Assignment 1:
For my first community engagement event, I chose to go to a photoshop workshop. I’ve never had the opportunity to use photoshop in any capicity before, so it felt like a great opportunity to not just have the tool in front of me (and for free), but also to be able so see some of the basic and semi-advanced tools on it.
One of the first things we went over is what file formats are best for what purpose. A PSD file is used to create an editable Photoshop file. A JPEG is best for sharing and uploading images to the web. TIFF files are good for maintaining high resolution and PDF files are good for printing and sharing. We also learned about resolution best practices (72 ppi for the web and 300 ppi for print) as well as different keyboard shortcuts to navigate photoshop more quickly.
Shortly after, we delved into Photoshop. We started with the basics of resizing and resampling. We each opened a picture on our computers of a child in a toy wagon. We navigated to Image>Image Size and unchecked the box that said “Resample”. After that, we cahnged the resolution of the image to 300ppi. We checked resample and then changed the width of the image to 7 inches. Then we were able to crop the image to a clean and precise 5”x7” image, perfect for printing.
After that we learned about transforming, cropping and retouching. We opened up a faded image of a solider and used the keyboard shortcut Control+T to go into “Transform” and then we were able to rotate the image to fix its crookedness. We then used the crop tool to remove the edges of the image that were torn or dirty. We also created a duplicate layer of the image so that if something horrible happened, our orignal image would be preserved. We used the spot healing brush to remove the imperfections on the image and then used the Clone Stamp Tool to fix some of the creases.
The next thing we did was learn how to use the liquify tool. This is the tool that is famous for distorting bodies to unreachable sizes. We opened an image of a lady jumping in the air. We made a copy of the layer and then went to Filter>Liquify to open the Liquify tool. We used the Forward Warp Tool to cinch her waist and adjust her shape, but learned we could use the reconstruct tool to undo any changes we didn’t like.
Our last image that we tool on was learning out to use the skin smoothing and teeth whitening tools. We opened a picture of the woman leading the course and created a backgroud layer. We also made a duplicate layer. On the duplicate layer of the image, we used the Spot Healing Brush to remove any moles or red spots on her face. Then, after duplicating the layer, we went to Filter>Blur>Surface Blur and, while holding the ALT key, clicked “New Mask” to create a layer mask over her face. We then used the brush tool to brush away the area over her skin to reveal the blurred layer. This allowed us to see the difference between the unaltered image and the altered image. After taking care of her skin, we used the Marquis Tool to select around her teeth by drawing the outline. We added a huge/saturation adjustment layer. We brought down the saturation and brought up the lightness to whiten her teeth. We had to be careful here because if we moved either the saturation or the lightness to far, she could end up with some nasty colored teeth (and her dentist would be concerned).
Overall, I was grateful for the experience of getting to take the photoshop workshop. I’m not sure I would’ve had the opportunity to use this tool otherwise. It was great to see it’s practical uses, like wanting to clean up a picture before printing it, as well as get a glance at how the advertising industry can use the tool to alter reality.
Assignment 2:
3D Printer Training!
For my second community engagement event, I decided I would explore a 3D Printing Training workshop. My experience with 3D printing is very minimal. My brother-in-law built his own and I’ve seen a little bit about how they work (they’re awesome, btdubs), but other than that, I don’t know much. One thing I loved about this workshop was the atmosphere of believing that everyone was a creator. It aims to empower those who may not always be comfortable in these sorts of creative or technical environments.
One of the first things we learned was about how to actually get files the could be printed. The files must be in a .stl format to be processed by the printer. This can be done through a few different programs that were shown to the class. When printing with a 3D printer, one can think of it similar to a 2D printer and how it moves back and forth along the X and Y axis. But instead of using ink, the 3D printer deposits a resin that cured with the UV light. There’s also a Z axis. This is for the third dimension.
We discussed in the workshop what is important to consider for the object one wants to print. These three things were the support material, depth, and infill. The support material is a waxy substance that holds the object together. The object can’t float in mid-air when the machine is printing it. So when it’s printed, any open space between the part and printer must be filled with the substance material. Without it, the object would fall apart in the printer. This may make the object look different in real life than it did on the screen, but it is necessary when the part comes out of the machine. To remove the support material, one would rinse off the part. The depth in 3D printing is ensuring that the object actually is 3D. When one is actually designing the object on a computer, there needs to be an assurance that it is 3D and not mistakenly made as a 2D object. If this happens, the 3D printer cannot print it. The infill in 3D printing is just a value representing the volume of the object being printed. A higher infill means that the layer thickness is greater.
Overall the 3D printing workshop was really awesome! I felt like I had the chance to learn more in-depth details about how the printers work. My next hope is to have the opportunity to see one at work!