A Level IT

Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Unit 30: Task 7a D1

Task 7a: D1

Vinyl cutters: Developments in vinyl cutters have allowed improvements in aspects such as cutting quality. So for sign making these improvements will have a significant effect. Reliability and precision has also been improved and now it’s easier than ever before to produce signs of a high quality. Vinyl cutters can now also produce much larger signs, this is very useful for companies who wish to advertise a product for example as they can have larger, more visible signs. The improvements of vinyl cutters has affected the creation of graphics as improved sign making results in better advertisement, the graphics that can be printed onto the vinyl cut outs will also be of a high quality, meaning the overall product will be better than it has ever been before.

Laser cutters/3D printers:

There have been new developments in laser technology. For example there are new wavelength bands so they can be used at various wavelengths. And also the cost of these laser cutters decreases as more developments are made. A few years ago 3D printers were thought to be very far away in the future; however we now have them today. 3D printers also use lasers, and works by layers of materials being laid down in different shapes. We have only just started using 3D printers so developments will soon follow, in the near future the price of 3D printers will reduce drastically and they will be a common object in the majority of households. The development of 3d printers and laser cutters has affected the creation of graphics by providing a way to turn a graphic on the screen into a real 3D object or a printed image. We can now physically see the graphics we make on the computer thanks to this technology.

Wide format printing:

Developments in printing have resulted in printers that can produce large display board size images. You can print directly onto substrates which are up to 50mm thick. A further improvement with these printers is that the ink they use can be weather proof, guaranteeing at least 20 years without weathering. It is the ink used by these wide format printers that is developing. The ink being used now produces much clearer signs etc. The new printers also have a much faster drying time, and banding is no longer a problem. These developments have affected the creation of graphics because now large scale graphics can be produced easily to a high quality. This means businesses etc. have an easy way to produce display boards. The development of the wide format printers has improved the quality of large scale graphics, as these graphics can now be produced without having that bitmap quality.

Inkjet: UV inkjet is the next big thing to develop from inkjet, this is where acrylic monomers are dropped onto the page and are then set by a UV light. Inkjet printers are the most commonly used printers, and as they develop further, their prices fall lower and lower so become cheaper and easier to buy. As these prices fall, ink prices rise, meaning that it costs a considerable amount to replace ink cartridges. These developments have affected the creation of graphics as people can do this in their own home. They now have in their household a good quality printer which will allow a high quality of graphics to be produced. The inkjet technology now means that graphics produced are much clearer, a huge difference when compared to the graphics produced from older printers.

Laser printers: There are on-going developments in laser printing. Companies that produce the laser printers do the same as the companies that produce inkjet printers; they sell the printers cheaply and charge large amounts for ink and paper. The thickness of paper accepted by these printers has also changed. You can now print onto card etc to produce for example business cards. Companies are now managing to produce printers that can print 100 pages a minute; this kind of printer is very useful for the bigger businesses and firms such as banks who print thousands of letters a day. The machines now produce leaflets and flyers quickly but to a very high quality. Laser printers have affected the production of graphics as the laser produces high quality text and images. This allows everyone to produce high quality graphics in the comfort of their own home for a reasonable price.

Wednesday, 26 February 2014

Unit 30: Task 6 P6

Task 6: P6

When editing graphics there are many legal pitfalls, for example if someone creates a digital graphic, they have copyright to that image. Therefore if someone else tries to use this image, or change it e.g. change the colour then they are breaching the copyright. This is illegal and could result in penalties such as fines etc.

If a graphic is distributed under a license that allows modification, then you are allowed to modify the image and use it for your own use. However, again you have to be careful of the terms and conditions of this license. It may state for example that the image is not allowed to be used for marketing a product, or it may not be allowed to be released into the public domain. If these terms and conditions are broken then again there will be punishments and penalties for doing so.

If you want to use a graphic or an image that has copyright, then you must ask the creator for permission to do so. There are copyright free images; these are the images such as those on Google. However if you want to use a graphic which has copyright, the creator may ask for a sum of money before permission is given.

With photography the same rules apply. Once a picture has been taken, the photographer can ask for the person to sign a model release form. This will mean that they can reuse the images, e.g. for marketing purposes. However without the permission from the form, the photographer is unable to use the images. If the photographer decided to use the images without the consent of the person, then a law suit could follow, which could then lead to the photographer being sued for a large sum of money.

Trademark is a recognisable sign used by businesses, companies etc. If a product has a trademark on the packaging then that product is protected, so copies of that product produced by other companies would be illegal. The company with the trademark can take legal action against the company producing the copies. Trademark also has consequences to the owners if they are found guilty to false advertising or to offensive advertising. Again Trademark has legal pitfalls much like copyright, which can lead to law suits, loss of businesses and fixed fines.

Intellectual property is about ownerships of creative works. So if a company hires a designer to produce an image for example, they will have the intellectual property of that image as they are paying the designer for the image. However if a designer made the image in their own time at home, then they would have the intellectual property of that image. That person would then have the right to sell that image to other companies. But once the image is sold, then have the rights are passed over to the new owners. Again much like Trademark and Copyright there are legal pitfalls. Again issues such as fines etc. are involved.