Back in the days of naval warfare under sail, opposing ships would try to 'get the wind gauge' (i.e. get upwind of their opponent) so that they could dictate the course of the battle. If they did, they might even try to use their superior position to 'take the wind out of their sails'. In other words, position their ship so that their opponent's sails would be starved of any wind and lose speed. Over time this nautical term came to mean making someone feel less confident or determined to do something, usually as a result of something unexpected.
The battle between the frigates HMS Shannon and USS Chesapeake on the 1st June, 1813.
My recent tussles with my laptop have rather taken the wind out of my sails with regard to my work on my Belle Époque project, particularly my map drawing using MS Paint. The error message is no longer appearing when I try to save a map, but as the program is no longer supported by Microsoft, I am beginning to wonder if I ought to look at an alternative drawing program to create my future maps etc.
Whilst I look for a possible replacement for MS Paint, I am going to put my current map drawing project on the backburner. I do, however, have several other minor projects I can work on (including completing the construction of my recently purchased Faller kit) and they are now going to get my attention for a week or two.
BOB,
ReplyDeleteVery much looking forward to your construction of the Faller buildings. Hope your doing well regarding your Mobility and hope now you can walk further distances. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteI have been working on the construction of these buildings on and off for some time and I hope to finish them later this week.
As to my mobility ... well, I am now having lessons in how to walk with crutches rather than a walking frame. In addition, I can now leave my sickroom to go into the kitchen and I hope to be able to move around the ground floor of our house by this time next week.
All the best,
Bob
BOB,
DeleteExcellent that you are improving and happy with progress on your mobility- crutches would be preferable to the frame. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteIf I can replace the walking frame with crutches it will mark an important improvement in my mobility.
The best thing that my physiotherapist suggested that I buy was my pedal exercise machine. It has really helped me to improve my muscle strength and endurance, and I think that without it, my progress would have been slower.
All the best,
Bob
I’m puzzled by your saying that MS Paint is no longer supported by Microsoft. They did add it to the list of deprecated programs about seven years ago – which indicated that it would become unsupported at some unspecified future date – but Paint 3D which was supposed to replace it has been a flop and has itself been deprecated.
ReplyDeleteMy copy of Windows 11 came with the latest version of Paint and it has recently been upgraded and has a revised user interface and – if you like such things – a dark mode, though I don’t think that Windows 10 got this*. So support and upgrades seem to be ongoing. My version is 11.2406.42.0 and was last updated in June this year. I’ve no idea what version of Windows you are running on your laptop but if it is W10 or earlier your version of Paint will presumably cease to be supported when W10 goes unsupported in October next year.
I’ve recently been trying to learn to use Inkscape and get the impression that – as a vector graphics program – it would probably be a pretty good replacement for the work you are doing in Paint. However, I’m not yet expert enough to be sure of this (or indeed to be giving any advice on its suitability!). Of course, if you end up with a new W11 machine – or hold out for the launch of W12 – you’ll probably be able to stick with Paint for a few more years.
* Our W10 PC’s version of Paint has not been updated, though I do not know what one would get if one downloaded a fresh version from their store.
Mike
Mike Hall (Mike),
DeleteWhen I installed Windows 10 on my laptop, MS Paint wasn't included in the package and I had to download it separately. When I enquired why, I was told that it was no longer supported by Microsoft. My laptop cannot doesn't have the minimum system requirements to install Windows 11 ... which is probably a good reason to think about buying a new one! As for 3D Paint ... I'm not surprised that its been deprecated. I thought that it was pretty awful and didn't do the sort of things that I need a drawing program to do.
I've not heard of Inkscape before, but I certainly will look into it just in case I don't buy a Windows 11 laptop.
Thanks very much for your very helpful advice and suggestions.
All the best,
Bob
We upgraded our windows 10 PC's from W7 and Paint "carried over" so I never realised that it didn't automatically come with W10!
DeleteMike Lewis's recommendation of Paint.net is well worth your attention - it is generally well regarded. I actually have it on my PC but had forgotten about it as I continued to do the simpler things in Paint and am now looking for something with a lot more functionality. There are a lot of good, free graphics/CAD packages available, but my aging mind finds that they all come with an overally steep learning curve (especially for GIMP, which is probably the nearest thing to a free Photoshop). I picked Inkscape in part because it comes with a lot of YouTube tutorial videos so I might manage to find my way thought the user interface,
Mike
Mike Hall,
DeletePaint didn’t come as part of Windows 10 and I had to download it separately. I did try to upgrade to Windows 11 but my computer didn’t have sufficiently high enough specification.
I’ve looked at both Inkscape and Paint.net, and I’ve selected the latter as an alternative to MS Paint. I may also add Inkscape at a letter date as it sounds as if it will do things that might be very useful.
All the best,
Bob
Bob and Mike -
DeleteMy own experience with MS PAINT is that it was carried over into Win10. I still use it a lot. I also heard that Microsoft was no longer supporting it, but if what Mike says about 3D PAINT is true, possibly MS has changed its stance. I hope so.
PAINT has its limitations, but the results seem to be satisfactory, and I thought Bob's Fezia map looked superb. I have a version of 3D PAINT, but several attempts have never produced anything worthwhile. I know what I want, but it just ain't there.
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteFor some reason, my version of Windows 10 didn’t come with MS Paint and I had to download it separately.
I found 3D Paint just didn’t do what I wanted to use it for, which is why I preferred - and still prefer - to use MS Paint. I have now acquired Paint.net, and although I have yet to use it properly, it looks as if it has potential to be very useful.
All the best,
Bob
Bob, I haven't used Paint.net, but I know it was developed as a replacement for MSPaint and apparently has a very similar interface.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.getpaint.net/
Mike Lewis,
DeleteThanks very much for the suggestion. I will have a look at that program as soon as I can.
All the best,
Bob
I use paint.net as well and it fills many gaps in MS Paint. I made a set of pieces for the MB game, Lionheart by finding a bunch of paper flats and tweaking the colors. Now each army has soldiers in the same pose but their livery is red and blue. It was a simple matter of picking the shades to adjust and sliding some sliders.
DeleteMr. Pavone,
DeleteThanks for the very helpful information. I have now bought Paint.net but have yet to try using it.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteAll best wishes for your recovery. I don't know if this will be of any help to you, but there is a version of MS Paint available online that you use via your web browser here:
https://canvaspaint.org/
Cheers,
Pete
Pete (Pete),
DeleteThanks very much for your best wishes.
Thanks also for the link, which I will look at as soon as I can.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob.
ReplyDeleteI use Paint.net as a free (and open source) alternative to Photoshop, mainly to tweak photographs. It can obviously be used for other purposes. A couple of tips —
1) Download and install the main pack of "add-ons" that clever people have devised. They do enhance the capabilities of the product.
2) Use layers to build different bits of the final image. Keep the original layered version as PDN format (Paint.net's proprietary format), then save it also as JPG or PNG or whatever you want. The latter formats are "flat" so that the layers are merged but you can still go back to the PDN version to make any changes to the constituent parts.
Have fun!
Steve Cordery,
DeleteI have downloaded Paint.net and hope to learn how to use it over the next few weeks. I like the idea that you can layer images to create a final one.
I will look at the available add-ons, especially if they enhance what looks like a good piece of drawing and image manipulation software.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob.
ReplyDeleteI also meant to say that I use the drawing feature built into Microsoft Word for most of my diagrams. It offers plenty of standard shapes which you can resize, recolour, and move around quite easily. Text boxes are well- supported.
Steve.
Steve Cordery,
DeleteI must admit that I haven’t used the drawing feature included in MS Word since I retired. Thanks for reminding me of its existence. I really must revisit it again.
All the best,
Bob