Evaluation Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From constructing my media product, I have learnt several things about the technology needed to create a magazine.

Firstly, the main program that I used for computer work was Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 and Adobe Photoshop CS2. Whilst working on this piece I learnt how to leave a certain object in animage in colour whilst the rest of the image is black and white, using the desaturation tool. I did not however, end up using this in my final piece, as the effect looked quite indie which was nothing like the genre of my rock and metal magazine.

I also learnt a lot about how to cut out images cleanly and to make sure the edges were smooth and faded into the new background enough. To do this I used a lot of the blur tool around the edges of cut out images. This helps to smooth any sharp lines and to make it less obvious that the image had an original background.

I also learnt about the importance of using a good camera for my work. For my testshots I used the camera on my phone which had alright quality, but required all of the images taken from it to be sharpened to make them look less blurry. For my final piece however, I took the majority of my photos using a professional camera. This helped to make the pictures appear sharper and less flat when I came to edit them.

On Photoshop, I have learnt the importance of how images and text fit together. Before, I would have primarily set the text out on top of the image, but having learnt more about layering and magazine layout, I can now tell when it would be better for the text to actually be covered by the image instead.

Also on Photoshop, I used the filter gallery to quickly and effectively add effects to my images. When combined with contrast and brightness effects as well, these filters can make a relatively plain image stand out and fit my rock genre a lot better.