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
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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
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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!
I downloaded “Colors!” and has made (and finished!) 3 digital paintings at 2 hours each.
Each time I try to save it though it froze up. Like, the saving progress bar stops halfway and that’s it. I wait for saving to finish overnight. When I woke up my DS power light was blinking red and the progress bar is still stuck on the same place. No choice but to power off, reset and start over.
After this happening three times I have no choice but to give up on the program :( I wasted at least 6 hours on paintings that gets lost in the end as unsaveable data.
When I searched for a drawing app for my ds I found an app called phidias before Colors! (and I actually learned about Colors! on his page). It has some cool stuff too ( some more options like blur tool, custom brushes, etc but the painting is less intuitive and it just doesn’t look as good as colors).
I read that the creator wanted to speak to you about merging projects. Did he take contact?
omg i hate you so much this fuckin thing deleted everything on my DS. what the hell is rong with you guys im so pissed
mat,
I’m sorry about that happening to you. Feel free to contact your flashcart-manefacturer and tell them that your their DLDI driver is bugged.
Great work! I’ve loved ur app. I only wish if it is possible to add layers for easier drawing and an eraser ^^ but thank u very much for the great work.
im sorry for my previous agressive post because this program destroyed my card. i am using cyclo DS and i cant even delete these unknown corrupted files off of the 20 dollar 1 gig card a got for it. please email me better instructions on what to do .
mat,
It likely that you need to format your memorycard to get it back into shape. If you are using Windows you just right-click on the drive on the My Computer screen and choose format (which wipes the card clean).
Thanks so much for this app, it’s allowed to me to explore color on the go, and it’s so many kinds of awesome.
As for feedback on what I’d like to see in a future version, it’d be nice if the file system could be set up in such a way that you could delete files to clear up slots. I’d also be interested in being able to create a user-defined palette.
Jens, any idea when the next version will be available? Not to rush you…
Actually, the program is really good at 1.06. I hope you get some sort of commercial success going on with it. It’s definitely worth paying for in cartridge form.
Any updates? :)
What a Great Application ! Colors is unbelievable.
You have created an excellent homebrew for DS.
Here is some ideas (basic i think), for your next implemantations :
1/ “undo” features (i think only for lastest mouvement)
2/ Simple “Layer” system (maybe juste 2 layers, one foreground and background)
Some others idea (not so basic) :
3/ Different Brushes, or better possibility to create our own brushes (maybe simply by using thumbnails of before created image)
4/ Other Tools, like Smudge or Smooth system, maybe a copy tools (duplicate an area where you paint after you’ve select it)
Just for the pleasure :
4/ Music/mp3 player while drawing
————
Anyway, continue with your great Homebrew.
Noj
Love this program. Its seriously perfect. I love how simple it is. To be honest, anything more you add would be nice, but I like the purity of whats there already.
I do have one request, but would it be too hard to add the ability to save email addresses?
Thanks for this, and giving me a reason to use my DS again.
Thankyou for making the program, I enjoy it a lot and have had no problems with it(which is more than what I can say for some homebrew). Grateful.
After a few painful weeks of waiting, I’ve finally gotten Colors! up and running. I just want to thank the people involved with the project; it really is a great program, and I think it’s going to encourage me to get some much-needed painting practice.
Thanks for being nice enough to give such a gem away for free. :3
I too like this little app very much.
One undo would be great or a “fast backward” instead of “fast forward”?
Nice handling (the developer must have taken the artistic approach and handling in mind while developing it :) ..nice work!!)
Hi,
Have anybody tried to run colors! on a iTouch card?
Have tried several times, with and without DLDI patching, different versions … but i am not able to run it. I always receive a black screen.
Thanks in advance.
I enjoy this program. How about a donate button function for the gallery site in support of this program.
A discussion forum on the gallery site would be nice too.
And maybe a sort function for various criteria.
I like that there is no undo function; make me focus on future strokes as opposed to perfect strokes.
a colors fan,
Carlton
This program is wikid. two things i would like added to it:
– play music (play music that is stored on the card. nice to listen while you paint with headphones plugged in ^_~)
– undo (not completely necessary if u’re a skilled artist of course :).)
Jens, thank you so much for making such a wonderful program. After hearing about it I decided to get DS just for Colors! The program runs great! I hope you continue developing it even more. My only wish would be to have simple level/layer tool and more brushes, even better would be to be able to load custom created brush.
Again, thanks for a such a wonderful gift!
hey guys, i love your app, literally :-)
i am only requesting :
a) 1024 X 768 images, 1280 X 1024 would be mantastic
b) that Undo function sounds vital, maybe an Undo 3 times
c) layers is needed
d) pressure sensitivity calibration needs work
i love it othawise
:-)
later
Just a word : PERFECT !
Please never stop the dev of the best ever apps on DS ! Thx a lot for this.
And for requests, i agree with Josh Hartdegen. ^^
Finndo from France.
incredible app, never I thought something like this could be pulled off
thanks a lot for your efforts! :)
This is the best DS app out there. I am upgrading to a DS Lite ONLY because of Colors!, so I wanted to thank you for your dedication to getting this out there, and making it free. It means a lot to me. :)
I’ve been using this program for a few months now off and on. It’s very nice. I wish I Nintendo DS Lite and Colors! DS had been available back in the day when I was a kid. Who knows? I would be a better artist now. One thing this program has over photoshop is the playback feature. An artist can immediately see his/her mistakes and change them however they need changing. I’m working on some paintings right now that are better than what I could have done prior to using this program. I’ve been studing the work of artists who are much better at painting than me and I’ve learned how to paint from them. I’ll upload some paintings soon. Jens, thank you very much for creating this really cool program. And, whoever came up with the idea for the touch screen functionality of the DS, thank you very as well.
I really love colors, awesome work Jens… damn i wish that the ds screen/resolution was better, would have made …
>anyway, do you plan to integrate drivers for the GUITAR HERO GRIP so it can be used as button set (very useful to paint in portrait mode) , like that other painting app did lately (ua paint)…
>Also, still no plans of porting Colors! on the NOKIA N800??? seriously, think about it, its high resolution tablet, supposed to handle pen pressure, and it’s CHEAP… like a sketchbook should be:)
Thanks again for this fantastic piece of software…
peace, nox
Colors! has been a great program to use in my spare time. I have experienced a weird problem with it, though. For some reason, my GMail account is not receiving the pictures I draw, whereas a Hotmail and Yahoo account from other people I know have no problem getting the pictures. I have only received successfully one or two pictures in my GMail account.
fantastic program! i sterted to draw more here than my sketchbook!
i hope you guys find the time do go ahead with it!!
Jens! You need to seriously get an update on this.
Most DS homebrew is dead now, like Clirc and dsorganize and I ‘think’ moonshell.. Cmon update one of the best homebrew :P
I just downloaded Colors v1.06h, playing on an M3Real. For some reason, the top screen, as well as the color wheel screen, are completely corrupted when I use Colors. Looks like total garbage on the screen. Is this normal?
I just bought a DS to run Colors after a friend showed me what the program could do. I’ve always wanted a portable digital sketchpad and now I’ve got one! Alot of the work I typically do is done with the polygon tool in Photoshop. Is there anyway to incorporate a filled polygon tool in Colors? This would make certain kinds of paintings, such as architectural subjects much easier to create.
Otherwise, thanks for a great program! Nintendo should promote this type of application more…I think more artists like myself who would normally shy away from game systems would invest in a tool like this.
Pierre
Great program, I can’t quit using it :)
Sadly, I’m hoping for an update :( I hope the project’s not dead, It’s the best homebrew out at the moment.
This is a truly great program, for me, its THE homebrew for the DS, and one of the reasons to own a DS. Please keep the project running and probably make it an option for us to upload to the gallery via wifi.
Dear Jens,
and sure all the rest of the Colors team,
first of all..as so many other…just want to say Thanks,you made a dream come true. How Cool it is to just walk around a sketch and paint where ever I want with such ease !
And as so many….I have some suggestions that you could consider
1.Would it be possible to simulate different paper as backround?
That behaves different and gives your pic another look !
2.Would it be possible to have a pencil sketch brush ?
I mean an option where you simulate a normal pencil,coal pen
or other tools,such as water color or what ever!
Hm..maybe it would make it to complicated. But it would be nice to have that feel.
3.For the save option,I always have some problems when I
import other peoples color paintings on my ds.Caused by an
existing save slot number on my ds. What means I have to
rename them every time. Is it possible just to save a pic by
name so that there would be no conflict ?
Anyway..thats all. You Guys did already a Supppper application,Thanks once again.
And
Looking at all the previous comments,it’s been a while since any news. Do you still work on a updated version ? And if so..any possible date ?
And the most important thing…Where can I donate some for you Guys ? Can’t find a paypal on the site.
I really would like to support you and this great program,it brought me so many drawing dreams come true !
So..hope to hear from you soon..
my best regards
You know I have to agree, I don’t want to see this project die and for me it is also one of THE top rated homebrew apps for the DS.
Stick up a paypal box so people can donate and keep the project alive!
I have it plugged into my wordpress site also.
http://www.shadowreality.co.uk/ds-pictoblog/
Glad to read you Stephen,Hope really this project does not die !
I think many people are feeling the same about this,
please let us support it in any way,donations would be really a nice way to help and show you guys our appreciation !!!
And another suggestion…the D- Pad..has not only 4 directions,
don’t forget the diagonals !
You could put in there some more options,so practically You could circle through some options.
You could maybe put the color pallet in there too.
I for my self have always some problems to switch to there and get my fingers around when I draw or paint with my DS upright .
Would be nice to have this if possible on the D-Pad. Since you would have 4 more directions.
Maybe the R – Button and L – Shoulder button could be then used for quick save and quick load..in a way this could help with the undo if there is still a problem with.
So practically with one touch you could save your work..and with the other you could load it again..maybe a simple question if you really wanna load it would be cool,so you dont do it by accident.
And save would be in the menu,where you maybe could name your pic.
Just some Ideas..:)
Best wishes…
Thanks again for all the compliments and the feedback!
No, the project is not dead, but I’m not working on the DS version right now. Instead, I’m hoping to have an iPhone version out very soon, which I think is very cool. There are a number of improvements in that version that will also benefit the DS version. Once the iPhone version is out the door, I’ll try to make a new and improved DS version as well.
so long N800 version … :(
go on do a n810 version as well
jus got the application works like a charm, but i couldnt seem to find an undo function
if there isnt will ther be one in the future?
something that has proboly been metion many times, but won’t hurt to be said again I think something the program really needs is a grid to help with scale.
I’m having issues with unreliable booting…sometimes it works but most times it doesn’t…any ideas?
this is the best thing to happen to art since the tablet! being able to travel and jot ideas down in color without making a mess is amazing. you guys should be proud of yourself for all the good artwork that is being done with this.
Thank you so much for a simple, but truely lovely painting experience for the DS… It’s everything I hoped it would be. here’s hoping you get a chance to improve and enhance it even more.
This program is wonderfull!!!! It would be perfect with an “Undo” option. Please consider this suggestion in the next release! Very good job!
Glad to read some news from you again Jens.
And really glad to hear you are still working on,and the project is not dead :)
I have no iphone,but I guess it’s a good news if all the NDS users can benefit from it too :)
Many people are waiting for a new release,please don’t forget about us.
And really,it would be great if people could donate something to show you our appreciation.
Thanks again for this wonderfull application you guys made.
When is the next version of colors! coming out on the DS? also i noticed on the website it has been released for iphone but i couldnt find the app for it. how do i get it on my iphone?
very compliments,
I hope you will consider to make a version for ppc, iPhone can’t have a pressure sensitive but the pda screen should be pressure sensitive, and is more large of a nds screen.
In any case thank you very much for your beautifull work!!
MUSIC.
PLEASE PLEASE.
I need music when I draw.
I would LOVE the feature to listen to mp3 music on DS while I draw.
Yes Moonshell plays Mp3, but you can’t listen to them and use colors.nds at the same time.
Oh please consider this.
Then Colors would be PERFECT.
thankyou!
This program, Colors! is absolutely fantastic, my 2 sons, 8 and 11 years old, are enthusiastic!
Thank you for your work!!!!
HI GREAT PROGRAM!!! I just have one problem that i cant seem to find an answer. I am running colors on a R4 NDSL card. and it works fine, it saves AND loads teh painting fine. Problem is, when i put the SD card into my MAC laptop or PC computer, i cant seem to find the files. I have done a foind/search for the png files as well as drw files, but it says they arent there. the only thing that gets updated is the SAV file. i have removed and replaced the whole folder, including the nds and sav files and put a fresh colors.nds file back on the card, when start it up, it all works fine and it can stil load the images, even though i have removed all folders.
Please help, as i have a WPA2 encrypted router and cant use WIFI to upload the images as it seems the DS only supports WEP. Any help would be greatly appreciated as i have just bought my DS especially for colors!
thanks in advance
Mark