Da Vinci Tutorial #2: Diamonds, Donuts, and Far out! By Stephen White The following functions will be demonstrated by this tutorial: Running Da Vinci's art program. Copying palette colors. Spreading between palette colors. Setting the current color cycle range. Selecting a pentip. Drawing a perfect circle. Cutting a brush. Using the plus cycle drawing mode. Introduction: This tutorial was designed to demonstrate how to use the plus cycle drawing mode. This is my favorite drawing mode for goofing off and having fun. Each step of this tutorial is explained in great detail, but don't bother reading the entire description of a step which you already know how to do. For example, how to select a palette color is explained in this tutorial. If you already know how to select a palette color, then just select the specified palette color and skip to the next step. For a more thorough description of any of Da Vinci's functions, refer to the proper section in Da Vinci's manual. Diamonds, Donuts, and Far out: Step 1. Run Da Vinci's art program. To run Da Vinci from Desktop, insert disk 1 into a disk drive. Open a directory of that drive. This is done by double clicking (clicking twice) on the drive's icon. If a directory of that drive is already open, then press the escape key on the keyboard so that the window will show what is on disk 1. Now, double click on the program called DAVINCI.TOS. Step 2. Select the palette submenu. If the icons are not visible, then press the space bar on the keyboard. Click on the palette icon using the right mouse button. The palette submenu should appear. Step 3. Copy the white palette color to the rightmost palette color. At the top of the palette submenu, there is a smaller version of the current palette colors. Click on the white palette color. The color should become highlighted. Now, press the "copy" button. Now, click on the rightmost palette color. That color should turn into white. Step 4. Copy the blue palette color to color 7 (currently a tan color). Click on the blue palette color. Now, press the "copy" button. Now, click on the eighth color in the palette (color 7). Step 5. Spread from color 15 (white) to color 7 (blue). To spread between two colors, click on the color to spread from. Next, press the "spread" button. Now, click on the color to spread to. Step 6. Spread from color 7 (blue) to color 0 (black). Refer to step 5 if you need help. Step 7. Set the current color cycle range from black to white. To set the current color cycle range, click on the first color in the desired range. Next, press the "range" button. Now, click on the last color in the desired range. Step 8. Go to the ellipse submenu. Click on the ellipse icon with the right mouse button. The ellipse submenu should appear. Step 9. Select the first (single pixel) pentip. The pentips are shown at the top of the ellipse submenu. Click on the leftmost pentip (or press the '.' key on the keyboard). Step 10. Turn off fill option and "to brush" option. If the fill icon is highlighted, then click on the fill icon to unhighlight it. If the "to brush" icon is highlighted, then click on the "to brush" icon to unhighlight it. Step 11. Select to draw only perfect circles. On the ellipse submenu, there are two icons which are ellipses. The rightmost of the two icons represents perfect circles. If that icon is not highlighted, then click on it to highlight it. Now, you will only be able to draw perfect circles. Step 12. Select the white palette color. The current palette colors are shown above the main strip of icons on the menu. To select a palette color, simply move the mouse on top of the desired color and press the left mouse button. Step 13. Draw a circle on the picture. Make the circle's height about twice the height of the mouse pointer. Move the mouse pointer onto the picture, and press and hold down the left mouse button. While holding down the mouse button, drag the mouse away from where you first clicked the mouse button. A circle will be drawn. Size the circle to the desired size, then release the mouse button. Step 14. Cut the circle off of the picture. To cut a brush, click on the brush icon with the left mouse button (or press 'b' on the keyboard). The brush icon should become highlighted. Move the mouse to the top left corner of the circle. Cross hairs should be visible. Move the cross hairs until they overlap the very top and the leftmost pixel (smallest dot of color) of the circle. Press and hold down the right mouse button. Now, while holding down the mouse button, move the mouse to position the crosshairs so that they overlap the bottom and the rightmost pixel of the circle. Now, release the mouse button. You should now have cut the circle off of the picture. If you messed up, click on the undo icon (or press the 'undo' key on the keyboard) and repeat this step again. Step 15. Select the drawing mode submenu. To select the drawing mode submenu, click with the right mouse button on the drawing mode icon (the icon looks like a brush with an 'm' beside it). The drawing mode submenu should appear. Step 16. Select the plus cycle drawing mode. Click on the "plus cycle" button (or press the 'F8' key on the keyboard). Step 17. Draw a circle on the picture. Plus cycle functions by replacing the colors on the picture under the brush with the next color in the current color cycle range. The effects generated with this function can be quite impressive. Refer to step 13 if you need help drawing a circle. Step 18. Try the other drawing tools. Some of the other drawing tools will produce some interesting designs. For example, drawing a rectangle will cause what looks like a diamond to be drawn. The airbrush will also cause some interesting patterns. Step 19. Try drawing by pressing the right mouse button instead of the left mouse button. The right mouse button will reverse the direction of the current color cycle range. Step 20. If you're really adventurous, try cutting other shapes as your brush, or change the colors in your palette.