Becoming a Millennial

202. Picnik

I was skeptical.  Not another photo-editing program!  Isn't Irfanview good enough?  This morning I spent about 30 minutes with Picnik (on the recommendation from one of my ETC staff) and came away a believer.  It is web-based, free, tons of effects, and a very easy interface.  In 30 minutes I pretty much tried all it's features, including the pencil drawing effect you see here.

46. Footprints

This past week showed a lot of activity on my blog site. Monday I sent out an email to the CCCU technology listserve and also one to TU faculty providing people the blog URL.  It will be interesting to see to what degree word of mouth will continue to increase the traffic.

The blog has prompted a number of people to send me resources to help in my research and investigations.  This would include information about Freecorder, MP3 Splitter, Web 2.0, RSS feeds, and Windows Media Player 10.  I think I'm experiencing just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the collaborative potential of this tool.  Keep the ideas and information flowing ...

Wondering how I got the bar graph into my blog?  It's that little utility Irfanview.  I created the bar graph in Excel ... hit <Print Scrn> ... pasted into Irfanview ... cropped ... resized .... saved ... and then posted in my blog.  See entry 26 for the details.

26. Web Graphics for Dummies

Here is the easiest way to create a graphic for a web site (e.g. note the four-picture collage I posted yesterday).

1. Go into PowerPoint (or another program with which you are familiar such as Word or Paint), and insert your photographs and text boxes.
2. Press <Print Scrn> to copy the screen image to the clipboard.
3. Open Irfanview (you've already downloaded this, right?  See entry 15).
4. Select Edit ... Paste ... to bring in the copied screen image.
5. Drag a box around just the part you want to keep, and select Edit ... Crop Selection.
6. If you need to make the graphic smaller select Image ... Resize/Resample ... and Set new size as percentage of the original ... OK.
7. Select File ... Save As ... to save the image as a jpeg file.  It is now ready for posting on your web page.

No, you don't have to be a whiz with Photoshop or some exotic photo editing program.  Just use the software you're familiar with and Irfanview!

A little disclaimer here -- the above technique works great with images that will be viewed on a computer screen.  If you are planning to print the image you may be disappointed due to the fact that the resolution is pretty low.