Week 3

It seemed to work pretty well last week, so I think I'll just copy over my preliminary notes.

Absolute v relative links:

• Absolute links include the full website address. Relative links usually only include the final bit and are dependent on the directory structure of the website. They can be viewed locally on the computer (offline) as well as online. They can be just about any type of file, though only some of them can be opened in a browser. Other types of files will be downloaded

An IMG tag is the most common way to add graphics to an html page. Web standard for graphics is 72 dpi.

There are 2 main types of files used.

• JPEG – joint photographic experts group. Compression is “lossy”, which means that it throws away subtle colour differences. The larger a file size, the better the quality, and vice versa. It’s important to find a balance between quality and size, but you have to remember that once an image has been compressed (and saved), the compression can’t be reversed.
• GIF – graphic interchange format. It uses a compression algorithm and it is a lossless compression. It’s better for type, vector, flat or hard-edged images. It can also handle animation.
• PNG is less standardized, but is becoming more common. They’re larger than GIF files and do not always display properly in older browsers. This means you have to create 2 different files to substitute an alternative.

I have an article and a book chapter to summarize, which I post separately.

We’re also getting started with Fireworks this week. Fireworks is something I knew absolutely nothing about, but it’s really cool. You can work with both vector images and bitmaps in the same program. That’s just crazy talk there.

Fireworks CS4 can import Photoshop files and still maintain all of the information, including layer hierarchy. I’m stunned. This is going to take a little while to process.

Week 2

This week I took notes while I watched some of the tutorial videos on lynda.com. By the way, if you have a need to learn just about any type of technical or creative software on the market, check them out. There are some free videos available or you can subscribe to their service. Considering the cost of purchasing training videos or taking an actual class, the cost is quite reasonable.

Anyway, back to my notes. I've decided to just post them as I wrote them, with some slight editing for spelling errors that happened due to the speed at which I was typing.

• When you put an image on a page, or link to another file, Dreamweaver puts code on the page which then tells the browser where it can find the file or image. If you move things around outside of Dreamweaver, you would have to make any changes manually. If you do it via the file panel, Dreamweaver updates all the links automatically. It also updates the links on other pages that link to that page.
• You can create new files and folders through the Files panel. If you create a new file, always remember to add the extension, such as .html.
• It’s possible to change the Document Type Declaration if you mess up or if you bring in a page from an old website. Dreamweaver will change the coding so that the page will then have the correct standards for the new DTD.

This is really just the tip of the iceburg. I had yet another root canal, making me a bit fuzzy headed again this week. I'm still on penicillin for the abscessed tooth, but even so, I think everything is really starting to sink in. I may enjoy this class yet. My main hope is that I will no longer fear coding, and so far, it's looking a little less scary each day.

Week 1 Summary

I'm starting off at a slight disadvantage. I'd forgotten just how much it hurts to have a root canal - and I had two of them on Thursday. I'm not exactly sure how much I'll retain from the readings this week. It's a good thing I read quickly, as I'm sure I'll have to reread everything.

Speaking of reading, here are two of the articles we read. The first is a review of 25 coding editors, including Dreamweaver. The second explains FTP software.

I still need to build my first webpage that isn't a blog.

As part of our class requirements, we needed a subscription to Lynda.com. This is a site that Deke McLelland is always recommending, and I've taken advantage of several of the free tutorials on the site before. I definitely suggest checking them out. There is an enormous amount of information there on everything from the Adobe suite of products to basics like Excel and Word.

One of our tutorials suggested that we check out W3C - the World Wide Web Consortium. On this site, you can find out exactly what xHTML is and why it's better than HTML. Under W3C A to Z are most of the topics that one would need for this or any other web design course.

Oh, and before I sign off, remember, the internet and the World Wide Web are not the same thing. The Internet is basically a whole bunch of networks. The Web is the documents, or pages, contained on those networks.

CAT 274

Hey guys! It's a new semester and I'm back with two new classes. For one of my classes, I am required to blog. This makes me happy, since blogging is fun.

This semester, I am taking CAT 274, which is actually Web Design, and Art 120, Digital Photography. I'm guessing this blog and my main blog will both go through some changes over the next several months as I learn how to accomplish things beyond the templates available.

I may be required to move this blog over to Wordpress. I do hope not, but if I do, I will link any new blog back to this one.

We are supposed to post a photo of ourselves. I am in the process of having a lot of dental work done, so I don't smile in photos yet. This pic is of myself (on the left) and my friend Anne. It was taken at the Borders in Chapel Hill, NC, the day after Christmas.

CAT 118 - Potato Heads

I just started a new class. CAT 118 is called Vector Illustration and Design. Basically it's all about Adobe Illustrator. Our first project was to play with Mr. Potato Head. I'm still having a little trouble controlling the mouse, courtesy of wrist tendinitis, but it was still a fun, if goofy, project.

CAT 113: Game Project

Here are the beginnings of the game project for CAT 113 - Graphic Design 1: Fundamentals. We had to first find a photo, draw it, refine the drawing, and then convert it into an Illustrator file. This is as far as I've gotten.















Once I got the first 4 done, I got some feed back from both the class and my professor. I went back and redid the drawing to incorporate more of the original photo. I also further refined it. As you can see, it came out much better.






Once I placed the file into Adobe Illustrator, I used Live Trace to come up with a vector art piece.
I'll post again once the project is completed, but the most difficult part, for me, is done.

Art Nouveau Project

To view this full-size, there is a toggle screen button on the upper right of the pdf window.
Art Nouveau

My First Mashup

I did it! I finished my first mashup. Hmm...that sounds like it could be a new book. "Baby's First Mashup"

Never mind. That sounds more like sweet potatoes than what it really is.

This was the project that scared me the most, out of everything we've done in CAT111. I don't know why, but Premiere Pro and the thought of dealing with audio and video files made me quake. I have survived and it wasn't as bad as I thought. I'm even half pleased with the result.



All files came from http://www.archive.org, including the music.

EasyBib

My daughter sent me this site a couple weeks ago, when I was asking her if she knew how to do MLA bibliography citations. It's called EasyBib. It will do MLA6 and MLA7 citations for free. If you need APA or Chicago/Turabian style citations, MyBib Pro runs from $4.99/month up to $14.99 for an entire year. You can also get a free 1 week trial to MyBib Pro to see if it's something you really need.

Another thing that you can do automatically with MyBib Pro does is set up your footnote and parenthetical citations. If you are writing a master's or doctoral thesis, imagine how much time this could save.

The biggest time-saver, in my opinion, is the ability to auto-cite using a book's ISBN. This does not work with all books, but for those which it does, it is, to be cliche, the best thing since sliced bread.

Deke

I added Deke McClelland's site to the blog roll on the side. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to do it before, but let me tell you, this man is THE man when it comes to Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. From what I gather, he bugs some people, but I like him. He is incredibly knowledgeable and he's funny.

I have learned so much from his podcasts that I went ahead and bought his book Adobe InDesign CS4 One-on-One. I've got his channels and mask book on my Amazon wish list and will be buying his Illustrator book as soon as it's released - which, unfortunately, isn't scheduled until May 2010.

So anyway, check Deke out. His podcasts are free, as are a bunch of other videos. You'll laugh and you might even learn something useful.

Project 4 - SketchUp

What? An actual, completed project? Why yes, indeedy. These are some screen shots of the house that I built in Google SketchUp, a program you can get for free here. There is a pro version available, but unless you are doing some serious architectural rendering, you don't need it. You can build just about anything 3-D through SketchUp.

The first shot is of the whole house, taken at an angle from the front.

This shows one side and part of the back. Note the bay window up near the front corner.

Here is a close-up of the dormers.

A closer look at the back of the house, including the sliding glass door.
And lastly, an overall look at the rear of the house.

I'm fairly pleased with the over all looks. Some day I would like to go back and flush out the interior, but that was beyond the scope of the assignment and would have taken far longer than the allotted time frame.

SketchUp is quite easy to learn when it comes to the basics. It's also a lot of fun to play around with. If you decide to get into it, check out the video tutorials, both at the download site and on YouTube.

What I Did For My Birthday

Hi people out there in blogland. I know my birthday was a few months ago, but I haven't written about this yet. I treated myself to a class on using Copic Markers and received my certification. I am authorized to have that handy-dandy little button on the side that says so.

If you aren't familiar with Copics, they are the most awesome markers on the planet. You can do pretty much anything with them. They are alcohol-based and acid free on most surfaces. They are refillable, with replacable tips. As such, they last forever.

My favourite blog for tips and other copic information is I Like Markers. You can learn anything and everything about them there. Marianne, the site's author, writes tutorials on shading, blending, doodling, paper choices, etc. She works for the company, so if she doesn't know it, she can certainly find out. Her site is also the place to go to find out when and where the next certification classes will be held.

As a Certified Copic Designer, I am able to teach classes on how to use Copics, but I can not certify anyone else.

Typography Blog

I found a new blog to love. It was posted to a completely unrelated email list that I've belonged to for several years. It's called I love Typography. How can you not love a blog with an article entitled "Who shot the serif?" If you are into fonts and lettering at all, go. Read. Love.

CAT 113 tutorials

Here are 3 tutorials from the book Visual Design Fundamentals, our text for Intro to Graphic Design. These are from Chapters 5 and 6. I will agree that they do not look like much. All were done in Adobe Illustrator. Oh, and yes, I just noticed a slight error on the second one. Illustrator is going to be the death of me.

Abstraction Project

My first project for CAT 111 is done and posted to our class website. I'm trying to upload it here and having difficulties. I'm not sure if I need to post the Illustrator file, so will need to double check with my professor. In the meantime, I do have the jpg.


For this assignment, we started with drawing an object from several different views. We were to trace the drawings, scan the tracings and then turn them into what you see below. I think, perhaps, that I should have changed the orientation of one of the blocks on the ends, but I'm happy with the interplay between positive and negative space.

Illustrator

I was so close to just posting the original assignment from last semester, which I didn't want to do, because I knew I could do better than that, but I could not for the life of me remember how I'd done it!

Folks, this is why you should practice rather than getting it done once and calling it good.

I kept plugging away and, by Jove, I do believe I've got it!! I cleaned up the drawings from last time, so they look a lot better, in my opinion. I'd been almost there without rereading everything, but there was this one little spot that was tripping me up. I think I need to make myself a little index card with the steps on it and then just sit here and do a bunch of these until I have it fully memorized.

Welcome to the new blog

Hello everyone. This is just a quick hello before I go fall into bed. I've been sitting with a heating pad, trying not to dry heave - I know, such a lovely visual. Please accept my apologies for that one. It's been such a wonderful week. DD#3 has been running a temp of 101.3 since yesterday. Her stomach is worse than mine. At least she's keeping some food down now.

So, this is my school blog. It's a requirement for CAT 111. That is the class that kicked my hind end last semester. I seem to have some kind of mental block going this semester. I'll make it. Somehow. I may not see any of my friends or get anything done around the house, but I'll get through it.

I do kind of wish that Adobe hadn't upgraded the Creative Suite products, though. I'd just gotten Photoshop and Illustrator CS3 mostly figured out and now I've got to learn CS4. Photoshop isn't giving me any trouble, but Illustrator is going to be the death of me. I'm doing something wrong again and I'm just not sure what. More hours of work ahead of me.

Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it.