The Paint Brush tool lets you draw freehand, using various brushes (chosen in the Selector on the right) and colors (chosen in the Color palette towards the bottom).

If you hold the mouse button down, and move the mouse, it will draw as you move.

Some brushes are animated — they change their shape as you draw them. A good example of this is the vines brush that ships with Tux Paint. These brushes will have a small "filmstrip" icon drawn on their Selector buttons.

Other brushes are directional — they will draw a different shape depending on what direction you are painting with them. An example of this is the arrow brush that ships with Tux Paint. These brushes have a small 8-way arrow icon drawn on their Selector buttons.

Finally, some brushes can be both direction and animated. Examples of this are the cat and squirrel brushes that ship with Tux Paint. These brushes will have both the "filmstrip" and 8-way arrow icons.

As you draw, a sound is played. The bigger the brush, the lower the pitch.

The space between each position where a brush is applied to the canvas can vary. Some brushes (such as the footprints and flower) are spaced, by default, far enough apart that they don't overlap. Other brushes (such as the basic circular ones) are spaced closely, so they make a continuous stroke.

The default spacing of brushes may be overridden using by clicking within the triangular-shaped series of bars at the bottom right; the larger the bar, the wider the spacing. Brush spacing affects both tools that use the brushes: the "Paint" tool and the "Lines" tool.

⚙ Note: If the "nobrushspacing" option is set, Tux Paint won't display the brush spacing controls. See the "Options" documentation.

The Stamp tool is like a set of rubber stamps or stickers. It lets you paste pre-drawn or photographic images (like a picture of a horse, or a tree, or the moon) in your picture.

As you move the mouse around the canvas, an outline follows the mouse, showing where the stamp will be placed, and how big it will be. Click on the canvas where you wish to place the stamp.

Stamp Categories

There can be numerous categories of stamps (e.g., animals, plants, outer space, vehicles, people, etc.). Use the Left and Right arrows near the bottom of the Selector to cycle through the collections.

Stamp Rotation

Using the rotation toggle button near the bottom right, you can enable a rotation step when placing stamps. Once you've placed the stamp, choose the angle to rotate it by moving the mouse around the canvas. Click the mouse button again and the stamp will be added to the drawing.

⚙ Note: If "stamp rotation" option is disabled, the stamp will be drawn on the canvas when you let go of the mouse button. (There's no rotation step.) See the "Options" documentation to learn about the "stamp rotation" ("stamprotation") option.

📜 Note: The stamp rotation feature was added to Tux Paint in version 0.9.29.

Stamp Controls

Prior to 'stamping' an image onto your drawing, various effects can sometimes be applied (depending on the stamp):

• Some stamps can be colored or tinted. If the color palette below the canvas is activated, you can click the colors to change the tint or color of the stamp before placing it in the picture.
• Stamps can be shrunk and expanded, by clicking within the triangular-shaped series of bars at the bottom right; the larger the bar, the larger the stamp will appear in your picture.
• Many stamps may be flipped vertically, or displayed as a mirror-image, using the control buttons at the bottom right.

⚙ Note: If the "nostampcontrols" option is set, Tux Paint won't display the Rotation, Mirror, Flip, or sizing controls for stamps. See the "Options" documentation.

Stamp Sounds

Different stamps can have different sound effects and/or descriptive (spoken) sounds. Buttons in the Help Area at the lower left (near Tux, the Linux penguin) allow you to re-play the sound effects and descriptive sounds for the currently-selected stamp.

This tool lets you draw straight lines using the various brushes and colors you normally use with the Paint Brush.

Click the mouse and hold it to choose the starting point of the line. As you move the mouse around, a thin 'rubber-band' line will show where the line will be drawn. At the bottom, you'll see the angle of your line, in degrees. A line going straight to the right is 0°, a line going straight up is 90°, a line going straight left is 180°, a line going straight down is 270°, and so on.

Let go of the mouse to complete the line. A "sproing!" sound will play.

Some brushes are animated, and will show a pattern of shapes along the line. Others are directional, and will show a different shape depending on the angle of the brush. And finally some are both animated and directional. See "Paint", above, to learn more.

Different brushes have different spacing, leaving either a series of individual shapes, or a continuous stroke of the brush shape. Brush spacing may be adjusted. See the brush spacing section of the "Paint" tool, above, to learn more.

This tool lets you draw some simple filled, and un-filled shapes.

Select a shape from the selector on the right (circle, square, oval, etc.).

Use the options at the bottom right to choose the shape tool's behavior:

Shapes from center

The shape will expand from where you initially clicked, and will be centered around that position.

📜 This was Tux Paint's only behavior through version 0.9.24.)

Shapes from corner

The shape will extend with one corner starting from where you initially clicked. This is the default method of most other traditional drawing software.

📜 This option was added starting with Tux Paint version 0.9.25.

⚙ Note: If shape controls are disabled (e.g., with the "noshapecontrols" option), the controls will not be presented, and the "shapes from center" method will be used.

In the canvas, click the mouse and hold it to stretch the shape out from where you clicked. Some shapes can change proportion (e.g., rectangle and oval may be wider than tall, or taller than wide), others cannot (e.g., square and circle).

For shapes that can change proportion, the aspect ratio of the shape will be shown at the bottom. For example: "1:1" will be shown if it is "square" (as tall as it is wide); "2:1" if it is either twice as wide as it is tall, or twice as tall as it is wide; and so on.

Let go of the mouse when you're done stretching.

Normal Shapes Mode

Now you can move the mouse around the canvas to rotate the shape. The angle your shape is rotated will be shown at the bottom, in degrees (similar to the "Lines" tool, described above).

Click the mouse button again and the shape will be drawn in the current color.

Simple Shapes Mode

If the "simple shapes" option is enabled, the shape will be drawn on the canvas when you let go of the mouse button. (There's no rotation step.)

⚙ See the "Options" documentation to learn about the "simple shapes" ("simpleshapes") option.

Choose a font (from the 'Letters' available on the right) and a color (from the color palette near the bottom). You may also apply a bold, and/or an italic styling effect to the text. Click on the screen and a cursor will appear. Type text and it will show up on the screen. (You can change the font, color, and styling while entering the text, before it is applied to the canvas.)

Press [Enter] or [Return] and the text will be drawn onto the picture and the cursor will move down one line.

Alternatively, press [Tab] and the text will be drawn onto the picture, but the cursor will move to the right of the text, rather than down a line, and to the left. (This can be useful to create a line of text with mixed colors, fonts, styles and sizes.)

Clicking elsewhere in the picture while the text entry is still active causes the current line of text to move to that location (where you can continue editing it).

"Text" versus "Label"

The Text tool is the original text-entry tool in Tux Paint. Text entered using this tool can't be modified or moved later, since it becomes part of the drawing. However, because the text becomes part of the picture, it can be drawn over or modified using Magic tool effects (e.g., smudged, tinted, embossed, etc.)

When using the Label tool (which was added to Tux Paint in version 0.9.22), the text 'floats' over the image, and the details of the label (the text, the position of the label, the font choice and the color) get stored separately. This allows the label to be repositioned or edited later.

To edit a label, click the label selection button. All labels in the drawing will appear highlighted. Click one — or use the [Tab] key to cycle through all the labels, and the [Enter] or [Return] key to select one — and you may then edit the label. (Use they [Backspace] key to erase characters, and other keys to add text to the label; click in the canvas to reposition the label; click in the palette to change the color of the text in the label; etc.)

You may "apply" a label to the canvas, painting the text into the picture as if it had been added using the Text tool, by clicking the label application button. (This feature was added in Tux Paint version 0.9.28.) All labels in the drawing will appear highlighted, and you select one just as you do when selecting a label to edit. The chosen label will be removed, and the text will be added directly to the canvas.

⚙ The Label tool can be disabled (e.g., by selecting "Disable 'Label' Tool" in Tux Paint Config. or running Tux Paint with the "nolabel" option).

International Character Input

Tux Paint allows inputting characters in different languages. Most Latin characters (A-Z, ñ, è, etc.) can by entered directly. Some languages require that Tux Paint be switched into an alternate input mode before entering, and some characters must be composed using numerous keypresses.

When Tux Paint's locale is set to one of the languages that provide alternate input modes, a key is used to cycle through normal (Latin character) and locale-specific mode or modes.

Currently supported locales, the input methods available, and the key to toggle or cycle modes, are listed below.

• Japanese — Romanized Hiragana and Romanized Katakana — right [Alt] key or left [Alt] key
• Korean — Hangul 2-Bul — right [Alt] key or left [Alt] key
• Traditional Chinese — right [Alt] key or left [Alt] key
• Thai — right [Alt] key

💡 Note: Many fonts do not include all characters for all languages, so sometimes you'll need to change fonts to see the characters you're trying to type.

On-screen Keyboard

An optional on-screen keyboard is available for the Text and Label tools, which can provide a variety of layouts and character composition (e.g., composing "a" and "e" into "æ").

⚙ See the "Options" and "Extending Tux Paint" documentation for more information.

The 'Fill' tool 'flood-fills' a contiguous area of your drawing with a color of your choice. Three fill options are offered:

• Solid — click once to fill an area with a solid color.
• Brush — click and drag to fill an area with a solid color using freehand painting.
• Linear — click and then drag to fill the area with color that fades away (a gradient) towards where you drag the mouse.
• Radial — click once to fill an area with a color that fades away (a gradient) radially, centered on where you clicked.
• Shaped — click once to fill an area with a color that fades away (a gradient), following the contours of the shape you're filling.
• Eraser — click once to erase an area, exposing the solid color background, or starter or template background image, upon which the drawing was based. (See Available Tools > Drawing Tools > "Eraser" Tool and Other Controls > 'Starter' & Template Images.)

📜 Note: Prior to Tux Paint 0.9.24, "Fill" was a Magic tool (see below). Prior to Tux Paint 0.9.26, the "Fill" tool only offered the 'Solid' method of filling. 'Shaped' fill was introduced in Tux Paint 0.9.29.

The Magic tool is actually a set of special tools. Select one of the 'magic' effects from the selector on the right. Then, depending on the tool, you can either click and drag around the picture, and/or simply click the picture once, to apply the effect.

See the instructions for each Magic tool (in the 'magic-docs' folder).

If the tool can be used by clicking and dragging, a 'painting' button will be available on the left, below the list of Magic tools on the right side of the screen. If the tool can affect the entire picture at once, an 'entire picture' button will be available on the right.

⚙ Note: If the "nomagiccontrols" option is set, Tux Paint won't display the painting or entire picture controls. See the "Options" documentation.

💡 If the magic controls are disabled, the Magic plugin may make separate tools available, one for painting and one that affects the entire pictre.

Some tools offer different sizing options. If so, a slider will appear at the bottom right side of the screen. This may affect the radius of a special effect (e.g., Darken) or painted object (e.g., Patterns), or other attributes (e.g., large versus small Brick shapes).

⚙ Note: If the "nomagicsizes" option is set, Tux Paint won't display the sizing controls. See the "Options" documentation.

💡 If the sizing option is disabled, the Magic plugin may simply offer a default size (e.g., Patterns), or it may make separate tools available with different pre-set sizes (e.g., Bricks and Googly Eyes).

📜 This option was added starting with Tux Paint version 0.9.30.

⚙ Note: If the "ungroupmagictools" option is set, Tux Paint won't split Magic tools into groups of related tools, and instead present them all as one large list. See the "Options" documentation.

This tool works similarly to the Paint Brush. Wherever you click (or click and drag), things you've added to your drawing will be erased, exposing the background that you chose when you started the drawing, be it a solid color, the background of a 'Starter' image, or a 'Template' image. (See Available Tools > Other Controls > "New" Command.)

A number of eraser types are available, each offering multiple sizes are available:

• Square — Square-shaped erasers that completely remove parts of your drawing.
• Circle (solid) — Circle-shaped erasers that completely remove parts of your drawing.
• Fuzzy-edged Circle — Circle-shaped erasers with soft edges that blend with the background.
• Transparent Circle — Circle-shaped erasers that blend your drawing with the background. Release and click again to expose more and more of the background.

As you move the mouse around, an outline follows the pointer, showing what part of the picture will be erased.

As you erase, a 'squeaky clean' eraser wiping sound is played.

⌨ Hold the [X] key while clicking for quick access to a small sharp round eraser (not available when the Text or Label tools are selected, when you're in the process of rotating a stamp or shape, or when using an interactive magic tool). Release the mouse to return to your currently-selected tool.

Clicking the "Undo" button will undo (revert) the last drawing action. You can even undo more than once!

⌨ Note: You can also press [Control / ⌘] + [Z] on the keyboard to Undo.

Clicking the "Redo" button will redo the drawing action you just un-did via the "Undo" command.

As long as you don't draw again, you can redo as many times as you had undone!

⌨ Note: You can also press [Control / ⌘] + [R] on the keyboard to Redo.

Clicking the 'New' button will start a new drawing. A dialog will appear where you may choose to start a new picture using a solid background color, or using a 'Starter' or 'Template' image (see below). You will first be asked whether you really want to do this.

When you use the 'Eraser' tool things you've added to your drawing will be removed, exposing the background you chose when starting a new drawing. (See Available Tools > Drawing Tools > "Eraser" Tool.)

⌨ Note: You can also press [Control / ⌘] + [N] on the keyboard to start a new drawing.

Special Solid Background Color Choices

Along with the preset solid colors, you can also choose colors using a rainbow palette or a "color mixer". These operate identically to the options found in the color palette shown below the canvas when drawing a picture. See Main Screen > Lower: Colors > Special color options for details.

'Starter' & Template Images

• 'Starters' can behave like a page from a coloring book — a black-and-white outline of a picture, which you can then color in, and the black outline remains intact — or like a 3D photograph, where you draw in between a foreground and background layer.
• 'Templates' are similar, but simply provide a background drawing to work off of. Unlike 'Starters', there is no layer that remains in the foreground of anything you draw in the picture.

When using the 'Eraser' tool or the 'Eraser' mode of the 'Fill' tool, the original image from the 'Starter' or 'Template' will reappear. (See Available Tools > Drawing Tools > "Eraser" Tool and "Fill" Tool.)

The 'Flip' and 'Mirror' Magic tools affect the orientation of the 'Starter' or 'Template', as well. (See Available Tools > "Magic" Tool (Special Effects) > Flip and Mirror.)

When you load a 'Starter' or 'Template', draw on it, and then click 'Save,' it creates a new picture file — it doesn't overwrite the original, so you can use it again later (by accessing it from the 'New' dialog).

⚙ You can create your own 'Starter' and Template images. See the Extending Tux Paint documentation's sections on 'Starters' and Templates.

💡 You can also convert your saved drawings into Templates directly within Tux Paint, from the 'Open' dialog. See "Open", below.

Erasing Exported Template Images

If you've selected a Template in your personal templates folder, and it was created from within Tux Paint (using the "Template" button in the "Open" dialog), you may remove it from within Tux Paint, too. An 'Erase' (trash can) button will appear at the lower right of the list. Click it to erase the selected template. (You will be asked to confirm.)

💡 Note: On Linux, Windows, and macOS, the picture will be placed in your desktop's trash can / recycle bin (where you may recover and restore it, if you change your mind).

⚙ Note: The 'Erase' button may be disabled, via the "noerase" option.

⚙ Note: The solid colors can be placed at the end of the 'New' dialog (below the Starters and Templates), via the "newcolorslast" option.

This shows you a list of all of the pictures you've saved. If there are more than can fit on the screen, use the up and down arrows at the top and bottom of the list to scroll through the list of pictures.

Click a picture to select it, and then...

• 

  Click the green 'Open' button at the lower left of the list to load the selected picture. You will then be able to edit it.

  (Alternatively, you can double-click a picture's icon to load it.)

  💡 If choose to open a picture, and your current drawing hasn't been saved, you will be prompted as to whether you want to save it or not. (See "Save," below.)
• 

  Click the brown 'Erase' (trash can) button at the lower right of the list to erase the selected picture. (You will be asked to confirm.)

  📜 Note: On Linux (as of version 0.9.22), Windows (as of version 0.9.27), and macOS (as of version 0.9.29), the picture will be placed in your desktop's trash can / recycle bin (where you may recover and restore it, if you change your mind).

  ⚙ Note: The 'Erase' button may be disabled, via the "noerase" option.
• 

  Click the 'Export' button near the lower right to export the selected picture to your export folder. (e.g., "~/Pictures/TuxPaint/")

From the "Open" screen you can also:

• 

  Click the blue 'Slides' (slide projector) button at the lower left to go to slideshow mode. See "Slides", below, for details.
• 

  Click the blue 'Template' button at the lower left to go to convert the selected picture into a new template, which can be used as the basis for new drawings.

  📜 Note: The Template creation feature was added to Tux Paint in version 0.9.31. To learn how to create Templates outside of Tux Paint, see Extending Tux Paint

  ⚙ The Template creation feature can be disabled (e.g., by selecting "Disable 'Make Template'" in Tux Paint Config. or running Tux Paint with the "notemplateexport" option).

• 

  Click the red 'Back' arrow button at the lower right of the list to cancel and return to the picture you were drawing.

⌨ Note: You can also press [Control / ⌘] + [O] on the keyboard to bring up the 'Open' dialog.

This saves your current picture.

If you haven't saved it before, it will create a new entry in the list of saved images. (i.e., it will create a new file)

💡 Note: It won't ask you anything (e.g., for a filename). It will simply save the picture, and play a "camera shutter" sound effect.

If you have saved the picture before, or this is a picture you just