Colour Magic Graphics

Using RM Colour Magic graphics program to create images with primary pupils

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Supporting Expressive Arts
Art & Design
using RM Colour Magic
Malcolm Wilson
ICT Curriculum Support
Falkirk Council
Education Services

2. 2
What is RM Colour
Magic?
A powerful paint package specially
designed for primary schools.
Easy, fun and clean way to explore
and experiment with colour, line,
shape and pattern.

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Key features
Four levels suitable for all stages of
primary school.
Tools for drawing lines and shapes
with variety of styles and fills.
Ready-made pictures in in-built topic
bank, with words and sounds.
Easy to correct mistakes or re-do.
Ability to create stamps.
Effects such as watercolour, chalk,
smudging, tiling, reflection, jigsaws,
rotation and graduated colour.
Import from scanner or digital
camera / Export to Word-processor.

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Example Pictures created
using Colour Magic

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Example Pictures created
using Colour Magic

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Example Pictures created
using Colour Magic

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Starting Colour Magic
Open Creating and Presenting
Folder.
Double-click mouse on Colour
Magic icon
Choose level to open (yellow is
simplest, Red is most complex).
Click OK.

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Toolbars overview
Each level has similar but increasingly complex
toolbar:
Yellow level
Green Level
Blue Level
Red Level

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Toolbar details 1
Holding mouse over each icon
describes each icon.
New file. Opens a new file.
Open. Opens an existing file.
Save. Saves file.
Print. Prints a file. An options
window appears. Select on the
appropriate box.

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Toolbar details 2
Holding mouse over each icon describes each
icon.
Undo. Undo last action.
Redo. Redo last action.
Cut. Cut removes a selected are of a picture and
places it on the clipboard.
Copy. Copy a selected are of a picture and
places it on the clipboard.

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Toolbar details 3
Holding mouse over each icon describes each
icon.
Paste. Places a cut or copied item onto
picture.
Clear All. Clears the screen.
Show or Hide Topic Bank. Click to view Topic
Bank.
Show or Hide Paint Box. Click to view Paint
Box. (Colours)

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Toolbar details 4
Holding mouse over each icon describes each
icon.
Actual size.
Zoom in. Lets you see a close up of your picture.
Use Zoom in when you want to add small details.
Zoom out. Moves back out of the close up.
Full screen view. Views the full screen.
Click on the screen again to return to normal
view.

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Toolbar details 5
Holding mouse over each icon describes each
icon.
Vertical symmetry. Gives you a vertical line of
symmetry.
Horizontal symmetry. Gives you a horizontal
line of symmetry.
4-way symmetry. Gives you both a horizontal
and vertical line of symmetry.
All the symmetry tools automatically produce a
symmetrical pattern as you draw.
Help. Select to view Help file.
Exit. Select to leave Colour Magic.

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The Paint Box
The Paint Box is where you select the colours you are
going to work with. To select a colour, simply click on
the colour of your choice.
The Foreground colour is the colour you will normally
draw with. Click the left mouse button on a colour to
select it.
The Background colour is the colour that will fill your
screen when you click clear screen. Click the right
mouse button on a colour to select it.

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The Paint Box
There are more colours in the paint box within
the higher levels.
Red Level Paint Box:

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The Colour Cauldron
The Colour Cauldron is a set of colours that you can use
together to create multi-coloured effects in your
paintings.
Select cauldron from Paint Box
by clicking on the Cauldron box.
Click here to view a variety of cauldron styles.To change
the cauldron currently selected, double click on the
Cauldron box. This opens the Cauldron dialog box.
Click here to view
cauldron styles
Click OK when
choice is made

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The Toolbox - Overview
Pencil

Brushes

Spray Can

Eraser

Lines

Shapes

Stamp
Text

Fill

Colour Picker

Transformations

Special Tools

Selection

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The Toolbox - choices
When you click on an icon in the toolbar, an orange
blob appears in the margin which indicates which
tool has been selected.
When you select some tools then further choices
are presented at the higher levels.

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The Toolbox – Brush Tools
Smudge and scatter tools only work when colour already
exists on the page.

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The Toolbox – Brush Size
On selecting Brush tool, Selector box appears in bottom left
hand of screen.
Click on choice of size.

Brush size and shape can be further altered using the Brush
Designer tool.
·Click on the Brush Designer
icon in the Selector box.
·Choose your options from
the box.

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The Toolbox – Spray Can Tool
On selecting Spray can tool, Selector box appears in bottom
left hand of screen.
Click on choice of density.

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The Toolbox – Eraser Tool
On selecting Eraser tool, Selector box appears in bottom left
hand of screen.
Click on choice of size.

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The Toolbox – Line Tool –
straight line
On selecting Line tool, Selector box appears in bottom left
hand of screen.
Click on choice of thickness.
Click on the straight line icon.
· Place the mouse pointer where the line is to begin and
hold down the mouse button.
· Drag the line to the point where the line is to end. A
line is drawn as you drag the mouse.
· Release the mouse button to complete the line.

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The Toolbox – Line Tool –
curved line
On selecting Line tool, Selector box appears in bottom left
hand of screen.
Click on choice of thickness.
Click on the curved line icon.
· Place the mouse pointer where you want the line to
begin and hold down the mouse button.
· Drag the line to point where the line is to end- a
straight line is drawn.
· Release the mouse to complete the line. Drag the
mouse to create the curve of the line.
· Click to fix the curve in position.

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The Toolbox – Line Tool –
Multi-line
On selecting Line tool, Selector box appears in bottom left
hand of screen.
Click on choice of thickness.
Click on the multi-line icon.
· Place the mouse pointer where you want the line to begin
and hold down the mouse button.
· Click and drag to place the first line. Click to end the
line.
· Continue to add the desired number of lines.
· Right click the mouse to end.

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The Toolbox – Line Tool –
Zig-Zag
On selecting Line tool, Selector box appears in bottom left
hand of screen.
Click on choice of thickness.
Click on the zig-zag icon.
· Place the mouse pointer where you want the line to begin
and hold down the mouse button.
· Click and drag to end of line. Click to end the line.
·

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The Toolbox – Line Tool –
Polygon
On selecting Line tool, Selector box appears in bottom left
hand of screen.
Click on choice of thickness.
Click on the Polygon icon.
· Polygon draws a series of lines drawn together.
· Click and drag to place the first line. Click to end the
line.
· Continue to add the desired number of lines.
· Right click the mouse to join the lines into one shape.

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The Toolbox – Shape Tool –
Rectangle, ellipse, hexagon and star
On selecting shape tool, Selector box appears in bottom left
hand of screen.
Click on choice of outline thickness.
The last option produces a
Solid shape.
Click and drag the mouse
to draw a rectangle,
ellipse, hexagon or star.

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The Toolbox – Shape Tool –
Square
On selecting shape tool, Selector box appears in bottom left
hand of screen.
Click on choice of outline thickness.
The last option produces a
Solid shape.
To draw a square choose
the rectangle icon, hold down
Ctrl key while you drag
the mouse then release
the mouse button before
the Ctrl key.

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The Toolbox – Shape Tool –
Circle
On selecting shape tool, Selector box appears in bottom left
hand of screen.
Click on choice of outline thickness.
The last option produces a
Solid shape.
To draw a circle choose
the ellipse icon, hold down
Ctrl key while you drag
the mouse then release
the mouse button before
the Ctrl key.

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The Toolbox – Shape Tool –
Parallelogram
On selecting shape tool, Selector box appears in bottom left
hand of screen.
Click on choice of outline thickness.
The last option produces a
Solid shape.
To draw a parallelogram
choose the parallelogram icon,
hold and drag to draw the base
line and finally drag the
remainder of the
parallelogram.

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The Toolbox – Shape Tool –
Triangle
On selecting shape tool, Selector box appears in bottom left
hand of screen.
Click on choice of outline thickness.
The last option produces a
Solid shape.
To draw a triangle
choose the triangle icon,
hold and drag to draw the base
line, release the mouse,
and finally drag the
mouse to complete the triangle.

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The Toolbox – stamp tool
When you select the Stamp Tool, further options are revealed.
The Topic Bank replaces the Paint Box at the bottom of the
Colour Magic window.
There are 3 sizes of stamps: small, medium or large.
Click on the size you want, before selecting the stamp you wish to
use from the Topic Bank.


The next three stamp icons allow you to make a small,
medium or large stamp from an area outlined with the
Selection Tool. (See later)

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The Toolbox – stamp from Topic Bank
Topic Bank contains number of pictures and words,
categorised into curricular areas and topics.
To find a stamp to insert into your picture:
· Click the Stamp tool icon to view the Topic Bank.
· Any word with a red arrow is a menu that can reveal
further sub topics. Clicking on the red arrow next to Index
in the selector will reveal a list of the topics.
· If there is a red downward arrow to the right of the topic
bank, there are more topics hidden from view.
· Click on this arrow until the other topics become visible.
·The back button will return you to previous level.

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The Toolbox – stamp from Topic Bank
To insert a stamp into your picture:
·Click on the picture of your choice from the Topic Bank.
·Move mouse pointer on to screen. Chosen stamp appears.
·Place stamp in desired location using mouse. Click to fix
stamp in position.
·Click another tool to finish with stamp, otherwise the stamp
will still be on view for use.
Insert a word from under topic bank pictures into your
picture
·Click mouse on chosen word. Word will appear in a text
box in the middle of the screen.
·Drag red outline to place word in desired position.
·Click on another tool or press enter key to fix text to picture.

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The Toolbox – Text Tool
When the Text tool is selected, three font styles are available: Arial,
Roman and Courier.
·Click on the font of your choice.
·Click on the screen to add a text box. Start typing
your text.
·Use graphic handles to increase or decrease the size of the text box.
Click on another tool or press enter key to fix text in position on your
picture. You will no longer be able to edit it.
Choosing the text size and more fonts
When you select the Text tool, the Selector box appears in the bottom
left hand of the screen.
Click on the size of your choice.
Text size, font style and colour can be further altered using the Choose
a font tool.
· Click on the Choose a font in the Selector box.
· Choose your options from the box.

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The Toolbox – Fill Tool
When you select the Fill Tool, 3 further options are revealed. Use these
tools to fill shapes, or background with colour or pattern.
The solid fill tool uses one colour.
The pattern fill tool fills shapes with patterns.
Choose pattern style from selector.

The colour blend fill tool fills shapes with blend of 2 colours – foreground
and background colour selected. Choose blend direction from
selector.

· Place mouse on part of picture to be filled. Choose colour/pattern to
use.
Click and area will be filled with colour.
The Colour Picker Tool
Helps you find a picture from your picture to use again.
Click with the left mouse button to choose a colour for the foreground
and the right button for the background.

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The Toolbox – Transformation Tool
These tools are used to
rotate or flip pictures:
•Click on transformation
choice.
•Click and drag over
image to change.
•Release mouse button.

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The Toolbox – Special Tools 1
These tools provide a range of additional, more
specialised effects.
When any of the tools are selected, the mouse
pointer becomes a magic wand. Simply click on
the screen to activate the changes.

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The Toolbox – Special Tools – 2
Outline and Bleach tools
Outline – this outlines all shapes with
foreground colour.
Click on the colour of your choice.
Click anywhere on the page.
Bleach – this changes everything (except
areas of foreground colour) to background
colour.
Select the background colour of your
choice.
Click anywhere on the page.

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The Toolbox – Special Tools – 3
replace colour and lighten/darken tools
Replace colour – this replaces areas
of a particular colour with a new colour.
Click the colour to be changed from the image
using the Colour picker.
Select the new colour, using the right mouse
button (background colour).
Select the Replace colour tool, click anywhere
on the screen.
Lighten / Darken – this lightens /
darkens the whole picture
Click on whichever tool you wish to use.
Click anywhere on the page.

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The Toolbox – Special Tools – 4
Shadow and Tile tools
Shadow – this gives shapes a 3-D effect.
Choose the shadow direction
from the Selector box.
Click anywhere on the page. The shadow
will appear in the foreground colour.
Tile – this turns your picture into a repeating
pattern.
Click on the Tile icon.
Click anywhere on the page. This will
produce a pattern of 4 tiles.
Subsequent clicks produce 16, 64, 256
tiles and so on.

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The Toolbox – Special Tools – 5
Jigsaw tool
Jigsaw – this turns your picture into a
jigsaw.
Click on the Jigsaw icon.
Choose the size of jigsaw piece from the
Selector box.
Click anywhere on the page. A jigsaw
overlay will appear on the screen.

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The Toolbox – Selection Tools – 1
Rectangular Selection
These tools let you choose an area for
special treatment. e.g. to move/copy
part of your picture or to make your own
stamps.
Rectangular selection – this draws a
rectangular box around an area.
Click on the rectangular selection tool.
Click, hold and drag the mouse over the
image to be selected.
A red dashed line will appear over the image,
ready for treatment (e.g. click on Edit then
copy; or click on stamp tool).

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The Toolbox – Selection Tools – 2
Irregular Selection
These tools let you choose an area for
special treatment. e.g. to move/copy
part of your picture or to make your own
stamps.
Irregular selection – this draws straight
lines around an area.
Click on the irregular selection tool.
Click, hold and drag the mouse to form
lines over the image.
Click to complete one line. Repeat until
image has been selected.

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The Toolbox – Selection Tools – 3
Freehand Selection
These tools let you choose an area for
special treatment. e.g. to move/copy
part of your picture or to make your own
stamps.
Freehand selection – this allows you to
draw freehand around an area.
Click on the freehand selection tool.
Click, hold and drag the mouse around
the image.
Click to complete the line at the starting
place.

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Image Menu - 1
These are the options available on the Image
menu in Red level only:
Each choice you make gives a further choice
box with a preview of the changes – click OK
to take effect.

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Image Menu 2 – Colour Effects
Click Image - Colour Effects – choose effect you want:
Posterise – reduces the number of different colours used in your
picture, whilst keeping them as close as possible to your original.
Invert – changes each colour to its complementary colour.
Brightness – adds/removes white from all the colours in your
picture.
Contrast – increases/decreases the contrast between all the colours
in your picture.
Hue – governs the actual colour. Use this control to add red, green or
blue to all the colours in your picture.
Saturation – increases/decreases the purity of all the colours in your
picture. Saturation 100% is bright and vivid, saturation 0% is a shade
of grey.
Gamma Correct – makes a correction to all the colours in your
picture to make up for the fact that your computer screen does not
interpret stored colour values in a linear way.

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Image Menu 3 – Image filters
Click Image - Image Filters – choose the effect that you
want:
Mosaic – produces a tiled effect on your picture. You can specify the size
of these tiles.
Average – blurs your picture by (for each pixel) changing its colour to
the average (mean) colour of it and its neighbouring pixels. The larger
the filter, the wider the neighbourhood used to average the colour.
Median – blurs your picture without blurring any edges too much. This
works in a similar way to Average, but using the median instead of
the mean means that areas on high contrast are not changed so much.
This filter is good for removing graininess.
Sharpen – sharpens your picture by boosting the contrast at edges.
Add Noise – produces a grainy effect on your picture. You can specify
not only the level of noise, but also the colour of it.
Emboss – gives a 3D effect to you picture. You can specify what
direction the light is coming from and the depth of the 3D effect.

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Image Menu 4 – Define line of Symmetry
Click Image - Click Symmetry - Click Reflection.
Click and drag on your canvas to create a line of symmetry.
Wait for line of symmetry to calculates where the reflected
image should be and previews it in a different colour.
Note: You can pick up the black semi-circles at either end of your
line of symmetry and move it by clicking and dragging.
Decide the direction of reflection:
1. Press the T key on your keyboard to toggle the direction of
reflection.
2. An arrow appears on your line of symmetry to indicate the
current direction. Press the R key on your keyboard to preview
the reflection in a different colour.
3. Press the Enter key on your keyboard to fix the preview onto
your canvas.
Note: You can start again and draw a new reflection by clicking
anywhere on the canvas.