Graphics-Toolbox is designed for people, like me, who see the word “Photoshop” and run screaming in panic. I am not a graphics person. I admire people who can make Photoshop and other graphics programs create the wonderful artwork that we see all over the internet. After watching the tutorials and playing around with the program a bit I am a bit more open to creating banners and buttons for my website, but …. that’s why I have an artistic step-daughter around!
Okay, back to the actual review. Linda Holler, the creator of Graphics-Toolbox, is a really awesome and helpful person. She’s created some of the most fantastic tutorials that I’ve ever used. They are recorded live classes so questions get asked and answered, which is really helpful for the people who view them later. As I told Linda during one of the live classes, I am greatly intimidated by graphic programs so I wasn’t sure how well I’d do with this one.
My then six-year old was my guinea pig on this one and was able to do the simple projects like making ladybugs and other drawings. She was pleased with her efforts and willing to do more, which is a big accomplishment since she hasn’t been interested in computer art before. Now if only the mama could be so confident with using the program.
My major complaint with the program was my inability to resize the program so that I could watch the video and copy what Linda was doing. The program interface occupies the full screen, so the only way to see what the tutorials are teaching is to constantly navigate between the two which becomes annoying. I had less trouble with it than I did with programs like Gimp and Photoshop, so that was a plus for me.
I had my step-daughter Jasmin, who is an artist, work with the program. Although she said that you can definitely use Graphics Toolbox to create the same graphic creations as Photoshop and other high end programs, she was not happy with the interface on many counts.
Her main complaint revolved around the use of numbers for all of the settings. She felt that for someone just starting having to play with so many settings might become confusing and frustrating. In other programs she’s worked on they have graphical displays so that you can see the width of line sizes before you get started. She also felt that, although you can do lots of customizations with the program, it wouldn’t be as easy for children to use as something like Paint Tool Sai. (Please note that Paint Tool Sai is much more limited than Graphics-Toolbox — she was just comparing the interfaces.)
Overall, I am glad that the tutorials are still available because I finally came up with a workaround for my resizing the program issue. If I put the tutorials on my husband’s computer I can then follow through the steps on my own computer. Linda is such a great teacher that I’m sure with a little practice and visually following her instructions I’ll soon be a graphics wizard.
There are so many cool things that you can do with Graphics-Toolbox once you get the hang of it. I’ve included the YouTube video of the program so that you can see the many projects that children and adults are creating with it.
My now seven-year old really likes the program and seems to have no trouble using it. I may just put Jasmin and Alaya to work on my website graphic needs for the time being. I’m starting to wonder if it’s just a case of the difficulty of trying to teach old dogs girls new tricks.
Graphics-Toolbox is an affordable and powerful alternative to the more expensive graphic packages such as Photoshop for only $149. You can try it yourself for free for 30 days and take advantage of the video tutorials so that you can get a jump start on the best ways to use it. For people who need a one-on-one class those are also available for $65/hr by request.
I really like Linda and the potential that Graphics-Toolbox has, but for me I have a long way to go before I’ll be able to create the beautifully creative projects that others have done. So, for the Khalid Klan we’re rating it a 4 out of 5.
The Family Mint is an excellent way to train children in the art of financial planning. It’s also a good way to get Mommy to think about balancing her own checkbook once in a while too.
The premise of the Family Mint is that the parents are the bankers and the children are our customers. Each child gets their own account. As the banker whenever you give your child their allowance you would deposit the sum into each child’s account. As the banker you can designate what each percentage of the money goes towards long-range saving. The children are able to setup their own financial goals and timetables. When they wish to withdraw money from the account, as the parent you have the option of approving each request or trusting them to do the right thing. As the banker, parents can also add interest to their children’s account if they choose or do a dollar matching program if you like.
My family has been using the five envelope system – Long-Term Savings, Learning, Charity, Fun, Planning, so that’s how each of the girl’s have set up their account at the Family Mint. The money that is left in the General Savings category is their spending money for the month. I still have the children put their money into the five envelopes, but now they also double-check themselves online. When they look at their accounts they have a graph that shows them how close they are to their monetary goals. In the spirit of this review, we also setup a savings account in our local bank so that they can get used to the whole banking experience.
There are many graphics that the children can apply to their goals and if they like they can even upload their own pictures. We’re planning on going on vacation in September so the girls had to decide how much spending money they want and then allocate the amount of money they need to save in order to reach their goal. This exercise has also been good for me as well — bookkeeping isn’t one of my favorite things to do.
Family Mint has a very nice interface and is relatively easy to use. I had a few minor mysteries, but the customer support at Family Mint was very helpful and quick to answer my questions. This is a free service to families and uses advertising to support its services. Although it may seem strange to have advertisements around when you’re teaching your children how to save money, it actually does serve a purpose in my mind. We are constantly bombarded with advertising, so they need to learn that they don’t need to buy everything that they see.
Tektoma, in case you don’t know, is a company that teaches children how to create computer/video games for fun. I think it’s a great concept because it’s a fun introduction to programming and is a practical application of logic skills. Having failed computer programming back in the dark ages of punch card readers anyone who can make programming enjoyable gets a standing ovation from me!
My girls are very “fluent” (i.e., will go overboard with playing them if I don’t stop them) in computer games and video games so I thought that this would be a slam dunk success. Boy was I wrong! They absolutely couldn’t stand it. My youngest daughter politely told me that she wasn’t interested and never touched the program again. You may recall that in a previous video review my oldest daughter announced that she wanted to create a video game. So, she should have been thrilled to pieces, right? WRONG!
When we first downloaded everything and were getting setup we had a few hiccups because I didn’t read through all of the instructions and missed a download area. Okay, things were still going well — excitement was high and Jade’s games were going to be the next Animal Crossing meets Final Fantasy. And then we started getting into the actual work. By the end of the first week she was through. One of her main difficulties stem from an auditory delay earlier in her life. Although she’s a strong reader, listening and watching the video requires her to listen to the instructions and then execute them in order. So many times she would begin the process correctly, forget or misplace a step and get frustrated. Having to do the troubleshooting really drove her crazy. (Hey, that she gets honestly — I could never debug a program in a million years either.)
Was it the Tektoma’s fault? Not at all. The videos are very easy to follow. The pace is just right — not too fast, not too slow. The samples and pictures were very clear, which I appreciate. I’ve worked with some video tutorials that were very fuzzy and frustrating. The lessons are setup to gradually progress from a simple racing game to the more complex fantasy/adventure type games. The graphics remind me of my favorite Kings Quest games from Sierra, kind of blocky shapes, but easily recognizable and customizable too!
They also have a community that you can share your creations with and ask questions about things that you may be having problems setting up. Tektoma’s customer support was very good.When I had questions about that file I missed, I received an answer within the same day with tips and reminders that if I had any questions to please let them know. And best of all as the children grow in proficiency with their programming skills, they can share their own creations with other children within the community. A great boon for parents who have children who blow through store bought video games! Next time they claim they’re bored, just send them to the forum and let them download another kid’s game.
So to be fair for the review, I asked one of my neighbor’s son to take a look at the program and play around with the interface. He loved it! He thought this was the best thing since chocolate cake and was disappointed that I wouldn’t let him take Jade’s computer home with him so that he could continue working. He had no difficulty working the program and was able to correct his mistakes quickly and easily. Just different strokes for different folks I guess.
Tektoma offers two different ways to for you and your family to get involved. The first way is through a monthly subscription of $14.95/mo. or $140/annually. This gives you access to the tutorials, forums, file sharing, etc. They also have a summer camp option for children 7 and up called “Bits, Bytes & Bots Computer Adventures®” where the children learn about robotics, stop-motion animated movie making and game creation.
So, although Tektoma was a bust for my family, I do think it has a lot to offer to children (and even adults) who feel that creative computer gene growing restless. They allow a 14-day free trial of the program, so you can see which category of interest your child(ren) fall into before you make the investment. If you want to learn more, just click Tektoma’s banner below and it’ll take you to their home page.
I'm a homeschooling mom with seven children: 3 human, 2 feline and 2 canine. I'm also the wife of one very patient husband who seems to like the role of ringmaster to our circus. I am a virtual assistant who enjoys writing, crafts, music and laughter. I hope you'll visit often. Please be aware that this blog is supported by affiliate links, although every link isn't necessarily an affiliate program.
Graphics-Toolbox is designed for people, like me, who see the word “Photoshop” and run screaming in panic. I am not a graphics person. I admire people who can make Photoshop and other graphics programs create the wonderful artwork that we see all over the internet. After watching the tutorials and playing around with the program a bit I am a bit more open to creating banners and buttons for my website, but …. that’s why I have an artistic step-daughter around!
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