2. During the process of constructing my magazine I have learnt a range of aspects about different
forms of technology. This includes hardware and software and also new skills I have adapted to
through using each.
Hardware
Refers to objects that you can actually touch, like disks, disk drives, display
screens, keyboards, printers, boards, and chips.
3. Camera
To take the photos for my media product I used the Nikon D50 digital SLR.
By doing this it enhanced my digital skills. I also learnt: how to use the
shutter to lock the focus; appropriately zoom in and out with an optical
zoom lens; how to successfully use lighting and framing to create a good
photograph; and how to model a person to form a good pose with a good
posture.
Computer
I used an imac Apple processor which makes calculations. It is
2GHz which creates speed. Furthermore, it has two processors. I
had never used an imac before so adapting to its features was
difficult at first, however I managed to get used to it and get
comfortable. The network slows it down, but the computer itself
is fast. It also used Random Access memory (RAM) which benefits
the user by allowing a computer to run its operations without
seeing a decline in performance.
4. Apple keyboard and mouse
I had never used an apple keyboard before or a mouse. However, the mouse was a standard
model so was just the ergonomic shaping I needed to adapt to. On the other hand the
keyboard was different. There were some keys in different places, for example the ‘@’ key
along the top number row. Furthermore, getting used to using the apple key as a shortcut or
control button was difficult. However, now I feel comfortable using the keyboard and mouse
and have learnt a range of new skills. For example, using ‘SHIFT/APPLE/4’ to print screen and
also ‘apple/C’ and ‘APPLE/V’ for copy and paste.
5. USB memory stick
I used a USB memory stick to transfer some of my images from my laptop at home to the
Apple MACs in order to edit and use them in my product.
SD card
An SD card was used to transfer my images from y camera onto my computer at home or on
the macs.
In order to do this I used an SD card reader, which enabled me to put the photos fro the
camera onto the computer.
7. During the production of my magazine, I used a range of software. Some of the software I had
used before and others I had not. This allowed me to gain new skills in different programmes.
MAC OSX 9 (operating system) V.10.5.8
I had never used an Apple Mac before so getting used to the software on it was initially
difficult. I have learnt how to drag and drop files onto my desktop and how to save and where
to find my files. Furthermore, I used the finder app to navigate my way around the system.
8. ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS5 VERSION 12
I had used Photoshop before the production of my magazine, however it was not in much depth
or detail and only basics. I have learnt a range of new skills on Photoshop.
Firstly, I learn how to use the magnetic lasso tool to cut out an image accurately and
quickly. By clicking around the edge f the image, the tool would locate the nearest
edge and stick to it. Once the shape was complete a flashing dotted line would
appear around the edge.
Following this, I would click ‘LAYER’ in the tool bar, then
‘NEW LAYER’ and ‘LAYER VIA COPY’ which would separate
the cut out image from the background. All I needed to do
then was drag this new layer into the new document of my
actual magazine document.
9. Next, I learnt how to manipulate a range of layers. I learnt how to delete/hide layers, move and
group a range of different layers into one.
When clicking this I could drag a bar which would vary the
opacity of the layer. 0% being transparent and 100% being
a solid block colour.
By clicking this I can hide a layer to see what my document
would look like without it or possibly to see something
behind it.
This tool allows me to add effects to the layer. For example
a stroke or changing the colour.
10. Furthermore, I used a range of other tools on Photoshop when producing my product.
This is the crop tool I used to reduce the sizing of some
images and shapes.
The brush tool allowed me to chose from a range of
drawing tools to draw shapes. I mainly used this to blend
cropped hair when I placed it over the front of my
masthead.
I used the fill tool to change my background colour from
white to black quickly and then also to change the colour
of my imported text.
Other tools I used include the text tool to add my
subtitles, cover lines and main body text on my contents
pages.
Finally, I consistently used the zoom in and zoom out tool
to change the perspective and view of my pages.
11. I used the free transform tool throughout the construction of
my cover and contents page to change the shape, edit and
manipulate images, text and shapes.
Once the free transform was selected a box like this would
appear, allowing me to change its size etc.
A shortcut to select the free transform on the Apple Mac is:
12. ADOBE IN DESIGN CS3 VERSION 8
I had never used InDesign before so I learnt a lot of new skills when producing my article page.
InDesign allowed me to use new tools and was also a better option to add a main body of text,
over Photoshop.
When starting to set up my page I started
in normal view. This meant that there
were guidelines that I could follow in
order to keep my page in line. When I
wanted to see what I had done so far
looked like, I clicked preview mode which
removed all of the lines.
13. This is the select tool. It is to generally select and move
objects. I used it throughout.
The text tool was used to draw my text box before adding it
in. Before writing my article I filled the space with
‘placeholder’ text and worked the images and shapes
around it, then just copy and paste my article in.
I used this tool to draw a box. I would then be able to place
an image into it. Without drawing this box first I would be
unable to place an image on the page.
Like in Photoshop, I used the zoom in and out tool
throughout the construction of my article page in InDesign
to look at my page from different perspectives.
14. When intending to insert an image onto my
page, I would select the box drawing tool (red
box) then click ‘FILE’ and ‘PLACE’. I would then
select an image and double click, it would then
insert onto my page inside the box I had drawn.
However, sometimes the image would be too
large or too small for the size of the box I had
drawn. To move past this problem I would click
‘OBJECT’, ‘FITTING’ and ‘FIR CONENT TO
FRAME’ which would scale the picture to the
size of the box I had drawn. This was useful in
resizing an image on the page, as free
transform was not an option like in Photoshop.
15. Once I had placed an image I was able to manipulate,
change, transform it etc. by selecting ‘OBJECT’. When this
was done I could chose from the following options of what
I wanted to do to the image.
As a shortcut, the tool bar on the right hand side of the
screen allowed me to make quick edits to an image or
piece of text that was selected. For example changing the
opacity of the object or adding a stroke to it. The colour of
which could also be edited in the same tool bad just above.
16. Once I had written my article in a word document I
copied it and paste it into a text box in my InDesign
file. By clicking ‘TYPE’ I was able to edit the size,
font, colour and a range of other aspects. I was able
to split my article into two columns to follow the
conventions of music magazines.
This bar was located at the top of the screen once
the text box had been selected. It became an easier
was of editing the text without having to go through
a range of stages.
17. INTERNET EXPLORER, SAFARI ON APPLE MACS
As I had never used an Apple Mac before, getting used to basics was difficult. For example,
switching from different documents, not having the page fit the screen etc. From constructing
my product I have learnt how to open a new tab on the internet on an Apple Mac.
I now know that I must click ‘FILE’ and then ‘NEW TAB’ rather than having a box to click on the
page itself.
18. WORDPRESS.COM
A main bit of software used was my Wordpress account. I used my blog to post my final product
and all of my research. I had never had a blog before so I learnt how to create new pages in a
blog, new posts, how to edit my own blog layout and style and also how to follow and add other
blogs to my blog roll.
19. SLIDESHARE.NET
In order to add slide shows onto my blog I created a Slideshare account. This allowed me to
upload my PowerPoint slide shows onto the internet and embed the code into my blog. As this
was my first account I learnt how to set it up, upload files and where to find the embedded
code, specific for each file.
Here are the steps I go through in order to
embed my slide show into my blog. Once I
have the code, I copy and paste it into a
new post.
20. POWERPOINT
I have made a range of PowerPoint documents which I have used and posted onto my blog as
part of research and evaluation. I have used PowerPoint before so no new skills were learnt.
21. YOUTUBE
Throughout the construction of my magazine I used YouTube for music video colour scheme,
props and costumes inspiration. All in keeping with my rock theme. I also imported YouTube
video links of songs related to my genre in my blog. I have used YouTube before, so again no
new skills were learnt. However, I saw how simple it was to add a video link into my blog.
