Scanning

1. How to scan

Before scanning, you must take into consideration of what you are going to use the scanned image for. Depending on what you are going to do with it, the resolution and dpi(dots per inch) on the scanner may need to be adjusted.

2. Descreen
Descreening has a blurring effect and is important as it is the filter to remove a moiré effect. My scanner does not automatically descreen, but it does have a selection button where you can choose to use it or not. The Descreen filters have selectable parameters to match the screen frequency of the original image halftone. Do NOT use the Descreen filter when scanning real photographs. Descreen is used only for images in printed matter, and not for real photo images. Also it is NOT used for scanning regular printed TEXT.(http://www.scantips.com/basics6b.html)

3. Resolutions
300 dpi is for commercial printing of books, glossy magazines and brochures.
150-200 dpi would be for laser printers (home/office printers).
72-96 is for e-mail attachments, the web, PowerPoint and multimedia.

# Scan at 72 dpi

72 dpi

# Scan at 100-150 dpi

125 dpi

# Scan at 300-365 dpi

160 dpi

Remember, the larger the dpi, the better the quality of the image!!!

Descreening & The Moire Effect

My scanner does have a descreen selection built in, but to be honest, after i scanned the images, at first i couldn't tell apart any differences between the descreened image and the original one...


Original Scan

With Descreen Selection


BUT, i tried zoooming into these images, and realised there was a BIG difference!! 

Original Scan (Zoomed)

Descreened Scan (Zoomed)


The Descreened Image was not as clear as the original, but it definately had less of the moire effect!!

Here are samples of a denim fabric swatch:

 

Original Scan

 

Descreened Scan

 Here are the zoomed images:


Original Scan (Zoomed)



Descreened Scan (Zoomed)

So when scanning fabrics, I think it would be a better idea to leave the original settings and dont descreen it because we won't be able to see the details of it.

Lastly here are samples of a magazine cover:  

Original Scan

Descreened Scan


Here are the zoomed versions:

Original Scan (Zoomed)

Descreened Scan (Zoomed)

For the magazine, descreening should be used to reduce the moire effect!!

Through these examples, we can clearly see that descreening can reduce the moire effect and can both improve or disimprove(?) our images!

Ballet Russes

The trip started at 7:30AM(I had to get out of the house at 6AM coz i live far away :( it was not the best morning of my life.) and the bus ride took 4hours to Canberra and 4hours back to Sydney. However, the excursion to see the Ballet Russes exhibition was amaaaazing!!!
The costumes were so intriguing and the details/techniques used on the garments were exquisite.
Each garment told a different story and even by simply looking at the costume, we were able to sense what character it was because the representation was so well done.
From the exhibition, the three garments i chose to focus on were Costume for the Countess, Costume for an Oriental Dancer to the Queen of Shemakhan and Costume for a male guest.


Costume for the Countess
This costume was in Les Tentations de la Bergère (The temptations of the shepherdess) produced by Les Ballets Russes de Serge Diaghilev. The story: A shepherdess is courted by a lord. However, she prefers the attentions of the local shepherd to the nobleman. The ballet ends with the king, agreeing to the shepherdess and shepherd’s marriage union.
The deep navy colour of the velvet dress, and the elegant long cape that trailed at the back was what drew my attention to the garment. For the bodice, skirt and cape; silk, cotton, metallic braid and lamé were used. Applique was the technique used throughout this garment and there was a zipper down the centre back, allowing the wearer to easily fit into the clothing.


Costume for an Oriental Dancer to the Queen of Shemakhan
This costume was within Le Coq d’Or (The golden cockerel) produced by Les Ballets Russes de Serge Diaghilev. The story: An astrologer catches and enchants a golden cockerel which he presents to King Dodon, who in turn promises anything the astrologer desires. As the King sleeps, the cockerel watches over the city waking Dodon, to alert him of danger. The King then sends both his sons to war. The cockerel again wakes Dodon, this time the King himself goes to war, to find both his sons dead on the battlefield. This grief is short-lived as he falls in love with the Queen of Shemakhan, whom he marries. As the astrologer asks for the Queen as his promised gift, Dodon refuses and beats the astrologer to death for his impertinence. The cockerel then swoops down and strikes the King on the head, killing him, and magically the Queen and the cockerel disappear. The astrologer then comes back to life to explain the moral of his tale.
 The lined pattern on the fabric which was draped over really stood out to me. The light colour combinations of purple, pink and navy was an interesting mix.  Acetate taffeta, cotton, felt, paint, braid, and metal fasteners were used to create the garment. Layering and gathering is used to create a peasant-like look.


Costume for a male guest
This garment was within Le Bal also produced by Les Ballets Russes de Serge Diaghilev. The story: A young man, dressed as a military officer, attends a masked ball where he meets a beautiful masked lady accompanied by an old astrologer, and falls in love with her, even as she flirts with his rival, a young Italian man. While overseen by the ballroom’s giant classical statue, which is possessed of magical powers, the sylphides mischievously dresses to imitate the couple in order to confuse their suitors. The young man finally persuades the lady to remove her mask and is dismayed to see her as an old woman. He tries to leave but she pursues him, and as the ball ends the old woman leaves on the arm of the astrologer. As she passes the young officer she and the astrologer both remove further masks, revealing them as a beautiful young couple. Attempting to follow them, the dazed young officer is held back by the statue to contemplate his behavior.
The colour combination of an orangey-brown, light khaki green, black and ivory, was what grasped my attention, and the boldly painted patterns made it even more intriguing.
For the dickey, jacket and trousers; wool, cotton grosgrain, rayon ribbon, linen, Bakelite, and paint were used.

Fashion Blogs

Three of my favourite fashion blogs that I have been following for a while are FashionToast, FrmHeadToToe and The Sartorialist.
Fashion Toast is my favourite-est(..is that a word?) out of my favourites because I just love Rumi Neely's fashion style and also the photography.
FrmHeadToToe has makeup tutorials, product reviews, fashion images and so much more. I always love reading her blogs because she has great easy-to-follow tutorials and detailed links to where she bought her products.
The Sartorialist is mainly about the images rather than writing. He always posts up photographs of people with fashionable outfits on the street  from around the world. He also has images from recent fashion shows to give insights to the season's trends.

What Makes a Good Blog Post?

There were so many different websites about "What makes a good blog post", but overall they were all basically saying similar things. There were a few sites which I found the most helpful, with tips from successful professional bloggers.

Merlin Mann's nine tips are:
1. Good blogs have a voice
2. Good blogs reflect focused obsessions
3. Good blogs are the product of "attention times interest"
4. Good blog posts are made of paragraphs
5. Good "non-post" blogs have style and curation
6. Good blogs are weird
7. Good blogs make you want to start your own blog
8. Good blogs try
9. Good blogs know when to break their own rules

JA Konrath's twelve tips are:
1. Content is King
2. Lists, tests, bullet points
3. Stay focused
4. Ask questions
5. Be friendly
6. Be controversial
7. Link to other blogs
8. Free stuff
9. Keep yourself out of it
10. Strive for perfection
11. Limit self-promotion
12. No blog is an island
(From http://www.slideshare.net/johnwilpers/what-makes-a-good-blog-john-wilpers)

Findable blog's seven tips are:
1. Good blog posts are laser-focused
2. Good blog posts are relevant to the target audience
3. Good blog posts are personable
4. Good blog posts have original content
5. Good blog posts are readable
6. Good blog posts link to other relevant information
7. Good blog posts have accurate, intriguing titles
(From http://www.findableblogs.com/what-makes-a-good-blog-post/)