Course Description

Introduction to computer hardware and graphics techniques appropriate for the microcomputer in the areas of drafting, illustration, presentation, image processing, file transfer and publishing.

Credit Hours: 4 Lecture & Demonstrations 3 Hours/week

Laboratory Hours/Week: 3-4 (Minimum)

Prerequisites: Computer Literacy Required. Some technical drawing experience is desireable.

Texts: The Illustrator Book, by McClellend, also Visual Quickstart Guide: PhotoShop 5, by Weinmann & Lourekas.

Other References: Materials to be distributed. Manuals may be checked out for short terms.

Needed: 4+ Disks, 3.5" HD, or Zip disk. Both Windows and Mac OS will be used.

Assignments and Reading

General Weekly Assignements and Reading Fall 1999

Review for Final Exam Fall 1999

Objectives:

At the successful completion of the class, the student will understand & be able to use common computer-aided drafting, illustration & graphic design tools and terminology; will be able to use computer-aided graphics hardware & software in an efficient manner; and will be able to evaluate design, drafting & presentation tasks as to the application of computer-aided tools.

Classroom Experiences:

Lectures & demonstrations are given to support the following general topics: operation of microcomputer based graphics systems, including hardware such as monitors, printers, plotters, pointing devices, storage devices, software such as vector, object, surface modeling, and bit-mapped drawing & illustration programs. Also included are presentation graphics, using computer graphics in desktop publishing, system configurations & pricing, & computer graphics file standards.

Laboratory Experiences:

Students produce examples of two- or three-dimensional drawings, or presentation graphics, weekly. Laboratory scheduling allows access to hardware & software necessary for completion of the assignments on an individual basis. The graphics labs are open for student use Monday through Friday, and if possible will be open on Saturday and Sunday, with the periods posted. They will often be closed on school holidays. Assignments may be completed at other locations, such as open university computer labs, if the software is available.

Policies:

Late assignments will not be accepted without an excellent reason. If you foresee missing an assignment due date, see the instructor before that date for other possible arrangements. It is expected that all work handed in will be of professional presentation quality: neat, legible, and with correct grammar and spelling.

Useful Resources

Scanning Tips
Cooltype has "how-to" PhotoShop articles, free special-effect plug-ins for you to download, and Illustrator, PageMaker, and Corel Draw articles.

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