’t put much colour on it, but for
a slide show, we could add a coloured background, and paint the pictures.
There are a number of painting tools we can use. First, let’s
try the fill tool.
The first bucket gives you a variety of textures. The middle bucket
blends colours for some interesting effects that may look good in the
explosion part of the background. The last bucket gives you some very
colourful designs. I wouldn’t recommend these anywhere you have
to be able to read anything. You can change the available colour by
clicking on the colour palette. Experiment with the designs: click
on a bucket, on a texture, and then on your background. The fill tool
will fill in everything inside the lines. When you are filling a small
area, you need to place the very tip of the spilling paint into the
area to be filled.
Undo: If you make a mistake,
the OOPS button will undo the last thing you did.
Saving: This is probably a good
time to save our work, since we wouldn’t want to lose everything
if we mess up. Click on the Save icon on the left side. Although it
is not the best place to save everything, it is the easiest to find,
so we are going to save it to the desktop. Since we will save several
pictures by the end of the day, let’s organize ourselves and create
a folder to save everything into. First, locate the Desktop where it
says Save in: Then go the icon of the folder and click on it. This
will create a New Folder on Desktop. Type in a new name for the folder,
such as KidPix. Now we need to name the slide so call it slide1 and
then click on Save. Your file is saved into the folder on the Desktop.
Graphics: Let’s add a piece
of clipart to our page. Click on the Graphics icon,
and we can explore the options. Let’s go to the Flags section
and find the flag for the country of your birth. Drag the flag
into the poster below your name. Re-size, just as you did with
the test frame. You’ll also notice that with graphics, two
corners are used for re-sizing, and the other two flip the image.
Music: To finish off our first
page, we can add a little music. Click on the Music icon, and like
the other areas, we are going to find a selection that fits your mood.
Click on a sample to hear it. To place it on the slide, drag it onto
the work area and release. To test the slide, click on the play button.
Let’s save our work again. Click on the save button, and click
on Save. It knows where to save it from last time.
New Picture: Click on the New
Picture icon and erase your old slide. You don’t need to save
it again.
For slide two, we are going to work with birthdays. Create a text
frame, select a nice colour and size for the font, and type in, “My
birthday is on ....” and fill in the date. Move the frame to middle
of the card so we have room for a border.
Animation: We are going to add
an animation to the slide. Click on the Animated Graphics button, and
go to Celebrate. Pick the Birthday cake and drag it onto the work area.
Resize it, and let's test the animation by clicking on the run button.
Music: Let’s add appropriate
music by going to the Music button, selecting Celebration and the party
horn. Drag it onto the work area and let's test it again.
Before we finish this slide, let’s save our work. Click on the
save button, call it slide 2, and make sure it is going to the KidPix
folder on the Desktop. Click on Save.
To make the slide a little more festive, click on the paint brush
icon. Each of the icons gives a different effect, but we are going
to use the spray can. Click on it, and then on the gummy bears and
life saver. Move your mouse onto the border of the slide, click and
move around the outside. You now know why we saved our work. Remember
you can undo the last thing you did, with the OOPS button.
Erasing: If you make a mistake,
and you have already done something else, the OOPS button doesn't work,
so you can use the eraser. When you click on the eraser, there are
two types to work with. The pencil eraser erases only where you move
it, and you can size it with the circle and square beside it. The large
eraser takes out everything.
Let’s save this slide again, and then start a new slide. Click
on the New Picture icon to erase your current slide.
Stamp Pad: For the third slide,
we are going to do a family crest. I sent you a copy of the crests
in First Class. Save the attachment to your working folder. Go to the
menu bar, and click on Add and on Add Graphic. Direct it to your folder
and choose one of the two crests. Each of the crests has four sections
in it. You are going to choose four pictures that show things that
you like to do as a family. Click on the Stamp button and find four
appropriate pictures to place. When placing a stamp, you click on the
picture, go to your work area and click. The stamp is placed there.
It will not move and if you slide the mouse, you will get multiple
copies of the picture.
Save your family crest as slide 3.
For slide four, we are going to draw
a self portrait. Go the Backgrounds button and select Self Portraits.
Select either Boy with Pencil or GIrl with Pencil for your background.
Click on the eraser button, then on the pencil eraser. Use the eraser
to get rid of the question mark.
Drawing Tools: Click on the
Pencil button to get your drawing tools. The pencil will give you a
solid, clean line. The chalk is less solid and fuzzy. The crayon more
solid, but fuzzy. The spray can is less solid, but a cleaner line.
The wiggly line lets you draw anywhere you like. The straight line
gives you straight lines you can connect. THe bent line draws straight,
and then you can bend it. The others let you draw hollow or solid rectangles,
ellipses and polygons. Test your skills and draw a cariacature of yourself.
(In class, you could scan or photograph a drawing, or use an actual
photo of the child.)
Save the picture as slide 4. Click on new picture.
For the the last slide, we are going to use a new background. Go
to the Family Tree backgrounds and select Family photos. We are going
to take some digital photographs now, and move them into Kidpix. We
are also going to scan some school logos, so that we can import them
into the card.
Once you have saved the images into your folder, we can retrieve
them. Go to the top of the screen and get your menu bar. Click on Add
and then on Add graphic. When the window appears, direct it to the
Desktop - Kid Pix folder and select the image you wish to import. It
will appear in the work space with the normal re-size symbols so you
can adjust the image. Fill all three picture frames. Add a text box
and put a title on each picture.
Save your slide as slide 5.
Click on the Slide Show button. In frame one, click on the folder,
and direct it to slide 1 in your KidPix folder. Do the same for slides
two to five in the corresponding boxes.
Now that all the slides are in place, click on the movie camera icon
to create the links between the slides. Each slide defaults to 7 seconds.
Click on it and change it to 5 seconds and click on OK.
Click on the arrow between the slides and select a transition. Click
on preview to test the transition.
You can also add a sound effect between slides if you wish. Click
on OK.
By clicking on the green speaker, you can choose to play the music
you put on the slide, or to read the text on the card.
Save your slide show by clicking on the save button and give it an
appropriate name.
Congratulations, you have completed
your first slide show. If you would like more ideas, or help with this,
or any other software, contact your CAIT.
