C. Demetriou (2009) 8 November 2009 1
Documents are made up of lots of objects:-
ž Characters
ž Paragraphs
ž Sections
ž Frames
ž Headers
ž Footers
ž Footnotes
ž Pages
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ž Characters
› A character is an alphanumeric
letter, symbol or number in a
document.
ž Paragraph
› Paragraphs are generally used when a long document is being
created.
› Paragraphs can have a style which defines the features of the
text, e.g.
– Heading 3
– Verdana 20pt
– Bold
– Centred
– 12pt Spacing
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ž Section
› A portion of a document of which
formatting can be set
› Section breaks tell the software to split the
current document into smaller sections.
ž Frame
› A frame is an area on a page which can
contain graphics or text.
› These can be positioned anywhere on a
page and moved independently of the
rest of the document.
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ž Header
› Headers appear in the top margin of every page.
› Often used to hold titles, authors and dates.
ž Footer
› Footers appear in the bottom margin of every page.
› Often contains page numbers, dates or file names.
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ž Footnote
› These explain briefly word or phrases in a document using a
reference.
› Explanations are at the foot of a page.
ž Page
› A printed side of paper.
› Contains the components of a document.
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ž Mail Merge is combining a data
source with a standard document
› Standard documents created in either
DTP or Word Processor packages allow
mail merges.
› Data Sources can be created in a
database then merged into the document
as merge fields.
– If there are 100 customers on your database you
could create 100 letters with the same content
replacing the names and addresses in a short
period of time.
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ž Documents can be
produced quickly.
ž Only one copy of the
document needs to be
proofread.
ž Data sources can be
used for many different
merged documents.
ž Standard letters or
templates can be used.
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ž Page Sizes & Orientation
› A4, letter, A5 etc.
› Portrait
› Landscape
ž Text Position, size and style
› Alignment (left, centre, right and justified)
› Font styles and sizes (Verdana 16pt)
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ž Clip Art
› Graphics often
provided free with
software or at a cost
from software
manufacturers.
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ž Thumbnail images
› Cut Down smaller
images that when
clicked show the final
product.
› Quick to download
› Easier to search
through
› Not always possible to
see the quality of an
image
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ž Use of Graphic Libraries
› Kitchen design
› Cartography
› PCB design
› Network design
› Web pages
› Collection of specific images related to topic
› Specialist software developed with
manufacturers to produce images
› Freeware v purchasing images
› Images can be edited for individual projects
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ž Also known as “Raster
graphics”
ž Made up of pixels
ž Pixels have 2
properties:
› Colour
› Position on the grid
ž Scanners and Digital
cameras create
bitmap images.
ž They suffer from
pixellation.
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Pixellation
ž Both parts were made in Adobe
Photoshop’s Image resize feature, the
left using the Nearest Colour resampling
method and the right image using the
Bicubic resampling, which uses pixel
interpolation.
ž The interpolated image has no sharp
edges but is considerably blurrier.
ž Pixellation is a problem unique to
bitmaps.

ž BMP Windows bitmap. The standard file format used with
Windows applications.
ž GIF Graphics Interchange Format. These files are often used
on websites, especially as animated GIFs. They have a 256
colour limit (8 bits per pixel) and use a lossless compression
algorithm to save on the amount of memory used.
ž JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group. These are also
frequently used on websites. JPEGs are often used when
good-quality photographic images need to be stored, as
they can store 24 bits per pixel and have the capability to
store 16 million colours. There are different JPEG formats,
which relate to the level of compression used.
ž TIF/TIFF Tagged Image File Format. The file structure is more
complex than some of the other formats but this format can
be used on several different platforms.
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ž Graphics stored as
Geometric based data.
› Mathematical equations that
define key properties.
› Works with lines that have…
– proportional lengths.
– Thickness.
– Starting point.
› Used for design purposes
› Architects / Designers who need
to adjust sizes, proportions, etc.
› No pixellation due to being
generated by a mathematical
calculation (Changes
proportion)
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ž Software used to show information on
slides (e.g. MS Ppoint, OO Impress,
Google Docs Presentation etc.)
ž Features that are included in this type of
software:-
› Text
› Images
› Sound
› Video
› Animation
› Slide Transition
› Hyperlinks
› Hotspots
› Buttons C. Demetriou (2009) 8 November 2009 18

› Text
– Clear text should be used in presentations with
well chosen vocabulary that suites the needs
of the user.
› Images
– Images of sufficient quality should be chosen
to help convey the message you are trying to
get across.
› Sound
– These can be added to animation used or to
add to effects of slides appearing and
disappearing.
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› Video
– Video can be embedded into a presentation,
e.g. a YouTube video. You just need to be
careful not to distract your user.
› Animation
– This can be added to your content so you can
bring points in one by one or show a diagram
that builds itself up one step at a time.
› Slide Transition
– These make the presentation more exciting to
watch. Effects such as dissolve or fly in can be
used to attract the users attention.
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› Hyperlinks
– These allow the user to jump to either a
webpage or another slide in the document.
› Hotspots
– Areas on the screen that when clicked go to
another page or screen.
› Buttons
– Allow the user to navigate through slides
manually in perhaps a different order than
they were created.
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ž Over Head Transparency
› Can be black/white or colour printed
› Required direct user input to change slide
› Slides can become damaged – finger prints
› Can skip slides and go back with little trouble
ž Slideshow
› Computer required
› Difficult to skip slides
› Animation – music/sound, video
› User interaction permitted
ž For both:
› Consistent layout
– Standard fonts and colours
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ž Manual Transition
› The user controls the flow of the slideshow by either
clicking or pressing a key on the keyboard.
› Ideal when the show is accompanied by a talk.
ž Automatic Transition
› The show automatically goes from slide to slide without
intervention using timings which have to be chosen
carefully to ensure that the user has a chance to read the
content.
› Used perhaps in information kiosks or waiting room slide
shows.
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ž Linear
› Where the slides are displayed in
a pre-determined order and the
user can not jump out of the
sequence.
ž Non-linear
› Where the slides can be
accessed in any order. The user
has the ability to jump to specific
or groups of slides.
› Buttons or hyperlinks are used to
navigate around the show.
ž Hierarchical
› Allows different but pre-
determined slides to be jumped
to depending on an option
selected.
› The user can only jump to
specific paths.
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