Introducing

1
Introducing Digital Imaging
A PowerPoint Presentation Managing the Digital
Classroom
2
Digital Imaging
Using digital images in the classroom can foster
creativity, and encourage self expression by
giving students the opportunity to explore and
learn about content and themselves through
visual representations. Much like bringing
multimedia into the classroom, we could spend an
entire course covering digital imaging in the
classroom. For purposes of introducing teachers
to the concept of using digital images, well
highlight two areas analyzing images and digital
manipulation of images using a software tool such
as Photoshop or PhotoEditor. Analyzing
Images If you have access to a digital camera
and wish to use it in your classroom with
students, its important to go over some standard
elements of photography with them before they
begin using the camera, such as angle, framing,
dominance, contrast, repetition, variety,
balance, feelings/moods. Some of these are
visual elements, while others are relative to
composition. In the Week 6 resources section
there are several online tutorials that you can
use directly in the classroom with your students
to engage them in learning more about digital
photography and analyzing images.
3
Digital Imaging
Digital Manipulation of Images Once students
understand the basic elements of taking
pictures, they can then use a software tool to
manipulate their images (keep in mind that
these tools can also be used for images that
students find on the web). We will highlight
both simple and advanced ways to manipulate
digital images Simple Altering an image on a
very simplistic level can include functions such
as resizing, cropping, or adjusting brightness/
contrast. These functions can be performed in
simple applications such as Power Point and Word,
without the use of advanced applications such as
Photoshop.
4
Digital Imaging Simple ways to manipulate images
cropped
resized
original
original
brightness and contrastadjusted
adjusted to black and white
5
Digital Imaging Advanced Manipulation
More advanced manipulation techniques may be used
for some interesting curriculum projects such as
creating collages or making advertisements. An
application such as Adobe Photoshop is need to
digitally manipulate elements of the image to
create unique effects like the ones you see below
filtering effects and text
multiple layers
feathering
6
Digital Imaging Advanced Manipulation
Making collages
Altering images
7
Digital Imaging Saving Formats
There are many different ways to save image
files. Many of these formats are used for
advanced and high speed printing. Once you delve
more into digitally manipulating images, file
formats will become even more important. For
instance, if you use Photoshop, its important to
understand the Photoshop format of an image (PSD)
when working with advanced images that have
multiple layers. For purposes of simple
projects, and for beginners, the two most common
types of file formats and the only two accepted
on the web, are GIFs and JPEGs. GIF Pronounced
jiff or giff (hard g) stands for graphics
interchange format. GIF supports color and
various resolutions. It also includes data
compression, but because it is limited to 256
colors, it is more effective for scanned images
such as illustrations rather than color photos.
JPEG / JPG Short for Joint Photographic
Experts Group, the original name of the committee
that wrote the standard. JPG is a compression
technique that is designed to compress color and
grayscale continuous-tone images. The information
that is discarded in the compression is
information that the human eye cannot detect. JPG
images support 16 million colors and are best
suited for photographs and complex graphics. The
user typically has to compromise on either the
quality of the image or the size of the file. JPG
does not work well on line drawings, lettering or
simple graphics because there is not a lot of the
image that can be thrown out so the image loses
clarity and sharpness. The general rule of
thumb isGIFs for graphics and JPEGs for
photographs.