Technologies from the process of constructing my product

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.

HardwareRefers to objects that you can actually touch, like disks, disk drives, display screens, keyboards, printers, boards, and chips.

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.

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.

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.

SoftwareSoftware means computer instructions or data. Anything that can be stored electronically is software

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This tool allows me to add effects to the layer. For example a stroke or changing the colour.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.