Unit I: Collage Techniques, Design and the Web

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Objectives

In this unit, students will create a series of digital collages. Students will use Photoshop to create a web page from one of the collages they create. Students will incorporate the use of other web authoring tools to modify links, roll-over effects and animations to the collage designs

An emphasis is placed on: creating and collecting quality source material; compositing and layering skills; using design elements and principles to create effective compositions.

Requirements:

• Students are expected to turn in the following:
• 5-6 Collage studies and exercises
  • Design Examples
• 1 web page with links, rollover effects and animations
• A web gallery of Unit I images
• Artist research / image analysis

Unit I Deadline: September 16, 2009

Concepts and Terms

• Collage and fragmentation
• Review of Layers, Selections and Interface Tools and Menus
  • Image Editing Tools and Image Manipulation
    • Selection tools: magic wand, marquee tools, lasso, magnetic lasso
    • Add to / subtract from selections
    • Color Range selections
    • Modify: contract, grow
    • anti aliasing / feathering
    • Quick Mask: refining edge quality
    • Paste Into command
    • Alpha Channels
      • Saving Selections
      • Loading Selections
      • Editing Alpha Channel
  • Compositing Images with use of layers
    • Use layers to combine and reposition composition elements
    • Layer palette
      • Smart objects
      • Viewing and hiding layers
      • Layer Mode
      • Layer opacity
      • Lock pixels: preserve transparency
      • Linking, merging, and flattening
      • New layer Icon
      • layer Masks
    • Layer Menu
      • New layer via Copy (ctrl J)
      • New layer via cut (ctrl shift J)
    • Pasting and dragging from another file
    • Duplicate layer into another file
    • Layers and Move Tool
    • Use "Free Transform": (Ctrl T) to alter proportions
    • Changing the Background into a layer with transparency
    • New Layer with Type Tool
    • Saving as PSD to preserve layers
• Digital Cameras
  • Using Camera Raw to create quality source images: still life
  • File size and Output
  • Changing Image Size
• Composition / Visual Design concepts:shape, balance, surface texture, pattern, color
  • Using Color, Value and Design to focus the Eye of the viewer
• Cropping
• Identify types of Balance
  • Symmetrical
  • Asymmetrical
  • Radial
• Using patterns and texture to enliven surfaces
• Wacom Tablets
  • Use Wecom tablets to refine masks, selections
• Output Web Pages
  • Slices, links, alt tags
  • Resolution and bit depth for the web
  • Gif and Jpg formats
    • Optimizing Image Quality
    • Posting your file to the web using FTP software
    • Animated Gif files
    • Testing your file on the web