D2

The D

Describe and evaluate the on-going developments in these printing/output techniques

1.   Vinyl cutters – a vinyl cutter is a computer controlled machine. This can be used for a range of things such as signs, cutting out text and other such tasks. Over the years, vinyl cutters have developed massively as at first, if wanting to use blue vinyl or red vinyl, that specific colour would have to be used and changed every time someone would want to use a different colour. This would have been very costly indeed. However, in more recent years, you are now able to print onto vinyl, meaning now you can just use white vinyl and print onto it in any colour you wish. They were also quite slow machines, however, now if you were to buy a more affluent vinyl cutter, it tends to cut at quite a fast pace in comparison to a cheaper machine and will cut at a slower speed. A vinyl cutter to which has a high speed when cutting is craftROBO silhouette - with a cutting speed of 600 mm/s in all directions. There are now also different cutter heads for different types of vinyl – this is because the cutter heads wear down quickly so now they use different materials cutters.

Laser cutters – a laser cutter is piece of technology that uses a light grade laser to cut out materials. They tend to be used for industrial manufacturing applications such as wood and plastics but now are starting to be used in schools and small businesses.  Over the years, laser cutters have developed a huge amount as they can be used for a lot of different materials now such as rubber, foam, plastic, leather, paper, stone, wood and glass – this broadens the uses of this machine. Also, new laser cutters have a positioning accuracy of 10 micrometres and repeatability of 5 micrometres. An example of this would be Speedy 300 - as this is ideal due to its high standard of quality, performance and reliability; it is able to etch to photographic detail at speeds of 3.5 metres a second – the fastest Bench top engraving computing system in the world. It is capable of working at speed and immensely accurate cutting over various sized working fields. The ‘S300’ is also available with laser powers from 30 Watts to 120 Watts.  It can also cut onto several different materials.

2.   Inkjet printing – inkjet printing is a type of computer printing that will create a digital image by dropping small amounts of ink onto paper, plastic or other materials. This printer is the most commonly used. A typical inkjet printer which is more basic than the modern up to date versions will provide a resolution of around 300 dots per inch. Since its creation, inkjet printers have developed as some of newer models offer higher resolutions rather than the standard 300 dots per inch. Inkjet printers originally, could only print onto paper, but now they are able to print onto different types and sizes of paper, plastics, card, t-shirts and many more materials.

Wide format printing – wide format printing is generally accepted to be any printer with a print width between 1 inches and 100 inches.  This is used to print banners, posters and general signage. Over the years, wide format printing has significantly developed as the quality and quantity of image production has improved drastically – one of the serious improvements being the decrease in printing time. An example of this would be Roland SolJet Pro 4 XR/XF as this has a printing speed up to 102 meters squares per hour. It delivers what is expected at high standard and great speed. It also features 16 pinch rollers and redesigned grit rollers which holds media in place to prevent any distortion of the image. The heating unit ensures that an even temperature is distributed across the width of the image so that it dries quickly and minimizes risk of ink running and spoiling the image.

3.   Laser printers – laser printing is an electrostatic digital printing process that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics by passing a laser beam over a charged drum to define a differentially charged image, the drum will then collect charged toner and transfers the image to the paper which is then heated to permanently fix the image. A laser printer doesn’t require any ink as it uses toner. However, laser printers are better for printing text so this would be well suited for printing leaflets and flyers. Over the years, laser printers have changed as they are able to print onto various materials and various sizes.  The printing speed has changed massively over the years as a monochrome laser printer (print in one colour) use to print 8  pages per minute - to which, now is 30-35 pages per minute. A colour laser printer previously printed 12-25 pages per minute, to which now has a speed of 25-35 pages per minute. An example of this would be the Lexmark X864de Multifunction Printer as it supports up to A3 and delivers a print/copy speed of 55 pages per minute to which can print the first page out as fast as 6.5 seconds. It also has an automatic duplex printing and copying and has two 500 sheet trays. It also offers a high print resolution at 1200x1200 dpi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_printing

Unit 30 P6

Van 2

Van Image

P45

M2

P3 & M2

Bitmap & vector thing

The many moods of Paul Wray

P1

D1

D2

P5

Dummies blog with changes

Skills Audit

BTEC National Skills audit : ICT

Trainee

Lee Kennedy

School

The Kingswood School

Subject Audit:

This Subject Audit is designed to help you review your own ICT knowledge and to identify those areas where you anticipate that you may need support.  Throughout Unit 1 you will need to regularly review the development of your subject knowledge as a vital element in your training experience.

How to assess your knowledge:

In the spaces provided on the following pages please classify your status by ticking against the three point scale:

A	I	T
Advanced: can complete task without thinking	Intermediate: can complete task but has to think about it or ask teacher for a reminder.  This needs to be added to the training plan as a low priority Training need.	Training required: This needs to be added to the training plan as high priority training need.

	Initial audit
	A	I	T
Word Processing
Level 1
I can open a new document	x
I can open an existing document	x
I can save a new document	x
I can save a document using the ‘save as’ facility and I understand why it is important to do so	x
I can format a document		x
I can change fonts	x
I can spell check		x
I can insert text	x
I can insert images	x
I can wrap around text		x
I can use templates appropriately		x
I can use headers and footers appropriately		x
I can use the Thesaurus		x
I can format the background		x
Level 2
I can change the print/page setup	x
I can paginate a document		x
I can import external data from other packages		x
I can use mail merge		x
I can insert footnotes and end notes	x
I can search and replace	x
I can create/format tables		x
I can use Styles		x
I can use Word count		x
Level 3
I can create a customised dictionary			x
I can create an automatic table of contents	x
I can create an index			x
Spreadsheets
Level 1
I can open a new worksheet	x
I can open an existing worksheet	x
I can add new worksheets to exiting ones		x
I can rename worksheets		x
I can move or copy sheets		x
I can add columns		x
I can add rows		x
I can delete columns		x
I can delete rows		x
I can enter data		x
I can copy a formula or a data series along a row or a column		x
I can sort data in ascending and descending order using primary and secondary sort functions			x
I can format data to show different data types		x
I can format data to show different data types, including date		x
I can format data to show different data types, including percentage		x
I can format data to show different data types, including currency		x
I can format cells to show bold		x
I can format cells to show italics		x
I can format cells to show underline		x
I can format cells to show font style		x
I can format cells to show font size		x
I can format cells to show cell border and shading		x
I can format cells to show text alignment and positioning within a cell		x
I can import data		x
I can create formulas	x
I can use functions			x
I can select non-adjacent columns			x
I can use Goal Seek	x
I can create charts/graphs and modify them		x
I can use filters and sort data into order			x
I can amend data on the spreadsheet in order to get different results		x
I can  change font size, type and colour in a cell and over a range of cells		x
I can move cell contents by using the click and drag approach		x
I can create and edit a graph using the chart wizard		x
I can rename worksheets		x
I know how to print formulae			x
I can preview and print spreadsheets using the appropriate orientation		x
Level 2
I can cut and paste data and graphs from spreadsheets into other applications	x
Level 3
I can use absolute cell referencing			x
I can use relative cell referencing		x
I can group worksheets to allow consistent editing of cells in a work book			x
I can use the Paste Special and the Paste Link commands			x
I can use conditional formatting			x
I can merge cell contents		x
PowerPoint
Level 1
I can open a new document	x
I can open an existing document	x
I can save a new document	x
I can save a document using the ‘save as’ facility and I understand why it is important to do so	x
I can format a document	x
I can change fonts	x
I can spell check	x
I can insert text	x
I can insert images, change font and layout	x
I can create and run a slide show	x
I can add animation and transitions	x
I can insert hyperlinks	x
I can add timings and animations to a slide show	x
I can add slides	x
I can amend slides	x
I can delete slides	x
I can create my own backgrounds on a slide	x
I can use backgrounds that are already created	x
I can insert graphics	x
I can use ClipArt	x
I know how to use animations appropriately	x
I know how to edit images by cropping	x
I know how to edit images by resizing	x
I can view a presentation on a mouse click	x
I can set up a show to run automatically on timings	x
I can insert transitions and animations	x
Level 2
I can create a slide master		x
I can import sound – KS 4 & 5	x
I can import video – KS 4 & 5		x
I know how to present printouts as handouts	x
I know how to present printouts as notes pages	x
Email
Level 1
I can send emails	x
I can receive emails	x
I can reply to emails	x
I can forward emails to single recipients	x
I can forward emails to multiple recipients	x
I can attach a file to an email message	x
I can attach multiple files to an email message	x
I can appropriately set the importance of a message	x
Level 2
I can use Cc		x
I can use Bcc		x
I can use an address book appropriately and can store an address	x
I can use an address book appropriately and can retrieve an address		x
I can use an address book appropriately and can use addresses		x
I can create and use an email signature		x
Internet
Level 1
I can navigate to known websites, and do basic searches	x
I can save images from a website as required and use them appropriately	x
I can save text from a website as required and use them appropriately	x
I can connect to the internet using a URL	x
I can navigate around a website	x
I can access and download appropriate information from the internet	x
I can bookmark websites and add to favourites	x
I understand the restrictions of copyright	x
I can use a URL to connect to a website from an intranet	x
I can use a URL to connect to a website from favourites	x
I can use a URL to connect to a website from bookmarks	x
I can use a URL to connect to a website typing accurately	x
Level 2
I can use Boolean Operators to undertake more accurate searches		x
I can save video from a website as required and use them appropriately		x
I can save animations from a website as required and use them appropriately		x
Desktop Publishing (Publisher or Adobe Indesign)
Level 1
I can open a new document	x
I can open an existing document	x
I can save a new document	x
I can save a document using the ‘save as’ facility and I understand why it is important to do so	x
I can format a document		x
I can change fonts	x
I can spell check		x
I can insert text	x
I can insert images, change font and layout		x
I can design documents from scratch		x
I can decide which publication to use at the appropriate time; for example, newsletters, worksheets, brochures, etc.		x
I can use text boxes	x
I can use Word Art	x
I can insert tables	x
I can insert picture frames		x
I can insert Clip Art	x
I can use Shapes and Auto Shapes		x
I can add text	x
I can amend text	x
I can delete text	x
I can use colour	x
I can format backgrounds		x
I can format colours	x
I can format images		x
I can copy text and images	x
I can paste text and images	x
I can move text and images	x
Level 2
I can use templates		x
I can use text effects	x
I can insert tables		x
I can edit tables		x
I can reposition tables		x
I can resize tables		x
Multimedia (cameras, scanners etc.)
Level 1
I can use a digital camera	x
I can use a digital camcorder	x
I can transfer images from a camera to a computer and edit these images	x
I can use software to import images into appropriate applications	x
I can use software to import images into appropriate applications, including Moviemaker		x
I can use software to import images into appropriate applications, including Publisher		x
I can crop and change file size and format as appropriate to purpose, e.g. save as jpeg		x
Level 2
I can use software to import images into appropriate applications, including Photo Editor		x
I can recognise the difference between different image files, such as vector based			x
I can recognise the difference between different image files, such as bitmapped			x
I can use a scanner to import images into appropriate applications			x
I can use a scanner to capture images			x