Classmates Project

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• Goal of this project
  • Create a single document containing photos and brief descriptions of all the students in the class.
  • In today's lab session we will complete the first three steps of the project, which will be continued in the following classes.
• First step--text entry.
  1. Each person in the class will be responsible for typing up a brief biography of themselves--two or three paragraphs mentioning prior experience with computers, reasons for learning electronic illustration, expectations for the class.
  2. Launch Illustrator by double-clicking on its icon, located in the "Illustrator" folder in the "Drawing" folder on the hard drive of your computer.
  3. To create a new Untitled document, use the File-->New command. In the "New Document" dialog which appears afterwards, leave all settings at their default values and click <OK>
  4. File-->Save As.
     • In the "Save" dialog which appears afterwards, leave the "Format" setting at its default value ("Adobe Illustrator Document"). Enter the filename "YourName-Illustrator". If you plan to use this file on a PC, turn on the "Append File Extension" checkbox. Save the file on the desktop of your computer.
     • In the "Format Options" dialog which appears next, leave all settings at their default values and click <OK>.
     • Use File-->Save every five minutes thereafter.
  5. If the Toolbox is not visible, bring it up by putting a checkmark next to the Tools command in the Window menu. Select the Text tool (the one with the "T") and drag a box outline on the page (this is your type block). Type your bio file at the flashing insertion point that appears at the upper-left corner of the box.
     • If necessary, click in the document window with the Magnifier Glass tool to enlarge your view of the type (option-click to demagnify).
     • Use standard selection and cut-and-paste techniques to edit text as needed (you will need the text tool to do this).
  6. When done, export your bio to a text file that others in the class will later use:
     • File-->Export.
       • In the "Save" dialog which appears afterwards, select "Text Format" from the "Format" pop-up menu, enter "YourName-Text". If you plan to use this file on a PC, turn on the "Append File Extension" checkbox; export to the desktop.
  7. You can now use File-->Quit to terminate Illustrator and free up memory.
• Second step--use the scanner to create your portrait picture file.
  1. Go to a computer connected to a scanner. Bring your Zip disk along, if you have one already.
     • The following directions apply to the UMAX scanners using VistaScan software. To use other scanners, ask a lab aide for assistance.
  2. Place a photo of yourself (a picture ID will do) face down on the glass of the scanner. Close the lid.
  3. Start the program "UMAX VistaScan" (in the "Utilities" folder on the startup drive).
     
     • The VistaScan window appears, with a preview area on the left and scanning controls on the right.
  4. Click the Preferences button in the upper-right corner of the window.
     
     • The Preferences dialog appears. Click on the 'Scan Destination' tab. Choose 'File' destination (indicated by the red disk icon on the left); choose 'TIFF' from the 'File Format' pop-up menu.
     • Click <Setting>. Locate your Zip disk on the desktop as the destination of the scanned image file. If you don't have a Zip disk, choose instead the 'Shared Folder' (usually located on the second drive). Enter your choice of filename, then click <Save>.
     • Click <OK> to exit the Preferences dialog.
  5. Click the 'Advanced' button at the top of the window. This lets you control directly the image settings.
     • If you don't see a stack of pop-up menus in the right half of the window, click the Tool Selection icon (center-top) to display them.
       
  6. Make sure that 'Flatbed (Reflective)' is selected in the first pop-up menu from the top, on the right.
  7. Click the <Preview> button on the right of the window. VistaScan will activate the scanner and display a reduced view of your image.
  8. Using the Frame tool, click and drag the edges of the flashing selection box to resize it until it encloses only the preview of your photo.
     
     • Make sure the 'Auto Adjustment' checkbox is checked. This recomputes the exposure automatically based on your selection.
  9. Choose appropriate scan settings from the remaining pop-up menus:
     • Using the second pop-up menu, set the image type to 'B/W, Photo'.
     • Using the third pop-up menu, set the resolution to 150 dpi (if you were to print your work, this is a close match for an 80 lpi device like the laser printer in the lab).
     • Use the fourth pop-up menu to turn descreening off. Descreening is only needed to avoid artifacts when the image is halftoned (as in magazine pictures). For an original photograph, choose 'No Descreen'.
     • Turn off sharpening and blurring by setting the fifth pop-up menu to 'No Filter'.
     • Set the scale to actual size by choosing '100%' from the sixth pop-up menu (the last one).
  10. Click <Scan>. The scanner will proceed to read your photo into the computer.
  11. When the scan has completed, use the network connection or your Zip disk to transfer the file with your scanned image to your computer. Return to your computer to continue the project, allowing the next person to scan.
• Third step--import your photo into a FreeHand document:
  1. Launch FreeHand by double-clicking on its icon, located in the "FreeHand" folder in the "Drawing" folder on the hard drive of your computer.
  2. Use the File-->New command to create a new, Untitled document.
  3. File-->Import. Find the file "YourName-Photo" on the disk and open it. Click on the page where you want to place the upper-left corner of your photo
  4. File-->Save. Call this file "YourName-FreeHand".
  5. Do NOT throw away your picture file from your disks, as FreeHand will still need it to handle the photo correctly.
• After these three steps are completed
  • Consider spending some time poking around in Illustrator and FreeHand (now that you know where they are). You can't break anything, and you might make interesting discoveries.
• Before leaving
  • Make sure to copy all of your files (an Illustrator file, a Text file, a TIFF file, and a FreeHand file) to one of your Zip disks, and to make a backup copy on a second disk. Remove any files you have created on the hard drive by dragging them to the trash.
  • Very important: if you still do not have your own Zip disks at this time, make sure to tell the instructor before you leave. Any student files left on the hard drives of the lab computers may be deleted at any time.

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This document originally at <http://www.sanedraw.com/LEARN/EL_ILLST/CLSMTS1/INDEX.HTM> Copyright 2003 by Sandro Corsi. Created 1995-08-27. Last modified 2003-01-21.