The NGAkids site uses Shockwave, Flash, QuickTime, and Acrobat (PDF). If you're using a recent browser you're probably familiar with these popular plug-ins. Let's see if you're ready to explore the more interactive parts of our site. Near the top of this page, just under the words "Test your plug-ins," you should see a box. Inside, if you have the necessary software, you'll see animated QuickTime, Shockwave, and Flash icons.

The Art Zone interactives require the Shockwave player. Without it, interactives such as Brushster will appear blank. After downloading the plug-in, follow the installation directions. After Shockwave is installed, quit your browser and relaunch it, then come back to NGAkids

Please note: Many computers have Flash pre-installed, but you will need to install Shockwave to use the interactive activities in the NGAkids Art Zone. Most modern Mac and Windows browsers support Shockwave–if yours does not accept the plug-in, try another browser.

For Windows-based PCs, we recommend Internet Explorer or Firefox.  For the Mac, we recommend Safari 3 or 4, with the latest version of Shockwave Player 11.5. Some Macintosh OS 10.5 users may experience display or printing problems with Firefox 3, which has some known incompatibilities with certain Flash and Shockwave content.  If you notice the Firefox browser window is blank or portions of the interactive content seem  to be "breaking apart" into puzzle pieces or disappearing, just resize the browser window by dragging the lower right hand corner of the window to reset the screen display. This is a known problem with Firefox that we hope will be addressed in the next browser update.  To avoid the problem, please use Safari and Shockwave Player 11.5.

If you have an older computer or if you experience any problems with the latest version, Shockwave 10 also works on early Intel Macs running OS X 10.4 (Tiger). To install Shockwave 10, you must first set Safari or Firefox to run in Rosetta mode, then follow the standard installation. Here's how.

Applications like both Safari and Firefox default to running in native mode on the new Intel-based Macs and therefore you must follow a few simple steps to instead have then run in Rosetta emulation mode:

1. Quit out of the browser.
2. Go to your Applications folder and control-click on the browser application bundle.
3. In the context menu that appears select Get Info.
4. Under the General heading of the Info dialog select "Open using Rosetta".
5. Close the Info dialog box.

After completing the above steps the browser will now run in Rosetta emulation mode thus allowing you to install and use the Shockwave Player.

For additional information on downloading, installing, and using Shockwave on an Intel-based Macs, read the Adobe tech note titled Using Shockwave Player on an Intel-based Macintosh.

PRINTING PROBLEMS? 

Shockwave 11 introduced some incompatibilities with the "xtra" that is required to print interactive content. The print function works well on most Windows computers, and on older Macintoshes running Shockwave 10.  If you  have a new Macintosh running OSX 10.5 with Shockwave 11 or later, the print button will not work.  To print, take a screenshot and then print the saved file. Here's how. 

SUGGESTED BROWSERS

Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 3 are recommended for Windows-based PCs. 

Safari 4 is recommended for new Macintosh computers; Safari or Firefox 2 are the best browsers for older Macs.

Firefox 3 has introduced several Flash and Shockwave display errors on some Mac systems. Many of these problems have been resolved with the most recent Firefox update. Shockwave 11.5 addresses some of these issues as well, but some Mac users'  screens still  turn blank after the Shockwave module has loaded. In other instances, clicking on the background of the Web page that contains the module will make the interactive "disappear"  or break apart.

An easy way to fix this problem is to simply resize the browser window by dragging or slightly repositioning the lower right corner. After you resize the window, the interactive should reappear and be fully functional. We hope Firefox's developers will address this "onmousedown" bug in the next browser update. Until then, the best way to avoid the problem is to use Safari.

Adobe has additional tech support information that may be useful if you are getting other "shockwave errors" or if you're having trouble updating the plug-in.  Please read their SHOCKWAVE HELP page. You may need to adjust download permissions or security settings on your computer before installing the player. If you do not have administrative access to install plug-ins, your Windows-based browser may send an error message. HINT: In most cases, the program will work correctly, even though an error message was generated at launch. Give it a few seconds and see if the program loads normally after the error message is dismissed.

If you are running Windows Vista, you should update your Shockwave player to version 11.5. 

PLUG IN DOWNLOADS

Use the following links to download Shockwave Player, QuickTime, Flash, and Acrobat.

 

PRINTING/SAVING SCREEN SHOTS

Click the print button at the top right of the interactive to send the picture to the printer.
Do not use the browser's print menu -- if you do the print out will be blank.

To save a version of your art on your computer, take a screen shot. Here's how:

Macintosh users:

To save part of the screen image, hold down the APPLE KEY (COMMAND) + SHIFT KEY + 4 with one hand (HINT: use your thumb + pinkie + index/pointer finger at the same time). CLICK and HOLD DOWN the mouse button with your other hand, then DRAG/SELECT the area you wish to save or print. When you release the mouse button, the picture will be saved.

To save the entire desktop, hold down the APPLE KEY (COMMAND) + SHIFT KEY + 3 and a screen shot of your entire desktop will be saved automatically. In OS X a PDF file named "Picture #" will appear on your Desktop.  On an old OS 9 computer, a PICT file (named "Picture #") will be saved on your hard drive, instead.

PC/Windows users: click the PRINT SCREEN key (it's usually located near the F12 key), then open any word processor or graphics program and create a new document. Use the PASTE menu command to insert the "remembered" screenshot into your new document. NAME and SAVE the new file, then PRINT it.

If you have a picture editing program on your computer, you can CROP the screenshot, RESIZE it, or make other adjustments before printing.  If you don't have graphics software, just print out the full screen shot and then cut out the part of the screen shot you'd like to save.

Remember, use the print button at the top right corner of the interactive. If you try to print directly from the Web browser's FILE/PRINT menu, the interactive portion will print blank.

TROUBLESHOOTING POP UP WINDOWS
If links don't seem to be working, or if you keep getting redirected to the top of a page you're already viewing, that simply means that your browser is not reading javascript pop-up window links properly. Check your preferences to make sure javascript is enabled and that pop-ups are not being blocked. The "low tech" version of the NGAkids splash page contains conventional (non-javascript) HTML links.