18-12-2006ojc bridge1 flashflash publishing with images, diagrams and graphs coursecourse

18-12-2006 OJC Bridge 1

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Publishing with Publishing with images, diagrams and images, diagrams and

graphsgraphs

CourseCourseCourseCourse

18-12-2006 OJC Bridge 2

Overview

• Informative Effectively communicate a message.

• Attractive Enhance the way your publication

looks.• Captivating

Grab the reader/viewers attention.• User-Friendly

Do not negatively affect the user-friendliness of the publication.

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Informative Objects

• What is the message? Think first, convey a message. If it doesn’t communicate any

information then don’t include it.

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Informative Objects

• Who is the audience (context)? Reconsider adding complicated

graphs, or tables. Do you think the intended audience

will understand the insertion? If not adapt it.

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Informative Objects• Making objects more informative:

Provide captions to photographs Provide clear accurate keys to all graphs

and diagrams. Cross reference text to appropriate

objects. Insert objects in appropriate locations. Appropriately name all objects for

indexing. Acknowledge the source of all objects.

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Informative Objects• Tips on Captions:

Be specific, be concise, guide the viewer. Note the difference between two potential

captions:

‘A hillside near village of al-Jabal” and…“This hillside near village of al-Jabal in North West

Syria is terraced and covered with olive trees. These trees are the life-blood of the village as their oil provides the average inhabitant with 60 % of their yearly income”.

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Informative Objects• Tips on Graph Creation:

Make graphs clear, precise, and accurate. Communicate the required information

effectively. Discard information which is confusing

(presentations). Try and create all your graphs with the

same program or group of programs (e.g. Office 2003) that you will publish the final paper.

Make a key, and if needed, color code the graph clearly.

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Informative Objects

•Tips on naming objects: All objects inserted into publications

should be named. Develop a consistent system of object

naming throughout the NAPC. Ask InfoComm to develop a system: stick

to it. This will make references to objects much

simpler, for viewers and creators. E.g. (Photos) Photo_1, (Graphs) Graph_1,

Tables (Fig_1).

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Attractive Objects

•Making an object attractive: Images are added not only for

effectiveness but also for attractiveness. But before you add, consider this:

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Attractive Objects

• Placement: The placement of an object directly

affects how the whole publication looks. Maintain symmetry – it makes the text

easier to read.• Colors:

Are colors necessary? If so what colors? Often a black and white objects can be

very effective.

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Attractive Objects

• Overcrowding: Don’t crowd your page, it confuses

the reader or the viewer. Objects are there to help simplify an

idea not to confuse.• Image Quality:

Badly taken photographs look unprofessional - negatively impacting publications.

Learn how to take and choose good photos.

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Captivating Objects

•Grabbing your audience’s attention: Grab the viewer’s attention. Cause people to take a second look.

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Captivating Objects:

•Use effective photographs: Dramatic images are more effective

than more general images.

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User-friendly Objects

•Ensuring your object is user-friendly: Most important step - often

overlooked. Publications designed to be read, so

they must be: Easy to download Easy to use Easy to navigate

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•Easy to download: Inserting external objects increases

file-size and download time. Limit the file size as much as possible. As a general rule limit insertions to

100 KB. Objects should account for less than

20% of the total file size.

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• How to reduce the file size: Resize images used in a publication. Change the format of the file. Ensure compatibility of object. Don’t add pictures unless strictly

necessary. Use black and white if color is not

essential.

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• Resizing an image: Images in their original form are

huge files. A normal digital camera creates

images of around 1MB. But don’t resize inside the publication

program. This kind of resizing has very little effect on the file size.

You must resize images in image editing software first.

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• Resizing and Image: Open the file in PhotoShop. View the image at 100 % (it says what percentage it

as at the top of the file in blue). If not click on the 'View' tab on the top toolbar and

click "Zoom in" or "Zoom out" depending on whether it is bigger or smaller than 100%.

Click the "Image" tab on the top toolbar. Scroll down until you get to 'Image size…" click.

Choose to change pixel dimensions or the document size. At the top of the window you can see the current file size.

Change the size by typing in some new parameters. Then either save the file as a copy, or continue by

also changing the format. (see below)

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• Changing format of an image: In the case of images, for larger

images the best format for space-saving is .JPG

Smaller images, thumbnail size, are best saved as GIF.

Saving it as a JPG in PhotoShop also makes it possible to reduce the resolution of the image.

This is best done in parallel with changing the size of the image.

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User-friendly Objects• Saving an image as JPG in PhotoShop:

Open image in PhotoShop v.7.0 Click on the file tab, and click 'save as.. .'. Checking 'save as a copy' so that you don’t lose the

original file, scroll down the formats column and get to JPG. (For GIF images you just need to select GIF here)

Click ‘save’. Then choose image quality. See file size in the

bottom left and corner of the window - download time also listed.

Click ‘Ok’ when you have chosen the size you would like.

Then insert this 'copy' of the original file into your presentation.

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• Changing the format of the whole file: PDF files are particularly good because

they restrict editing and reduce the file size.

Consider even converting PPT (PowerPoint) files into PDF format.

It can make viewing and downloading simpler.

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•Ensuring compatibility: Add graph or table in same format. If inserting a graph to your

PowerPoint presentation – make it in Excel.

Avoid graphs as images. If it must be an image, reduce image

size (above).

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•Black and White is an option: Remember that changing images and

other objects to Black and White (this must be done by photo-editing software) reduces the file size considerably.

Consider whether color is strictly necessary, especially if the file is going to available online.

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User-friendly Objects•Think of your audience: As with any publication you must always think of

your audience. If you want to include large picture files in a

presentation for example this is fine but consider taking them out when you send it to be published online.

Make a publishable copy of your file This will assist the InfoCom team to work more

efficiently and will ensure more people will read your work.

After all who is going to read a presentation which over a dial-up connection may take 5 hours to download.

I’m not sure I would, so think about it. As an internationally known centre it will be

necessary to develop articles that are user-friendly and easily accessible.

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• Easy to use: Making easy to access, simply laid-

out publications is the first step to getting them read.

Consider any method that might make it easier for someone to view your publication.

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• Easy to Navigate: Don’t frustrate and tire the reader.

Make your publication navigable. If you impress them with your clarity

of style, you are sure to impress them with the clarity of content!

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Questions?

•If you have any queries ask me now.

•Or if in the future you have something to ask – you know where I am (opposite Nasouh!)

18-12-2006ojc bridge1 flashflash publishing with images, diagrams and graphs coursecourse

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