The R082 project requires students to create a digital image using professional digital image software. In this section we will cover what software will be needed for students to create their R082 digital graphic including options for proprietary (paid) software and free open source software.
What software can be used for R082?
If you are a student, then your school will normally have the software that you will use to create your digital graphic pre-installed on your school computers. Your school will also teach you how to use this software during your normal Creative iMedia lessons.
OCR leave the choice of graphics software up to the school / teacher and it will depend on what the school has as to what you might use for your project.
The main software that I have seen schools use for this project is are:
- Adobe Photoshop
- Serif Draw Plus X8
Out of the 2, I prefer Serif Draw Plus but the problem is that this is now outdated software that does not get any updates and cannot be bought (though there can be some copies floating around on ebay occasionally).
Adobe is considered to be the industry standard for digital image creation and manipulation but since moving onto their cloud licensing arrangement, this can be a very expensive way to go. A school I worked at were paying nearly £3000 a year to have this package!
Open Source Software
The two options above are paid for proprietary software but this project can very easily be carried out on ‘free’ Open Source software. Some free Open Source software that you can accomplish R082 on are:
- The GNU Image Manipulation Program (lovingly referred to as G.I.M.P)
- Krita
- Inkscape
Out of the 3 I love to use Krita and even use it when editing images for websites I am creating but feel free to try them all and go with the one you feel comfortable with.
These 3 are highly polished pieces of software that can do everything that is expected in the R082 specification plus a whole lot more. It also means that students can install them on their computers at home as well as for free, without worrying about licensing, remote access or an internet connection.
For me, Krita is a lot more accessible than the other 2 options and does things in a way that I am familiar with and makes sense. It might not be the same for everyone, but highly recommend teachers give Krita a try first.
Inkscape is well supported and even has a free scheme of work from TeachComputing.org for KS3 students that may prove useful to some schools in terms of sequencing and preparing students for the OCR Creative iMedia course. If students already have a grounding in using Inkscape then it would be a more than adequate program to use for the R082 project and will mean that students don’t have to learn a new piece of software.
Help with using graphics software
During your lessons with your teacher, you should be shown how to use the software that your school has. However, perhaps you want to do something specific or a bit more advanced? There are lots of tutorials on how to use digital graphics programs, especially for the open source ones. Below are a few resources that you can use to teach yourself how to use some of the graphics programs that you may be using to complete your R082 project:
Inkscape
The official Inkscape tutorials on the Inkscape website is very useful for getting to grips with all of the basic functions of the program. https://inkscape.org/learn/tutorials/
Krita
The official Krita tutorial on the Krita website is great for explaining how to do things in Krita and how to use the many functions within the software. https://docs.krita.org/en/tutorials.html
GIMP
The official GIMP tutorial on their website is great for explaining how to navigate your way around the interface for the software and how to perform certain tasks. https://www.gimp.org/tutorials/
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe offer a helpful getting started tutorial for Photoshop to help you navigate through their program. https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/photoshop/how-to/ps-basics-fundamentals.html
Serif DrawPlus X8
Serif offer a very useful tutorial series on YouTube that shows you how to use their graphics program. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHomma7lEdeTWabXkIO0XrimXwjwppjTZ
Also available from Serif is the Serif DrawPlus X8 User Guide which is a PDF document showing you all of the features of the software and how to use them. http://dl.serif.com/pdfs/drawplusx8.pdf