Unit 30 - M1

Unit 30 - D2

Describe and evaluate the impact that file format, compression techniques, image resolution and colour depth have on file size and image quality.

(D2) 

File format – File format has an impact on file size and image quality because there are different file types for different compression methods, and this affects the quality of the image in a few ways. For example, if you save your file as a BMP file, the image is uncompressed, and every pixel is left in its place which leaves the file size big, but the quality is at a maximum. If you save your file as a JPG for example, the file size is smaller, but the quality of the image isn’t that much of a high quality. JPG uses a compression method that analyses blocks of 8x8 pixels and, but depending on what the image is, this could reduce the quality of pixels within a block. It is important to always save the compressed picture as a copy and keep the uncompressed image original because it is impossible to get the original quality back.As shown in the picture below, if you save your image as a JPEG, it will take fewer pixels to save and it saves up a lot of data compared to if you saved it as a GIF or PNG. The image is also a lot better than the others so you can see why people would prefer to save it as a JPEG instead of the other files.

Compression techniques – Compression techniques impact on file size and image quality because any type of compression will reduce the size of an image. There are two main types of compression which describe how they affect images, I researched this and found out that one of them is called ‘Lossy’ compression. This type of compression reduces the size of the image by removing some data from it; this means it will affect the quality of the image. The other compression type is ‘Lossless’ compression, this type of compression reduces the size of the image by changing the way in which the data is stored, so this shouldn’t make any changes to the image that has been made.

Image resolution – image resolution will have an impact on file size and image quality because changing Image resolution is measure in DPI, which is Dots Per Inch, this means that if you increase the resolution then the DPI will increase and the quality of the image will get better because there are more pixels that make up the image, so this should make this image more professional. When the image resolution is increased the image has more pixels, and as I found out this means that the file will get a lot bigger as the number of pixels increases. But decreasing the resolution will make the image quality lower but will reduce the file size.

Colour depth – Colour depth has an impact on file size and the image quality because it is used to describe the maximum number of colours that are used in the image. If there is a high amount of colours then the image will look more realistic when it is done. With bitmap images, the colour depth will affect the final file size. The amount of colours an image can contain depends on the bit depth of its pixels. The higher the bit depth value, the more colour information each pixel can display and the greater the number of colours the image can contain. When finding out how colour depth has an impact on file size and image quality, I learnt that the RGB colour mode contains 8 bits in each of its three colour channels which are red, green and blue, this gives the RGB image a colour depth of 24 bits (8 bits per channel x 3 channels). These will affect the quality of the image because it is up to you how much colour you want to put on the image, you can make it more shaded in other parts, or maybe add affects which could turn it black and white or even in a faded like image.

Unit 30 - D1

 D1 - Describe and evaluate the ongoing developments in these printing/output techniques:

There are developments going on in lots of technical machines nowadays, especially things to do with I.T, there are developments going on for Vinyl cutters and laser cutters to make signage a lot better. This is something that is good to develop because there are lots of signs such as direction signs and symbols that are always needed, and when they are developing on these sorts of things, it makes it easier for us to understand and use in our everyday way of living. Vinyl cutters and laser cutters are really good for signage, they make everything nice and bold so everyone can understand and it can cut to basically any size, so to keep developing on these kind of things is really important because they will be able to make new designs that they can cut out for more things that need improving on, such as road signs for example.

There are other ongoing developments in printing techniques such as Inkjet & wide format printing for bitmap displays and posters. They have developments such as the Acuity LED 1600, this is a wide- format UV inkjet printer used for producing large posters and winder displays. In the development of this, they have brought out a FUJIFILM technology group; this includes chemical technology and image processing technology to make the final image more professional and clear when it is being printed off. I think these developments are really good to improve on because if they aim to build an effective inkjet printer, then everything will combine together to make a high image quality. This will also make printing a lot easier because no one will have to worry about the quality of the image when it comes out the printer because it will be in such high quality. The only thing I could think of that would hinder this development would be the cost of it all, as the image resolution of printing gets better, the price will increase which could make it a negative, but other than that, this is a great technical advantage to have when developing it.

Laser printer for leaflets and flyers is also a printing technique that is being developed on all the time. Some would say that this way of printing is better than inkjet printing because laser printer is a digital printer which produces specifically high quality printing. A laser beam projects an image of the page onto an electrically charged rotating drum coated with selenium or, more common in modern printers. Making developments in this printing technique will be really useful because it is quicker than inkjet printing and is cheaper in the long run. Also the sizes that laser printing can cut out in are larger than other printing techniques so this would be very useful to improve on.

I think all of these techniques have affecting the creation of graphics because it allows us to do more things and create more images on larger items. Without all of these techniques, we wouldn’t be able to make things such as a road sign so I think it is very important that we keep making developments on these types of things so then we can keep making more things that we didn’t think we could. Technology keeps getting better each year, so having these printing/output techniques on the go all the time will make sure that we can keep creating more graphics. I think this has mainly affected the creation of graphics in the way we make them because road signs are really important to everyone, and the different sizes that they can be made nowadays is really useful to everyone.

Unit 30 - P6

P6 - Explain some of the legal pitfalls in using and editing graphics.

Essentially, this is about copyright issues and gaining permission to use copyright products.

There are quite a few legal pitfalls in using and editing graphics. First of all, all graphic images are made by someone and the creators of an image or piece of work will have some sort of protection and this is called Copyright. Copyright is used by creators to prevent someone using their work then claiming that it is theirs. Having this protection of copyright is useful for the creators of the images because it doesn’t allow anyone to use their images and work on them without their permission. So this is something that everyone has to be careful with when using and editing graphics, because they could be using someone’s work when it is under copyright and this could end up in them breaking the law.

The copyright is mainly there to protect the images and work that have been created by people and to protect them from other people wrongly using their work when not granted permission. There are lots of examples of people breaking the copyright law in the UK, such as when downloading a song, if people are downloading a song when they don’t have to pay for it then they are downloading it illegally, the correct way to do it would be to pay for it when downloading it, but lots of people do it in a way where they don’t have to. If anyone is caught doing something like this then they would have to face something serious, even though that It isn’t such a big thing. Plagiarism is a problem basically caused by the user of the image because it just shows that they haven’t got it properly protected, because if they did no one would be able to use it and edit it.  

When the user wants to edit images, the first thing they should do is find out the ownership of that graphic and whether it can be used or not. Most of the time this can be done quite quickly without any troubles because owners print their names or copyright on or close to the image. If there is no name printed on the image, then the image isn’t protected and can be used because most likely it is on the webpage or book where the image can be found.

If you break the copyright law by using and editing a graphic image when not allowed, the owner of the image is allowed to sue you, and this normally ends up in the person paying a fine. But sometimes this is only a let off for the person who has broken the copyright law, it mostly depends on what damage you have done to the persons work and how much success you have got from it, because in some cases the person who has broken the copyright law can face a prison sentence of a maximum of 10 years, or even a massive fine, they are both things that no one wants to get done to them so it is very important that people take care when they are using graphical images. 

There is also the intellectual law that users need to look at before they edit graphics. There should be a contract with this law and any contract should clearly state what the client is purchasing rights to, what those rights are, and what the designer is retaining. Most designers never sell rights to sketches or notes, they are always retained and the client is purchasing the final image/design only. The designer will sell the rights to the final product if it's negotiated, and this is mainly for files such as Photoshop or Illustrator.

People editing graphics also have to look at the Trademark law. The main purpose of a trademark is to entitle the source of goods or services. The trademark is the substitute for someone’s signature. To have protection, a trademark must be distinctive rather than descriptive or generic, also it has to be attached to a product that is actually sold in the marketplace and it has to be registered with the Trademark Office.

Unit 30 - P4

Unit 30 - M2

Unit 30 - P3

unit 30 - P1

P1 - To create the materials needed, you will need to create graphic images.  You need to specify and describe the hardware and software needed to create the imagery digitally.  Consider the computer system, input devices, and output devices and also file storage

To have a computer that fully works with creating images and shapes, the computer will need basic things such as the monitor for the user to look at and evaluate their work. Also the computer needs a keyboard so you can write things onto the computer to either help you with your work, or to write reminders on what you need to do. Then one of the most important things a computer needs is the mouse, this is important because you need the mouse to click on to different documents and software’s in order to complete the work that you want to do. These are the basic things that you need with a computer to do most of the things that you need to do, if you didn’t have a monitor, a keyboard or a mouse then you basically won’t have a computer.

To create graphic images and materials, you will need certain software’s; for example Photoshop and serif for example. On software’s you will find photo manipulation, this is an application where you can edit images using techniques to photographs in order to create an illusion or deception through analog or digital means. On Photoshop you can also use drawing packages for logos for example, drawing packages are readily available and range from CAD packages, through adaptable drawing, drafting and illustrating packages via multimedia and photographic to specialist flowcharting and brain mapping. Desk top publishing is also a software available on a computer; desktop publishing can produce text and images with attractive layouts. A desktop publishing system allows you to use different type faces, identify different margins and reasons, and insert illustrations and graphs directly into the text. The most powerful desktop publishing systems enables you to create illustrations; while less powerful systems let you insert illustrations created by other programs. You need software’s such as Photoshop and Illustrator in order to create different graphic images and change the layout of the images used to make it look a lot better if it’s by blending, shading or transforming the image. Photoshop and Illustrator have lots of different things on them to enable you to create lots of different images; these are really useful programmes because it has allowed lots of different images to be created that are really famous.

There will have to be input devices in the computer to make sure that you can create images or make changes to them to fit the way you like your work for example a digital camera, this helps because a digital camera captures information and stores it on the device via the memory card (which is a storage device). There are a few devices you can use this on, most of the time you use them on an Apple Mac computer though. A scanner has to be in the computer, this stores data in a computer, this also can be used to scan and input data onto the computer. This is very useful because you can scan images and store them onto your computer then make changes to it. Another input device that a computer needs is a graphics tablet, a graphics tablet is an input device used by artists to allow them to draw a picture onto a computer screen without having to use a mouse or keyboard. It consists of a flat, touch-sensitive pad and a drawing device, usually a pen. The tablet is most suited for artists and those who like to have that natural feel of a pen-like object to use the marker on the computer screen.

There also needs to be output devices for the user to show their work off to everyone. These include things such as a printer, this is needed because if you didn’t have a printer, then you would not be able to show your work to people because it will constantly be on the computer at all times, without having a hard copy. A projector is also an output device that would be needed. This is used for showing work onto a bigger screen, the projector helps with this because it can connect to the computer and what is shown on the computer screen, will be shown on the projector. A vinyl cutter is also an output device; the vinyl cutter is an entry level machine for every signage business. It's important for sign making. Vinyl cutters are mainly used by to make signs, banners and advertisements. Advertisements seen on automobiles and vans are often made with vinyl cut letters, vinyl cutters can also be used to cut out shapes from thin cardboard. 

All of these output devices, input devices; software’s and basic computer things all make creating and adjusting images work.

Unit 30 - P2

Unit 30 – P2

Printed Materials

For the Kingswood Secondary Academy’s option and parents evening, they are going to need to have printed sheets of paper to give out to everyone. The file type Vector is probably the best type of programme to use for this because it has a lot of things that come with it to make it printer friendly. Vector has a lot of characteristics such as it can scale to any size of paper which will be useful because the school might want to use different kinds of paper to explain different types of things. It also doesn’t have a background which can be useful because it will print off in a better image because it won’t have to overcome anything that is in the background. Vector is also more printer friendly than Bitmap so the school would most likely want to use this programme to produce brochures and materials to the parents that come to the evenings. File types that are associated with Vector are EPS, AI and CDR. The file type AI is the best way to save something as because it doesn’t take up as much data, if you saved a few things under EPS then it would take up quite a lot of data, but in AI, it will be a lot smaller so that’s what the school would be better off using. AI is better than EPS and CDR because Ai is smaller in size; it is supported by many popular graphic software, paid version and free open source. Also Ai is the industry standard in design & printing. This doesn’t mean that CDR and EPS are bad though, CDR is a file extension for a vector graphics file used by Corel Draw, a popular graphics design program. Corel Paint Shop Pro and Adobe illustrator 9 and later can also open some CDR files. Whereas EPS requires PostScript language to draw its image. The school must have a specific software application to create an EPS file, such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and QuarkXpress. EPS file is often used when exchanging vector graphics (logos for example) that are only to be read but not edited by the receiver, such as sending the file to a print house. PDF is also a very important file that can be used for printing, in many ways it might be the best file to use. PDF stands for Portable Document Format, each PDF file captures a complete description of a fixed-layout flat document, including the text, fonts, graphics, and other information needed to display it. Also if a file is saved under PDF, it can be reopen on any computer which is good for the school because some files can’t be open on computers such as Mac’s.  So Vector files are the best way for the school to print of brochures for their evenings.

Online materials

When the school wants to display graphical images on the Kingswood website, they will be better off using Bitmap because this programme is more used and is more effective for online things than what Vector is. When you go to a website and see a static image, it is almost certainly a bitmap. Bitmaps are made up of pixels—dots lined up next to each other in a grid that represent what you can see on the screen.  Bitmap used files such as JPEG and GIF, but use image compression systems that can significantly decrease their file size. For this reason, JPEG and GIF images are used on the Web, while BMP images are often used for printable images. This would be useful for the school to use because even though Bitmap takes up more storage and memory, it also makes it easier to store things online and make images look professional. Bitmap graphics also takes less processing power than what Vector graphics does, and it is better that Bitmap is made up of pixels because Vector is made up from lines equations and calculations, so this will make it easier for the school to process images online. When you zoom in on a bitmap image you can see the individual pixels that make up that image. Bitmap graphics can be edited by erasing or changing the colour of individual pixels using a program such as Adobe Photoshop which is a system that the school will have. Vector formats are not well supported on the web. The two most popular image formats used on the Web are GIF and JPEG which of course are Bitmap formats. Most vector images must first be converted into bitmaps images before they can be used on the Web. So for the school to post things onto the school website they should use Bitmap Files. 

Unit 1 - skills audit

	Initial audit
	A	I	T
Word Processing
Level 1
I can open a new document	A
I can open an existing document	A
I can save a new document	A
I can save a document using the ‘save as’ facility and I understand why it is important to do so	A
I can format a document	A
I can change fonts	A
I can spell check	A
I can insert text	A
I can insert images	A
I can wrap around text	A
I can use templates appropriately	A
I can use headers and footers appropriately	A
I can use the Thesaurus	A
I can format the background	A
Level 2
I can change the print/page setup	A
I can paginate a document	A
I can import external data from other packages		I
I can use mail merge		I
I can insert footnotes and end notes	A
I can search and replace	A
I can create/format tables	A
I can use Styles	A
I can use Word count	A
Level 3
I can create a customised dictionary	A
I can create an automatic table of contents	A
I can create an index			T
Spreadsheets
Level 1
I can open a new worksheet	A
I can open an existing worksheet	A
I can add new worksheets to exiting ones	A
I can rename worksheets	A
I can move or copy sheets	A
I can add columns	A
I can add rows	A
I can delete columns	A
I can delete rows	A
I can enter data	A
I can copy a formula or a data series along a row or a column	A
I can sort data in ascending and descending order using primary and secondary sort functions		I
I can format data to show different data types	A
I can format data to show different data types, including date	A
I can format data to show different data types, including percentage	A
I can format data to show different data types, including currency	A
I can format cells to show bold	A
I can format cells to show italics	A
I can format cells to show underline	A
I can format cells to show font style	A
I can format cells to show font size	A
I can format cells to show cell border and shading	A
I can format cells to show text alignment and positioning within a cell	A
I can import data	A
I can create formulas	A
I can use functions	A
I can select non-adjacent columns	A
I can use Goal Seek			T
I can create charts/graphs and modify them	A
I can use filters and sort data into order		I
I can amend data on the spreadsheet in order to get different results	A
I can  change font size, type and colour in a cell and over a range of cells	A
I can move cell contents by using the click and drag approach	A
I can create and edit a graph using the chart wizard	A
I can rename worksheets	A
I know how to print formulae	A
I can preview and print spreadsheets using the appropriate orientation	A
Level 2
I can cut and paste data and graphs from spreadsheets into other applications	A
Level 3
I can use absolute cell referencing	A
I can use relative cell referencing	A
I can group worksheets to allow consistent editing of cells in a work book	A
I can use the Paste Special and the Paste Link commands	A
I can use conditional formatting		I
I can merge cell contents	A
PowerPoint
Level 1
I can open a new document	A
I can open an existing document	A
I can save a new document	A
I can save a document using the ‘save as’ facility and I understand why it is important to do so	A
I can format a document	A
I can change fonts	A
I can spell check	A
I can insert text	A
I can insert images, change font and layout	A
I can create and run a slide show	A
I can add animation and transitions	A
I can insert hyperlinks	A
I can add timings and animations to a slide show	A
I can add slides	A
I can amend slides	A
I can delete slides	A
I can create my own backgrounds on a slide	A
I can use backgrounds that are already created	A
I can insert graphics	A
I can use ClipArt	A
I know how to use animations appropriately	A
I know how to edit images by cropping	A
I know how to edit images by resizing	A
I can view a presentation on a mouse click	A
I can set up a show to run automatically on timings	A
I can insert transitions and animations	A
Level 2
I can create a slide master			T
I can import sound – KS 4 & 5		I
I can import video – KS 4 & 5			T
I know how to present printouts as handouts	A
I know how to present printouts as notes pages	A
Email
Level 1
I can send emails	A
I can receive emails	A
I can reply to emails	A
I can forward emails to single recipients	A
I can forward emails to multiple recipients	A
I can attach a file to an email message	A
I can attach multiple files to an email message	A
I can appropriately set the importance of a message	A
Level 2
I can use Cc	A
I can use Bcc	A
I can use an address book appropriately and can store an address	A
I can use an address book appropriately and can retrieve an address	A
I can use an address book appropriately and can use addresses	A
I can create and use an email signature		I
Internet
Level 1
I can navigate to known websites, and do basic searches	A
I can save images from a website as required and use them appropriately	A
I can save text from a website as required and use them appropriately	A
I can connect to the internet using a URL	A
I can navigate around a website	A
I can access and download appropriate information from the internet	A
I can bookmark websites and add to favourites	A
I understand the restrictions of copyright	A
I can use a URL to connect to a website from an intranet	A
I can use a URL to connect to a website from favourites	A
I can use a URL to connect to a website from bookmarks	A
I can use a URL to connect to a website typing accurately	A
Level 2
I can use Boolean Operators to undertake more accurate searches	A
I can save video from a website as required and use them appropriately			T
I can save animations from a website as required and use them appropriately		I
Desktop Publishing (Publisher or Adobe Indesign)
Level 1
I can open a new document	A
I can open an existing document	A
I can save a new document	A
I can save a document using the ‘save as’ facility and I understand why it is important to do so	A
I can format a document	A
I can change fonts	A
I can spell check	A
I can insert text	A
I can insert images, change font and layout	A
I can design documents from scratch	A
I can decide which publication to use at the appropriate time; for example, newsletters, worksheets, brochures, etc.	A
I can use text boxes	A
I can use Word Art	A
I can insert tables	A
I can insert picture frames	A
I can insert Clip Art	A
I can use Shapes and Auto Shapes	A
I can add text	A
I can amend text	A
I can delete text	A
I can use colour	A
I can format backgrounds	A
I can format colours	A
I can format images	A
I can copy text and images	A
I can paste text and images	A
I can move text and images	A
Level 2
I can use templates	A
I can use text effects	A
I can insert tables	A
I can edit tables	A
I can reposition tables	A
I can resize tables	A
Multimedia (cameras, scanners etc.)
Level 1
I can use a digital camera	A
I can use a digital camcorder	A
I can transfer images from a camera to a computer and edit these images	A
I can use software to import images into appropriate applications	A
I can use software to import images into appropriate applications, including Moviemaker			T
I can use software to import images into appropriate applications, including Publisher		I
I can crop and change file size and format as appropriate to purpose, e.g. save as jpeg	A
Level 2
I can use software to import images into appropriate applications, including Photo Editor	A
I can recognise the difference between different image files, such as vector based	A
I can recognise the difference between different image files, such as bitmapped	A
I can use a scanner to import images into appropriate applications			T
I can use a scanner to capture images			T