Learning how to use Photoshop

This week I have been continuing with the image restoration task, at the beginning of the task I was existed about doing it but it’s harder than I thought it was going to be. I don’t know how to use the tools on Photoshop, so I am have problems deciding which tools to use for which part of the picture. I have been trying different tools and I am finding some useful and others I am still finding out how to use. So this week I am going to carry on practicing with Photoshop and start from the beginning with picture, and hopefully I should get better with the program and restoring the image.

While I have been doing the image restoring I have been doing my delivery requirements, completive analysis and contents for assignment 4. I have enjoyed writing the contents for the web site because as I like learning about things I don’t know and learning more about things I already know.

I have completed all my referral work this week and I handed it in today. I am glad I don’t have to work on it any more so I have more time to do my other course work. I worked on my referral work a bit the first week after I got my feedback and on the second week I got more work done, but on the day before it needed handing in, I started noticed little details I could improve which took me ages to change. For example I edited some of my information and then I had to move all my references around after, and I had to do this a few times had I kept editing my text.

Today and yesterday the class did a timed tasked. Monday we had 15 minutes to design a black and white business card and then we had 15 minutes to put the designs on the computer. The tasked showed me how much work you can get done when under pressure. We were given certain information to put on the business card, we were not to not exclude or add information. Using information that I was given, I thought it would make it easier not to make any mistakes but I was wrong, I made spelling errors which I also missed when I proof read. Today we did the same task but we were given more information to include. I thought this made the business card harder to design. After we had done the designs on the computer, we printed them off and stuck them on the wall to get feedback. My business card wouldn’t print out so I didn’t get feedback on mine but it was good to hear other peoples feedback has it help me understand things I could have improved on mine.

Restoring Images

For assignment 4 this week we got a lecture on how to restore images. I was looking forward to learning about restoring images, but once I started trying to restore an image it was harder than I thought it was going to be. There is a fold across the photo that we are restoring and at the moment I’m having problems trying to remove it. I have no experience using Photoshop so it all new to me, so all I can really do is just keep playing about with the program and hopefully my skills in using the software will improve.

This week for the seminar meeting, the groups had to have goals, target audience, delivery requirements and completive analysis finished or at least started for the meeting. I got all 4 done but I need to improve on the delivery requirements, because I need to research and write about the technologies. From the seminar meeting I know some things I need to improve on, including check my goals, improve delivery requirements and add extra points into the completive analysis.

Last week I did the Image compression essay, it took me hours to write it, as I didn’t know how to start it, then I didn’t know how to word what I was going to say, but when I had completed the essay I was happy with what I had done. I am going read though it again this week though and see what I could improve on it.

For my A2 assignment I haven’t done as much work on this assignment as I have wanted to, but I am going to do a couple of hours two night. Hopefully I should get all the A2 work done by Thursday so I can check it all for the rest of the week.

Three assignment to do!

This week I have started assignment 3- Back to Basics, Has it is another web planning assignment I have an idea of what is needed to be done. I enjoyed doing the last unit so I hopefully it should be the same with this one.

A worry I had this term, was that I would be doing two assignments at the same time and for some time I will be improving my assignment 2, so I would be doing 3 assignments, but now I know what the assignments are and what I need to do I feel a lot more confident about getting the work done.

Last week I started the, are we designers or artists essay, I did a lot of research before and while I was writing the essay, which I found very useful. In the essay we had to talk about The Designers Republic work, I thought their work was good but not all of it was my taste, but it was good to see the type of companies they have worked with.

Today we have been learning about image compression, at first I was a bit over loaded with all the information but I do under stand it and I do have my notes to go back to if I need to remember any thinks about Image compression. After dinner today we got shown how to do image compression using Photoshop. We then got some images given out and we got to mess about with compressing different images. I am looking forward to writing the essay and I have enjoyed learning about image compression.

For self study this week I am going to be writing my compression essay, A3- goals and target audience and Improving my A2. For my A2 improvements I am going to spilt up all the tasks I have to do then set certain days to do certain task, so I know what needs to be done and when I need to do it.

Back at college

This week we are back at college, the first day back was a kind of bad day back, Firstly I had to do a presentation, I didn’t get much sleep on Sunday night with worrying about the presentation, I started thinking that my presentation was rubbish and that I was going to make a fool out of my self. When we got into the classroom on Monday we found out that the presentations were just going to be in front of Steve, I was relieved but I still felt nervous, plus I was anxious about getting my A2 assignment grade.

When I did the presentation I felt nervous, the time went so fast I thought been stood doing a 5 minute presentation would feel like ages, but it didn’t and I went over the time limit. I think for my presentation I spend more time researching than I did making the presentation. I researched all the words in my presentation that I thought people wouldn’t understand and I thought Steve might ask me what they mean. In the presentation I included a map to show were all the different cultures were, was going to make little drawn pins and put them on the map to make it clear were the cultures were but I run out of time and thought it would be better to practice the presentation, then add new things. While I was doing the presentation I had clue card because when I get nervous I forget what I am going to talk about, so I wrote plenty of notes, I wrote extra notes so that If I run out of time I still had things to talk about, but in the end I didn’t need them and I had to cut down on the other information I had planned to use.

While we were waiting to do the presentation the class was sat in the canteen waiting for the last person that did their presentation to come down and tell who was next. As we all waited to do our presentation, we got on as a group and supported each other, people were showing each other their presentations and handout, which made me more calmer, because the people in the group had done different information in their presentation but done in the same idea as me, which was using lists of words and then they were going to talk about those words.

After dinner we got our assignment results, I got referred, I was expecting it well I thought if I tell my self I have referred then it wouldn’t be that bad when I got told I had. When all the class had been told their results the room had like an unhappy atmosphere. We were asked to write a online learning journal entry but not to publish it, I couldn’t write one because my mind was just blank. I was upset that I had fail mainly because I felt like I had let my self down and secondly I had let my family, not that my mum and dad were upset or angry with my result, its just they saw how much hard work I had done and how stress out I got and it would have been nice for it all to pay off but I just didn’t do well enough. Now it makes me think if I have failed this assignment what’s to make me pass the next one, I know I will have to try harder and I am considering cutting my hours down at work, so I have more spare time. I really want to do well on this course and when I got told the assignment referred I panicked about getting the assignment up to a pass, Steve’s been saying how hard it’s going to be doing the two assignments this term and adding a third one just made think if I was going to coupe with all the work. Hopefully I will and it’s better that we have a little break between getting the results and doing the touch up to the assignment work, it tells us start and understand the new assignments.