MS Paint in your Terminal

Textual Paint: MS Paint in your Terminal

Are you ready to revisit your nostalgia for MS Paint? Have you ever imagined using an image editor like MS Paint in your terminal? Look no further! Introducing Textual Paint, a TUI (Text User Interface) image editor inspired by MS Paint, built with Textual.

Features and Functionalities

Textual Paint offers a wide range of features and functionalities that make it a powerful image editor. Here are some key highlights:

• Open and save images: Textual Paint allows you to open and save images in various formats, including ANSI art, raster images, SVG, HTML, PNG, Bitmap, GIF, TIFF, WebP, JPEG, and more.
• All tools from MS Paint: With Textual Paint, you get access to all the tools you love from MS Paint, including Free-Form Select, Select, Eraser/Color Eraser, Fill With Color, Pick Color, Magnifier, Pencil, Brush, Airbrush, Text, Line, Curve, Rectangle, Polygon, Ellipse, and Rounded Rectangle.
• Color palette: Textual Paint provides a color palette for easily selecting and applying colors to your artwork.
• Efficient screen updates and undo/redo history: Textual Paint tracks the regions affected by each action, allowing for efficient screen updates and easy undo/redo functionality.
• Localization into 26 languages: Textual Paint supports localization into 26 different languages, making it accessible to users around the world.
• Dark mode: Textual Paint offers a dark mode option for those who prefer a darker interface.
• Zooming works with text: Despite running in the terminal, Textual Paint enables zooming that works effectively with text.

These are just a few of the many features Textual Paint offers. Whether you’re an ASCII art enthusiast or a professional graphic designer, Textual Paint has something to offer for everyone.

Target Audience and Use Cases

Textual Paint caters to a wide range of users, including:

• Graphic designers and artists: Textual Paint provides a simple and accessible tool for creating and editing ASCII art, raster images, and more.
• Developers and hackers: Textual Paint’s TUI functionality allows for easy integration and use in command-line environments and SSH sessions.
• Terminal enthusiasts: Textual Paint brings the familiar MS Paint experience to the terminal, providing a unique and nostalgic way to create and manipulate images.

Real-world use cases for Textual Paint include:

1. Creating ASCII art: Textual Paint’s ASCII art editing capabilities make it a go-to tool for creating stunning text-based artwork.
2. Image manipulation in remote sessions: With Textual Paint, you can edit images seamlessly in remote sessions, making it a powerful tool for developers and hackers working on remote servers.
3. Terminal-based graphic design: Textual Paint opens up opportunities for graphic designers who prefer working in the terminal, offering a lightweight and efficient image editing solution.

Technical Specifications and Innovations

Textual Paint is built using Python 3.10 or later and relies on the Textual library for its TUI functionality. Its unique features and innovations include:

• Fancy file dialogs: Textual Paint provides user-friendly file dialogs for opening and saving images, enhancing the overall user experience.
• Auto-save and crash recovery: The editor automatically saves a temporary backup file alongside the file being edited, enabling crash recovery and minimizing data loss.
• Menu bar and keyboard shortcuts: Textual Paint offers a menu bar and a wide range of keyboard shortcuts, providing users with multiple options for interacting with the editor.
• Compatibility with various terminal environments: Textual Paint has been tested and optimized for compatibility with popular terminal environments like GNOME Terminal, Kitty, XTerm, iTerm2, and Windows Terminal.

Competitive Analysis

In comparison to other terminal-based image editors, Textual Paint stands out with its comprehensive set of features and MS Paint-like interface. While other editors may focus on specific image formats or artistic features, Textual Paint aims to recreate the familiarity and usability of MS Paint, making it accessible to a wide range of users. Its compatibility with various terminal environments and broad language support further distinguishes it from competing solutions.

Code Excerpt

Here’s a brief code excerpt showcasing the interface and functionalities of Textual Paint:

python
import textual_paint

editor = textual_paint.Editor()

editor.open_image("my_image.ans")
editor.draw_line((0, 0), (100, 100), color="red")
editor.fill_with_color((50, 50), color="blue")
editor.save_image("my_edited_image.ans")

Compatibility and Performance

Textual Paint is compatible with Python 3.10 or later and has been extensively tested in various terminal environments. It offers optimal performance in terminals like GNOME Terminal, Kitty, XTerm, and Windows Terminal, leveraging their capabilities for efficient screen updates and smooth user experience.

Security and Compliance

Textual Paint prioritizes security and follows industry-standard best practices for data protection. It utilizes secure file handling mechanisms and adheres to compliance standards to ensure the safety of user data.

Roadmap and Future Developments

The future roadmap for Textual Paint includes:

• Enhanced toolset: Continuously expanding the range of tools available to users, offering more flexibility and creative possibilities.
• Export options: Adding additional export options for supporting file formats and integration with external image editors.
• Performance optimizations: Fine-tuning performance to provide even faster and more seamless image editing experiences.
• UI customization: Introducing UI customization options, allowing users to personalize their Textual Paint experience.

In Conclusion

Textual Paint is a revolutionary image editor that brings the iconic MS Paint experience to your terminal. With its powerful features, MS Paint-like interface, and compatibility across various terminal environments, Textual Paint is poised to reshape the way users create, edit, and manipulate images in the terminal. Whether you’re an artist, a developer, or a terminal enthusiast, Textual Paint offers a unique and accessible image editing solution.

Experience the magic of Textual Paint today and unleash your creativity in the terminal!