The Dabitz system ($49.00) is a "paint-by-number" style system where a single "dab" of a marker is made on a transparency based on the directions of a grid sheet placed below. An example of a completed project is shown on the box in the illustration above.
Unlike coloring books, which are fixed designs, this set comes with an app that lets kids take a pictures and, in theory, automatically generate grid sheets based on their own photos. The colors are simplified, and the values are assigned to the grid. You can then print out the grid (if your phone can directly connect to a printer) or send the image of the grid to a PC that does.
Once printed, the grid goes under the transparency, kids dot as directed, and in the end you get a finished product based on the photo. The idea is that when viewed from a distance the dots converge into a recognizable image. This is much the same idea as used by the incredible artist Chuck Close. Only, sad to say, this set fails to even come "Close".
I used this picture of a child.
I ran it through the app, and was immediately skeptical that it was going to work. Compare the original photo to the grid produced by the app.
But, maybe there'd be some magic here. Maybe it would all come together. Then I noticed there was an option to see what it was supposed to look like when those letters were translated to the colors they represent. Here it is:
I persevered, though. Perhaps it would look differently after I dabbed the real thing. It takes a lot of dabbing to finish the grid. There are over 1000 squares in the grid, and each needs its own dab. It takes quite a bit of mind-numbing time. Yes, there is some concentration required here, but to what end? It all might be worth something if the final product had a cool, optical illusion, or Pointillist-Seurat-inspired appeal where all those dots converged into something. But here's the final product. It is simply unrecognizable as having anything to do with the original photo.
I'm not a huge fan of paint-by-numbers systems. I think most kids are better served with the open-ended creative experience that markers, crayons, or colored pencils and a pad of paper provide. The draw here was the technology and it is in that respect an utter disappointment. By the way, as of this writing, the Dabitz Portable Dab Desk has a five star rating on Amazon, with one "verified" purchaser. Let your eyes give you a first-hand method of evaluating not only this system, but the reliability of some of the reviews on that platform and others.
