Creating a template in Paint

It is possible to put multiple images in the same template, but for the sake of simplicity this guide will only cover templates with a single image.

Use your graphics editor to create an image with the above size and save the image in /Early Essentials/templates/Paint/backgrounds.

4. The final step is to create the 'Early Essentials Template' file. This is the file that ties the different elements of the file together into one template. You can create this file from scratch, but to make sure you don't leave anything out it is easier to start from an existing file and change the values.

Go to Start > Program Files > Accessories > Notepad. Use Notepad to open Blank Paper 1.eet. Save this file with the same name as your drawings, but make sure you add the extension .eet. (E.g. myfile.eet)

If your large image was 210 x 297, you can leave the Size values as they are - if not, you will have to put your own values in. The paint area in the blank template covers the entire page. You can define multiple separate areas, but in this case we will leave the entire page available.

Default Tool takes one of three values: Pen, Spray or Fill. Pick whichever tool is most appropriate for your template.

The value for Icon is the filename for your smaller drawing. You do not need to add the folder, because Early Essentials automatically looks in the icons folder.

The same is true for Backgrounds. This should be the same filename, but since this refers to files in the backgrounds folder, it points to the larger image.

Creating a template in Write

The next step is to create the 'Early Essentials Template' file. This is the file that ties the different elements of the file together into one template. You can create this file from scratch, but to make sure you don't leave anything out it is easier to start from an existing file and change the values.

Go to Start > Program Files > Accessories > Notepad. Use Notepad to open Envelope.eet. Save this file with the same name as your drawings, but make sure you add the extension .eet. (eg. myfile.eet).

If your large image was 210 x 297, you can leave the Size values as they are - if not, you will have to put your own values in. The paint area in the blank template covers the entire page. You can define multiple separate areas, but in this case we will use a single image.

Next you will need to define the Paint and Text areas. Paint areas are the parts of the page where you can use the drawing tools. Text areas are those you can type in; they can be read out by clicking on the speaker icon next to them. The size and position of the areas are defined by the following lines in the the .eet file:

PaintAreas = [[5 3 90 65]]
TextAreas = [[5 73 90 10] [5 87 90 10]]

• The first number is the percentage of the page the left margin takes up
• The second number is the percentage of the page the top margin takes up
• The third number is the horizontal percentage of the page the area takes up
• The fourth number is the vertical percentage of the page the area takes up

If, for example, you look at the Artwork template in Paint, the left margin is 5% of the horizontal page size, so approximately 10mm. The top margin is 3% of the vertical page size, so 9mm. The Paint area then takes up 90% x 65% of the page. It will therefore cover most of the width, but leave enough vertical space for the text areas, which are each 10% high, and start at 73% and 87% down the page.

This can be a bit confusing, so you may want to experiment with different numbers. You can have both the Notepad window and Early Essentials open. As soon as you save the .eet file, you can open the template again in Early Essentials to check how it has changed.

The next three lines in the files define the text formatting in the Text area. In Text you can type text you want to appear when the template loads. TextSize and TextFont both require a number 1, 2 or 3. These refer to the three sizes and fonts you defined in the Teacher Setup.

The value for Icon is the filename for your smaller drawing. You do not need to add the folder, because Early Essentials automatically looks in the icons folder.

The same is true for Backgrounds. This should be the same filename, but since this refers to files in the backgrounds folder, it points to the larger image.

Finally you can select an existing wordbank to go with the template, or you can create a new wordbank and connect it to the template through the Wordbank value.

Create a template in Chart

Chart templates do not have a background image; instead they have a library file that holds the different images that sit at the bottom of each column. You will need to create an animation file with a separate frame for each image. If you are not sure how to do this, click here for a tutorial. They do (like all templates) have a menu icon, a menu sound and a menu description, so you can follow steps 2 and 3 as above to create those.

Once you have created the library file, saved it in the libraries folder and referred to it in the .eet file, you need to set the value for Columns to match the number of frames in your library file. Make sure your number of columns matches the number of frames in your library file.

SmallElements and BigElements let you change the order of the images, but in most cases you can leave these as they are - the frame images will simply appear in the order you created them in the library file.

Hints lets you define the small pop-up tags that appear when you hold the cursor over the images - this is also the text that is read out when you right-click on the image. You can put any text you like in the tags, but it is best to use a single word description of the image. Make sure you have as many tags as columns, and surround each tag with a pair of '|'.

Finally, you can pick the title that appears at the very top of the template by setting the Title value.

Create a template in Turtle

Turtle templates start in the same way as the Paint and Write templates, so start by following steps 1, 2 and 3 as above, then:

You can change the number of cells in the grid with the SizeGrid value - this sets the number of rows and columns. You will then need to decide where to position the turtle and which direction it will face.

InitialPos places the turtle - the two coordinates start from an origin of 0,0 in the centre of the grid and then count in 1 cell increments. Since you want the turtle to be in the middle of a cell rather than on the dividing lines, if you pick a grid with an even number of cells you will need to adjust the coordinates. You will need to add an extra '.5' at the end of each coordinate to traverse the distance from the centre of the grid to the middle of the first cell. So, if you want your turtle one down and to the left of centre, your coordinates will be [-1.5 -1.5]. With an odd number of cells the centre of the grid will also be the centre of a cell and you do not need to worry about the adjustment.

InitHeading is simply a degree value between 0° and 360°, with 0° being up.

Depending on how you will be using the template you may want the turtle's path visible or invisible. You can set this by changing the pen settings: Pen takes the values pu (Pen Up) and pd (Pen Down) - a line will only appear in the Pen Down position. If you have Pen Down on, you can select the initial colour by setting the Red-Green-Blue value in PenColour.

Finally, you need to link the template to the turtle shape with the ShapeBig and ShapeSmall values - make sure both values point to the same graphic in the shapes folder.

Create a template in Graph

Graph templates are quite different from the other types: they do not contain any images, text or paint areas. The only things you need to define are the category names and colours and the type of graph. You can start by following steps 2 and 3 above to create the menu icon and the sound file.

Category names are set with the 'Text' line. Type in the value for each category, surrounded by '|' and separated by a space (eg. Text=[|Week 1| |Week 2|].