Bright Ideas Blog » Art & Media Portal

SCANNING TIPS

Carol Owens — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:33:22 +0000

With the overwhelming availability of digital cameras nowadays and the enormous amounts of clip art images available from LPi’s own Art & Media Portal, www.portal.4lpi.com, scanners aren’t used as often as they were even just a few years ago. Many scanners are on a shelf collecting dust or being used as a shelf. Every now and then, however, there is a need to pull that scanner out. Maybe you have an old photograph that would be perfect for an article in next week’s bulletin or you have a copy of a printed flyer you previously created but can’t find the electric file or it was saved to only one computer and that computer is no longer functional. Here’s where that dusty old scanner can come in handy. Below are some scanning tips to help you get the perfect scan.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT “RESOLUTION”

Essential for good scanning is the right resolution. In a nutshell, resolution is just your computer’s way of asking, “How detailed should I make this picture?” When people say that a picture looks “low rez,” they mean the picture doesn’t have enough detail–it looks fuzzy. Using a setting of 300 dpi will give good results for grayscale images and using a setting somewhere between 300 to 600 dpi will give good results for line art and color images. Please note, (1.) it is highly recommended that 300 dpi be the minimum resolution chosen; (2.) the higher the resolution selected for your scan, the larger your file size will be.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT “IMAGE TYPE” or “MODE”

Scanners can scan in different image type/mode, and you will need to choose the correct image type/mode for each image to get the proper results. While every brand of scanner uses its own phraseology, the image type/mode for grayscale images is usually named something like “Scan as Grayscale” or “Scan as Black and White Photo.” This image type/mode is primarily used for scanning images that have lots of different shades of color and tone in them, like photographs. Another image type/mode your scanner will have might be called something like “Scan as Line Art” or “Scan as Bitmap.” What this means is that the final output (your image) will be composed of pixels either 100% white or 100% black. No in-between. No levels of gray. This image type/mode is perfect for images with dark, heavy lines and with very little shading, such as cartoons. Black and white printed text should also be scanned in this image type/mode. Some examples of each, both correct and incorrect, are shown at right. For LPi purposes, if you have full color on your bulletin or newsletter, you can also scan in color. This image type/mode might be called something like “24-bit color.”

There are many image-editing (photo & paint) programs available which can further improve the scanned image. These programs are very helpful. Scanning your image is only the first step – making that image look good enough for print is the bulk of the work. Put another way, your scan is simply a pretty stone, but these programs cut and shape it into a fine diamond. If you are using the Windows operating system there is a FREE image editing program available called Irfanview. You can download it for free from Irfanview.com. Although these programs are tremendous aids, it is good to remember that the software is still only as good as the scans you put into them.

While it is near impossible to develop guidelines that apply to all scanners, the one hard and fast rule is to never trust what you see on screen. Always print a hard copy to paper. This allows you to see if an image is too dark, too light, too blurry or too small. Just remember, as with anything else, with a little practice, getting good scans every time will become as easy as 1-2-3!

LPi Art & Media Portal

Charlie Woller — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:48:34 +0000

From time to time a customer will call me and ask if there have been any updates to the old loose leaf, 3-ring clip art binder and accompanying disks. The binder and disks have been superseded by the LPi Art & Media Portal. You may continue to use the binder and disks. The Portal, however, is the most up-to-date and comprehensive source for clip art and other content. If LPi prints your bulletin, newsletter or directory, you already have an account. Call your LPi Service Center today for your login information. We’ll be happy to give you a quick tour of the Portal.

Giving your bulletin that extra “something” – Build and organize a clip-art library!

Scott MacDonald — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:09:18 +0000

Have you ever found yourself searching for that perfect piece of clip art to fit the occasion? More often than not I find myself browsing through endless images thinking “I know I’ve seen one, but where was it?” The Art and Media Portal is a wonderful resource with over 20,000 items to chose from to add to your publication, but sometimes when you are in a rush to meet deadlines the last thing you want is to be hunting through seemingly endless pages for the one image you want or need.

There are a few ways to make this more manageable, one of which would be to start your own clip-art library. You can create a folder either under the root C: directory or right on the desktop and anytime you come across an image on the Art and Media Portal you can click the download button and save it into that folder. The system will even give you an option to rename the file to make it easier to identify. If you know events are going to be coming up soon or if there are certain events that happen on a regular basis you can do a search for that item when you have some extra time and that way you can find and download the perfect image ahead of time so that it can be inserted into the publication easily.

Now, I know some of you may be thinking, “Great, now I have a folder on my desktop with a ton of files and I don’t remember what they were for anymore.” The clip art library does not need to be restricted to just that one folder, it can be organized in any number of helpful ways. If there are a lot of seasonal images subfolders can be created inside the clip-art folder for Spring, Summer, etc… Likewise if there are a lot of images for similar events they can be organized into subfolders for those events, but remember to keep these folders a little bit generalized or else you will find yourself creating a new folder for just about every image.

A little bit of time spent building and organizing a library will save you a lot of time. Don’t forget, Art and Media Portal is a wonderful resource for your publication. Having images at your disposal will also remove the temptation to cut and paste the image from the internet (which has been an issue mentioned in previous blog entries). Hopefully this will give you a way to make clip art a little bit more enjoyable and less cumbersome.

Coming soon…

How to make your graphics and text work together!

These Clips Are Made for Croppin’

Charlie Woller — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:44:33 +0000

The Summer, 2010, issue of Bright Ideas magazine includes several pieces of clip art that were created for you to crop. Check out the award ribbons on page 17. You can crop this clip to use only one of the colored ribbons.

Before

After

Take a look at the pie charts, flow charts and thermometer images on page 21. You can crop these clips, too, and use only the one you need.

All these clips can be retrieved on LPi’s Art & Media Portal by typing the code beneath the clip, e.g., su1013bi_4c, in the “Quick Search” box and clicking the “Search” button. Don’t forget to download the clip and save it to the “My Pictures” folder on your computer.

Follow the directions below to crop these pictures.

Microsoft Word 2003 and earlier

Select the picture that you want to crop.

When you select the picture, the Picture toolbar appears.

If the Picture toolbar does not appear, do the following:

Click on View on the menu bar.
Pull down to Toolbars.
Slide to the right and click on Picture.

On the Picture toolbar, select the Crop tool.

Point at one of the crop marks surrounding the picture.

If no crop marks appear, do the following:

Double click the picture.
In the Format Picture dialog box, click the Layout tab.
Click the icon for Square wrapping style.
Select one of the four options for horizontal alignment.
Click the OK button.

To crop the picture, do one of the following:

To crop one side of the picture, drag the center crop mark on that side.
To crop evenly on two sides at once, hold down the CTRL key as you drag a center crop mark.
To crop all four sides simultaneously and maintain the proportions of the picture, hold down the CTRL+SHIFT keys as you drag a corner crop mark.
To outcrop (or add white space) around a picture, drag a crop mark outward from the center of the picture.

Microsoft Office Word 2007

Select the picture that you want to crop.

Under Picture Tools, on the Format tab, in the Size group, click Crop.

Point at one of the crop marks surrounding the picture.

To crop the picture, do one of the following:

To crop one side of the picture, drag the center crop mark on that side.
To crop evenly on two sides at once, hold down the CTRL key as you drag a center crop mark.
To crop all four sides simultaneously and maintain the proportions of the picture, hold down the CTRL+SHIFT keys as you drag a corner crop mark.
To outcrop (or add white space) around a picture, drag a crop mark outward from the center of the picture.

Microsoft Publisher 2003

Select the picture that you want to crop.

When you select the picture, the Picture toolbar appears.

If the Picture toolbar does not appear, do the following:

Click on View on the menu bar.
Pull down to Toolbars.
Slide to the right and click on Picture.

On the Picture toolbar, select the Crop tool.

Point at one of the crop marks surrounding the picture.

To crop the picture, do one of the following:

To crop one side of the picture, drag the center crop mark on that side.
To crop evenly on two sides at once, hold down the CTRL key as you drag a center crop mark.
To crop all four sides simultaneously and maintain the proportions of the picture, hold down the CTRL+SHIFT keys as you drag a corner crop mark.
To outcrop (or add white space) around a picture, drag a crop mark outward from the center of the picture.

Microsoft Publisher 2010

Select the picture that you want to crop.

Under Picture Tools, on the Format tab, in the Crop group, click Crop.

Point at one of the crop marks surrounding the picture.

To crop the picture, do one of the following:

To crop one side of the picture, drag the center crop mark on that side.
To crop evenly on two sides at once, hold down the CTRL key as you drag a center crop mark.
To crop all four sides simultaneously and maintain the proportions of the picture, hold down the CTRL+SHIFT keys as you drag a corner crop mark.
To outcrop (or add white space) around a picture, drag a crop mark outward from the center of the picture.

Please consult the manual or help feature for your specific program for more information about cropping pictures.

How do I Download files from LPi’s Art & Media Portal?

Carol Owens — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:26:46 +0000

LPi’s Art & Media Portal, http://www.portal.4lpi.com, is our exclusive collection of bulletin content, clip art and covers. We make sure that the materials we provide are copyrighted for our customers’ use and meet the technical specifications to allow for the best print quality possible. Liturgical Publications’ Art & Media Portal is the only place our customers need to go for bulletin content and for all their publications’ needs providing a comprehensive selection of art & text at a single location. With our extensive and ever-growing library, you’ll enjoy instant access to thousands of files — 24 hours a day.

Over 20,000 items to communicate your message—right at your fingertips
Over 40 pieces of content are available for use in any of your organization’s publications each week
A continually expanding collection of English and Spanish art, verses and reflections
Art for many occasions and special events
Fast access and downloads
Quick and efficient searches using keywords and dates
Easy Navigation
NEW Holiday art added yearly

LPi’s Art & Media Portal is your all-in-one resource for your organization’s printed communications. This on-line resource can be used by any staff member for your bulletin, newsletter, school, and for promoting upcoming events. Just enter a keyword or date in the search bar to find complete content resources and clip art collections.

After you have logged into the Art & Media Portal at http://www.portal.4lpi.com and selected the graphic you would like, please do not make the mistake of copying and pasting the “thumbnail preview” of the image. Please do the following…

Click the Download button located below the graphic or to the right of the graphic in the “expanded view” —to get to the “expanded view”, click on any thumbnail of any of our files. You will be sent to a page with a large preview of your selection. From there, you should see the button that says “Download”. (As in the examples to the right)
Choose the option Save File. Click OK. A new window will open and ask you where you want to Save the File. Choose the location from the drop down arrow in the Save In menu. The graphic will download to wherever you choose to put it, i.e. your Desktop, your My Documents folder, your My Pictures folder, or any other location you find easy to access.
Click Save.

Share Your Imagery Ideas!

rmarkworth — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:46:28 +0000

What imagery themes would you like to see, as we continue to expand LPi’s Art Collection? When you create the bulletin, newsletter and fliers for your own unique community members, what themes of artwork are you looking for?

Think through each season of the year, holidays and special occasions, community celebrations and observances, and the things that are most important to your community on a regular basis. Consider the spiritual, physical, financial, social, emotional, and intellectual needs of your membership.

What new images would you like to feature in your publications? In fact, if you have ideas, you could simply copy and past the following categories into your reply, and add your imagery ideas after each category. We sincerely are looking forward to seeing your ideas!

Covers:

Page Borders:

Article Dividers:

Clip Art:

Your bulletin cover….YOUR INFORMATION CENTER.

Carol Owens — Wed, 12 May 2010 18:00:22 +0000

Church bulletins but especially bulletin covers are an important addition to a faith community as your information center. Bulletin covers can be inspirational, have attractive pictures, and/or have important information with distinct purposes in the life of the faith community that will enhance the members’ experience at their place of worship. Below are some samples of how you can change your bulletin cover the help reach out to your readers.

1. Important Information

Bulletin covers are excellent places to post the information that needs to be found easily. To help distinguish the information and help find it quickly, separate the bulletin cover into sections for each item. For example, include a staff directory with the staff members’ titles, contact numbers but keep it separate from other crucial information such as the Sacraments or the Mass times.

Important regular information

2. Make Announcements

Bulletin covers are also an excellent place to make important announcements. For example, spotlight a member of your faith community with an article featuring that parishioner’s volunteer service or an article about the resent awards won by parish students. Notices congratulating graduates, welcoming a new baby, or celebrating a marriage, etc., are also exciting announcements to post.

Make an Announcement

3. Publicize Volunteer Opportunities

We all know it can be difficult at times to get volunteers but a prominent spot on the bulletin cover can be a very convenient way to help with your volunteer search. Whether the faith community needs people to work in the soup kitchen, lead the children’s choir, bring items to a parish picnic, take the offering, buy/sell tickets for an upcoming fundraiser, etc., the bulletin cover can provide a visual representation of the faith communities immediate needs.

Volunteer Opportunities

4. Courses of Study

Many faith communities have different study opportunities outside of the regular weekly worship service. A bulletin cover featuring this information allows worship attendees to find a course that matches their needs. Some classes are defined by their membership (single adults, pre-school, elementary and/or high school students, men’s club, senior women, etc.). Others classes are defined by the material they deal with such as church doctrine, a particular book of the Bible, how to pray, etc.

Upcoming Classes

5. Holiday Celebrations

Reserving a bulletin cover for holidays, secular or religious or both, is a favorite idea. Special covers and clip-art for major holidays are easy to find on LPi’s Art and Media portal.

Special Holiday cover

So, have fun, add some great design elements to your bulletin cover from LPi’s Art and Media portal, http://www.portal.4lpi.com and create a bulletin cover that will help you spread your news!

How come my blue is purple?

dhoover — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:28:45 +0000

If you’ve ever labored over a full color page in your publication, only to see a blue sky appear stormy purple, well…we feel your pain. Color is something we work on every day, and we want to see your vision realized in print.

There is nothing more frustrating than finding out the effort you put in didn’t get the result you wanted–and understanding color a little better is one of the best ways to make sure YOUR blue STAYS blue.

The computer screen you view your publication on is based on one color model–RGB. However, the paper and ink professional printers print with are based on different color model–CMYK.

Why is this, and what does it mean to you?

Here are some great visual examples from wikipedia:

Note how the two images differ…

Do you see the how the center of the “RGB” image

is “white”? This is because RGB,(which stands

for: Red Green Blue) is an addative color model.

Various portions of light wavelengths (the ROY-G- BIV acronym) combine to form visible white light.

Now when you look at the CMYK (Cyan, magenta, yellow, and Black–the “key” color or “K”) chart, you see that it is a “subtractive” color.
As you use portions of Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow ink, the colors block visible light from being reflected off of white paper–creating various shades of color. As a result of blocking reflected light, a murky brown color is created if too much Cyan, Magenta / Yellow ink is used.

To help correct for this, black ink is added so that crisp dark colors can be generated.

But what does that all mean?

What it means to a publication editor is this:

Knowing which colorspace your text and graphics are in can tell you how their going to come out in print. Here is an example from wikipedia:

As you can see–the colors you generate with light are “brighter” than the corresponding colors generated by blocking light.

Does this mean all your images will look bad?

Certainly not! You can improve the quality of images by making sure that you start in, or convert to to a CMYK color model. You can do this a number of different ways (and you can call your tech support representative for details).

To begin with, LPi’s Art and Media Portal has several thousand images that are ready to go, formatted for CMYK. All you need to do is select the images of your choice, and insert them into the document! When working in CMYK, you’ll have a MUCH better idea of what your final product will look like.

A few tips to working in CMYK:

#1 use the smallest CMYK values you can to generate a given color.

CMYK values range from 0-100 for each of the four colors. a cyan: 40 means 40% of the paper is covered in Cyan (light blue) ink.

However, once the ink hits the page, it gets even more interesting…

Much like water soaks into a sponge, ink soaks into the paper–and while doing so, it expands. This is called “dot gain”, as the ink “dots” get larger in size.

Since CMYK works by subtracting from the light that gets to your eye, the more ink you use, the less light you see…and as a result, less image.

#2 Don’t use less than 10% of a value.

When your colors go from your electronic file to our press, they are first sent to “plate” ( a flexible material which carries the ink information, and is placed in the press). These plates register the ink “density” (11-100%). Ink densities of less than 10% are unlikely to transfer visibly to the final copy.

#3 Use your color chart!

Your rep will know what format you print in (offset or digital), what colors you print in, and what pages have color. The color choices we show on the Color Chart are optimized for our process–if you want a green, for instance, the numbers for “Green 356″ on your chart are a great starting point!

And questions? Please ask your application support/tech support rep–speaking as one of them–we’d love to help out!

#4 Understand that “your mileage may vary”, and build your numbers to compensate.

The way your colors look on your screen (RGB) will look different than they do from the press (CMYK)–because of the color differences described above. Thus, what looks blue on your screen might really BE purple in print, and if you change the numbers (with your new knowledge of CMYK, plus the help of your tech) you can compensate so you can make your blue sky “bluer”.
Your knowledge of color, plus the help of LPi’s technicians, will make small, key differences in the color values you decide on. Those choices can make a huge difference in the final product–and make sure your blue sky stays blue.

Art & Media Portal for the Holidays

Carol Owens — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 14:00:53 +0000

Holiday Greetings!

A very inspiring, dear friend once sent me a Thanksgiving message that really made me thankful for EVERYONE I know and have met in my life. It was a simple but heartfelt message that I share with you this special time of year and I paraphrase it here…

Friends and family are a very important part of the holiday season. Whether you’ve known someone for just a few months–or your paths have crossed for decades–be grateful for the part they have played in your life. Who you are is made of what you have learned from all the people whom you have met. This time of year is the perfect time to express your heartfelt thanks to all the people who have befriended, mentored, supported and encouraged you along the road of life.

Please take a moment and follow this link, http://www.portal.4lpi.com and make a beautiful holiday card to email or send to all.

Enjoy the card below created with art from Liturgical Publications Inc. Art & Media Portal.

Saving Grace

kanderson — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:00:46 +0000

Do you save your work? Do you save your work frequently? Saving your work is easy and painless. It guarantees that you won’t lose information.

Save your work! Save your work frequently! Here are some tips for saving:
• Save after you finish typing an article.
• If the article is several paragraphs long, save after typing each paragraph.
• If the phone rings, save your work before answering the phone.
• If someone comes to your door, save your work before acknowledging the caller.
• When formatting complex text (e.g., tab stops, indents), save your work more frequently.
• When making your final edits, save each edit individually.

Don’t forget the CTRL+S keyboard shortcut for saving. It will save you time and effort. Instead of moving your hand from the keyboard to the mouse so that you can go File > Save or click the Save button on the standard toolbar, hold down the CTRL key and tap the S key once. That’s all you need to do to save your work.

By saving your work and saving frequently, you’ll never experience the frustration of losing information and having to start all over again.