COM 332: Multimedia Design and Editing

Sample Comic Pages

2009-03-25T11:15:00.010-04:00

Will Eisner Sample

Vertical Panels

Strict Panel Layout

Splash Page 2

Splash Page

Many Panels

9 Panels Unusual

3 Panels - Neal Adams Style

How to Create a Character

2009-03-25T11:10:00.000-04:00

http://www.wikihow.com/index.php?title=Create-a-Fictional-Character-from-Scratch&printable=yes

How to Come Up With a Story Outline

1. Introduce a character with a problem, or someone who faces a change in his/her life, or the world as a whole.

2. How does the character take action?

3. Introduce a complication or new character.

4. Make it look as if the main character might fail in a major goal.

5. Resolve the conflict – either either with a victory, failure, bittersweet ending, or an open-ending.The actual comic panels may be numerous for each step, so factor that in accordingly.

Homework:Watch all these videos by Friday.

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Begin coming up with a character and story.

1. Overview: How to Make a Comic Book Basic step-by-step in planning. This technique is not necessarily what we would use in class, but it gives you the general idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNUdDFUJAig

2. Comic book page process This process involves drawing on a page, then scanning that page into Illustrator and working on it from there.

3. Comic Book Character Sketch This Deals with how to draw a cartoony figure from scratch on Illustrator

4. Coloring in a character How to color a drawn, b&w figure.

5. Comic Book Effect Photoshop This involves turning a photo into a cartoon using Photoshop.

6. One-minute Comic Cover Be ready to get scared. (Yours doesn’t have to look this good.)

Comic Book Final Project - Due Date: Friday, May 8

2009-03-24T19:49:00.002-04:00

Project Description:

Produce a 6-page comic book utilizing a combination of the programs we have studied this semester, including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.

The comic book should have a uniform style and tell a complete and comprehensible story. Action and dialogue is to be presented clearly and dramatically, and show both imagination and skill at utilizing the individual “tools” of each program (ie: lasso, clone-stamp, text tool, resizing, pen tool, etc.).

Recommendations, each page follow logically from the last, but show variety. For example, the top page should be a cover page, or splash page, interior pages should show ingenuity in panel layout from the traditional 9-panel page to more dynamic, Will-Eisner –or-Neal-Adams style layouts. Photographs may be imported into the pages, and drawings may be made “from scratch” by Illustrator.

The projects most deserving of A grades show care and time put into them, and do not look rushed, sloppy, or unimaginative. Only those that “go the extra mile” and that at least appear to be a labor of love will stand out enough to earn top marks. Those that are fewer pages will be penalized severely and will risk failure, especially if the pages that are completed seem hastily assembled, and the project is submitted late.

Final projects should be converted to a .PDF and burned onto a CD so they are ready to submit as part of your resume to prospective employers. The comic books themselves should be printed up using a color printer. Finally, save the original InDesign folder into the T: drive drop box allocated for it. REMEMBER: each time you save the document, be sure to include intact links to all of your elements (such as fonts and .jpgs) and remember to save the item as a “package” whenever you do to preserve print quality and keep it publishable.

Due Date: Friday, May 8

Assignment #4: Due Monday 3/23/2009 at the end of the class

2009-03-19T20:35:00.006-04:00

Road Signs

To complete assignment #4 and receive a full mark you will need to submit five best road signs out of the ten you have created to the Blog in JPG format. In addition you will need to submit ten Illustrator .ai files to the Assignment 4 Drop Box on the T drive. Grade marks will be determined on the effort and creativity with the shapes tool, pen tool and the overall design presentation.

Keep in mind that the road signs you are making are designed to be even and the shape you draw should be straight and proportional. Curves should be nice and smooth. Utilize the Grid, Rulers and Guide options.

There will be no REDO option for this assignment. Late assignments will not be accepted.

Pen Tool

2009-03-12T16:43:00.005-04:00

Basic Drawing with Adobe Illustrator's Paths & Pen tool

Illustrator Paths & Pen Tool Attributes

In Adobe Illustrator CS, drawing line-art can best be done via the Illustrator Pen tool (P). The Pen tool is one of the most useful tools in the Illustrator tool pallet, but it can also be one of the most frustrating tools to master for the Illustrator newcomer. Once you become comfortable with this powerful tool you will rarely use the Line tool again.

The Illustrator Pen tool can create straight lines (paths) by clicking point to point or by constraining its movement with the shift key. It can also create graceful bends, curves, and other PostScript shapes that are referred to as Bézier Curves (named after French mathematician and engineer Pierre Bézier).

The Illustrator Pen tool has four attributes (A, B, C, and D shown in Fig. 1). The main Pen tool A is the tool that you will use most of the time. The "Plus" Pen tool B is used to add new anchor points to a path or stroke. The "Minus" Pen tool C is used to remove existing anchor points from a path or stroke. Tools B and C are almost useless because you can easily access their features via keyboard commands while in the Pen tool A mode. Pen tool D can change a hard corner anchor point into a Bézier curve anchor point as well as change a Bézier curve anchor point back to a hard corner point.

The Illustrator Pen tool's "Fill" and "Stroke" features are accessed in the "Tool" pallet (Fig. 2). The term "Stroke" or refers to the actual line that the Pen creates with the "Path". The term "Fill" denotes the background color that will fill in the area within any shape that you create. When creating line-art for technical illustration you would generally leave the "fill" area empty (as shown in Fig. 2 - white box with diagonal red line). In our Fig. 2 sample we are showing the "stroke" color as solid black.

The Pen tool's line thickness (or stroke weight) is controlled by the "Stroke" pallet shown in Fig. 3

Drawing Paths with the Pen Tool

Using Illustrator's Pen tool to create a straight line is as easy as clicking from point A to point B (Fig. 4). To constrain the line to a horizantal, vertical, or 45º diagonal line you would hold the shift key while you click point B. You will notice that the active anchor point is a solid box (point B) and the inactive anchor point (A) is an empty box.

To create the arc path shown in (Fig. 5) you would click and drag point A upward while holding the shift key to constrain the motion vertically. This will create a "Control Line" with a Control Handle". Next you will click point B dragging the Control Handle to the left. Holding the shift key will constrain the dragging motion in a horizontal plane.

Now we will distort the arc's path (Fig. 6) by clicking on one of the Control Handles and dragging it toward the upper-right. The active anchor point (B) is solid and the inactive anchor point (A) is an empty box. When you release your dragging motion the new shape will appear.

Technical Note: If the stoke or path is not active you can re-activate it while in the Pen tool mode by holding the Command key while clicking anywhere along the stroke.

We will now add a third anchor point (C) to our diagonal line path in Fig. 7. By clicking this cursor along the path you will create a new anchor point. When we add a third anchor point to Fig. 8 you will see Control Lines and Handles appear (D). These new Control Lines and Handles assume the correct positioning to follow our arc as it was before this addition. Now we will drag Control Handle D downward and to the left Fig. 8. The Control Handle acts like a magnet, pulling the arc in the same direction as your dragging motion.

Technical Note: When you position the cursor over an active path while in the Pen mode a "plus" sign will appear next to the cursor. When you position the cursor over an existing anchor point while in the Pen mode, a "minus" sign will appear next to the cursor. If you click on the existing anchor point it will remove it from the path.

Conclusion

This is a very basic lesson in the use of the Illustrator Pen tool and its ability to create shapes and curves. Using the techniques discussed in this tutorial there is no limit to the complexity of the shapes you can create with Illustrator Paths. In future tutorials we will explore the multitude of keyboard commands that control Pen Tool behavior as well as attempting to trace very complex subject matter.

Adobe Illustrator - Palettes

2009-03-09T15:55:00.003-04:00

Illustrator makes extensive use of floating palettes - there are 31 main palettes and several more containing libraries of brushes and styles. Thirty-one palettes would clog even the largest monitor, so understanding how to manipulate the palettes is essential to working smoothly in Illustrator.

If you loose your pallets accidently by closing them, you can always bring it back by going to “Window” menu and selecting the missing palette.

If you have to many paletts unordered all over the screen, you can always reset the default workspace by going to
“Window->Workspace->Default” menu.

Using Palettes

Adobe Illustrator - Tools

2009-03-09T15:55:00.001-04:00

The Illustrator Toolbox is similar to other Adobe software in that tools are organized into groups with fly-out menus. For example, all the basic shape tools that create rectangle, ellipses, plygons, an son on, all share one spot on the Toolbox. To see the fly-out menu with all the tools, click and hold on the small triangle tool icon located in the bottom right corner of the tool group.

Introduction to Adobe Illustrator

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Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based drawing program developed and marketed by Adobe Systems. It provides sophisticated tracing and text manipulation capabilities as well as color separations. Adobe Illustrator is a powerful brand of software used to create vector graphics. It is the industry standard, and countless professional designers from around the world create and edit graphics using Adobe Illustrator. Originally made only for Macintosh, Illustrator is now available for both Windows and Macintosh computers. Solid knowledge of Adobe Illustrator is a must for serious graphics professionals, and is an outright requirement in many such positions.

What is Vector?
Vector graphics or geometric modeling is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and polygons to represent images in computer graphics. It is used by contrast to the term raster graphics, which is the representation of images as a collection of pixels (dots).

Assignment #3: Due Friday 2/27/2009

2009-02-23T11:08:00.002-05:00

Photo Repair Via Photoshop

Assignment Guidelines:
1) Choose 3 damaged photographs.
2) Repair them to the best of your ability. The goal is to make all mistakes seem to disappear, and to make the photograph look at perfect and "uninterfered with" as possible. Also, make the pictures more exciting by providing a "frame," inventive crop, or other striking "presentation" technique.
3) Post copies of both the original and the repaired photographs on your blog. This would involve a total of 6 uploaded pictures.
4) Post photoshop files to "Assignment 3 Drop-box" folder on the T: drive under the "Com332 Spring 2009" Master folder.

Adobe Photoshop - Clone Stamp Tool

2009-02-20T20:12:00.005-05:00

1. Prepare your old photograph

The top of our photograph is very badly damaged so we're going to crop it to remove that area of the picture, which is mostly background.

To do this: Open Photoshop. Select the Crop tool. Click with the left hand button of your mouse and draw a square around the area of your photo you want to crop; when you're happy with your selection click the green tick icon.

2. Fix minor imperfections with the Spot Healing Brush

Photoshop Elements' 'Spot Healing Brush' tool is ideal for removing minor imperfections from photographs such as the scratches at the bottom right hand corner of our picture.

Zoom in on the area you want to repair with the scroll wheel of your mouse. Click on the Spot Healing Brush icon. Now, hold down the left hand button of your mouse and drag it across the area of the picture that you want to fix.

The tool fills in the damaged area of the screen based on nearby sections of the image. Repeat this process for all the minor blemishes.

3. Major improvements using the Clone Stamp tool

The Spot Healing Brush is no good for bigger areas of damage such as around the top right of the photograph and on the man's tie. To fix these areas we need to use the Clone Stamp tool - you can use this to copy an area of the photograph and paste it somewhere else to repair it.

Click the Clone Stamp Tool to select it. In the main menu bar there's a selection of brushes, we've chosen a medium-sized Basic Brush for our repairs.

4. Copy and paste

Position your cursor in the area of the picture you want to copy. Hold down the Alt key and click with the left-hand button of your mouse. The cursor will change to an icon that looks like a target.

Position your mouse over the damaged area and click again to paste the copied section of the image. Repeat until you've repaired all the damaged areas. You can use the clone tool to remove unwanted elements of your picture such as the woman and child in our picture.

6. Finishing touches

Once you've repaired the damaged areas, click the IMAGE-->Image Adjustments tab within Photoshop . Here there are tools that'll automatically adjust aspects such as the shadows, saturation, hue and temperature. Click 'Auto' or use the slider. When you're happy with the result save it for the Web as .JPG between 75% and 100% of quality

Assignment #2

2009-02-13T10:47:00.003-05:00

Assignment #2 - DUE TUESDAY 2/17 @ 7 PM

Submission guidelines: 1) Save or upload the multi-layered photoshop file (.psd) to the T: drive at T:/Com332 Spring 2009/ ASSIGNMENT 2 DROP BOX.

2) Post a flattened, .jpg version of the image on the blog by Tuesday at 6 p.m.

3) Print a color version of the picture from the color printer in the library and bring to class on Wednesday 2/18.

Assignment Guideline Reminder:

Using tools you experienced in the Course, you are to create a Movie Poster.

- Size must be 8.5" x 11"
- Resolution must be 150 DPI
- The picture should be multiple layers and show creativity and a deal of work on your behalf.

Photoshop Layers

2009-02-04T13:59:00.003-05:00

Photoshop's layers can be thought of as separate films, much like transparency sheets. Each layer contains its own discrete contents. Individual layers contain objects which together create your composite image. The following document will introduce some of the basic concepts related to layers.

Active Layer Tips

When you select a layer in the Layers palette, that layer is active. Review the following tips to learn about active layers:

Only one layer can be active at a time.
The name of the active layer appears in the title bar of the image window.
Changes affect only the active layer even though you view the whole image in the image window.

Hiding/Displaying the Layers Palette

The Layers palette is your essential tool for working with layers. It contains a list of all the layers, starting with the topmost layer. To the left of the name is a thumbnail of the contents of each layer. You can use the Layers palette to perform many tasks (e.g., create, delete, hide, merge, and flatten layers).

From the Window menu, select Layers
This action toggles the feature on and off.
NOTE: A check mark will appear in front of Layers when the Layers palette is displayed.

Hiding/Displaying Layers

You may find it useful to hide layers while working in Photoshop. For example, when merging layers, you can hide some layers so that they will not be merged. Visible layers have a VISIBILITY iconnext to them; hidden layers do not.

On the Layers palette, for the layer(s) you wish to hide, click the VISIBILITY icon
HINT: To hide several layers at once, click and drag within the Visibility column. This action toggles the layer between hidden and displayed.

Although layers are constructed individually, it is helpful to rearrange and link layers when creating more advanced images. After you have fully experimented with the layers in your image, you can merge and flatten layers so that they function collaboratively.

Rearranging Layers

Layers are arranged within the Layers palette with the topmost layer on the Layers palette being the topmost layer of the image.

Since objects in an image often overlap, changing the stacking order of layers will change the appearance of your overall image. Rearranging layers can reveal and hide visible shapes.

NOTE: The Background layer cannot be moved.

Rearranging Layers: Drag-and-Drop Option

From the Layers palette, select the layer you wish to move
Click and drag the layer to the desired position
Release the layer
The layer is now in the new position.

Rearranging Layers: Menu Option

From the Layers palette, select the layer you wish to move
From the Layer menu, select Arrange » desired option

Rearranging Layers: Keyboard Option

From the Layers palette, select the layer you wish to move
Press the keyboard command for the desired option
The layer moves to the selected position. Confirm the new layer placement by checking the layer position on the Layers palette.

Option

Action

Keyboard Command

Bring to Front Sends layer to topmost position [Shift] + [Ctrl] + ]

Bring Forward Sends layer up one position [Ctrl] + ]

Send Backward Sends layer down one position [Ctrl] + [

Send to Back Sends layer to bottommost position [Shift] + [Ctrl] + [

Option	Action	Keyboard Command
Bring to Front	Sends layer to topmost position	[Shift] + [Ctrl] + ]
Bring Forward	Sends layer up one position	[Ctrl] + ]
Send Backward	Sends layer down one position	[Ctrl] + [
Send to Back	Sends layer to bottommost position	[Shift] + [Ctrl] + [

Linking Layers

If you want multiple layers to move as a single unit within the image window, you should link them. You can link as few as two layers, or as many as all layers. Layers do not need to be contiguous in order to be linked. All layers will retain their individual characteristics. Linking and unlinking layers can happen repeatedly throughout the creation of an image.

On the Layers palette, press [Ctrl] + select the layer(s) you want to link other layers to
From the Layer palette, select LINK LAYERS
A LINK iconappears next to layer names, indicating that the layers are linked.

Moving Linked Layers in an Image

From the Layers palette, select which linked layer you want to move
From the Toolbox, select the Move Tool
Within the image window, click and drag to the new location
NOTE: The layers move in unison while maintaining their distance relationships to each other.

Unlinking Layers

From the Layers palette, select the layer you want to unlink
From the Layers palette, select LINK LAYERS
The LINK icon disappears and the layer is no longer linked.

Merging Layers

Merging layers fuses layers together so that they no longer function individually. Images saved with individual layers occupy a lot of file space; merging layers compresses your image so that it takes up less file space. In Photoshop, you can merge linked layers, visible layers, or merge down

Merging Linked Layers

Merging linked layers allows you to determine which layers will be merged into one layer and which will remain independent. Layers that are linked will combine into one layer, while those that are not linked will remain independent.

From the Layer menu, select Select Linked Layers
From the Layer menu, select Merge Layers
OR
Press [Ctrl] + [E]
The selected, linked layers combine to form a single layer.

Merging Visible Layers

You can also merge visible layers. Visible layers are identified by the VISIBILITY icon, which appears in the left column of the Layers palette. You can toggle between visible and hidden by clicking the icon in the Visible Layer column. For more information on hiding layers, see Hiding/Displaying Layers.

On the Layers palette, hide the layers you do not wish to merge (including the background if you do not wish to merge it)
Select one of the remaining visible layers
From the Layer menu, select Merge Visible
OR
Press [Shift] + [Ctrl] + [E]
All of the visible layers on the Layers palette are merged into a single layer. The hidden layers are preserved as independent layers.

Merging Down

Even if you do not have any layers linked, you can combine two contiguous layers on the Layers palette.

Select the topmost layer of the two layers you wish to merge
From the Layer menu, select Merge Down
OR
Press [Ctrl] + [E]
The selected layer merges with the layer immediately below it on the Layers palette.

Flattening Layers

Although flattening layers compresses your image so that it takes up less file space, it is different from merging in that it discards hidden layers, combines visible layers into a single layer, and removes transparent areas from an image.

Make sure that all the layers you wish to flatten are visible on the Layers palette
From the Layer menu, select Flatten Image
If there are hidden layers in the image, a dialog box appears confirming your request to discard hidden layers.
Click OK
The visible layers are now flattened and hidden layers have been discarded.

Photoshop selection tools

2009-02-02T23:07:00.002-05:00

The selection tools allow you to select a portion or a subset of an image to work on. Most of Photoshop’s other tools and filters can then be applied to this selected area, altering its color, shape, texture, position and/or other attributes, while leaving the rest of the image untouched.

Photoshop contains three types of selection tools: the Marquee Tools, the Lasso Tools, and the Magic Wand.

The marquee tools are used to select a specific regularly shaped area. The marquee tools include the Rectangular, Elliptical, Single Row and Single Column Marquees:

The lasso tools are used to select an irregular area. These tools include the Lasso Tool, the Polygonal Lasso Tool and the Magnetic Lasso Tool.

The Magic Wand is used to select areas of an image based upon color; the Magic Wand does not have additional tools.

All of the selection tools may be used individually or in conjunction with each other to select exact areas of images. The Options Bar allows you to choose to add to or subtract from a previous selection:

If you choose New Selection, any currently active selection will go away when you make your new selection. If instead you would like to add to the current selection, or subtract from it, make that choice in the Options Bar. You can even choose to select an area formed by the intersection of your selections.

How do I use the Marquee Tools?

The marquee tools let you select rectangles, ellipses, and 1-pixel-wide rows and columns.

To use the marquee tools:

1) Select a marquee tool: Rectangular (for a rectangular selection), Elliptical (for an elliptically shaped selection), Single Row (for a one-pixel wide row) or Single Column (for a one-pixel wide column).

2) Set the options you want in the Options Bar.

3) Drag over the area you want to select. Hold down the Shift key if you want to constrain the selection to a square or a circle.

How do I use the Lasso Tools?

The Lasso Tool and Polygonal Lasso Tool let you draw irregular selection borders (both straight-edged and freehand):

* If you want the selection to be completely or primarily freehand (with a minimum of straight edges) then use the Lasso Tool.

* If you want the selection to be completely or primarily straight edges (with a miminum of freehand edges) then use the Polygonal Lasso Tool.

With the Magnetic Lasso Tool, you can draw the selection border, and it will automatically snap to a high-contrast edge in the graphic.

To use the Lasso Tool:

1) Select the Lasso Tool from the Toolbox.

2) Set any desired options in the Options Bar.

3) To draw a freehand segment of the selection, simply drag the mouse.

4) To draw a straight-edged segment of the selection, hold down the Alt key and click at the desired beginning and end points of the segment.

5) To close the selection border, let go of the mouse button (without holding down the Alt key).

To use the Polygonal Lasso Tool:

1) Select the Polygonal Lasso Tool from the Toolbox.

2) Set any desired options in the Options Bar.

3) To draw a straight-edged segment of the selection, click at the desired beginning and end points of the segment.

4) To draw a freehand segment of the selection, hold down the Alt key and drag the mouse.

5) To close the selection border, double-click the mouse button.

Tip: Think of the Lasso Tool and the Polygonal Lasso Tool as opposites of each other. One (the Lasso Tool) usually does freehand selections, but can be forced to make straight lines by holding down the Alt key, while the other (the Polygonal Lasso Tool) does straight line selections, but can be forced to do freehand by holding down the Alt key.

To use the Magnetic Lasso Tool:

1) Select the Magnetic Lasso Tool from the Toolbox.

2) Set any desired options in the Options Bar.

3) Click to set the first endpoint of the selection.

4) To draw a freehand segment, move the mouse pointer along the edge you want to trace. (You don’t have to hold down the mouse button, although you can if you like.)

5) As you move the pointer, the selection will automatically snap to the strongest edge in the area around the pointer, based on the Width set in the Options Bar. Periodically, intermediate points are added to the selection border. While tracing the edge, click to add a point if needed.
6) If you want to switch to either the regular Lasso Tool or the Polygonal Lasso Tool, hold down the Alt key. At that point, dragging the mouse will let you draw freehand borders; clicking will let you draw straight line segments.

7) Close the selection border by double-clicking the mouse.

How do I use the Magic Wand?

The Magic Wand Tool lets you select areas of an image based on similar shades of color simply by clicking on the desired color.

To use the Magic Wand Tool:

1) Select the Magic Wand Tool from the Toolbox.

2) Set the desired options in the Options Bar:

Choose whether to
- create a new selection,
- add to an existing selection,
- subtract from an existing selection, or
- intersect with the existing selection.

Enter a value from 0 to 255 in the Tolerance box. A low number will let you select colors very similar to the pixel you click; a high number will let you select a broader range of colors.

To select only adjacent areas using the same colors, select Contiguous. Otherwise, all pixels using the same colors will be selected.
* Check or un-check the Contiguous option. If Contiguous is not selected, all pixels that are the same color as the selected pixel will be selected, wherever they occur in the image. Otherwise, only adjacent pixels of the same color will be selected.

3) Click the color you want to select.

An example

To create the image at the bottom, we started with a photograph of a bouquet of daffodils:

Original Image

Original Image

First we selected the yellow color ranges in the image, using the Magic Wand:

Magic Wand Selection

Magic Wand Selection

Next, we adjusted the selection to include just a single flower, using the Lasso Tool and the “add to” and “subtract from” selection options:

Adjusted Selection

Adjusted Selection

Once only the single daffodil remained selected, we copied that selection and pasted it into a new file. We also created a green background layer. The result:

Final Image

Final Image

Tutorial used with Permission from Dr. Mary Nicholson at Bloomsburg University Virtual Training Help Center

Week 2 - Photoshop Tools and Palettes

2009-01-24T09:28:00.007-05:00

Week 2 - Vector vs Raster

2009-01-24T09:08:00.006-05:00

Resolution,
or DPI refers to the number of dots, or pixels, on a linear inch of an image. The web displays graphics at 72 DPI, yet sometimes you might need a 300 dpi image. The bigger the number the more information is included in the image. PhotoShop can make the transition from large size DPI to smaller size.

Raster
A raster graphics image, digital image, or bitmap, is a data file or structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, on a computer monitor, paper, or other display device. The color of each pixel is individually defined; images in the RGB color space, for instance, often consist of colored pixels defined by three bytes—one byte each for red, green and blue. Less colorful images require less information per pixel; an image with only black and white pixels requires only a single bit for each pixel. Raster graphics are distinguished from vector graphics in that vector graphics represent an image through the use of geometric objects such as curves and polygons.

Vector

Vector graphics or geometric modeling is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and polygons to represent images in computer graphics. It is used by contrast to the term raster graphics, which is the representation of images as a collection of pixels (dots).

Popular Image File Types

JPG
A JPEG image uses a lossy algorithm, which means some of the information about the picture is lost in compression. However, it supports 16.7 million colors, so it is usually the best choice when reproducing photographic images. JPEG's algorithm involves saving a high-quality black-and-white copy of the image, and then applying colors where needed. JPG images can have more artifacts (blurs or images not in the original picture), especially when compressing images with sharp lines (like the letters of a bold, black font on a white background).

GIF
When an image is compressed, some loss of quality can occur. The algorithm for GIF is lossless, which means all of the original picture information is saved. The palette of colors used in the picture is saved, along with which color and intensity to diplay for each pixel. GIF palettes are limited to 256 colors, so an image with more colors, like a photograph, will have some colors removed or dithered (taking two colors and interlacing them to create a third). This may create unacceptable image quality.

Week 2 - Color modes on the Web & Print

2009-01-24T09:01:00.003-05:00

CMYK (for print) - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
RGB (for web) - Red, Green, Blue
Indexed (for web) - 256 colors where 216 are web safe, OS universal
Hexidecimal code - #AB263D(maroon)

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Week 2 - Adobe Photoshop Introduction

2009-01-24T08:57:00.002-05:00

Adobe Photoshop, or simply Photoshop, is a graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Systems. It is the current market leader for commercial bitmap and image manipulation, and, in addition to Adobe Acrobat, is one of the best-known pieces of software produced by Adobe Systems. It is considered the industry standard in most jobs related to the use of visual elements.

Although primarily designed to edit images for paper-based printing, Photoshop is used increasingly to produce images for the World Wide Web.

Demo1

Demo2

Demo3

Demo4

Demo5

Week 1: Syllabus and Blog

2009-01-12T13:00:00.009-05:00

Welcome to COM 332 Multimedia Design & Editing. This course is designed to introduce students to the processes involved in planning, designing, creating, and copy-editing multimedia projects. Topics include design and layout principles for a variety of print and electronic publications, image and text manipulations, and editing for consistency and clarity.

For the copy of syllabus click here: Syllabus

Assignment #1 - Blog and Post

Your first assignment is to create a blog using www.blogger.com service. Then you are to create a first post. In one paragraph you are to describe of what you are trying to accomplish or learn in this course. Then in one or two paragraphs you are to describe what your interests are and where do you want to find yourself in the future. Your entire post should not be longer than 3 paragraphs.

Grading will be determined based on the completion of the following factors:
- Create a blog (your blogname/domain should be in the following format:
http://firstname-lastname-com332.blogspot.com)
- create a first post with the criteria mentioned above
- insert and scale picture to fit a blog template (any picture of your choosing, ex. your photo)
- insert a link list on the side of your blog to link to class blog (class blog address: http://com332-sp09.blogspot.com)
- publish a post
- share by emailing blog link to both professors at: marc.dipaolo@alvernia.edu and miroslaw.liwosz@alvernia.edu

DUE - Sunday, 25th - 7 PM

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