InDesign First Attempt

This was my first attempt at using the InDesign software. I learnt how to insert columns, titles, images and I have also included a dropcap at the beginning of my article. To create a DPS like this I had to open up a 3 page document which meant that these two pages were joined. I was also able to specify the number of columns I wanted to be created. I opted for 3 as it is the most common number of columns seen in media products. The more columns you have, the lower the intelligence level of your target audience as small bloack of text are easier to understand. Having just one or two columns generally means that your target audience is intelligent as they are able to deal with large blocks of dense text. To insert the text I had to drag out boxes within my coulmns then to insert the text I did not copy and paste, I used the place tool to import text from another document. This was a similar process when inserting images, dragging out a box then using the place tool and selecting the image from my documents. I was able to specify the number of lines I wanted to extend my dropcap using a tool in InDesign. To create my title I had to use Photoshop, save it as an image then use the same process as insterting images to get my title into place.

Photoshop Effects-Vampire Look and Spot Healing

Vampire Effect

Firstly, I opened up my base image which I would be creating my vampire effect on. When desaturating my image I did not want the entire image to be drained of coulour completely-including the lips and eyes. Therefore, I used the sponge tool, ensuing it was on the 'desaturate' effect with the flow to around 75%. If I wanted a certain area to be darker such as around the eyes I increased the flow or went over the area more than once. I was careful to avoid completely desaturating the lips and eyes.

I next used the Burn tool to make the eyes and lips darker to increase the contrast within the image. I had to ensure the Burn tool was set to the shadow effect with the exposure of around 50%. To create different effects you can change the exposure and the range. I also decided to give my vampire red eyes. I did this by creating a new Darken layer and colouring over the eyes using the brush tool in a red colour. I then adjusted the opacity so that the red colour was not solid and you are able to see the eyes underneath the red layer. This gives the vampire eyes which are subtley red but still resemble eyes. My next step in the creation of my vampire effect was to create the spiked vampire teeth. Firstly I zoomed in to the mouth area so that the teeth were more visible and easier to work with. To select the teeth I used the magnetic lasso tool which made it simple to select the area that I wanted as the tool follows the line closest to the path you choose. I then made a copy of this are which made a new shape I was able to edit. I then was able to warp the shape to give it a longer, spiked shape to give the look of a vampire tooth. I wanted this effect to be subtle so I was careful with the amount I adjusted the shape of the tooth. I then repeated this on the other tooth and I think it gives a very good effect.


Spot Healing

I first opened my image in Photoshop and created a new layer. When on my new layer I selected the heal brush tool which would enable me to get rid of and blemishes I wanted. I ensured that All Layers were selected under the Sample dropdown menu. I then zoomed into the first area of my image that I wanted to edit to make the image clearer and editing easier. I could now begin to edit my image and I changed the size of my clone tool (healing brush) depending on the size of the spot I was getting rid of.

To clean up a spot I had to click the area next to the spot which selected the area within the brush. Holding down ALT I clicked on the spot which effectively copied the pixels across from my first area and therefore edited out the blemish area.When ALT was held down I could see that the symbol of my heal brush tool changed, showing that I had selected an area that I was able to use on the spot. I then repeated this on all ares that I wanted to deal with and I think that the finished effect is effective. This technique is very widely used in media production in order to create 'perfect' images with no flaws at all.

Before                                                                                              After