3. SUCCESSES
The successes I had whilst making my final piece for my
preliminary task were:
I achieved a greater knowledge of how to work Photoshop. I now know how
to cut out images from their original back ground and add them to my own
back ground, how to add things such as glows and shadows around
images/text, how to control the layer s and edit each individual layer.
I was able to see what things I could improve on, such as back ground
colour, image placing and the layout of my front cover.
At home I have a Nikon D40X which is the same model camera as what
school uses, therefore I knew how to work the camera to take my picture.
4. WEAKNESSES
The weaknesses I came across during my preliminary task were:
Because I didn’t take par t in GCSE Media Studies, I only had a basic
knowledge of how to work Photoshop so I didn’t know how to add any
ef fects, cut out images or change back grounds.
I had dif ficulty getting a clean -cut edge around my image, which I had cut
out from it ’s original back ground. In the end I used the ‘Magnetic Lasso
Tool’ and then used the eraser around the edge to clean it up and make it
look more professi onal.
When I was adding the school logo onto my front cover, I had to save the
image from the internet which also saved the back ground of the logo, I
wanted to get rid of the logo but I didn’t know how to so I asked one of my
class-mates and he showed me how to. I now know that I have to use the
‘Magic Eraser’ tool.
5. IMPROVEMENTS
If I had a chance to make my magazine cover again, these are
the things I would do dif ferently:
I would take more time cutting out my images so that it would have a
cleaner edge
I would take a range of photographs to choose from instead of just taking
one photograph and being happy with it
I would create a more professional looking back ground instead of just
having a block -col our
I would create my own school badge so that I can show how comfor table I
am with using Photoshop
I would add more puf fs to make the magazine look more professi onal
I would spend more time on per fecting the front cover and making it look
as professional as possible
6. WHAT I LEARNT
During the course of making my preliminary front cover, I learnt
a range of things. I learnt new techniques on Photoshop such
as:
How to cut out images using the ‘Magnetic Lasso Tool’
How to add new back grounds to images by cutting it out and then re -
arranging the layer s
How to add ef fects such as inner glow, outer glow, drop shadow, inner
shadow, colour overlay and gradient overlay
7. BRIEF
I made sure my preliminary task followed the brief by referring
to my Course Outline booklet every so often. I used a DTP
(Photoshop), I created a new school magazine which featured a
medium close-up shot of a student, appropriately laid out text
and a masthead. I also produced a mock -up of a contents page
which demonstrated my grasp of how to use Photoshop.
