<>
@3{MAGIC PAINTBOX (LICENCEWARE)
@2}by zYLAX / PTK
@6
     ][][][][][][][][][][][][][][
@5
     Created by - Malcolm Lavery

      Publisher - F1 Licenceware
       Price - Ł6.99 (+50p P&P)
@6
     ][][][][][][][][][][][][][][
@1
Now  here's  something  you  don't see
everyday,    a    decent   educational
program.    Magic   PaintBox,  if  you
hadn't    already    guessed,   is   a
fully-fledged   art  package  designed
especially for kids.

Your  initial  reaction to this may be
to  think it's just a cut-down version
of   Deluxe   Paint   or  similar.   I
suppose,  in a sense, this is true but


Magic  PaintBox also contains features
that haven't been implemented into any
"grown-ups"  package,  and  are  never
likely to be.

@3          YO! GIMME A BEAT!@1

If the speech feature is activated the
"narrator.device" is used to provide a
spoken description of whatever tool or
option is clicked on.  There is also a
full,  two octave, musical keyboard in
there  as  well  as being able to play
any  one  of nine muzik modules in the
background.

@3          FAR TOO DRAWN OUT!@1

Concerning   the   more   conventional
features  of  an  art  package,  Magic
PaintBox allows the loading and saving
of  palettes  and  images in IFF, nine
predrawn   background  scenes,  twenty
predrawn clipart stamps, full printing
facilities   to   any  black/white  or
colour  printer  and  access to system
fonts.

As  far  as  the actual drawing tools,
Magic PaintBox contains eighty-four in
total.  These include:
@4
  MIRROR DRAW -@1
  When using this feature, if you draw
  on   the  screen  as  normal,  three
  alternative  "reflections"  of  your
  line  will  appear  in  the opposite
  sides  of the page.  This is an easy
  to use and effective tool which will
  appeal to kids especially.
@4
  GRASS AND FLOWERS -@1
  The  grass  and  flowers are part of
  the   package's  clipart  which  can
  simply be stamped onto a scene.
@4
  TREES -@1
  The  "tree"  tool  is similar to the
  previous   selection  in  that  it's
  purpose  is  to  stamp an image onto
  the  page.  The difference with this
  though,  is that every tree it draws
  is  never  alike  with the last one,
  whether  it's  the orientation, size
  or number of branches.
@4
  SKY AT NIGHT -@1
  Clicking  on this icon will generate
  a  random  starfield as a background
  scene.    Perfect   for   any  lunar
  adventures!
@4
  SPLATTER STAR, CIRCLE AND BOX -@1
  This  is  similar  to  the  spraycan
  feature  of  Deluxe Paint in that it
  produces   a  sprayed  effect  in  a
  specific  shape.   The  intensity of
  the   spray  is  determined  by  the
  length  of time it is activated over
  an area of the screen.

Apart  from  these,  there are all the
major   tools  from  conventional  art
applications  such  as  line,  box and
circle tools.

Another   one   of   Magic  PaintBox's
original   features   is  the  rainbow
effects  it  can produce, using copper
style visuals, as backgrounds.
@6
       (O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)
@1
Magic  PaintBox is a very professional
application  which comes out on top in
all  areas.  As an educational tool it
will  be  a  program  that  kids  will
actually   WANT  to  use.   Primarily,
because there are loads of weird tools
in  there to mess about with, it's not
linier such as programs that go by the
"1+1=2"  school  of  thought and, most
importantly,   it   brings   out   the
creativity of it's user.
As  an  AMOS program it excels on what
we   previously   thought  was  AMOS's
limits, and, as a Licenseware product,
it's    wearing    some   very   smart
commercial clothing!

It  also  comes  complete  with a full
printed    manual   and   hard   drive
installer.
@3
So  I  think I'll go out on a limb and
say   anybody   that   purchases  this
package   will   not  be  disappointed
(...that  is  unless  you sent off for
Photogenics!)