Wow! Where do I begin? This took me 4 hours! Most of the four hours was spent watching YouTube tutorials and researching directions online. I used Gimp for this activity, just as I did for graphics activity one. I decided to make a web banner for the place I work, Sandlapper Elementary. They are the Sandlapper stars. The following is the step by step process on how I created my web banner.
1. First, I opened Gimp and selected File>New. The “Create a New Image” window opened, and I changed the pixels to 470x60.
2. The new image opened. The background was white, so I selected the color palette in the toolbox and selected royal blue as my color. Then, I selected the paint bucket in the toolbox and clicked my image to fill it with royal blue.
3. I selected Colors>Color Balance. When the “Color Balance” window opened, I played with the colors under “Adjust Color Levels” until I liked my new, unique color.
4. I selected Filters>Render>Nature>Flame. The “Flame” menu appeared. Under the “Rendering” tab, I adjusted the brightness to 3. Under the “Camera” tab, I changed zoom to 3 to adjust the closeness of the flame. I clicked edit to select the direction and look of my flame. I also changed the “Variation” of my flame in this window to Swirl. There are many choices to choose from! This created the whispy, swirl look in the background of my image.
5. I selected Colors>Color Balance to adjust color levels again! I wanted a different look with the “Flame” in the background. So, I played with the color levels until I found something I liked.
6. I selected “A” in the toolbox, which is the text tool. This allowed me to create a text box. I typed in “*Sandlapper Elementary Stars*”. I doubled clicked on the “A” to open the “Text Tool Options” window. This window gave me the option to change the font, text size, and color of text. I changed my font to Casual, set my text size at 30, and changed the text color to white.
7. I selected “A” again, to create another line of text. I typed in “Learning Without Limits”. I double clicked on “A” to adjust text. I changed the font to Casual, set my text size at 30, and changed the text color to yellow.
8. I selected Filters>Light and Shadow>Supernova (I used this effect in Graphics Activity One and loved it!). I changed the “Color” of my Supernova to yellow. The “Center of the Nova” in this window can be adjusted by changing the X and Y axis. I changed the X axis to 520 and the Y axis to 36. This moved the Supernova to the upper right hand corner of my web banner. I thought this Supernova would make a good “star” for the banner.
I encountered a challenge when trying to figure out how to modify my text. The text box only allowed me to type. So, I researched online how to do this. All I had to do was double click the Text Tool! Sounds simple, but some things aren’t that easy to figure out. There are so many different versions of Gimp that many of the YouTube tutorials I watched were not that helpful in certain aspects of what I was working on. I tried to add animation to the text in my web banner. However, I couldn’t figure out some of the aspects of animation. I did enjoy experimenting with the different types offered, so I plan to research this some more.
Basically, every step I took in this process, I learned from. I watched MANY tutorials because I learn better when I watch things being done. To be specific, I learned how to modify text(changing the font, color, and size) and change the background of an image(by adjusting filters and colors). There are so many different things Gimp has to offer that I believe I could work with this program everyday for a year and still learn something new daily!
Wow! Where do I begin? This took me 4 hours! Most of the four hours was spent watching YouTube tutorials and researching directions online. I used Gimp for this activity, just as I did for graphics activity one. I decided to make a web banner for the place I work, Sandlapper Elementary. They are the Sandlapper stars. The following is the step by step process on how I created my web banner.
1. First, I opened Gimp and selected File>New. The “Create a New Image” window opened, and I changed the pixels to 470x60.
2. The new image opened. The background was white, so I selected the color palette in the toolbox and selected royal blue as my color. Then, I selected the paint bucket in the toolbox and clicked my image to fill it with royal blue.
3. I selected Colors>Color Balance. When the “Color Balance” window opened, I played with the colors under “Adjust Color Levels” until I liked my new, unique color.
4. I selected Filters>Render>Nature>Flame. The “Flame” menu appeared. Under the “Rendering” tab, I adjusted the brightness to 3. Under the “Camera” tab, I changed zoom to 3 to adjust the closeness of the flame. I clicked edit to select the direction and look of my flame. I also changed the “Variation” of my flame in this window to Swirl. There are many choices to choose from! This created the whispy, swirl look in the background of my image.
5. I selected Colors>Color Balance to adjust color levels again! I wanted a different look with the “Flame” in the background. So, I played with the color levels until I found something I liked.
6. I selected “A” in the toolbox, which is the text tool. This allowed me to create a text box. I typed in “*Sandlapper Elementary Stars*”. I doubled clicked on the “A” to open the “Text Tool Options” window. This window gave me the option to change the font, text size, and color of text. I changed my font to Casual, set my text size at 30, and changed the text color to white.
7. I selected “A” again, to create another line of text. I typed in “Learning Without Limits”. I double clicked on “A” to adjust text. I changed the font to Casual, set my text size at 30, and changed the text color to yellow.
8. I selected Filters>Light and Shadow>Supernova (I used this effect in Graphics Activity One and loved it!). I changed the “Color” of my Supernova to yellow. The “Center of the Nova” in this window can be adjusted by changing the X and Y axis. I changed the X axis to 520 and the Y axis to 36. This moved the Supernova to the upper right hand corner of my web banner. I thought this Supernova would make a good “star” for the banner.
I encountered a challenge when trying to figure out how to modify my text. The text box only allowed me to type. So, I researched online how to do this. All I had to do was double click the Text Tool! Sounds simple, but some things aren’t that easy to figure out. There are so many different versions of Gimp that many of the YouTube tutorials I watched were not that helpful in certain aspects of what I was working on. I tried to add animation to the text in my web banner. However, I couldn’t figure out some of the aspects of animation. I did enjoy experimenting with the different types offered, so I plan to research this some more.
Basically, every step I took in this process, I learned from. I watched MANY tutorials because I learn better when I watch things being done. To be specific, I learned how to modify text(changing the font, color, and size) and change the background of an image(by adjusting filters and colors). There are so many different things Gimp has to offer that I believe I could work with this program everyday for a year and still learn something new daily!