English For Wizards Fun with PhotoShop By John Moore	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
コンピューターと画像処理 誕生日にデジタルカメラを買ってもらったピーターは、身の回りのものを写真に収めて、さまざまに加工して楽しんでいます。今週は、コンピューターを使って簡単にできるグラフィックアートを紹介しましょう。

Most people use computers to surf the Web, send e-mail and do word-processing. Maybe the next most popular computer activity is graphic artwork. Let's explore this interesting field a little bit, OK?

I got my son Peter a cheap digital camera for his birthday. I expected he would take some nice ordinary shots of the family and our neighborhood. Then he was supposed to e-mail those to his grandma in America, since she's always asking for photos. But Peter seemed more interested in a different kind of photography.

Mostly he wanted to take photos out of books, using the camera to scan them into the computer. He also took a lot of pictures of his stuffed animals and other toys, like a Pikachu coin bank he has. I helped him put together a mini Web site cataloging his many BeyBlade spinning tops.

That was pretty fun. So then I figured Peter might be interested in a bit of creative photo processing, using the Adobe PhotoShop software. I showed him how to make Pikachu turn all different colors. We had a tall thin Pikachu and another Pikachu that was stretched and faded so it looked like he was flying very fast. I even tried making some composite photos, like the fake picture on this page showing President George W. Bush with Peter and a blue Pikachu.

Actually, there's an interesting story behind this picture. Peter was supposed to really meet President Bush during his Sept. 17-18 state visit in Japan. The U.S. Embassy organized a special event, but too many other kids were waiting in line, so Peter didn't get his chance. That's why I started imagining Peter having dinner later with Bush at the Akasaka Detached Palace, along with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi - and Pikachu.

In any case, this photo, bad as it is, gives you an idea of how far you can go with computer graphics. If you want to try this yourself, all you need is some software and a few easy tutorials.

First, find out about PhotoShop and other Adobe products at www.adobe.com. But wait! PhotoShop costs $650 (¥70,000)! You can save money if you try another photo-processing software title, which is completely free and has all the same functions as PhotoShop. I'm talking about the Gimp (www.gimp.org). This is basically a Linux program, but it's available for Windows now, too.

Next, find tutorials online simply by searching in Google for "photoshop tutorial." There are lots and lots of good guides available.

Hey, if you get really good at graphic design, you can even get a job doing that and earn big money.

Shukan ST: Nov. 21, 2003

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