tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29178923855471116402024-03-12T21:37:10.626-04:00The Open ArtistArt created with open source tools and open source art resources.Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-46175037450774522112022-10-07T16:13:00.001-04:002022-10-07T16:13:19.926-04:00<p> This blog has been dead for years. My original site digitaldarknet.net is gone. I am tired. My current site will likely be next. The internet is no longer fun. It's all about money, self, and ego. I don't care about that shit. If you want to learn code or look at some digital art you can find me at DarkArtistry.com</p>Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-71607760584699527482019-11-25T21:35:00.001-05:002019-11-25T21:37:47.795-05:00Dig it, I'm still alive. Since this is, or was, a blog about open source graphic tools I might as well post a couple of my latest posts from my web-site. Honestly, I forgot about this blog.<br />
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Scribus Amazon Book Cover Tutorial<br />
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<a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/2019/11/scribus-1-5-5-book-cover-tutorial-video/">http://www.darkartistry.com/2019/11/scribus-1-5-5-book-cover-tutorial-video/</a><br />
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Flowblade Video Editing Tutorial<br />
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<a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/2019/11/flowblade-2-video-editor-video-tutorial-made-in-flowblade/">http://www.darkartistry.com/2019/11/flowblade-2-video-editor-video-tutorial-made-in-flowblade/</a><br />
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Linux For Artists and Designers<br />
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<a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/2018/12/linux-for-artists-and-designers/">http://www.darkartistry.com/2018/12/linux-for-artists-and-designers/</a><br />
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And, a painting in Krita...<br />
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<a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/2017/01/krita-is-getting-to-be-a-painter-and-photoshop-killer/">http://www.darkartistry.com/2017/01/krita-is-getting-to-be-a-painter-and-photoshop-killer/</a>Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-27247609715136867602013-01-24T13:37:00.001-05:002013-01-24T13:38:27.585-05:00MacNote statusbar tool for Apple NotesAre you looking for a simple and quick way to enter notes into the Apple's Notes.app application from the statusbar? Don't want the extra features of big note tools or really just like Apple's built in Notes app? Me too! So I wrote a little utility to allow quick note entry to the Notes.app! Simply select your account, local or otherwise, and you're all set.<br />
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DOWNLOAD <a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/Public/macnote/MacNote.dmg">MacNote</a> SHA1: 574b36d5ff37cc971159c8445769e4df79804290<br />
Requirements Mac OS X 10.8, might work on 10.7 (Lion)<br />
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ScreenShot<br />
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<a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/macnote_screen.png" border="0"><img alt="MacNote in action" width="200px" src="http://www.darkartistry.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/macnote_screen.png" /></a>Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-36662065333237342772012-08-08T17:04:00.002-04:002012-08-08T21:28:41.445-04:00Gauge example in Inkscape (SVG)<br />If you're tasked with creating gauges for a dashboard and you want an example on how to do the graphics, I've create one in <a data-mce-href="http://inkscape.org" href="http://inkscape.org/" target="_blank">Inkscape</a>. Inkscape is a free vector application if you are on a budget and can't afford Adobe Illustrator. I made this while getting a feel for a new dashboard I'll be working on at work and thought that I'd release it under <a data-mce-href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en" target="_blank">Free Art License</a> since I'm not going to use. Each part is in a layer and can be unlocked and edited how you see fit. I hope it's helpful to someone.
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<a data-mce-href="/Public/inkscape_gauge.zip" href="http://www.darkartistry.com/Public/inkscape_gauge.zip">Download the file</a>
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Here's two versions, both are included by selected or deselecting layers. Here's what they look like.
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<a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/gauge_view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="http://www.darkartistry.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/gauge_view.jpg" width="320" /></a>Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-16131371007042276732012-08-06T17:46:00.002-04:002012-08-06T17:47:09.400-04:00Photoshop CS6 is pretty nice!This is not a review, just a quick image I created in Photoshop CS6 Saturday. I haven't been real thrilled with Adobe's Photoshop updates over the last couple of years, but CS6 is worth the price... Still wish it was a little cheaper. It looks really nice though. I fancy darker themes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLdUCbvJOL6lmpQ3FN9c2rEKmcrjs58PLp3aVDvOwpDzbpidWc0XRwM7Ke240aLxxETJm2gVjR1WWukJCpVhah3p_fHdYUWD-eN45YqSZ0El2uglU8RrcFlkH2UZsOwzk34whgI3lyiRk/s1600/PSCS6.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLdUCbvJOL6lmpQ3FN9c2rEKmcrjs58PLp3aVDvOwpDzbpidWc0XRwM7Ke240aLxxETJm2gVjR1WWukJCpVhah3p_fHdYUWD-eN45YqSZ0El2uglU8RrcFlkH2UZsOwzk34whgI3lyiRk/s320/PSCS6.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-13651509916799691852012-08-06T15:38:00.001-04:002012-08-06T15:38:28.363-04:00Install MyPaint on Mountain Lion via MacportsI previously posted a way to run the Windows version of <a target="_blank" href="http://mypaint.intilinux.com/">MyPaint</a> on OS X in Wineskin, but <strong>If you're more interested in a faster more stable MyPaint</strong> and don't mind getting your hands dirty, and you have plenty of drive space, go the Macports route - it's really <strong>easy</strong>. I found this to be a better alternative to Wine. This guide is for Mountain Lion, but should work on previous versions. Not sure about 10.5 or lower though...<br /><br />The first thing you need is XCode 4.4, which is free from the AppStore. Once XCode is installed open XCode and go into Preferences, Downloads tab and install the Command Line Tools.<br /><br />Mountain Lion no longer includes x11 so you will need to download and install <a href="http://xquartz.macosforge.org/landing/">XQuartz</a>. This is free also. Once that is finished download and install <a href="http://www.macports.org/">Macports</a>.<br /><br />Fire up the Terminal, which is in '/Applications/Utilities'.<br /><br />Type the following to install a more Mac like theme for the program window:<br /><br /><em>sudo port install gtk-theme-switch</em><br /><br />Go get some coffee and a sandwich... Once finished install the theme:<br /><br /><em>sudo port install gtk2-aurora</em><br /><br />Once it's finished type: <em>switch2</em><br /><br />Select Aurora if it's not already selected. <br /><br />Now it's time to install MyPaint, type:<br /><br /><em>sudo port install mypaint</em><br /><br />Go take a nice nap... When you wake up hopefully it's finished loading and compiling everything including MyPaint. <br /><br />To run MyPaint simply go into /Applications/Macports and click on MyPaint like any other Mac app.<br /><br />So what's this Macports stuff anyway? Macports allows you to run Linux software on the Mac. It manages software dependencies and all the hard stuff like compiling everything. If you are familiar with Linux then you'll likely compare it to Apt or Yum package managers. If you're worried what it has done under the hood don't worry too much. It installs the majority of files in /opt keeping it fairly separated from the Mac file system. To uninstall you can simply delete the Macports files. A command to do this can be found <a href="http://guide.macports.org/chunked/installing.macports.uninstalling.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Enjoy<br /><br /><br /><br />Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-82663479782453669062012-06-02T15:00:00.000-04:002012-06-02T15:00:13.951-04:00MyPaint OS X Lion Install via Wineskin<a href="http://mypaint.intilinux.com/" target="_blank">MyPaint</a> is an open source and free to use natural painting application similar to Painter. It’s really good, but unfortunately there isn’t a native port to the Mac. No fears, thanks to <a href="http://wineskin.doh123.com/" target="_blank">Wineskin</a> it’s trivial to use it on your Macintosh. I created an easy to follow instruction to walk you through the process of created a Wine wrapper so you can run MyPaint on OS X, download it <a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/Public/MyPaint%20OS%20X%20Lion%20Install%20via%20Wineskin.pdf">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-11570542736049988932012-06-01T01:11:00.000-04:002012-06-01T01:12:47.407-04:00Moon Phase Icons, All 24.<p>I've been working on a script to calculate all twenty four moon phases and I needed some images since I was only able to find the common eight phase images. I made a series of individual high resolution PNGs with the Photoshop layered file included if anyone is interested. Download <a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/Public/24_moon%20phase_icons.zip" title="Moon Phase Images">here</a> and share!</p><br /><br />Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-43156496492134511312012-01-29T01:16:00.001-05:002012-01-29T01:16:49.264-05:00CrapCleaner now on Mac!<p>I've been using this free product for years to quickly clean up Windows machines, I was pretty happy to see it on OS X! Most of these things can be done easily by hand, but to have a free tool to do them all in one place speeds things up.</p><br /><p><a href="http://www.piriform.com/mac/ccleaner" title="CCleaner for Mac">CCleaner for Mac</a></p><br /><br />Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-35240135624549172902012-01-24T19:01:00.001-05:002012-01-24T19:02:58.270-05:00Some Angry BirdI had a little down time and created this just for fun. It's freely available under GPL for whatever you like. <a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/Public/some_angry_bird.zip">Download SVG</a><br />
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<br />Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-77479322277864717042012-01-07T02:38:00.000-05:002012-01-07T02:38:57.002-05:00Apple's Stickies Notes tips to get your sticky note into Notes for syncing:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Marker Felt'; line-height: 20px;"></span><br />
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Open Stickies and type: Command + N, type your note.</div>
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Highlight your Sticky Note content then follow the menus: Stickies, Services, New Note With Selection. Mail should open and your new Note with the Stickies note content should pop up. If you are syncing Apple Notes in iCloud, or wherever, you should get them on your other Macs as well as your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch devices like magic. </div>
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Nice, but....</div>
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Apple, please enhance the Notes and Stickies applications as follows. </div>
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Create a small unobtrusive menubar note app that runs when I log in! Allow the creation of notes from this tool without having to open or run the Mail app, but sync to Mail's Notes as well as in the Notes apps on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad via iCloud. As a bonus, allow this tool to also create Stickies from existing notes without having to run a service in which both Mail and Stickies have to be running; it does not make sense that Stickies runs separately from Notes anyway, they are both notes! Give the user the ability to sync or not sync each individual note, and maybe add some cool tagging to give it a little organization, but keep it mostly simple. </div>
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I know this really isn't artsy, nor is it open source, but this note thing bugs me.</div>Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-989549463580389492011-09-26T08:36:00.001-04:002011-09-26T08:36:58.847-04:00Happy Halloween<br /><br /><center><a href='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/show_photo.php?p=11/09/26/887.jpg'><img src='http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/11/09/26/s_887.jpg' border='0' width='210' height='281' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />- Mohawke<br />Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-67225438370767583022011-09-07T19:51:00.000-04:002011-09-07T19:56:45.032-04:00I created an eye in Pixelmator in about 5 minutes, the layers will walk you through the basics. Download the layered file <a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/Public/eye.pxm.zip">here</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcs6ztiX3cghnHr12XUmAs1hhOwiMvZ5Jmm2-WWfZtKXC2QZGPuuFsV2JVyNXWWJRjOFSBJMeW6LLMlwKiYyA3ajdFyXguqwis5x4O6P3Y7koHXj-nsVXfiNGMzK0Di4znut-cuMjs46o/s1600/eye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcs6ztiX3cghnHr12XUmAs1hhOwiMvZ5Jmm2-WWfZtKXC2QZGPuuFsV2JVyNXWWJRjOFSBJMeW6LLMlwKiYyA3ajdFyXguqwis5x4O6P3Y7koHXj-nsVXfiNGMzK0Di4znut-cuMjs46o/s1600/eye.jpg" /></a></div>
Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-49225824933055675322011-09-07T18:55:00.003-04:002011-09-07T19:07:38.987-04:00Free 3-D Sculpting ToolsIf you have been interested in 3-D sculpting but were unable to dabble due to cost, <a href="http://www.pixologic.com/sculptris/">Sculptris</a> will make you smile - it's free! <a href="http://www.blender.org/">Blender 3D</a> has sculpting built in for a full 3-D package, and it's free and open source. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQnL11iy84s">Blender 3D sculpting in action.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgHfDsIcqR0">Sculptris in action.</a>Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-70642759624304714782011-09-07T12:29:00.001-04:002011-09-07T12:29:46.822-04:00The Sketchbook ProjectThis is just cool! Pick a journal, pay a $25 entry fee, and create your art in the journal. When you're finished, send it in and your sketchbook will travel around the world to be displayed in galleries and museums. Pretty cool, eh? When your journal finishes the tour it will be cataloged and permanently placed, for public viewing, at the Brooklyn Art Library.<br /><br />What are you waiting for? <a href="http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject">get yours here.</a><br /><br /><br /><br />- Mohawke<br />Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-87012759087618131212011-02-20T12:14:00.002-05:002011-02-20T12:28:50.020-05:00The Forlorn Feline<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00VzLwXn0WK7OIVVm3dsRUEKGmo-nxbtkaqlnP85kj6Pjgd1KA632i4HsqSGmmnjQI6MNcVfahKBD3xUglX4l3JL6DD10U39j6JmJC-dJLGzAySqqogqtUJbGy27HHPXwN-5WdU0xLl4/s1600/flat_cat_post.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00VzLwXn0WK7OIVVm3dsRUEKGmo-nxbtkaqlnP85kj6Pjgd1KA632i4HsqSGmmnjQI6MNcVfahKBD3xUglX4l3JL6DD10U39j6JmJC-dJLGzAySqqogqtUJbGy27HHPXwN-5WdU0xLl4/s320/flat_cat_post.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575825004789258258" /></a><br />A little piece I painted for fun.Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-50594877065533407312011-02-13T20:11:00.004-05:002011-02-13T20:17:08.382-05:00Untitled Illustration<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRBTN2u_BrtHTquc1EX_gttass1dnCbCjuhG7ewE7pFSIcHxAjKE-tyapTwk0YzWjxTHnrBDYjpd9ACve0HmP15-u5Q0hbo-V_mgFmOrVxWwuCCIppPBKlG0hIXaklZJJcmVVOU1UUf4/s1600/death_print_8x8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 309px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRBTN2u_BrtHTquc1EX_gttass1dnCbCjuhG7ewE7pFSIcHxAjKE-tyapTwk0YzWjxTHnrBDYjpd9ACve0HmP15-u5Q0hbo-V_mgFmOrVxWwuCCIppPBKlG0hIXaklZJJcmVVOU1UUf4/s320/death_print_8x8.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573348013156071490" /></a><br />I was trying out a vector package called <a href="http://www.bohemiancoding.com/drawit">DrawIt</a> and created the background, which reminded me of an old circus poster. I pulled out an old sketch of the clown thing and painted the rest in Photoshop.Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-5104335443989971302011-02-03T08:26:00.005-05:002011-02-05T14:36:42.456-05:00Current Painting<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XrEFNtH8eOd4y3QiuIONwJRBJXb3ppgI1OvfXUvHbPYXVv5dYD3TzobbQjxdOBcqNmRrPTn3EF6tHjhcxMF2Kr7LNSarVZnHygCxH7sRwMANY6k_1r-KRHuVSYQQe3x_sXs18SE-95A/s1600/freakshow.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 291px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5XrEFNtH8eOd4y3QiuIONwJRBJXb3ppgI1OvfXUvHbPYXVv5dYD3TzobbQjxdOBcqNmRrPTn3EF6tHjhcxMF2Kr7LNSarVZnHygCxH7sRwMANY6k_1r-KRHuVSYQQe3x_sXs18SE-95A/s320/freakshow.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570291391644273634" /></a><br />My wife asked if I'd paint her a clown. Unfortunately, the Gimp on Mac makes me click the tools twice before it will be selected - annoying! Sorry Gimp, but I'm cheating on you with Photoshop...<br /><br>Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-25442043584871217072011-01-21T21:19:00.003-05:002011-01-21T21:37:51.736-05:00Project time keeping and billing tool<a href="http://www.johnwu.com/ora/index.html">Ora Time and Expense Timesheets, Expense Reports, and Invoices Made Easy.</a> Pretty cool multi-platform Adobe Air app, which is free; at least as of this writing.Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-88800697795062240282010-12-30T14:05:00.005-05:002010-12-30T14:37:23.959-05:00Gimp Paint Shop<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxjNkJPqXIcEDKk63srcbH8VcE3BRdgiKeihzKHBsXGDqjsASi3ZLh6T6s1AHxgFwd2S1XwIvR4hETVW_VMeoWdzo5jqpZA48akBh2o6BzWmCCrHMt2J_HVXh1TpJFU2AYA2ZycBTOVng/s1600/gimp-gps.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 159px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxjNkJPqXIcEDKk63srcbH8VcE3BRdgiKeihzKHBsXGDqjsASi3ZLh6T6s1AHxgFwd2S1XwIvR4hETVW_VMeoWdzo5jqpZA48akBh2o6BzWmCCrHMt2J_HVXh1TpJFU2AYA2ZycBTOVng/s200/gimp-gps.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556561621550578450" /></a><br />If you are looking for an open source natural paint application why not use Gimp? MyPaint is good, but it doesn't run on OS X and it requires you to use multiple software packages to accomplish some tasks. Gimp works very well as a paint app, but it lacked brushes and tools to really make it shine. You could spend time making them yourself or now you could get <a href="http://code.google.com/p/gps-gimp-paint-studio/">Gimp Paint Studio</a>. These assorted brushes, tools, textures make Gimp a full featured painting tool and you still have all the great features of a high end photo editor. Best part of all, it's free to use and contribute so what are you waiting for?<br /><br />For Macintosh installation just move all contents of the zip to: <br /><br />/Users/YOUR_USER_NAME/Library/Application Support/Gimp/<br /><br />Launch the GIMP.<br /><br />Go to<br /><br />Edit->Preferences->Image Windows/Mouse Pointers<br />disable the “Show brush outline” option and make sure you have “checked” or enabled the “Show pointer for paint tools”. This will increase the speed of brushes when you are painting.<br /><br />Go to<br /><br />Edit->Preferences->Toolbox<br />Enable the three options.<br /><br />Go to<br /><br />Edit->Preferences->Tool options/Paint options shared between tools<br />Disable the three options.Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-24868822066017514492010-12-05T18:06:00.015-05:002010-12-05T20:13:03.142-05:00Writing Tools, open and commercial, For OS X<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I recently decided to write a book, just for fun of course as I’m not the greatest writer in the world, but I am a software junkie, and I really wanted to see the tools available to me. The obvious thing to do was to search for “book authoring” software. It took some time, but I found a fair amount of products for Macintosh and Windows, most were affordable at around $25.00 to $100.00.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Linux was an odd man out with only two products within the search criteria. I found <a href="http://storybook.intertec.ch/joomla/"><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;">StoryBook</span></a>, which looked promising and even has a Windows version available. Unfortunately, I’m currently running OS X, which is the primary focus of this article. Luckily there is another open source product that runs on all three platforms called <a href="http://celtx.com/"><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;">Celtx</span></a>. With Celtx you can write a Novel or even a movie script with similar features to the commercial products I found.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial;" ><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0.0px">I then tried all the big guys, Scrivener, StoryMill, Ulysses, Stoyist, CopyWrite, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">WriteItNow, etc... Honestly, they all were good. I liked StoryMill the best because it had a cool timeline feature and a nice layout, but they all had strong and weak points. I suppose it will come down to personal preference and style that will make the decision for users, but for me I had to ask, do I really need to buy these tools?</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0pxcolor:#333233;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>At this point, I searched for some word processors and found a few of these as well. <a href="http://www.bean-osx.com/Bean.html"><span style="font: 12.0px Arial; text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;">Bean</span></a> is a superb editor with great features. The best part, it’s free and open source. It’s a great alternative to Apple’s Pages product if you’re on a budget. For Windows and Linux, I found <a href="http://www.bean-osx.com/Bean.html"><span style="font: 12.0px Arial; text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;">Abiword</span></a> to be a really nice tool. I had used it for years on Linux before switching to OS X this year. There is an OS X binary, but it’s outdated.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0pxcolor:#333233;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I'd like to make a quick note on Open Office, KOffice, and MS Office. These tools are heavy and I really don’t like writing with them. Open Office is an awesome project, and it would be my first choice if I had no other. The writing tools are good and they all have great features so again it’s a matter of choice. I do love iWork. I think Pages is the best Office word processor I have ever used, and it works well for creative writing.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0pxcolor:#333233;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><a href="http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/"><span style="font: 12.0px Arial; text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;">Pages</span></a> is a solid editor with all the features I need to write, like word count, proofreading, and full screen writing. Not only does Pages have an awesome toolset built in, but OS X has the best Spelling, Dictionary and Thesaurus software I have ever used, and it's easily accessible by right clicking on a highlighted word. What makes this even more useful is that the dictionary tool can be used outside of the editor so you’re not limited to using it inside Pages.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; 3;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I also use the <a href="http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omniweb/"><span style="font: 12.0px Arial; text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;">Omniweb</span></a> browser, which uses another OS X utility named Summary to summarize web pages. Omniweb has become a great tool for research, and the tabs are unobtrusive. I can summarize and paste the text into Pages or a note application very quickly. With web-sites like Wiki and <a href="http://www.behindthename.com/random/"><span style="font: 12.0px Arial; text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;">Behind The Name</span></a> the internet can be your greatest tool.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial;;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The last thing I looked for was a note taking and organizational software. Some people like mind mapping tools like <a href="http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page"><span style="font: 12.0px Arial; text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;">Free Mind</span></a>, but I dislike them all. I prefer simplicity so after testing a plethora of note tools. I finally found one that I really liked called <a href="http://notational.net/"><span style="font: 12.0px Arial; text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;">Notational Velocity</span></a>. Apple includes a sticky note application for post it like notes on the desktop and it’s was no worse than the others I tested. I honestly saw no benefit to using a third party post it over Apple’s. Between these two tools, my note taking is covered.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>If you prefer something a little more powerful I would suggest trying <a href="http://www.evernote.com/"><span style="font: 12.0px Arial; text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;">Evernote</span></a>. You're able to sync notes from your external devices like smart phones, and It has exceptional organization and multimedia features, including voice notes. Evernote reminds me of <a href="http://journler.com/"><span style="font: 12.0px Arial; text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;">Journlr</span></a>, but Journlr appears to no longer be in development and it’s not clear if updates will be released for future OS X releases. Sad, it’s a really superb product. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>My preference for writing on the Macintosh is use the preexisting tools in the OS, use simple and solid open tools, and find a great word processing you enjoy working in. You don’t need expensive creative software.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Here are a few applications worth mentioning that I omitted if you’re interested.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial;"><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;"><a href="http://www.ommwriter.com/en/">Ommwriter (<span style="font: 12.0px Georgia; text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px">Dāna I & II</span><span style="font: 12.0px Arial; text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px">)</span></a></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"> </span><span style="font: 12.0px Georgia; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#000000;">Dāna</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"> is a distraction free full screen text editor. It comes in a free and pay version. Pay version includes more music and themes.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial;"><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;"><a href="http://chandlerproject.org/">Chandler</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"> Is a powerful notebook with tons of features. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial;"><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;"><a href="http://creativebe.com/slidepad">Slidepad</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"> Note tool which is hidden from view until needed.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><span style="font: 12.0px Arial; letter-spacing: 0.0px "> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Lucida Grande';"><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;"><a href="http://www.clipmenu.com/">ClipMenu</a></span><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#000000;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Clipboard history. Record 8 clipboard types, from plain text to image.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Lucida Grande'; min-height: 15.0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Lucida Grande';"><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#1a1aa6;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/mm-summary-page.html?topic=200260520">Amazon Self Publish</a></span><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0.0px color:#000000;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Publish your book on Amazon Kindle.</span></p>Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-3013620242336311522010-11-13T10:13:00.005-05:002010-11-13T10:21:33.940-05:00Photo POS Pro has become freeware<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVvzK-osUsIoci4vX1bRyeB6uaGncj7ySKHj7Vav_bjgzsH4cJIJOUlM0pISEe21ETjnfTqD21zEhmIyx_Q_9txbUc_6pi73treWZUpqO0Ky0DkVkRQZrYcZuvXyZTT2V28NF7pqxX3o/s1600/BrowseScreenBig.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVvzK-osUsIoci4vX1bRyeB6uaGncj7ySKHj7Vav_bjgzsH4cJIJOUlM0pISEe21ETjnfTqD21zEhmIyx_Q_9txbUc_6pi73treWZUpqO0Ky0DkVkRQZrYcZuvXyZTT2V28NF7pqxX3o/s200/BrowseScreenBig.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539054339833358770" /></a><br />Photo POS Pro reminds me of Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro. Grab a copy if you're looking for a full featured photo editor that runs on Windows with similar features and functionality of Photoshop.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.photopos.com/Photo-Pos-Pro-Image-Editor.asp">Photo POS Pro</a> (Windows)Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-33832890294544954452010-11-13T09:06:00.003-05:002010-11-13T10:29:08.860-05:00Creative Writing ToolsIf you're a writer looking for tools to help you keep your ideas and thoughts together in one convenient place while you write you have two pretty good choices. First is Storybook, which is an open source creative writers tool that helps keep all the details, like characters, places, research and plot-lines, easily at hand while working. Celtx is another with similar features. Celtx is freeware and has commercial plug-ins, which were not really needed, but may enhance the core product. Celtx supports many nice features and can be used for many types of writing including scriptwriting and comics. <br /><br /><a href="http://celtx.com/">Celtx</a> (OS X, Linux, and Windows)<br /><a href="http://storybook.intertec.ch/joomla/">Storybook</a> (Windows and Linux)Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-46939862623779260762010-07-24T23:13:00.002-04:002010-07-24T23:32:21.761-04:00PicogenIf you need a tools to create 3-D landscapes similar to Terragen, Bryce or Vue Despirit then you're limited to commercial, until now. <a href="http://picogen.org/">Picogen</a> is an open source outdoor ray tracing system, targeting large-scale terrain with realistic day/night-illumination and detailed plant populations. I haven't had a chance to use this one, but I will soon.Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2917892385547111640.post-23873747763560193082010-05-29T23:44:00.003-04:002012-06-03T16:51:17.483-04:00MyPaint + Wine + OS X 10.6I wrote up some simple instructions to install MyPaint 8.2 via Wine (Bottler) on OS X 10.6.<br />
Download it here: <a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/Public/mypaint_mac_install.pdf"><br />MyPaint 8.2 on OS X install instructions</a> <br />
Download the icon: <a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/Public/mypaint.icns">OS X MyPaint Icon </a><br />
<br />
I have an updated <a href="http://www.darkartistry.com/?p=117" target="_blank">version for Lion using Wineskin</a>. Works flawlessly!Mohawkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18206017175232876273noreply@blogger.com0