Creating nameplates with 7th grade students

Following the introduction of Photoshop, 7th grade students are prepared to create a basic multi-layered image using the tools they’ve already seen as well as a few additional tools.  The purpose of the image is to use as an account profile picture on our school’s social network, Edmodo.  Students are represented by this picture (and their name) each time they write a new post or reply to another post.

Students first must create a new blank image file in Photoshop.  As long as the image is square, it will work, but I generally have students start with an image 500 pixels wide by 500 pixels tall.  The background should be “Transparent” and the resolution will work fine at 72 pixels per inch, which is generally the default choice.

Once in the blank file, I have students create a new layer on top of the bottom transparent background.  I also re-emphasize what I had told them before, that for every new tool or color change, they should make a new layer first.  The next step is to lay down a full color layer, by either using the paint bucket or gradient tool.  I quickly show them how the gradient tool works (pretty similar to the paint bucket but with a blend of colors rather than only one), and then move on to the brush.

Here’s a very valuable tip for anyone setting up Photoshop for student use, download and install as many different brush styles as you’d like at Brusheezy.  The site is entirely free and there are countless high-quality brush styles available there.  Students could peruse Brusheezy on their own, but I found in past lessons that it ended up taking up most of their work time, and also the brush files can be rather large so it can put a strain on your network all at once.  So I recommend setting up a nice selection of brushes before students ever sit down at Photoshop the very first time, clear and simple installation instructions can be found over at Brusheezy.

Using the wide variety of brush styles, colors, and sizes, students then create a nameplate design that they feel is suited to represent them online.  The brushes themselves look more like a stamp when seen at first, but in Photoshop they function just like any other brush style.  This step with the brushes has historically been highly enjoyed by my students as there is an endless supply of options to choose from.  Often students end up creating a couple different versions and then ask classmates to help them decide before they start designing the text of their name.

The final step of the nameplate creation process is adding a name to the nameplate.  This is completed with the text tool in Photoshop.  Similar to the brushes, I suggest a visit to FontSpace and downloading a few extra appealing fonts.  At the time of posting, they have nearly 17,000 free fonts to download.  There has to be at least a few desirable fonts for anyone in that batch!  Here are all of the separate layers for one student’s nameplate creation:

After the nameplate is complete, students use Photoshop’s “Save for Web” feature (found in the File menu) to reduce the size of the file and save it as a .JPG in order to upload it to their account profile.  Here are some more examples created by my students (with the names changed):