Photography - Picasa-Photostory-NeroVision

Basic Edits
1. Use Picasa to edit your photos ready for your project.
2. Use the Basic Fixes to Crop, Straighten, Red eye and colour controls. Always check out the I’m Feeling Lucky
3. It is always a good idea to see what effect the Sharpen has under the Effects option
4. Note that when you have made any changes to a Photo the SAVE Changes Option appears at the top of the Folder. This will indicate the number of photos that you have made edits to.

Create an Album
We are now going to build an Album of selected photos to use in our Photostory.
1. Select each photo for the Photostory . For multiple selection hold the CTRL key as you select. OR select individually and click on the HOLD button. You will see them build up in the Tray.
2. To Add\the photos in the Tray to an Album Click Add to.. and either select an Album already started or create a New one.
3. When you have selected and made edits to all the photos for this project, open the Album.
4. Note the Save Changes will indicate the number of edits made. IMPORTANT click on Save Changes. A message will indicate that a Backup of your original photos will be made.
5. This folder will be made as a sub-folder linked to the main storage folder and named Originals. Check this out - Start – My Pictures –Open the Folder Name-note there will be one called Originals- which will contain the unedited version of the photo,
6. Also note the Date .. the original downloaded photos will store the date of the transfer. Photos that have been edited will show date modified.

EXPORT the Album
1. Select EXPORT It will automatically select a subfolder name of Export under the main folder.
2. You can Browse and direct the Export Folder to your Desktop if you are in danger of not being able to locate it when starting your Project
3. You can change the Resize to 800 if using for a Photostory project. This means you are not importing over large files into your story, especially if the output is for a television
4. Click OK

TIPS:
If I am creating an Album for a Photostory project then I name that Album starting with PS
I edit each photo and when satisfied click on Hold to keep in the tray
When I have several in the tray I use the Add\ to Album and move them

Congratulations you now have all your photos ready for your project. Run a slideshow to check

Lost it?! Click on START-Search-All Files and Folders – Input filename as EXPORT–Use Advanced Search for Last Week. Keep a note of location

Photostory Project

The full Help Manual can be located on the CD for Photostory or you can click on the Help button at any stage of the project.

1. Open Photostory – Begin a New Story
2. Click on Import Photos
3. Use the Dropdown box against LOOK IN - and Select\Desktop. You should find your Folder there called EXPORT. Double click to open.
4. TIP.. Hold the Ctrl Key and press the letter A .. this will select all the photos in the folder .Shift key whilst selecting will highlight a block Ctrl key whilst selecting will select random
5. Click OK
6. You will now have a Film strip of your photos
7. Photos can be moved to a new location by dragging so that they are in the required order for viewing
8. Click on Save Project and give it a name. It will automatically save under My Videos as a .wp3 file
9. Finished moving.?. then click on NEXT
10. Note the first photo in project is selected and the option is to give it a Title. The format is the same as Word where you can change font, colour and position. If you need Help then click on Learn more about adding titles.
11. You can add a Voice Over at this stage.. click on Learn to find out more
12. Click Next
13. You are now at the stage of selecting Music.
14. LOCATION again is everything. You must know where your music files have been stored, There is a Folder under My Documents called My Music.. within this you can create sub-folders of your personal music.
15. The music format required is MP3 .. some sample MP3 background music is on the CD with Photostory`
16. You will note that the first photo is selected so that is where the music will start
17. Click on Select Music.. select a track from your music library, change the volume, and click on preview to watch your project and hear the music
18. SAVE PROJECT!
19. You night want to make some changes so the BACK button will take you back each stage,
20. Customise Motion
21. You will have noticed that the photos pan and zoom as they play and you might want to change the movement.
22. Click Back button once.. and under the photo you will see Customise Motion. First click on the Learn More.. to read how to make changes. Also how to add Transitions.
23. All the HELP notes are readily available to you at any time and at each stage you can preview your changes. Use the Back and Next buttons to move thro the project. Remember also to Save frequently.
24. Music can be changed during the project and again the Learn More notes give all the details
25. When happy with the project then click on Next until you reach the Save your story Screen.
26. Few Tips here: Keep the option to Save for Computer output unless you specifically want to Email the project, This option will create a movie file suitable for TV viewing
27. Note the Location and File Name the default is to save under My Videos and as a Photostory(num) and as a wmv extension. You can keep the name or change if you wish but I suggest you keep the location.
28. Click Next and your project is finished.. wait for it to build and then VIEW

BURNING to a Video CD (VCD) or Super Video CD (SVCD) or DVD

NeroVision Express which comes under Nero Digital is used for this part of the project. The Full Manual was included in the CD issued
It will create a CD or DVD with a Menu front end so that you can out many projects on one CD or DVD.
Hardware requirements: A Drive which is a CD Burner or one for burning DVD
Plus Blanks CDs or DVDs.. It is not recommended to use Re-Writables for this project as many DVD players linked to television will not play them

1. Start by knowing where your projects are and the name given to them. They should be under My Documents\My Videos
2. Insert the Blank into your CD or DVD Drive
3. Open NeroVision Express
4. Nero will recognise the Blank Disc and will offer you a selection accordingly. If it is a CD it will offer to make a VCD SVCD or Mini. If you have a DVD it will offer that option.
5. Many commercial DVD players will play VCD pr SVCD (slightly better quality) but check your player first to see what format it will play. Remember if you are sending this to friends you need to have some info on their system as well so opt for the more general VCD as a trial.
6. Nero has tips which display at each stage. If you do not find them useful then you can select from the display box NEVER to show tips.
7. Click on ADD Video Files
8. Use the LOOK IN Box to go to My Documents My Videos.. remember you might have to scroll down to find your project.
9. Highlight project name and click Open.
10. It might take some time to bring in the clip but it will display in the list when finished
11. Now you can add another video file by following the same procedure
12. You will see on the bottom bar the size that will be taken by these clips. The bat will also show the maximum capacity of the disc
13. When you have brought in all the projects click NEXT
14. Now you have your Menu sample. Click on Edit Menu to see options . Also check the printed Manual.
15. First you can change the Layout. And options are shown
16. Next change the Background by changing colour or using a Photo. As a beginner.. just make a colour selection
17. Look at changing the button Style
18. Most important is to change the HEADING.. delete the word Island and insert a Title (not too long or it will not display)
19. Keep your first burning project simple and experiment after you know that you can successfully burn and view a project.
20. Click NEXT and Next again where you will see a Remote which you can operate to simulate your project
21. NEXT MESSAGE CAN BE CONFUSING.. it is about video format .. The answer is NO and if you tick the box never to display again then you will not be confused next time.
22. CLICK on BURN and sit back and wait.

This process takes some time but when completed the Drive will eject the Disc.
Move it to a DVD player and pray! Hopefully also pat yourself on the back!
The disc should also play on your computer under Windows Media Player

That’s is your first project completed from start to finish and I hope to see some samples to enjoy.

Sylvia October 2007

Yep been going around like a headless chicken over this one!

Templates

Save as a Template
1. A Document Layout such as a Letterhead can be saved as a Template to be used whenever required.
2. On the Menu Bar, click on File – Save as
3. The Save As Menu box will display
4. Click in the drop down box against Save as type and a list of options will display.

5. Select Document Template – Insert a File Name – the click on Save
6. Your letterhead has been stored to be used again and again.

Use a stored Template
1. Click on File – New (or CTRL+N)
and the List of Templates will display. Highlight the
Letterhead and click OK.
2. Now start using the letterhead by typing in the date and the contents of the letter.

Word Text Boxes & Graphics

Introduction

These notes covers the facility of using Text Boxes and inserting a Graphic (either a Picture or Clipart) into a document. The benefits of text within a box or frame gives the added advantage of justification within the box, moving a block of text and maintaining the format . Blocks of text within a text box can also be overlapped if required.
Graphic images, can be inserted as an illustration and can be clipart or pictures (photos). Text can be above, below or around the image and applications will be demonstrated.

Get started
Topic 1: Insert a Text Box

1. Within WORD open a new blank document using the icon

2. Click on Insert on the Menu Bar and the drop down box will include
Text Box
Within Word 2000 this option is displayed when clicking on ..More…




Note: the Drawing Toolbar (usually displayed at the bottom of the screen) has an Icon to insert a Text Box. To display the Drawing Toolbar – Click on View – Toolbars –select Drawing

3. Click on Text Box and move back to the document. The flashing cursor with become a cross
4. Move the cross to a position on the page and holding the left mouse button drag it across and down to form a box and release the mouse button. The box will display with hatched edges with white square boxes at corners and mid points.
5. Move the cursor directly over the box until it becomes a arrow tipped cross . This is the move tool. Hold the left mouse button and drag the text box to the required position on the page and release the button.
6. Click within the text box and type text. Justify the text within the box and
format using font styles, size and colour. Use the Icons from the previous lesson OR on the Menu Bar select Format – Font and the Font window will offer options for everything needed for styling text.
7. This example is using your name for a letterhead.
8. Do not worry if the text becomes too large for the box as it can easily be made bigger. To enlarge the box , move the cursor over one of the corner squares then click and drag the box. Release the button when box is the required size.
9. Word automatically gives text boxes a thin black border. Remove the line by selecting the box (clicking on it) , then Format on the Menu Bar..move down to Text Box and click. The Format Text Box will display. Click on the Line - Colour drop down and select No Line
10. Create a text box for the address, justify the text, change the font, size and colour if required and then position the box. Remove the border of the text box

Topic 2: Insert a Graphic from Clip Art

1. Insert Clip Art to brighten the letterhead . First click at the top left hand of the document. On the Menu toolbar click on Insert – scroll down to picture and move over to Clip Art and click

2. Clip Gallery window displays. Click on a category and use the scroll bar to view the images.
To insert an image, click on it and a menu will pop up. Click on the Insert clip button and then the close button in the title bar. You will return to your document where you image will have been inserted in the top left hand corner

3. When the image is selected , white squares show on each corner and mid points. These can be used to re-size the image the same as text boxes.
4. If dragging a corner to resize is difficult then the Format- Picture Menu offers other methods including Wrapping

5. Select the image and the Picture Toolbar will display. Click on the Text Wrap Icon and select Tight.

6. Review the other options.



Note & Help! – Word 2000 users might find the image will not move. Select the image then click Format-Picture-Layout- and click on in front of text . The Picture Format Menu is also different and shows icons of DOGS.

Word97 users might also find that the option Edit Wrap Points must be selected before the graphic will display with the white corners and mid point boxes.

Topic 3: Moving Text within a Document (Cut & Paste1)

In this lesson parts of text will be selected, deleted from its current position and inserted in a new location within the document. This will use the ‘cut and paste’ option.

Using the sample letter the first paragraph will be moved to the end of the document.

1. Select the text to be move. In this instance it is a sentence.
2. Note the scissors icon is now bold which shows it is active.
Click on the icon to CUT.
3. Move to the area where the paragraph is to be move and press the enter key to create a blank line and space
4. Click on the Pasteboard icon and the paragraph will be inserted at the point of the flashing cursor.
5. Adjust the position if necessary
6. After a cut and paste operation the Undo icons also become active .
7. Click on the arrow and note what happens – the paragraph returns to the original location.
8. Undo and Redo will store a series of actions so that mistakes can easily be corrected.

Word Processing - Lesson 2

Shortcut Keys
CTRL+C Copy the selected text or object
CTRL+X Cut the selected text or object
CTRL+V Paste text or an object
CTRL+Z Undo the last action
CTRL+Y Redo the last action

Selecting Text

Any amount of text Drag over the text.
A word Double-click the word.
A graphic Click the graphic.
A line of text Move the pointer to the left of the line until it changes to a right-pointing arrow, and then click.
Multiple lines of text Move the pointer to the left of the lines until it changes to a right-pointing arrow, and then drag up or down.
A sentence Hold down CTRL, and then click anywhere in the sentence.
A paragraph Move the pointer to the left of the paragraph until it changes to a right-pointing arrow, and then double-click. Or triple-click anywhere in the paragraph.

Text Formating
Change the look of text by applying character formatting
To apply character formatting to a single word, select the word. To apply character formatting to several words or a few characters within a word, select the text you want to change.

Use the Format Icons

Or
From the Menu Select Format Font

Beginners WORD Lesson 1

Lesson 1: Word Window
Microsoft Word 2000 is the word processing application in the Microsoft Office Suite. Create professional-looking, formatted text documents with this powerful Word processing software.
By the end of this lesson, learners should be able to:
· Identify the parts of the Word Window
· Create a new document
· Open a previously saved file
· Change the document view
The Word Window
Word is the word processing application included in the Microsoft Office 2000 suite. Besides Word processing, Word allows you to perform many tasks in a typical office environment.
Shown below is the Microsoft Word default window. When Word is launched, a new blank document, or default window, opens in Print Layout view. Although window elements are fully explained in our Windows class, here is a brief explanation of the Word window.

Title bar
Displays the document name followed by a program name
Menu bar
Contains a list of options to manage and customize documents
Standard toolbar
Contains shortcut buttons for the most popular demands
Formatting toolbar
Contains buttons used for formatting text
Ruler
Used to set margins, indents, and tabs
Insertion Point
The location where the next character appears
End-of-document marker
Indicates the end of the document
Scroll bars
Used to view parts of the document
Status bar
Displays position of the insertion point and working mode buttons
Office Assistant
Links to the Microsoft Office Help feature
ENSURE the STANDARD TOOL BAR and FORMATTING TOOLBAR are available

1. CLICK on View
2. Click on Toolbars
3. Make sure Standard & Formatting are ticked