Using our Computer lab.
The lab is Social Science room 1316A. Access is by UWO student card (swipe box on wall outside door), and the lab is available to you any time you need it, except when another class is being taught. If your card does not work, check with your instructor at once to correct the problem. Keep the door closed all the time (an alarm will sound if it is propped open) and don't bring or let unauthorized people into the lab. The room is equipped with security cameras - give them a big smile. If you accidentally set off the alarm, get assistance from the Geography office or campus security immediately.
1. Startup.
Start up the computer you wish to use and log on. Your logon ID and password are the same ones you use for UWO email. If you can't get on, let the TA or instructor know immediately. Your account includes some network space in which you can save files - use it! If you save on the hard drive (C drive) you have to go back to that machine to retrieve your file. And... anyone else can get it as well, steal it, delete it, whatever! You can also use a USB drive for backups, probably a very good idea.
NOTE: If you can't log on properly in the lab you need to 'syncronize' your email account with these accounts in Social Science. Go to this website:
ITS-PASSWORDS
and follow instructions to syncronize accounts. This should be done before our first computer lab, from any other computer (such as at home or in the libraries). I'm sorry about requiring this extra step! - but I didn't design the system...
NOTE: If you are stuck, please go to the SSTS main office (Social Science Technology Services, Social Science Centre, Room 1228... in the hallway opposite the glass display cases on the lower floor of the building).
2. Starting Inkscape.
We will use Inkscape in the lab for this course. It is installed in the lab, but it is also available as a free download from https://inkscape.org/en/
NOTE: some students may have other drawing software such as CorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator on a home computer or in some other lab they have access to. You are free to use other software or to work in other locations if you prefer. All that matters is that you can create the finished product, a printed map.
3. Drawing with Inkscape.
When Inkscape starts up you will see a nearly blank white screen with a rectangle marked on it. The rectangle indicates a single 8.5 by 11 inch piece of paper. Normally we draw within it, but you can make a larger drawing for a poster if needed. You should also see a menu bar across the top of the screen and various other small windows showing drawing tools etc.
Your screen will look the way it was left by the last user, so menus may be closed or moved. If you don't see things you need, open them from the 'view - show/hide' menu item. If you don't see the drawing area, use the 'file' - 'new' menu to create a new one.
The drawing area itself has various controls and other small windows around it. These will be explained by the TA. Take some time at the beginning to just play with them, getting used to where they are and how they work. There are many more controls than we will use to create a basic drawing, so you don't need to know them all.
To draw something, choose the tool you want from the toolbox. Note that every tool you select brings up its own toolbar at the top of the screen. We will mostly use only a few tools:
select (top arrow),
edit paths (below the select arrow),
magnifier (two tools down),
rectangle (two more tools down),
circle (two more tools down),
Bezier/line tool (4 tools down) and
text (two more tools down).
Try them all out. Move the cursor to the drawing area and start clicking points, or dragging shapes or typing according to the tool you chose. Rectangles, for instance, are made by dragging from one corner position to the opposite corner. Don't worry if you end up with the wrong shape - nothing is fixed, it can all be edited. The most useful shapes for us will usually be polygons, made by clicking many points around a complex shape using the Bezier/line drawing tool (the freehand drawing tool is not very useful for us).
When you have made several objects you can move between them using the selection tool (arrow). The selected object, the one you are currently working with, is surrounded by dots called handles. You can click on a handle and drag it to change the size or shape of an object. Holding the control key down keeps it in the right proportions if necessary. Click inside a shape and drag to move it. Clicking also toggles between being able to change the size of the object and rotating it. It all takes a bit of time to get used to everything.
Note that the current tool will remain chosen until another tool is selected, or the selection tool (arrow) at the top of the toolbox has been clicked to clear it. Try many options to see how they work - we don't need all of them in 242.
Draw a closed shape, then you can add colour or shading. At the bottom of the screen is a colour menu. Click any colour tio add it to your shape. If you draw a shape and can't see it, it may be white or invisible - select a colour before drawing it. You can add colours to the 'stroke' (the lines which outline a shape) and the 'fill', the interior colour of a shape. Use the 'Object - fill and stroke' menu item to work with them. You can switch between stroke and fill by clicking one or the other of the tabs. Select an object, then select stroke or fill, and click on the colour bars - the line or fill will change colour. Experiment to get used to it.
Note one important rule: normally, only one object can be worked on at a time. When there are several objects on the screen you must select the one you want to operate on by clicking on it. It will be identified as the 'active' object by the appearance of 'handles' around it. Practice switching from one object to another simply by clicking on one object then the next.
Experiment with different line widths. Select an object, then select stroke. Line width can be varied from a box in the stroke window. Add some text to the image and practise changing the text size, style and font from the text menu above the drawing window). If you select one of these choices when an object is 'active' and the text is highlighted, the change happens at once. If you select one of the menu choices when no object is active, it changes the default settings and defines how subsequent objects will be drawn.
To remove an error you have JUST made, select the Edit menu and use the Undo option (see Figure 6). It will reverse the last action you performed. You can repeat this for several steps. To remove anything else, click on it to make it active and select cut from the edit menu or hit delete on your keyboard.
5. Saving a file.
Steps: (follow carefully)
(1): Under the File menu, pick the Save As... option, NOT Save ( or you are doomed... - you can't name it or say where it should go). If you pick a wrong item you need only click on cancel to get out of it.
(2): The file will be copied to the destination you specify: the best option would be a USB stick. IMPORTANT: If you do not specify this, it could go to some unexpected place and be hard to find later. Select the destination in the 'Save As...' box which you are working in now. This produces a list of places including your computer's name or other drive or disk. Select a destination by clicking on its name in the list, then click on Open to prepare that destination for saving. NOTE: the disk is NOT open and you can't save to it if you fail to click Open.
(3): Give your file a name. The name box is highlighted (shaded). Name your file. Your name can be more than one word and up to 31 characters long. Click on Save to save your file. NOTE: Save your work regularly every ten minutes or so to guard against a system crash, power failure, etc. Computers can't be prevented from crashing occasionally - if you haven't saved your map, you will lose all the work you've done, so be warned. Also, it's always a good idea to have more than one copy of anything important. Save to your USB, and then, perhaps, add the file as an attachment to an email to yourself.
NOTE: Do not choose SAVE!!! - it gives you no control over where the file is saved or what it is called.
Best advice: save to the computer every 10 or 15 minutes during a session, and save a copy to your network drive at the end of a session. Then back it up by saving to a USB stick, or emailing the file to yourself. I recommend you save important files (such as 2240 labs) twice with different names every time you save. This makes it less likely a save command will fail, as can happen.
6. Printing.
Select Print under the File menu. That's it.
Sometimes you will want to print elsewhere. To take a file elsewhere to print, select 'export PNG image' under the file menu. That opens up a new window. Here, check the resolution (dpi) number in the middle of the window (Width, --- pixels at --- dpi). Set dpi at about 300 to work properly. Default is usually about 72, but it's not detailed enough.
An image exported like this can be viewed in a browser, or inserted in a Powerpoint slide or a Word File (Insert... picture... from file...). You can print this file at a commercial image printing shop (including Books Plus on Western Road), or on a home computer with a good printer. I suggest printing from Word or Powerpoint so you know you are getting the size you want.
7. End work in Inkscape.
After you have saved your work is it safe to get out of Inkscape. Select Quit from the File menu.