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Kidspiration's
Tools
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Kidspiration's
Tools
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| Some Kidspiration Tools explained - Part 1 |
| This page looks at the Picture View, Writing View, the Symbols Palette and the Symbol Maker. Click here to look at Part 2 to find out more about the Teacher's menu and some very useful and time saving settings available from the Activity Wizard. | |||||||||
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Kidspiration is designed to be user friendly and this is exemplified by the starter page where the icon set can be understood by the very young, less able readers and users whose first language is not English. The two key options of Picture or Writing are given a prominent position and the Activities templates are identified clearly by their individual icons.
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Most users (or their teachers) tend to select Picture View to create their first few Kidspiration files but as they become more proficient and familiar with the software additional information can be entered in the Writing View.
Switching the view When a writing exercises is
needed a single click on the Writing icon converts any diagram into
a list with indents for linked objects.
Changes can be made to the Writing view and these are carried back into the diagram view. Switching back to Picture View is just as easy, just click on the Picture icon.
Text formatting is as one would expect with any word processor or desk top publishing application, for example style, text size and font options. A user can click on a box to activate it then can access text formatting from the text toolbar.
It is also possible to transfer all the text directly into a word processor by clicking on the Publish icon.
The default setting is Microsoft Word which may be changed via the Teacher Menu - Application Options path. |
This menu is usually the default setting - it is set for Picture view
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Switching to the Writing view allows text to be entered
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| The actions of both the Picture View icons and the Writing View icons are explained below. | |||||||||
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The Symbols Palette offers a wide selection of different box designs and holds a collection of images on a large number of common topics. You could also download Kidspiration's own Quick Starter Tutorial - it is an Adobe Acrobat file so you will need the Adobe Acrobat reader. |
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The full range of symbols are listed in the Symbol Guide which is included as an Adobe Acrobat file accessed via the Help option on Kidspiration's menu bar or may be downloaded from this website. It is possible to add to the symbols palette. Instructions are provided in the Hints and Tips pages within this website and, if you wish to ensure that the correct range of symbols appear as the starter set when a particular file is opened, have a look at the Activity Wizard notes in the Hints and Tips page which sets out the necessary steps.
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The basic face shape can be hand drawn or based on the circle tool. Hair may be spray painted but a very useful enhancement is offered by the stamp icon. Using this tool various common images such as different face shapes, hair styles and spectacles may be added at one of three sizes.
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The full explanation is included in a step-by-step fashion on pages 34 to 39 of the Kidspiration User Guide. A set of 5 other ideas is included in the Hints and Tips pages. |
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Sample
Sample 
Users may wish to customise certain images, in particular adding a
"self portrait" to the screen using Kidspiration's Symbol
Maker option on the Picture View toolbar.
