Krita Brush Basics
Brushes are a central concept in Krita. Unfortunately, Krita’s documentation is incomplete and outdated, so here is a summary of how they work.
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KDE Screen Edges
Screen edges are one of the simple yet powerful options introduced in the KDE fourth release series. Screen Edges refer to hotspots on the edge of the screen, each of which is programmable with one of sixteen options and activated by moving the cursor or a window towards them.
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Loading brushes into Krita
Krita, KDE’s answer to Photoshop and GIMP, comes with over 120 brushes. These brushes imitate media ranging from pens and pencils to water colors and acrylics, and textures from bristly to wet. However, if these are not enough, you can find dozens of additional brushes online, including ones designed for GIMP and some basic ones…
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LibreOffice Hints: Recurring images
More than any other single feature, Page styles elevate Writer from the status of run of the mill Word Processor to that of capable Publishing Program. However, for years I thought that page styles had a major flaw: unlike many publishing program, I could see no practical way of repeating an image automatically each time…
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Httpredir: a Cloud for Package Installation
For years, netselect-apt was the main Debian tool for choosing the fastest mirror for downloads. Two months ago, however, httpredir become hosted by the main Debian site, and promises to become a major rival.
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The Joy of KDE Desktop Layouts
On most desktops, you change the position of the panel, but the rest of the desktop is static. In KDE’s Plasma, however, you can go one step further, and choose a layout in the same way that you choose your themes or icons, or fonts.
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Streamlining apt-get with netselect-apt
High-speed Internet connections have made download times less of a concern than they were in the days of dialup connections. Still, no one wants to wait for downloads longer than necessary, which is where netselect-apt comes in handy.
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LibreOffice Tip: Automating Notes
Using recurring images can be difficult in LibreOffice. Of course, you can always add the image manually each time, but that can be distracting when you are writing. One way to semi-automate the process is to use a list style that is set up to display a picture rather than a bullet or a number.
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The Evolution of MATE
Not too long ago, Linux Mint‘s MATE could be adequately summarized as a fork of the GNOME 2 release series. However, thanks to Linux Mint’s habit of listening to users, MATE has evolved into one of the three most innovative desktop environments available today in free software as illustrated by MATE’s most recent release, version…
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KDE’s tabbed windows
In the first years of the millennium, tabbed web browsing became the norm. Overnight, browsing habits changed. Instead of struggling to manage multiple windows, users could open a dozen or more pages while researching. By contrast, eight years later, KDE’s fourth release series added tabs to all windows on the desktop — instead of just…
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Calligra Flow is a work in progress
For those looking for a replacement for Microsoft Visio, Calligra Flow is may be what you need, despite having a few shortcomings and quirks.
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LibreOffice Tip: Better Outlining
LibreOffice Navigator serves as an outlining tool and a working table of contents. However, the default display is limited only to Heading paragraph styles, which means the outline is limited to sections rather than paragraphs. Fortunately, you can improve the default using outline levels.
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