I have developed a wider

knowledge of the tools and overall

concept of Photoshop. I used

Photoshop to construct the front

cover of my music magazine.

I already had a basic knowledge of

the works of Photoshop

however, throughout the course of

my main task, I have been able to

access a wider variety of tools and

skills that helped me progress further

than I could've done before.

• The magnetic lasso tool was

one of the main tools that I

needed to work with when I

was working on the images

from my first shoot. This was

because I needed the

images to have a precise

cut around the edges so

that I could work solely on

the background. I had

previously used this tool in

another subject however, I

had not used it in this

context so I enjoyed having

the time to experiment with

this particular tool to

achieve the best outcome.

• To achieve the same colour

scheme throughout the

production of my music

magazine pages, I used the

eye dropper tool.

• I used the layers tool to

create a new layer each time

I created a new or different

layer. Within my prelim

exercise, I used the layers tool

a few times but never used it

to its full use. With this task, I

made sure I put each new

shape, text or image on to a

new layer so that I could edit

them accordingly.

The ’Character’ tool box was

useful throughout the

production of my front cover

because it enabled me to

quickly edit the size, font or

format of any piece of text

on my page. I already knew

how to use most features in

this tool box however, I have

learned how to separate the

spacing within words so that I

can achieve a consistent

width between all of my

article titles.

I had previous knowledge of Quark due to

our preliminary exercise we did at the

start of the course however, throughout

this main task I have come to appreciate

Quark’s tools and have gained a wider

knowledge.

The ‘Guides’ tool came in useful when making sure everything on my page was aligned in a correct formation and was useful when

comparing the sizes of text boxes, shapes and images. It showed the columns on each page so I could make sure I took my text and images right down to the bottom of the page, making sure everything was equal.

The ‘colours’ tool box was an

essential when it came to keeping a consistent house style throughout all of my magazine pages. I created new colours to my palette so that I had a variety of tones to choose from; ensuring that I used the same ones throughout each page. I was also able to use colours that I had

created in Photoshop for my cover, on both my contents and DPS. This was because each colour has its own individual code. So I used the colour tool to write in the specific code and then I was left with the same colour that I had used on my cover.

I was able to use the ‘layers’ tool to add extra text, shapes and images on to my page and edit them individually (anything on the same layer gets edited in

the same way).I changed the layout of my document a few times throughout the production process, so using the layers tool came in handy when wanting to move or edit a series of items in one go. When I was using Quark in my prelim task, I didn’t

know the benefits of these tools and they were therefore not used to their full potential. I only ever used the text and image tools however, I didn’t use them with the layers tool so I had to delete things and start all over again because I had everything on one layer.

To capture the best possible images for my magazine pages, I had to use a high quality camera. College provided cameras to this standard and through that I was able to achieve photographs that were a high resolution, clear, appropriate images.

• The viewfinder was needed to make sure I had all the subjects necessary in the frame so that it would fit I the correct space on my page. The viewfinder also came in useful when trying to create a focal point in my images; I could use the viewfinder to select an area that would be the main focus of the image.

• I used the ‘Menu’ button a few times throughout my photo-shoots because sometimes I had technical difficulties. Depending on the lighting, sometimes the flash was not needed yet it would still go off. Therefore, I had to use the menu button to turn the flash on/off accordingly; a change in the shutter speed was another thing I used the menu button for.

The settings dial came in useful when trying

to capture my images in a way that would

compliment the lighting and detail that was

needed. I mainly kept my camera on the

Automatic setting but the Portrait setting

was also used sometimes when I was

photographing close-ups of artists and

bands

I used a variety of online websites and software to produce work that would end up on my blog,

showing the progression of my magazine pages. Some of these websites were used to create

documents needed in the ideas process, leading up to the production work, whereas, other websites

were used for presenting my final ideas and magazine pages.

Towards the end of my magazine

production, I discovered a website

called ‘dafont.com’. This website

allowed me to create new fonts

that would cooperate with the

genre of my music magazine.

Blogger was the main online website that I

used to document the progression of my

music magazine production. I placed specific

documents and ideas into folders so that my

work was clearly laid out in a neat format. The

fact that the blogs were dated, helped me to

find any necessary information that I had

initially wrote down before I started the

production work.

I used Slideshare and Scribd to upload any

documents that I had produced on Word

and PowerPoint

To document any supporting ideas about the

production of my music magazine, I used a

website called: Prezi.