Ready for one of the slickest word publishing formats you’ve ever seen? Ready to create a lot of fun, gorgeous word Color-in activities for your students, with which they will learn and practice their vocabulary? Ready to have fun doing it? Get ready. You’re in the Color-in format of Vocabulary Companion™.

Color-inInstant Word Color-ins

  1. If you are not at the main menu screen, select New from the File menu to get there. Click the Color-in button. As with the other three formats, as soon as you enter the format you automatically get an activity sheet using the objectives and type of activity that you previously selected.
  2. What you will see: Look at the Color-in picture area. Note that there are separate regions within each picture, and that within almost all of the regions there are anagrams, configurations, or scrambled words depending on the type of activity you had chosen in a previous format. The answer to each problem appears in the color-key above the picture, next to one of eight colors, which have been assigned to that region of the picture problem. Refer to the key to get the correct color, and then color in that region.
  3. Changing the Color-in Picture: Change pictures by clicking ‘’ arrow buttons located under the Color-in picture area.
  4. Scrolling the Color-in: After you get a picture and set of problems you like, you might want to check the words toward the bottom of your worksheet, below those visible on your screen. Just click on the scroll bar on the right to see down the page.

Click here to start creating Color-ins with your own graphics.

  1. Editing the Header: Put some additional information, beyond Name and Date in the heading area of your worksheet (see previous section on Creating a Heading).
  2. Editing the Font, Style and Size of the Text: You can change the font, style and size of your text using the font menu on your menu bar.
  3. Printing: Choose Print from the file menu and your Color-in will be ready to use!

Customizing and Creating Your Own Color-ins

You can customize the word format you use, the number of problems and their placement on an already created Color-in, or you can create custom Color-ins from your own graphics.

Adding More Problems to a Color-in Picture:

Colorin Editor Since in a color-in activity only the regions of the color-in picture that have problems within them are assigned a fill area, you will need to first designate the region or area where you want the problem to print, and then assign a color to it.

  1. Click on the Edit Color-In button:
  2. This will take you to a window showing the color-in picture and box areas appear. NOTE: You will not see problems appear inside the boxes within the Color-in

Use your mouse to draw a box.

  1. To add a new problem, simply draw a new box where you want it, by moving the mouse to where you want to draw, holding down the mouse button, and dragging the mouse until you have a square or rectangular box in the location within the region where you want a problem to print.
  2. As soon as you finish drawing the box, a window will appear giving you a choose Random color, and you are done.
  3. Repeat this procedure for as many problems and as you wish. NOTE: You must assign a color to each problem.
  4. The program will prompt you to save the changes you have made. NOTE: BE CAREFUL! Changes to Color-in picture files are permanent. Of course, if you do not like how the problems appear in the picture after your changes, you can always click the Edit Color-in button again to go back into the Picture Editor and move things around again.

Moving and Deleting Words, Changing Colors:

Deleting

  1. Locate the region where you want to move or delete a problem or change a color click on the Edit Color-in button.
  2. This will take you to a window showing the color-in picture. NOTE: You will not see problems inside the boxes within the Picture Editor.
  3. Click on the box area you wish to change. Corner handles will appear as a way of indicating the box has been selected.
  4. Press the Delete key. The box will disappear.

Drawing a New Box

  1. To draw a new box hold down the mouse button and drag the mouse until you have a square or rectangular box in the location within the region where you want a problem to print.
  2. As soon as you finish drawing the new box a window will appear giving you or choose Random color, and you are done.
  3. Repeat this procedure for as many problems and their corresponding colors as you wish to change.

Creating Your Own Color-ins

At some point, you may want to go beyond the 40 color-in files that come with Vocabulary Companion™ and format your own picture files as color-ins for use in the Color-in module.

The first step is to find an appropriate line drawing. You can look through books and find pictures to scan onto your computer. I find that coloring books work the best. You can also have your students draw their own pictures using any kind of paint or draw program. Remember that you need to have regions large enough so that the words have room to print.

  1. Click the Format Picture button. You will get the usual Open Dialog.
  2. Locate the graphic file you want to use and click the Open button.
  3. The Picture Editor window will open with your new color-in picture inside
  4. Set up problem areas by drawing boxes with your mouse, following the same steps you learned in the last sections on ADDING PROBLEMS and DELETING PROBLEMS.
  5. When you are satisfied with the layout, click the close box in the upper left- hand corner of the window. You will be prompted to name and save the new picture.
  6. Now it is time to open your newly created color-in file.
  7. Locate your new color-in file and click the Open button. This will take you back to the main screen where you will see your new picture!