Manipulating Images
National Curriculum Links - Computing KS2
The content of this plan cover the following National Curriculum strands:
- select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design and create a range of programs, systems and content that accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information
Why this? What does it build on?
This unit builds strongly on other artistic units of work students will have covered, such as An introduction to digital art (Year 1), where they learn to use shape and line drawing tools. But there is a really strong progression of skills from Key Stage 2 units Digital Imagery: Patterns in Nature (Year 3) where students first experience image editing skills such as selecting, editing and combing images on multiple layers, as well as applying effects to images. In 3D Design (Year 4), Getting Started with Kodu (Year 3) and Kodu sports (Year 4), students experience working in a virtual 3D environment to create 3D models, skills which are again applied here as they create virtual 3D sculptures.
What comes next?
Students will apply some of the multimedia skills learned in this unit in Key Stage 3 though our multimedia project unit Making the News (Year 7). Planning the Festival (Year 8) also provide students with the opportunity to apply their digital making skills using video, images, text and sound.
View our full curriculum map
Take a look at our full curriculum map to see how units across all year groups, from Year 1 to Year 6 link.
Unit Resources
Suggested Software
- Pixlr E online editor
- ZBrush Core Mini (Previously Sculptris.)
Support for Sculptris was discontinued in June 2020 ZBrush Core Mini has now replaced it and remains free to download and use. You will need to create a free Pixologic account to be able to download the software, but no account is required to use it once installed. The two tools are very similar and if you already have Sculptris installed you can continue to use it.
Key computing vocabulary for this unit
Alter - to change the way something looks, sometimes using a computer or other digital tools.
Attribute - giving credit to the person who created something, such such as listing the author’s name and date, or a citation.
Copyright - legal protection that a creators have over the things they create.
Digital content – any media created, edited or viewed on a computer, such as text (including the hypertext of a web page), images, sound, video (including animation), or virtual environments, and combinations of these (i.e. multimedia).
Edit - To change, add or remove elements in a piece of work (usually to improve it).
Evaluation - Making judgements.
Export - The opposite of importing and a computing command that usually means saving or sending a file, or part of a file, to a specific new location. It also often allows changing the file format as it’s saved. For example, a Photoshop image could be exported as a PDF document or different images types (PNG, JPEG etc). You might also export content between apps on an iPad. A piece of music could be exported to iMovie to use as a soundtrack for a video.
Hue - A colour or shade.
Intellectual property - the ownership of something you create, giving you a right to how others use it.
Import - A computing command that usually means allowing a user to bring in a file, or part of a file into another application so they can be combined. For example, an image could be imported into presentation slides, or art software to use as a background.
Layer - In sound, photo or video editing terminology, layering is the stacking of media elements on top of each other, or in a project timeline to enable a view or playback of multiple elements simultaneously.
Photo retouching - digital alteration of a photo to enhance the way someone looks (removing of wrinkles, clearing of skin, changing their body, etc).
Saturation - The intensity of a colour, how strong or washed out it is.
Save - To store a piece of work in a computer’s memory so that it can be recalled at a later time.
Search – to identify data that satisfies one or more conditions, such as web pages containing supplied keywords, or files on a computer with certain properties.
Software – computer programs, including both application software (such as office programs, web browsers, media editors and games) and the computer operating system. The term also applies to ‘apps’ running on mobile devices and to web-based services.
Web browser - A web browser, or simply "browser," is an application used to access and view websites. Common web browsers include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari.
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