Evaluation Task 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have used a range of software and hardware throughout the project. The software I used consists of photoshop, indesign and blogger, and I have used hardware such as apple computers at school, my windows computer at home and my digital camera. I have developed my understanding in both hardware and software; particuarly as I had never used photoshop, indesign or blogger or an apple computer before! I have also developed my understanding of my camera.

Software I have used

I have used various computer programs, and so have devolped my knowledge of programs such as indesign and photoshop. I have also progressed with my knowledge of blogger.


Photoshop


I had never used photoshop before starting on this project and hence did not know anything about it! However, using online video and instruction tutorials I soon grasped the basics of it, which can be seen through my preliminary task. My main task portrays my progressed photoshop skills, as I had learnt alot more by the end of constructing it.




Some of the things I have learnt:

• How to download and open fonts


• Using clone stamp tool to edit pictures


• Using drop shadow, inward shadow, inward glow etc.


• Using the magnetic lasoo tool


• Using the magic wand tool


• The healing brush tool


• Inserting a gradient


• Warping text


• How to use layers


• Making text glow


• Text on a tangent


• Blur tool

These have enabled me to create realistic products; my magazine front cover and contents were all made in photoshop. It has also aided me with the parts for the double page spread; I have been able to edit pictures and make polaroid photo effects, as well as text with text effects, to export to indesign where I have created the main design of the double page spread.

Some of the tools which I have used in photoshop are :

Indesign


Indesign was where the majority of my double page spread creation took place. I found it very different from photoshop, and it took me a while to grasp how to use it after being so used to photoshop. However, after time it was evident that for pages with a vast amount of text, indesign was the best programme to use.

I learnt how to do these taks in indesign:

• How to add columns


• How to export pictures


• How to get rid of the background


• Text wrapping


• Adding text and text effects

This made me able to produce a high quality contents page, with all the conventions expected on one.

Blogger







Blogger was the online blog-hosting site which we used to display our work. It was relitively easy to use and accustom to everything.

I can now perfom these tasks in blogger:

• Make a new post


• Edit old posts


• Upload pictures and videos


• Change text as appropriate


• Add labels to organize my posts


• Add a header


• Add links to other sites
  

As I had never produced or looked at a blog before, it is evident that I have progressed alot, and I can now confidently use blogger as an oppurtunity to showcase my work.
I have also used software built in to photo viewer on windows vista to edit my pictures for the first time, before I put them into photoshop and airbrushed them furthermore. This includes editing the lighting and contrast.

Hardware I have used

Mac Computer

I had never properly used a Mac before, but these were on offer for us at school, fully loaded with photoshop and indesign. Therefore, I had to quickly learn to use one. It was hard at first, as I was so used to using windows, but I quickly learnt my way around everything.

I have learnt how to

• open and close applications


• how to use safari


• the "command" button


• use the grab tool


• use finder effectively

Windows Vista Laptop

This was my own laptop, so I obviously already knew how to work it. I did however learn some new things such as :

• 
  
  


• How to transfer pictures from my camera card to a viewer software on my computer (something which I have previously struggled with!)


• The editing tool which is built in to viewing pictures on windows vista. Using this, I edited the contrast and lighting of pictures as I took them, which was useful to see which pictures I thought were good and which were definatley not as I went.

My fujifilm camera

Again, I had used my camera before but I had not yet discovered the settings, such as

• aperture


• shutter speed


• proper use of the focus button

I used all three of these methods throughout my task, and also learnt more photography skills such as:

• Aligning my pictures appropriatley


• Using flash only when needed


• Motion blur for when capturing a moving image (for my gig photo)

Before this project, I did not know much about aligning images correctly and using creative decisions to express what I wanted my pictures to show. This can be seen from pictures such as this:

Although I did like this picture, I couldn't use it as the wall in the background and the sheet meant that it did not look like a professional picture. This was in the first round of pictures that I took so it is clear that, when comparing this picture to the ones used in my final product, my photography skills have improved.