Information designers combine content from a variety of media sources, including photos, scans, screen captures, logos, videos, audio clips, and so many more. This workshop emphasizes working with images. During the workshop, you capture, process, and curate visual content from several sources.
Your work on this assignment will result in a collection of images, both original and edited.
For the complete details about how to submit your work, see Submission Requirements.
This workshop emphasizes learning to process images using tools that you already have on hand as well as tools that you can acquire for little or no additional cost. That means using a smartphone/tablet and a computer. There are multiple tools available for image capture and editing on all devices that you might integrate into your work patterns. This workshop asks you to explore tools that are accessible to you by default, and to try out ones that you can acquire.
If you purchased an Adobe Creative Suite subscription for the semester, I encourage you to work with Adobe Photoshop for the advanced tasks of this workshop. If your subscription does not cover Photoshop, then consider using one of the following options.
Link: Adobe Express
Link: Canva
Link: GIMP
When you need instruction to support specific tools or actions, conduct a targeted search for learning materials. Use your tech and your choices as your search parameters. For example, search for scanning apps for iOS devices if you have an iPhone or iPad. In contrast, with Adobe Photoshop, you may not need to search by computer platform (e.g., MacOS, Windows). You can probably focus in on the tasks you want to complete. A search of remove background photoshop yielded a lot of choices. For example, the vid I link below is very helpful. Check it out.
Adobe Photoshop: Remove Background Options
Link: 4 Ways To Remove Backgrounds In Photoshop For Beginners | Brendan Williams, BWillCreative.com
During this workshop, you will complete 3 tasks.
To complete the workshop, you'll need to identify or select tools to work with, each of which connects to a specific context. Specifically, you'll set yourself up to work with one tool from each of the following 3 categories of tools.
Begin by using the camera on your phone to take 3 new images that fit the following specs.
Before you do anything else, export the image files for curation. I want to see the original images that you begin with, which means you need to save them and set them aside unaltered for submission. Curate the original files using the following file names.
Use these images to complete the following 3 mini-projects.
Note. Always optimize after cropping. You'll get better results overall.
Note. Again, optimize after cropping.
Note. Again, optimize after cropping.
Export this set of image files for curation. Now that you have edited the images a bit using your smartphone or tablet, you'll use the resulting images for something more complex. Curate the edited files using the following file names.
Use these images to complete the following 3 mini-projects. Although your phone/tablet apps for image manipulation may be able to accomplish some or all of these tasks, for this part of the workshop I want you to shift your attention to more-advanced tools such as Adobe Photoshop.
Note the optional additional step described below that you can complete with your phone/tablet for extra credit.
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Note. Use your chosen advanced tool. Adobe Express and GiMP can complete this edit. Canva may not be able to without a subscription.
Note. This is a common, useful image edit. Again, use your chosen advanced tool. Adobe Express and GiMP can complete this edit. Canva may not be able to without a subscription.
Note. Make the position of your body in the composite image make sense, even if you have to crop the selfie image to make that happen.
Curate the edited files using the following file names.
Optional Mini-projects. If you would like to see how your phone/tablet compares to the professional grade tools you used to complete this last set of mini-projects, I encourage you to complete that cycle one more time using the tools you have on your phone. If you complete this second cycle, you will earn 10 extra credit points, boosting your total possible points to 60/50 for the assignment.
Curate these edited files using the following file names (adding SD for smart device to distinguish them from the others).
Use your scanning app to capture 3 to 5 pages of a printed document. As you capture each page, use the in-app tools to optimize the scans. For example, scanning apps can render even a folded or bent or otherwise compromised scan into a perfectly flat-looking page. Experiment with those capabilities until you have all of the images looking like good-quality photocopies of printed pages.
Export the scanned pages as a single PDF. Most scanning apps will offer this as a standard export option. If your app does not, then export the pages as separate PDF files so you can assemble them into a single PDF in the classroom lab using Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Curate this document file using this file name.
Use an additional folder to organize your work on your shared class space on Dropbox. That is, add a folder named Preparing Images to your Workshops folder. Place the files that result from this assignment into that new folder.
If you have followed file specifications all the way through the workshop, this submission will present no challenge at all. If you have not labeled files to specs along the way, go back through the workshop description to update your files before submitting your work.
If you complete only what is required for this workshop, you will have 10 labeled files in your Preparing Images folder. If you complete the optional set of mini-projects, you will have 13 files.
Post your properly labeled project files in the Preparing Images subfolder on your shared Dropbox space.
Note: Do not share the files or folders with me. By placing your submissions in your shared class folder, you have already granted me access to this content.
There are 50 possible points for this workshop. You will earn points according to this standard.
This material has evolved over many years of teaching & research, and is protected by U.S. copyright laws.
If you are here because of random chance, or because this content came up in a search, then please feel free to explore the site. If you are a teacher or other professional in any context who would like to use any of my course content in your work, I grant you permission to do so with the following limitations.