A. Free Software to Help with Art and Recording

Art

Photographed or scanned hand drawn artwork is fantastic for CD covers, booklets, printable toys and story illustrations. We understand, however, that not everyone has a digital camera or scanner. In that case, here are two free high performance graphics programs: GIMP (similar to Photoshop) and Inkscape (similar to Illustrator).

1. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

GIMP is a wonderful open source freeware program for image composition, photo altering and image authoring. It blows Microsoft Paint out of the water, and it has similar capabilities to Photoshop, but rather than costing $650 USD, it is totally FREE!

GIMP works on the major platforms, including Linux, Windows and Apple systems. Tutorials are available all over the web. The international development team keeps making a better product with every build. This is a product I highly recommend.

2. Inkscape

Inkscape is an open source freeware scalable vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard scalable vector graphics (svg) file format. It offers the power of Adobe Illustrator, but instead of costing $600 USD, it is totally FREE!

Inkscape performs on the major platforms: Linux, Windows 2000/2003/XP, and Mac OS X. (Inkscape is also successfully used on FreeBSD and other Unix-like operating systems. Note that Windows 98/ME is no longer supported.)

Also note that the teacup in the screenshot is a drawing, not a photo.

Recording

For recording music or stories to your computer, you will need a microphone (unless there is one built into your system) and probably some software to capture and edit your recordings. Here are two free programs we suggest.

3. mp3DirectCut

This is a tiny program (51kb). mp3DirectCut is a fast and extensive audio editor and recorder of mp3s. You can directly cut, copy, paste or change the volume level with no need to decompress your files. This saves encoding time and preserves the original quality. The built in recorder creates mp3s on the fly from your audio input. mp3DirectCut is a great little piece of free software for Windows and Linux users.

You can grab a newer version on the mp3DirectCut website or download this version from Kazoomzoom (374kb zipped folder). Our version includes the lame_enc.dll you need to operate the program. Once you install mp3DirectCut, just drop the lame_enc.dll file into the same folder, and you are good to go!

See more screenshots. To record, just press REC and then PLAY. When done, press stop and save as an mp3. It's that easy!

4. Audacity

Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Windows, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. Audacity is the better option for folks who want multiple tracks and a full effect studio. It is another wonderful free program we love. See the complete list of features.

See more screenshots.

B. Content Submissions to the Children's Netlabel

1. Content. Mail your artwork, recordings and/ or writing PLUS a photo/ image to represent you or your group to the netlabel kids kazoomzoom com.

2. Details And License. Provide some details about your submision via this form:

Netlabel Submissions
This form is for everyone who submits any kind of content (art, recordings, words) to the netlabel. It gives the info we need to make sure your release is shared the way you want to be. This makes sure you get credit for your work and also tells us what kind of rights you wish to keep for your creation.

3. Artist Bio. Submit your artist or group bio via this form:

Netlabel Contributor Bios
This form is for netlabel artists and contributors. The five fields are required of everyone who provides content to netlabel, and the fields will appear on your bio page. For ideas of what to write in your bio, check out samples at the Comfort Stand netlabel.