Colors! v1.06 is now released.
Colors! is a simplistic digital application for Nintendo DS based on modern painting-techniques developed for drawing tablets in programs like Photoshop. By taking advantage of the pressure sensitivity of the DS touch-screen it becomes a perfect portable digital sketch-book.
Current features
——————-
Hard and soft circular brush
Pressure-sensitivity can affect opacity and brush-size
512×384 image resolution with 2 stage zoom
Replay the whole painting process of an image
Hue-circle and luminance and saturation-triangle style palette
Load and Save to memory card
Send painting as e-mail using Wi-Fi
Major updates in v1.06
————————–
Major precision overhaul
Opacity slider in brush-screen
Pressure-Controls-Size option in brush-screen
New user-interface with graphics by madwurmz.com
Playback controls with the option to continue painting from mid-playback
The possibility to send your painting directly to an e-mail address
Unlimited save slots
One additional zoom-level
Available at http://www.collectingsmiles.com/colors
Enjoy!
Well, I really liked this little App, reminds me too much of Painter.
I have some sugestions tough, as someone who works professionaly with photoshop and digital art.
1- An eraser tool could be handy. It would save a lot of trouble.
2- Custom brush support. I know this is a simple paint App, but I guess you can add this, Like photoshop, you make a custom brush tip out of a black and alpha PNG.
3- Bigger canvas sizes. I know, maybe for simplicity, convenience, or memory issues, you guys choose to use the DS screen size as the default canvas size. But, as seen that you can pan and zoom the canvas, I think it could suport a larger drawing area, so we can generate larger images. It would be great for a quick sketch that can be used later on Photoshop or any other graphis app on PC or Mac.
Well, maybe I’m asking too much, but, untill now, this was the best homebrew App I’ve seen on the DS screen.
Keep up the good work
Just wanted to add my well done and thanks to the many other comments here. Colors! is exceptional!
Incredible! When I saw Colors! on the blog lines and colors, I went out and bought a DS the same day. Within 20 min. I was sketching. I own a cintiq 18sx which I love, but the DS goes wherever I do. Simply brilliant. Your app is so great I really hate to suggest a thing, but….
I do comics, so a feature that would help me would be the ability to see the last painting I painted as I am painting a new one, this would be good in general, because then you could double the canvas size without needing more ram or processing. You would just paint the top half, save, and paint the bottom half matched to the top.
Anyway, awesome app. Well worth the price of a DS game. At free it’s absolutely flawless!
This program is really the best painting program i have see ever, even on windows or anyplataform
i think a “ctrl + z – Function” may be the best improbe for the program
(i have make Bigs, miss painting xD)
First of all: this is a great piece of homebrew software. I was searching for a possibility for painting/sketching while travelling for years. It should be something small, so the DS is a good choice.
After using it for some days I have some suggestion for the future development:
– A request before clearing the image
– Size of the brush relative to zooming (painting very soft can produce strokes, that can been seen
– the selected color is hard do estimate in the settings menu (the brush is often to small for this). A box showing the current color will do the trick.
– Presets for brush types would be convenient
– compensating pressure sensitivity divergences on the pad. My DS interprets my strokes very differently depending where on the PAD I paint. This is the biggest disadvantage for painting on the DS. This surely is a hardware problem, but maybe an improvemt to this situation can be found by the software. Painting a black&white picture, defining different pressure sensitivity areas, could be a solution.
– UNDO. I´m aware that there are memory problems that prevented this feature. Maybe implementing a kind of UNDO this way works: saving the picture, reloading it and just dropping the last task would do the trick? There shouldn´t be memory problems with this solution. Of course it will take some time to load/save the picture, but I guess it´s better than repainting it.
– Blend modes for paintning (lighten, multiply)
Here are some “nice to have” wishes:
– Layers
– Macrorecording (Recording a bunch of strokes to one macro)
– History
– different Brushtypes
– scaling of the picture (I often start a picture and notice while painting that it will not fit on the canvas)
– Smear
I´m looking forward to a new version of Colors!
why can’t I post to my pictures to my CR page from the gallery with the image URL. its the only way I can do it because im limited to only the functionality of the wii, or I would save them.
Hi,
I can honestly say that Colors! has brought alot of exitement into my art life. I carry a sketchbook every where I go, and this is pretty much better, in a convenience sort of way. I plan almost all my art now on Colors! One only suggestion I have is to integrate an “Undo” button… even if it’s just a few undos, please.
Thanks for all the great work.
This is the best home brew app bar none!
Nevertheless my $.02
1. I like Colors a lot but I want them snappy!
The animated background menu is beautiful but it takes roughly 5 seconds to open on my DS-X.
The screen clear effect doesn’t bother me that much, at least it’s fast.
What about ‘eye_candy = off’ config file option or even a real preferences pane where this could be configured.
I don’t know if this will fix the slow menu loading, don’t really remember how fast it was in the previous versions.
2. ‘Amiga Deluxe Paint’-like swap screen
Would be great for color mixing and testing brush sizes etc.
3. Memory usage
I’m a paranoid guy, would you care to share with us how much you can paint and what happens if the memory is full?
Hey Jens
I’m sure you’ve heard the rumours about the new DS……with bigger screen! Cor imagine Colours on a bigger screen ( same resolution ). That would be fab! Whether this DS will materialise next year is another matter…we could all be waiting for a while yet.
@MikeyMicro: Chances are pretty big that the new big screen DS wont be capable of pressure sensing.
I love your program it was the first thing I used when I got the R4. I just downloaded the newer version, I’m not quite used to it yet but I’ll keep going at it I’m used to 1.50. Well anywho the program rocks and it’s very useful. I love to draw and I always wanted to get a tablet so this is a 2 for one deal alright!
Great job! “Undo” option maybe?
thanks for the feedback Jens!, the angle brush is a feature in painter, in a simple paint program like opencanvas appear the angle brush.
other feature maybe is a little blender tool and a layer tools , like moonshell have a little button on the top of the screen you have the tools here, what you think? (sorry my english)
I often find myself pressing the ABYX buttons when I’m drawing (I’m right handed) Perhaps an option to turn those off (of the D-pad for left handed). Not something very important, but a nice feature if added. (Perhaps this or something similar was mentioned before, didn’t read all the comments)
Keep up the awesome work!
Hi!
Just wanted to drop a line to state this is SO GOOD , so intuitive yet powerful, that it just replaced phidias in my everyday painting.
Thanks a lot for this program,
it is getting a LOT of use .
Really amazing application. Thanks so much. I got this up and running and now the artists in the office are clamoring for an R4 card so they can get this :)
this program is so freakin awesome, its more fun to use than Phidias (an excellent program btw)… But I guess Phidias is more for sketching and Colors is for painting… But if you could incorporate pencils then Colors would totally blow away the other said program, just because Colors is more intuitive and easier to manipulate. (sorry Tassu, I guess you have some competition here). I’m too lazy to read all the previous comments… but I echo the request for an undo or history button (“command+z on mac”). . . and more canvas size choices. Thanks for renewing my motivation to create !
1.5 Works fine but 1.6g won’t boot.
Keeps comming up with (failed to initilise efs_lib)
I really enjoy what you have done with the program thus far. There are only two things I feel it may be lacking. One would definitely be a “Smudge” brush or some tool like it to be used for blending. The other would be a “back step” button of some sort maybe. To add “Layers” might be a little excessive. I really do love your program though. Best painting homebrew for DS yet.
I just found about this on imagineFX mag. and i’m so glad i did i love this software is so nice to use and the possibilities of creativity are endless, im even thinking of buyin my own DS just for this, ( i use my wee lad’s). Thank you very much for the time and dedication on this. Im so hooked on it, hope there’s a new update soon, perhaps some basic layer feature would be nice.. or an eraser option.. ;) thank you again.
Im on a mac, this may be the problem, but I can’t find my drawings on the sd card. maybe i’ve set up the folders incorrectly? because in the faq section it says they should be found as png files in the root colours folder, but i don’t have a colours folder.
this is what it looks like:
_DS_MENU.DAT
_DS_MENU.SYS
_DS_MSHL.NDS
_system_
Colors.ds.gba
Colors.nds
Colors.SAV
moonshl
moonshl and _system_ are folders but the others arn’t, just applications or files or whatever.
Just letting you know that the COLORS app somehow freezes everytime I put my DSLite into sleep mode (ie: whenever I close the lid down). Hope it’s corrected in later versions.
Hello! First I want to say thanks for the extremely useful application! I use it daily (I used to sketch on paper but it’s easier to use the DS now), and will be using it very soon for textures of my 3D models. I really don’t have any complains, just a few suggestions or feature requests. :)
I would love to have a line tool, it would help me with architectural drawings and sketches on the DS.
A smearing/smudging/blur tool would be fantastic.
And lastly, a simple grid overlay would be handy.
Other then that, I think this is the BEST app for the DS. Period. Amazing work, keep it up!! I am looking forward to your next build.
has wifi support but will not pick up hidden ssid networks
I’m not sure if this is possible, but here’s an idea… download play… if someone around me has a DS, but no cartridge, can you make it so that they can draw on the same canvas. Cooperative art :)
It is nice to see people picking up where the big developers have missed and opportunity. I can’t wait to download this little gem and try it out.
Hi Jens – thank you for this genious program. I am absolutely addicted to it, and will contribute to your gallery regularly. This is *the* perfect tool for a painter like me to have an easy way to do quick studies when I can’t bring my oils out with me.
I really only have one update request. I love the zoom feature…but is it possible to be able to zoom OUT of the image (to 50%)? Sometimes I want to cover large areas with the airbrush, and it can get cumbersome to have to pan over to the corners to make sure I’m hitting them evenly. One step zoom out would be awesome.
Thanks!
Jens and all who are responsible for working on Colors! DS thank you very much for creating such a cool little program. Also, when will the next update be ready for download?
PiGhead, which ImagineFX issue has the article about Colors! DS? Thank you very much.
Ty Jens for The Best homebrew app on the DS! btw when is the next update? Its been a while =/
I just downloaded the program and started testing it. ¡Amazing!
Although there are two basic things that are missing in my opinion:
1- Bigger painting area.
2- A rubber!! A simple, easy and accessible rubber.
Thankyou ^ ^
This is an amazing program! I look forward to future updates. Thanks for sharing!
Hello there,
What an awesome soft i can’t buy a graphic tablet and now i can train my draw (sorry for my english i’m french ^^) i’m a designer 2D / 3D Video games (HOT PXL on PSP & Downstream Panix on PSP and now Wii game ^^) and now i can work my sketch book in train ;) thanks a lot
Continue in this way u make a great work ALL TEAM of Colors!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Bye bye
Was really excited to give Colors! a whirl– It seemed to launch with dldi patching on my G6 lite, however after the ‘initializing’ and spash screen, it froze and basically corrupted my whole flash card!!
Oh well, it’s homebrew, and this will give me a reason to try one of the newer slot1 cards. Still looking forward to it, but G6 users might want to be cautious until someone confirms it works with this card.
Time to go see if I can salvage this G6.
Wonderful – you guys need a Paypal donation link, I looked for it and had nowhere to throw my money!
Features I want:
1) Start from a black canvas (or any color I guess)
2) Be able to scrub within the time bar when doing a playback (then undo is totally redundant)
Thanks!
PS – Paypal link!
Thanks a lot for this awesome little program ! I just started to use it a few days ago, and I’m absolutely delighted with it ( the playback feature is so fun :) ) ; I used to carry a “real” sketchbook everywhere, now I can easily draw in colors on my DS – I’m addicted ! Thanks again !
THIS IS INSANE! This is really awesometastic. I’d say you guys pulled a Sakurai.
hey Jens!! I just got it today!! And i must say i love it!!!
It so cool!!
Man I dont what to say!!! Just thank u and man u should get money for it!! U deserved it! If it would cost 50 Pounds i would have bought it!!! THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!!
JUST MADE MY DAY and for sure the next few years!!!
Ola.! Ano Novo Feliz
Wish List:
1. Ability to turn of pressure sensitivity for both Brush Size and Opacity Indepently.
2. Layers, PLEASE!!!
3. Ability to set the minimum and maximum brush size when using pressure sensitivity.
4. That is all.
Keep up the awesome work.
Fantastic! I read about your program on DRAWN! and couldn’t wait to get the R4 and microSD card. The download instructions weren’t as simple as they looked (even went to the Jannis Borgers link), but happily, my husband figured it all out for me!
I know I’m going to be hooked and hope to contribute to the Gallery really soon! Thanks for a brilliant app!
Wish List:
1) An eraser!
2) Being able to save colors in a palette/tray.
Wish have the Undo and Redo option,thx~~
I finished mt first drawing and would love to post it. I tried the Borgers link again, but I am not having success. I think the Colors FAQ should have directions on how to post your work.
Help?
@DAWN:
1. you copy your picture form your card to your pc. It is located in Colors directory relative from place where you put Colors.nds. You copy 3 files (# means number):
colors_slot#.png – PNG representation of your file.
colors_slot#.drw – Playback of your painting, please include them as they are valuable for others watching your drawings – they can learn your techniques and its simply fun.
colors_slot#.tmb – Thumbnail used to display in colors loading screen on DS. Its needed so people can download their images from gallery and put them on their consoles. Without it you will have troubles loading the file.
2. Once you have this on PC go to gallery http://colors.brombra.net and register.
3. Once registered you are ready to upload pictures. Select “Add picture” link.
4. Fill the title, description of your picture. Press Browse next to png, drw and tmb fields and select files copied to your PC.
5. If you picture contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, blood, gambling, and/or strong language, check the checkbox next to the statement. It is to prevent kids from viewing inappropriate things.
6. If you have painted your picture with your DS turned to the side or upside down select the proper position – or skip this part if keept it normaly when painting.
7. If you want your picture not to be displayed on the frontpage check it. In most cases you want it to be unchecked.
8. Press Upload button.
9. You will have to wait a while depending on the speed of your connection, and then you will get your picture uploaded.
Rinse and repeat.
You can see your pictures on Me link. When you get into details you can see comments others left for you, and you can add your own comments. You can also add some tags to your picture – others can do this too so if you are new skip it until you learn how pictures are usually tagged. Once you get a grip of it – you can start tagging both yours pictures and others.
As suggested earlier, it would be very nice if DS’s 555 or 565 screen would be dithered to fake 888 “true color”. Currently colors look bit blotchy. I would think that ordered dithering of upper screen wouldn’t require too much horsepower (or maybe Sierra’s Filter Lite, it’s simple error diffusion algorithm) as it’s updated after stroke.
Another nice thing would be to show current color larger in color picker (and also previous color for hue/value comparisons).
Thanks a bunch for this software, it’s beautiful.
I love your tool, but I just did something really stupid: instead of selecting “load” on the blank image, I selected “save” and thus killed a finished pic I had no backup of :((
Maybe an idea would be to implement an idiot failsafe message especially for the white screen case reminding confused people like me that they are about to overwrite the file with the white screen and not loading the existing pic? That would be awesome.
I’m off to cry now… (I do admit, it really was my own stupidity)
Hello, your homebrew is amazing! I have two questions for the developers:
Will the app support layers in the next releases? I’d be nice have at least 2 layers (1 for outlines and the other for coloring).
Are you going to release the source code?
Thank you very much.
Thanks for a great tool!
I have a problem: Runs on M3DS-Real, no problem. But if I try to run it with the M3 Rumble Ram Pack (slot-2 add on) inserted, it turns the rumble motor on fullspeed (making terrible noise) and colors does not get past the white screen and will not start. I’ll write them, too, but please let me know if there’s something you could do about this (besides pulling out the RAM pack).
Version 1.06h
Thats chief, its now working on the classic with the Datel Cartridge Construction Kit.
How ever for linux (ubuntu ) pc users a specific set of instructions need to be followed.
I loaded one of my images onto the Gallery, but now when I am using Colors! and want to load it on my DS Lite (to work on it some more), I get an error message and the image won’t appear! It says something about “this happens to some flash cards” and try resetting the DS. Well, I don’t think you can actually reset a DS, but I did take the battery out for a day, and I still can’t get my image to load back up!
Anyone else have this problem? Any solution?
First off, thank you so much! Colors! is a fabulous piece of software! I’ve been off of drawing for ages and ages, but this has gotten me to start again. I’ve always wanted a Cintiq, but as I don’t actively draw, it has been hard to motivate (as a hobby user). Now my DS is a miniature Cintiq :)
Another awesome aspect of Colors! is the way it works. I’ve always been an abuser of layers, objects etc. I’ve never been comfortable drawing and painting on my computer in a natural way, just adding all the time, but when I’ve been creating things I always kept that back door open that lets me adjust everything. In Colors! I know that I can just draw on top of what I just did, because I can, if I would need to, go into playback and stop anywhere in my progress! For my head, that’s awesome. And I immediately know that I’m using the application in the best way possible, instead of thinking of if I should add another layer or not.
Now it’s the time for some suggestions and stuff.
Recently I drew a portrait of my brother all with the smallest brush. It took probably 25-30 minutes. When I was going to save, the DS froze loading the menu, only displaying the painted background. I assume this was an out of memory situation, but it has also made me cautious doing more detailed drawings… I’m pondering if it would be possible to make it compatible with the DS Browser 8MB memory expansion? If so, I’d get that ASAP!
If not that, it would be nice if menus and functionality was prioritized before the painted background, or maybe a memory warning when you’re getting close to the limit. For reference, I have an M3 Simply with a 2GB Sandisk microSD.
I know you are considering an undo function, and others have written this as well. I think everyone would like a playback-to-second-to-last-action option even if it was a tad slow (or even really slow). It could be repeatable too.
A few of the other suggestions I’ve read that I feel would make sense is toggling on the shoulder buttons (mine are glitchy!), the ability to see your previous color when picking a new. Expanding on that, the ability to see the last 3-5 brushes you used would be neat as well (size, transparency, pressure options, and maybe color).
The last thing for now is about the Wifi functionality. It’s really awesome to be able to send pictures I’ve drawn to my friends, just like that, but sometimes I get the stuck on the screen locating my access point and I need to reboot. Would it be possible to make that screen cancel-able? Is there a timeout?
Thanks again for this awesome application :)
Cheers!
//Andreas