Dragging the mouse along to select a color, you will almost certainly have noticed the flicker of text next to the small “currently selected color” box in the upper-left corner of the palette. For those focused on creating SmallWorlds’ next masterpiece, it would be easy to overlook the potential in this cryptic, flashing box. That, however, would be a mistake.

That text box is your key to the use of literally millions of colors – once you know how to use it.

Hexadecimal.

Colors not shown in the pallet grid have to be typed into the text box using hexadecimal notation. That may sound a bit scary, but you’ll soon find out that it’s really pretty easy. To get a grasp of the concept, try this experiment:

Click your graffiti board’s color selector to open the color pallet. Select the text in the upper-left corner and type 222222 – that’s six “2″ characters. Be careful not to move your mouse over any of the color squares in the pallet, or what you type will be replaced by the code for the color your mouse is over.

When you’ve finished typing 222222 in the box, press your Enter key to set that color in the pen. You’ll now be able to draw a shade of grey that’s slightly darker than the darkest grey available in the color palette.

To understand how this happens, take a look at the various shades of grey along the left column in the color palette. Notice that black, the darkest of them all, is represented by 000000. What those zeros are saying is “no light” – Completely dark – Black. As you move the mouse down the column to the darkest grey, 333333, then to the next shade of grey, 666666,  you may begin to realize what’s happening – the higher the number, the lighter the shade.

Mousing over the lighter shades of grey, you’ll see that the codes for some of the lighter shades include letters. These letters actually stand for numbers in the hexadecimal system of numbering.

Hex-a-What-i-mal?

There’s that word again. It sounds confusing, but is really pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. Hexadecimal numbering is, for reasons beyond the scope of this blog, the most efficient way to represent color codes as they’re stored in a computer. That being said, we’ll focus on how to use these hexadecimal codes, or “hex codes”, to get exactly the color you want.

First, the hexadecimal digits are:

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, and F.

You don’t necessarily need to think of them as numbers – just remember that 0 is the lowest – no color at all – and that F is the highest, the full amount possible for a color. That’s why the hex code for black is 000000 – “no color at all” leaves us with total absence of color. The hex code for white is FFFFFF because the full amount of all colors combined is white.

The second thing you need to understand is that the six digits in a hex code represent three colors: Red, Green, and Blue, and in that order. The first two digits in the hex code represent red, the middle two represent green, and the last two represent blue. Therefore:

• FF0000 is the hex code for the brightest red. It has FF red – the full possible amount – and 00 green and blue, meaning none of those colors.
• 00FF00 is the brightest green, having FF green and 00 (none) of red and blue.
• 0000FF is the brightest blue. It has absolutely no red and green, but the FF (Fullest) amount of blue.

Lastly, think of each color’s pair of hexadecimal characters as separated into two parts representing a Big amount and a Little amount.

Big Red

Little Red

Big Green

Little Green

Big Blue

Little Blue

You can make a red color such as 660000 noticeably brighter by changing it to 760000, but very few (if any) of us can distinguish the difference between 660000 and 670000. The second digit, which controls the “Little Red”, barely makes a difference at all.

To further demonstrate this, go back to your graffiti board’s color palette and compare 00F000 to 000F00. You’ll see that 00F000 is barely distinguishable from the bright green of 00FF00, but 000F00 is almost black – it’s “Lttle green” is full, but that doesn’t count much since the “Big Green” is set to zero.

What the Hex it Good For?

Having more than 16,777,000 colors at your disposal is, indisputably, very cool, but… who really needs all that? There are plenty of colors available in the palette’s squares, right? Well, yes – for most people in most situations, that’s true. However, there are definitely cases where extreme color control is necessary.

Smoothly transitioning from one color to another is only possible by painstakingly increasing (or decreasing) a color from one shade to another by typing the tiniest changes into the text box. Follow the grassy path around the pond, below, with your eye. Nowhere along the way is one shade of green distinguishable from another, but the transition is clear in the upper-left corner.

This was done by placing green dots, one after another from the top-left, downward, and then up and around the pond. For each dot, I increased the fourth of the six digits – the “Little Green” value – by one.

With the color 006600 I made the first dot in the top-left corner of the canvas, then changed to 006700 for the second dot, then 006800, 006900, increasing one for a brighter shade of green each dot. After 006900 came 006A00 – that’s “little green” increasing through the hexadecimal digits, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, and F.

After 006F00, I increased the “Big Green” from 6 to 7 and set “Little Green” back to zero  - 007000 is one step brighter-green than 006F00.

There are a lot of steps on the path around the pond, but I increased the green value by one “Little Green” for each on, and I really questioned whether it was changing at all until I finally met the start of the path at the top again.

This silly example demonstrates a powerful conceptual tool you can use when painting. Shifting smoothly from one shade to another can provide a really natural feel to backgrounds, and give a very natural and authentic look to many elements in a picture.

Proceed Without Caution

The quickest way to teach yourself these concepts is to just start using them. Give yourself an hour and start typing codes into the color palette’s text box. Remember to always use 6 hex digits – that is, 0-9 and A-F.

It’s a good idea to click a color from the squares on the color palette – any color you like – and then experiment by modifying that color little by little. Don’t be afraid to experiment! Replace the little red, blue, and/or green values, hit enter to set the pen to that color, then draw lines on the canvas side by side to create a smooth transition of color.

If you want some color-code guidance, try this hex code chart:

http://cloford.com/resources/colours/500col.htm

The fourth column shows the hex code for the color displayed in the second column. Find a color you like from that list, then copy that hex code and paste into the graffiti board color palette’s text box.

Note that hex codes are often prefixed with a #pound-sign. That’s not used in the color pallet, so be sure you do not copy the # sign that prefixes the hex codes on that page.

In Summary

Remember the hexadecimal digits: 0-9 and A-F; remember that the red, green, and blue color components are the first, second, and third pair of digits in the hex code; remember that the first of each pair gives you the Big change and the second gives you the Little change.

By practice and by understanding these concepts, you’ll take one more step toward using the graffiti board to its fullest potential.

Enjoy!

The artist has to pay special attention to the balance of the composition because the blank area of the paper represents yin while the brush strokes signify yang.

Here’s a great tutorial by Yang Haiying on how to paint bamboo in the traditional Chinese style.

Don’t forget to visit Richard’s gallery, Ruiz Designs, and add it to your favorites!

Several weeks ago I started a painting. When I came back a few days later and clicked the board to continue drawing, here’s what happened:

Turn your head for a second...

...and look what happens!

I got curious and decided to investigate whether the problem had been reported and what SmallWorlds was doing about it. I found posts spanning the past six months and I added a post of my own. However… for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on, I’m not to hopeful.

What is SmallWorlds Doing About It?

First of all, I was surprised to find that it’s not enough to report this problem on the forum – after several hoop-jumping attempts at solving this, I was advised to email SmallWorld’s support address, which I’ve done. So far, the only response was an auto-generated email, and a personalized mail stating that the problem would be submitted to their technical team. For the sake of documentation, here’s my forum posting:
http://forum.smallworlds.com/showthread.php?t=46386

The replies to problem reports in the Technical Issues section of the SmallWorlds forum (including my own) gave me the general impression of “soothing” and “stalling”, but after more than half a year of these reports there is still no real progress. Maybe SmallWorlds management isn’t hearing enough complaints to justify the cost of development time for finding a solution?

On the Forum

http://forum.smallworlds.com/showthread.php?t=32131
In mid-August, SmallWorlds user Ting Keting posted on the forum that “if you click the board (or even if you dont) the picture just disappears”. Sunny Daze replies that this is a known issue, and includes a link and a citation that stated “This is not affecting everyone. The technical team are currently looking into this issue.” That issue had been updated at the end of July to lump this Disappearing Click problem in with the “Do Not Wrap” problem (reported earlier on this blog).

It was updated again at the end of August – Reported “Fixed”!

http://forum.smallworlds.com/showthread.php?t=28191
This thread, spanning most of August, reports the same problem and with a variety of replies like  ”ugh, me too!”, as well as a couple of similar glitches reported. Artist Rezined Brainz (Rez Artz) confirmed that 25 of the 300 or so works she’s created have been lost to this. “I have done well over 300 art peices here on sw so this is only a fraction but still time consuming and aggravating,” she said.

Sorry, Rez, but I have to disagree – it’s not just a fraction. It’s approaching 10 percent, and that’s significant.

Notice moderator Pamelia Perkins’ reply that this “just may have to be something you have to live with, if you wish to keep the art”. Again, I must disagree. Artists are contributing a lot to SmallWorlds.  If you can fix it, great. If you can fix it but we lose the art that’s glitched, OK… but if that’s the case, we deserve a solid (and accurate) statement of this fact. Anything less is a brush-off.

Problem Fixed?

Tracing back through April, the standard response is “this is a known issue” – that is until August 30, 2009, when the Current Known Issues thread was updated to report that the problem is fixed. Despite the personal email I received Oct. 21, the problem is still reported “Fixed” (in Current Known Issue) here:
http://forum.smallworlds.com/showthread.php?t=620

Yet again, I have to disagree. This problem is not fixed. I suspect they found some cases where one of the symptoms of this problem is fixed, but the problem is still there, and it’s deep in the code (or it would already be fixed). The problem is not fixed, and it will remain unfixed until pressure is applied in the right places.

If this happens to you:

After more than half a year, I think it’s safe to say that this problem won’t just go away on its own. The important thing here is to make sure we report every occurrence on the forum. SmallWorlds has been very responsive to large showings of concern. We need to make it clear to The Management that we want this problem (and a variety of others) to be fixed. So… if this happens to you, please do the following:

1. Preserve the Picture. As reported on the forums, the picture returned when I refreshed the room. I clicked it again and it disappeared again, but as long as I don’t open and save it, I suppose it will come back to life when the room loads. Hopefully the same will hold for you. At very least, it stands as proof that something needs to be done.
2. Contact SmallWorlds. Go to the forum and post in technical issues. Ask the SmallWorlds staff to come take a look at the problem for you. If they don’t reply, pressure them by “bumping” the post. We need to get this issue on their minds, and this only way I can think of.

Hopefully, if enough people do this, we can get some action.

Summary
So… maybe it’s not the greatest art I’ve ever created, but it’s mine and I want it. I’m sure anyone who’s lost a painting to this glitch (or, like me, is waiting in limbo for a fix) would appreciate an updated priority on this and related problems. For the moment, I’d be satisfied if they’d just remove that “FIXED”.

Thanks!
Troy

This article kicks off a new blog category called Glitches. There aren’t many, but when they come, we need to be informed about them and take action to see that they get fixed. If you have no other reason to read the SmallWorlds Art Scene blog, please be sure to check the Glitches category now and then – especially if you find a glitch! It could save you a lot of frustration and help all of us to guide the SmallWorlds staff ‘s development time management.