Practical Notes

Chapter (11)
File Management
 What is generic file type
• Generic file formats allow you to save files so that they can be opened on
any platform.
• Excel spreadsheet (.xlsx), Word documents (.docx), Access databases (.accdb)
are not generic file format.
 Generic text files
• Comma separate values: .csv file extension
• Text: .txt file extension
• Rich Text Format: .rtf extension
 Generic image files (1/2)
• Graphic interchange format
• .gif file extension
• Store still image or moving image
• Joint photographic expert group
• .jpg, .jpge file extension
• Store still image only
• Not moving image
• Potable document format
• .pdf file extension
• This is a document that has been converted into an image format
 Generic image files (2/2)
• Portable network graphics
• .png extension
• Compress graphics file without any loss of image quality.
• Lossless compression format
• Moving picture experts group layer 4
• .mp4
• It is a multimedia container
• It is used for string video files, still image, audio files, subtitles
 Generic audio files
• Moving picture experts group layer 3
• .mp3 file extension
• It is a compressed file format used for storing audio files
 Generic files used for website authoring
• Cascading stylesheet
• .css file extension
• It a stylesheet attached to one or more webpage
• Hyper text markup language
• .html file extension
• Text-based language which is used to create markup that a web browser will be able to
display information as a web page.
 Generic compressed files
• Roshal archive
• .rar file extension
• This is a container that can hold almost any file types in a compressed format.
• To reduce the number of bytes/file size
• To save storage space
• To reduce transmission time when sent from one device to another
 Generic compressed files
• Zip
• .zip file extension
• This is a container that can hold almost any file types in a compressed format.
• To reduce the number of bytes/file size
• To save storage space
• To reduce transmission time when sent from one device to another
 Why reduce file size?
• To reduce the number of bytes/file size
• To save storage space
• To reduce transmission time when sent from one device to another
• Resizing
• Changes the physical dimensions (width and high) of an image
 Why reduce file size?
• Resampling
• Changes the quality of an image
• Fewer pixels are used for an image
• Disadvantages
• Lower-resolution images
• It can appear pixelated, if the images are enlarged
 Why File compression is used?
• If a document contains lots of formatting or lots of images, its file size
tends to be quite large.
• If you need to send multiple files, the most efficient way is to compress the
files together as a single zip file.
Chapter (12) Images
 Crop an image
• To crop an image is to cut off part of the image.
• This changes its aspect ratio but does not distort the image.
 Color Depth of an image
• 8 bit per channel
• An image file with 24 bits color depth
• 16 bit per channel
• An image file with 48 bits color depth
• 32 bit per channel
• An image file with 96 bits color depth
• Changing the color depth of an image also changes the file size.
Chapter (13) Layout
 What is a header and footer?
• A header is the area of a document between the top of the page and the top
margin.
• A footer is the area of a document between the bottom of the page and the
bottom margin.
 Why are headers and footers needed?
• Headers and footers are needed to make sure that each page has elements
like the page number, chapter, logo, titles and filename etc, placed
consistently within them.
• They only have to be placed once but will repeat on every page
• This saves the author a great deal of time and effort, not having to duplicate
their work on every page.
 Tab stops
• Left tab
• Aligns tabbed text, so that the left edge of the text is in a fixed position.
• Centre tab
• Aligns tabbed text, so that the centre point of the text is in a fixed position.
• Right tab
• Aligns tabbed text, so that the right edge of the text is in a fixed position.
• Decimal tab
• Aligns tabbed text, so that numeric data aligns with the decimal point in a fixed position.
Chapter (14) Styles
 What is a corporate house style?
• This is sometimes called 'Corporate branding'
• Corporate house style can range from company logo to recognized color
schemes, fonts, font style, paragraph style, page layout, page formatting and
defined styles of bullets and numbering.
 What is the purpose of a house style?
• A house style is used to make sure that all documents and other materials
from an organization have consistency.
• It is used to save time in planning, setting up, creating and formatting
documents and other materials.
• It is also designed to support brand recognition and reduces the risk of
mistakes in documents.
 Serif and Sans-Serif fonts
• The word 'serif' describes the short strokes at the end of individual letters.
• Sans-serif fonts do not have these short strokes.
• Serif fonts are often used in newspapers and books as they are usually
easier to read than sans-serif fonts.
• It would be appropriate to use sans-serif fonts for emphasis or for titles or
subtitles.
 Format painter
• To copy the formatting from one part of a document and apply it to
another.
Chapter (15) Proofing
 What is validation?
• Validation is checking that data entered is reasonable.
• It is often a process where data is checked to see if it satisfies certain criteria when input to a computer.
• Type of validation
• Range check
• Length check
• Character/Type check
• Format/Picture check
• Limit check
• Presence check
• Consistency check
• Check digit
 Proofing Techniques
• To make sure that the work is accurate.
• It should include checking not only spelling, punctuation and grammar but also page layout,
including:
• The correct margin setting
• Images placed as specified
• Text wraps as specified
• Images are not distorted
• Objects not overlapping
• Lists, tables, are not split over two columns or pages
• No widows or orphans
 Widow and Orphan
• A window is the last line of a paragraph that appears alone at the top of a
new page or column.
• An orphan is the first line of a paragraph that appears alone at the bottom
of a page or column.
 What is verification?
• Verification is a way of preventing errors when data is copied form one
medium to another.
• Verification does not stop all errors but helps to reduce the errors made
when data is entered into the computer, by checking the accuracy of data
entry.
 Visual verification
• Visual verification can also be called a visual check.
• Visual verification is checking for data entry errors by comparing the original
paper documents with the data entered into the computer.
• This does not make sure the data is correct.
• For example:
• If the original document contained an error, then this error would be copied onto the
computer.
 Double data entry
• Data is entered into a system twice (often by two different people)
• The two sets of data are then compared by the computer and any differences
in the data is flagged as an error and can be corrected by the user.
 Why are validation and verification needed?

• Validation and verification, when used together, to reduce the number of

errors in data entry.
• Both validation and verification are needed because:
• Data might be sensible but has not been transferred accurately
• Data might have been transferred accurately but may not be sensible
 Proofreading
• Proofreading is not a form of verification.
• It is the careful reading and re-reading of a document to detect any errors in
spelling, grammar, punctuation or layout, whether or not they were in the
original document.
Chapter (16) Graphs and Charts
 Chart Types
• Pie charts
• Pie charts compare parts of a whole or fractions of a whole
• To compare percentage value
• Bar charts
• Bar charts show the difference between different things.
• It is a graph with vertical bars.
• Line graphs
• Line graphs are used to plot trends between two variables