Digital Induction 2014

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Northbrook Digital Induction


Contents Northbrookʼs Mac Environment Northbrookʼs Mac Login The Home Folder File Structure Using Microsoft Word Using iWork ’09 Pages Digital Cameras/Card Readers Scanning Images Resize Image in Photoshop Save for Web in Photoshop Save as PDF in Photoshop Save as PDF in Illustrator Save as PDF in InDesign Save as PDF in pages Printing Checking Print Quotas Online Tutorials


Northbrookʼs Mac Environment This Induction program is intended as a guide to help develop effective and efficient working practices when using Northbrook Colleges Mac Environment. Contained within, you will find guidelines on working with Northbrook’s Mac Environment, recommended procedures and use of equipment. Alongside as this hand out you will find a selection of video tutorials at this URL : http://stream.northbrook.ac.uk/test/induction/induction.html Northbrook College uses suites of Apple Mac Computers for Academic as well as Flexible use. The Mac OS X uses the home folder, a folder for a user’s personal use i.e. to store personal files, like documents and music e.t.c. Users will need is a *memory stick to save their ‘Personal Files’ to when they use a different computer outside of northbrook or when working at home to ensure that they still have all their saved files, that will be viewable on any computer. All External Devices and Memory sticks are the responsibility of the students,

*Recommended Memory Sticks can be purchased from the E-Learning Zone for small fee.


Booking A Computer

Booking A Computer We have introduced a self-service booking system for some of the FLAs/LRCs, PCs and Mac Machines. Machines maybe booked for up to 3 hours at any one time. Reserve Machines with Wheel Chair access, special software, and Specialist Equipment like Neg/A3/A4 scanners. Resevations are held 10 mins before the booking is cancelled. 3 warnings are give prior to the session ending.

= WD Where E-­‐Learning Zone or W D TAD What Type =

Group bookings are limited to 12 machines – made by ELZ staff only

When = select Date

To book Click machine and time slot Set end time Save


Northbrook始s Mac Login Log On

When a user logs in they must input their student ID number and password. When logging in for the very first time, he or she will then be given a generic password and once authenticated will then be prompted with a screen, asking them to change their password for one that is personal to them. Once logged in, the user will then be able to create and save files to either their college home folder memory stick/ portable device. This Screen only appears again, if you have changed your password. N.B. if you forget your password, an FLA assistant or ITL agent can contact the IT Department and reset it for you.

It is recommended that students save projects/ files constantly i.e every 15 mins, or at least half hourly, to avoid loss especially on large Adobe files. Users are allocated a disk quota of 3 GB, Any data produced that exceeds this limit will not be saved to the server and must be saved separately, either to a Memory Stick or External Device. It is the responsibility of the individual user to make sure their personal home folder does not exceed the 3 GB Limit.


NorthbrookĘźs Mac Login

Apple menu () - System Preferences, Force Quit, Logout, e.t.c. Application menu Menu bar - Contains the Apple menu, active application menu, status menus, menu bar extras, Spotlight icon. Status menu - Shows the date and time, status of your computer Spotlight icon - Click it to bring up the Spotlight search field, where you can search for anything on your Mac. Notification Center icon - Click it to view Notification Center, which consolidates your notifications from Messages, Calendar, Mail, Reminders, and third-party apps. Desktop - This is where your applications' windows will appear. The Dock - Quick access to your most frequently used applications, folders, and files. With a single click the application, folder, or file opens.

Log Out Logging out at end of your session will ensure your work is saved and your storage space is closed securely.


The Finder Window

Window close, minimize and zoom buttons. To close the window, click the round, red button in the upper-left corner. If you don’t want to close the window but want it out of your way, click the round, yellow button to minimize the window to the Dock. click the round, green button to maximize the window’s size Finder window View buttons:

Icon view - Used to display the contents of your folder as a series of icons List view - Used to display your folder in a spreadsheet-style manner. Column view - Used to display the hierarchy of your folders where each column represents a folder. Cover Flow view - Used to display the contents of your folder just like the Cover Flow used in iTunes. Action Menu Quick access to Finder functions for highlighted items, such as Get Info, Move to Trash, and Services. Item Arrangement button In any view, you can organize the window by clicking the item arrangement button and choosing one of the ways to group items. Search Field Start typing a word or phrase and Spotlight will search your Mac for any matches. Right pane The contents of a selected folder are shown in this pane.


The Finder Window

Pane edge Drag to resize. Devices A device connected to your computer, such as a DVD, USB device, or a Portable Hard Drive. Side Bar Items are grouped into categories: Favorites, Shared, and Devices—the top portion has Favorites which contains quick access to All My Files, Applications, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Movies, Music, and Pictures. Back / Forward buttons - As you move to different places in the Finder window, you can use the back button to return one step back and the forward button to go forward


The Home Folder The Home folder is the location where Mac OS X stores documents, files, preference settings, pictures, music, videos and so on. Windows users will recognize this folder structure as it is similar to the "My Documents", "My Pictures", and "My Music" folders found on recent Windows versions. The Home folder is identified by an icon that looks like a house. Each user in Mac OS X has their own account and is isolated from other users. A user's Home directory is only accessible by the user that is currently logged into OS X.

You can see the contents of your home by clicking the home folder icon in the sidebar, at the left side of the finder window. You can add and delete folders in your home, but do not move it or change its name.


The Home Folder Desktop folder Any files, folders, or applications that appear on your desktop are stored in your Desktop folder. If your desktop is cluttered, you can view this folder in the FInder and quickly locate what you are looking for. When you add, remove, or modify items in this folder, the changes also appear on your computer’s desktop. Documents folder The Documents folder is a place where you can keep the documents you create and use with your applications. Some applications will locate this folder automatically when you save or download a file. Clicking the Documents icon in the sidebar of a Finder window instantly displays the contents of your Documents folder. If you have many documents, you may want to create additional folders inside the Documents folder to help you organize your files. Library folder Each user account also has its own Library folder, which contains files used only by that account. Fonts in a user’s Library folder, for example, are available only to that user. A user’s personal preference settings for Mac OS X and some applications are also kept here. Your Favorites folder is also located in the Library folder. You can add it to the sidebar of a Finder window for easy access. In general, you should avoid modifying your Library. Movies folder Use the Movies folder to store your digital video files and movies. When you connect a digital video camera to your computer, you can use iMovie to automatically download your digital movie footage to the Movies folder. Music folder Keep your favorite songs organized in your personal Music folder. iTunes automatically uses the Music folder to store your digital music files, including MP3 and AAC files.

Pictures folder The Pictures folder is an excellent place to store and organize your photos and image files. When you connect a digital camera to your computer, iPhoto opens automatically and, with a single click of the Import button, downloads the digital photo files from your camera to the Pictures folder. Most digital cameras are supported. Downloads folder The Downloads folder is the default location for any apps or files you download from the Internet. Most apps you use to download items, such as Safari or Messages, store the items in the Downloads folder.


File Structure

Stay organized with file structuring – When saving your work, keep all of the specific files for that project within the same folder, so there is no chance of loosing files. When creating the project folder, divide it into several sub-folders. For example, you could have a reference folder, folders for each stage of the project and a folder which will contain the final flattened artwork, all within the project folder.

(will scobie illustrator info.doc)

Folders can be colour coded to allow for easy identification.


Using Microsoft Word Microsoft Word is a Word Processing Software package. You can use it to type letters, reports, and other documents. The Ribbon At the top of the Ribbon are several tabs; clicking a tab displays several related command groups. Within each group are related command buttons. You click buttons to issue commands or to access menus and dialog boxes. You may also find a dialog box launcher in the bottom-right corner of a group. Clicking the dialog box launcher gives you access to additional commands via a dialog box. The Status Bar The Status bar appears at the very bottom of your window and provides such information as the current page and the number of words in your document. You can change what displays on the Status bar by right-clicking on the Status bar and selecting the options you want from the Customize Status Bar menu. You click a menu item to select it. You click it again to deselect it. A check mark next to an item means it is selected.

How to select, copy and paste information Go to the document from which you wish to copy the information. Highlight the information by holding down the left button and dragging the mouse. If you require all of the information on a page you may also use the Select All function from the edit menu. From the edit menu select copy. Open the target word document. This is where you want to put the copied information. If it is a new page, select new from the file menu. Select paste from the edit menu. All types of data can be copied in this way including text, tables, graphs, pictures and word-art. Simply highlight this frame containing the data and follow the procedure above.


Using iWork ’09 Pages Pages is both a streamlined word processor and an easy-to-use page layout tool.

Open Pages and choose New from Template Chooser‌ from File menu. The column on the left will list all of the template categories and sub-categories. In the Word Processing category you can select templates for Letters, Forms, Resumes, Reports and of course, a blank template. (http://www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials/using-templates-in-pages/)

When saving Pages documents for use in other software, save a copy as a word document

Pages


Digital Cameras/Card Readers How to transfer pictures from your digital camera onto the Mac

Data storage devices are often used for Digital cameras, Digital Media players, Mobile Phones and games consoles. They are typically removable and rewritable, are smaller, faster, have thousands of times more capacity, and are more durable and reliable because of their lack of moving parts. Storage capacities in 2010 can be as large as 256 GB. Most Data storage devices come in the form of SD( Secure digital) cards, Compact flash cards and microSD cards, which are electronically compatible with SD cards, but have a much smaller physical size. The some times need a reader to access their data.

There are two ways of accessing the photographs on your digital camera using a Mac:

1) Remove the camera’s memory card and use a Card Reader to plug into the computer. The card reader is available from the FLA staff. The memory card will appear on the desk top and you can access your photographs by double clicking on the icon.

2) The camera can be connected directly to the computer using a USB cable, the camera may have its own cable, or one is available from the FLA office. Normally the camera will show up just like the memory card icon, if not it may be better to use the Card Reader as explained above. (memory Card Icon)


Use image capture to scan images. Image Capture is an application program that enables users to upload pictures from digital cameras or scanners which are either connected directly to the computer or the network. The Image Capture Application can be found in the Applications folder.

Check the settings are appropriate for your requirements. Select show details for all options Colour or grey scale Document format- jpeg,tiff,PDF Resolution - it is better to scan at a higher resolution and lower it in the application. Max 300 dpi Once everything is selected, click the overview button. Use the rectangle tool to select the area you wish to scan. Hover over the edge and the cursor will change from a hand to a double arrow- this will allow you to move the box. The hand allows you to position the rectangle over an area; if you required the same size image in two different scans the rectangle remains the same size as your previous scan. When you are content with your selection choose scan.

Please use the scanner with machines in direct proximity to the scanner. Please do not move the scanner


Resize Image in Photoshop Resizing an image is one of the most commonly used skills in Photoshop. Firstly open a file in Photoshop

The Image Size dialog box is divided into two main sections - “Pixel Dimensions” and “Document Size”. pixel dimensions

To resize an image in Photoshop, the first thing you need to do is go up to the Image menu at the top of the screen and select “Image Size” from the list of options. This will bring up the Image Size dialog box, as shown below:

Resize your image by a percentage of the original image size to the right of the word “pixels” is a downpointing arrow. If you click on that arrow, a drop-down menu will appear which gives you the options to choose between “pixels” and “percent”: Resolution (pixels)

The Pixel Dimensions part of the Image Size dialog box tells us two things about our image. First, to the right of the words “Pixel Dimensions” is a number, which in this case is “8.90M”. This number is telling us the current file size of our image. The “M” stands for megabytes, or “millions of bytes”. Make an Image smaller, by changing the numbers for width and height

Image (mb) Size Data

3 items locked together

Physical size

RE-SIZE IMAGE Document size

Gives permission to alter image items. Changing any one value will affect the other two.

Actual Physical Size


Save for Web in Photoshop For more accurate Image re-sizing especially to use online, there is a Save for Web, facility in Adobe Photoshop.

There are three basic image formats in the presets - GIF, JPEG and PNG. As a basic rule, use JPEG’s for photos and PNG’s for everything else.


Save as PDF in Photoshop Portable Document Format (PDF) is an open standard for document exchange. This file format is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. Each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a fixed layout flat document, including the text, fonts, graphics, and other information needed to display it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Document_Format)

This can be useful for soft proofing, using Preview or Acrobat Reader, which is more evironmentally friendly. By proofing your document, you can check to see if there are any unwanted mistakes, then go back and correct them. PDF Files can also be compressed to allow for network printing and web display. If an image is complete and ready to print – flatten it before saving. (Please do not print from the program its self!)

Flatten Image

1. Toolbar 2. Layers 3. Flatten image

if you do not want to flatten the image i.e. you are still working on the layers, save a copy, then flatten the layers and “save as pdf”

1. File save as 2. Select format – PDF (photoshop PDF) 3. Select destination folder 4. Go through PDF conversion process, selecting the Press Quality setting and un-tick Preserve Photoshop Editing Capabilities, plus okay and yes to all other options. 5. Close document from Photoshop.

Photoshop PDF


Save as PDF in Illustrator Save Illustrator Documents as PDF Files

this is a

(Please do not print from the program its self!) 1. Convert fonts to Outlines 2. File save as 3. Select format – PDF (Adobe PDF) 4. Select destination folder in your Documents folder 5. Go through PDF conversion process, chose Press. 6. Un-tick Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities, selecting okay and yes to all other options. Font

Converted to Outlines

Can be re-edited/ typed (word processed)

easy to move to different computers if font unavailable. easier to work with large letter forms

Turn off editing capabilities flattens the file for printing or uploading to the web. if you do not want to flatten the image i.e. you are still working on the file, save a copy as an AI file. 7. Close document from Illustrator reopen PDF in Acrobat Reader or Preview

Illustrator PDF


Save as PDF in InDesign Save InDesign Documents as PDF Files (Please do not print from the program its self!) 1. Convert fonts to Outlines 2. Save File 3. Select File Export format – PDF (Adobe PDF) 4. Select destination folder in your Documents folder 5. Go through PDF conversion process, Chose Press selecting okay and yes to all other options. 6. Close InDesign document

Always save a copy of the edit-able active font version of your document, in case you need to go back and re-type information.

Indesign PDF



Printing

Throughout the college there are networked shared printers. To print, first select Page Setup from the application. Your default page size can be set at anytime in System Preferences/Print and Fax. When you select print from an Application you will see the following list.

Always choose from shared printers. Do not add any other printers or you will not see your prints and will still be charged. All printers are labelled by room name or number followed by type e.g LRC_A3_Colour. Do not Print from Photoshop or Illustrator. All the Adobe programmes will send files to the printer at at least double the original file size. This can cause huge delays in the print queue. Before Printing, check the file size. If it over 30Mb in size it will not print. Always save as a PDF where possible before printing,then print from Acrobat or Preview. PLEASE be patient when printing and consider other users (don’t send 20 prints at once for example). IF IN DOUBT, ASK A MEMBER OF STAFF BEFORE PRINTING. You have been allocated a print quota, the amount will depend on your course.


Checking Print Quotas

You have been allocated a print quota, the amount will depend on your course. This can be checked by clicking on the Papercut client application in the dock. From here you can of course check your remaining credit, top up from a card purchased in the Learning Resource Centre or even transfer credits to another user. When you log on to your Papercut account the interface is like this: (see below) and pretty much self explanatory.


http://stream.northbrook.ac.uk/oer/index.php


Š CJ Taylor Northbrook College 2013


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