So I had a great and grand discovery: Microsoft Power Point makes awesome vectors! And I never knew those little images were called vectors! I've been using them for years in my presentations ... I created a screencast to show you how to access this tool, and I what I really like about using something as basic as Power Point, is that most people have it, as well as most schools. It's super easy to use and figure out, and it eliminates a step in terms of saving a picture and loading it into a presentation ...
A feature that some people may not know is that you can save your Power Point as various files ... it doesn't have to be saved as .ppt ... it can be saved as a GIF, JPEG, PNG or even a TIFF (if you want to kill memory). So you could create an image, save it and then edit in your still image editor ... granted this will probably not give you the most high resolution results, it's still an option.
Johanna I think it is great that you made a screencast for this mini art school assignment! I would not have known that I could use powerpoint to make vector designs. The program I used for my still media critique, Splashup, also could be used for shape-building. I like how you pointed out the function of that yellow dot that controls the variances of the shapes. Did you feel that the shapes and variances available were enough to develop a large variety of shapes? Is there anything you wish you could have done but couldn't?
ReplyDeleteHi Johanna,
ReplyDeleteThanks for creating a screencast to share your vector find this week! I have to say that the "smart shapes" are also available in Microsoft Word as well! I am glad to see that you managed to learn multiple skills by doing this exercise (not only working with vectors as the assignment requires), but by working within the tool sets you have courtesy of Microsoft. Since schools typically have access to Microsoft programs, this is a fantastic "find" that you've shared with your fellow students.
Thanks to Elena for asking the questions above! I, too, am curious about what you may have been frustrated with in using the PPT tools...limitations, etc.
Great job!
Erica
I would say my biggest limitation is creating various shapes ... for instance, you can't make a shape that is crescent, with little circles punched out the side (as seen in the "structured reform" cateogry"). That was definitely my biggest limitation, but as far as manipulating the images, I thought it was really easy. The program is great for making basic vectors, more tedious when trying to create patterns, or more complex images such as a logo ... though I'm pretty sure you can create a color gradient in the image ... that's something I would have to double check.
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