Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2006 - 25

puter with a DVD drive-or even a CD drive, for that matter. I've seen some beautiful portfolio Web
sites, but as I do not have HTML skills (yet!), I'd prefer something I could handle myself and that
would not necessarily be dependent upon an Internet DSL connection in order to view quickly and
efficiently (although I like the idea of being able to download a portfolio from a Web site). Yet I
also wanted something that could easily be sent to someone across the world (not to mention to my
folks, who like to know what I've been up to lately) as an e-mail attachment.
So I asked myself, how do companies do it? Go to Amazon.com and click on a link for electronic equipment, and you can download an entire catalog in Adobe's PDF format (Portable Document Format). Our local theatrical supplier uses a PDF catalog which can be downloaded from
their Web site. Theatres and schools already use PDFs to send out press releases, study guides-
basically any kind of information that can be printed can be turned into a PDF. Depending on the
size of the file (which is related to the number of pages in it and the resolution of the image files
used to create the file in the first place), PDFs can be successfully duplicated, burnt onto a disc,
recorded onto a USB databank or a Zip disc (or if only a dozen or so pages long, a floppy-remember floppies?), sent as an e-mail attachment, and/or printed out. They can even be used in presentations or interviews in conjunction with a projector or large television.
Most computers already make use of a free PDF reader program such as Adobe Acrobat, either as a stand-alone product or a plug-in to their default Web browser.
While I have no doubt that many others discovered this method long ago, I thought it would be
helpful to lay out the steps in this article for those (like me) who might not have come across this
particular portfolio format previously.
The process below makes use of PhotoShop and Microsoft Word because they are widely
available and operate very similarly on both Apple Macintosh computers and PCs. Of course, many
other image editing and word processing applications can be used to achieve the same results.

Collect the Images

I prefer something I can create myself
that is not necessarily dependent
upon an Internet DSL connection in
order to view quickly and efficiently.
Yet I also want something that can
easily be sent anywhere in the world
as an e-mail attachment.

You will need to start with good quality, medium-resolution digital
image files (as from a digital camera or a scanned photograph or
slide).
1. Open your image in Photoshop. (Make sure you have a backup
copy of your images before you begin altering them for your PDF
portfolio.) If the image needs cropping, editing, color corrections,
contrast corrections, etc., take care of those now.
2. When you are done making the image look as good as possible,
choose SAVE AS and save the image in JPEG format before moving
on to step two. A JPEG OPTIONS dialog box will ask you about the
Quality of your image. Select MEDIUM resolution. Clicking OK will
save your file.
3. Now you want to size your images so they have a consistent
appearance in your portfolio. In the IMAGE menu, select IMAGE SIZE.
4. In the DOCUMENT SIZE sub-menu, type the width you wish your image to appear on the page.
(Note, that if CONSTRAIN PROPORTIONS is checked at the bottom of the IMAGE SIZE dialog
box, as it should be, the height of your image will automatically adjust when you change the
width.) I format everything horizontally to best fit a typical computer screen, so I usually save
the image with a width of ten inches.
5. Under RESOLUTION, type "72" if you want a PDF portfolio that will e-mail easily or "150" for one that
will produce better printed copies. Click OK to save your new IMAGE SIZE selections. Then SAVE
the file again.
6. Repeat these steps for all your images.

Layout the Pages
It's now time to layout the pages of your portfolio. You will create a title page and a page for each
image (or group of images) on which you will place the image, a title, and other descriptive text
about the show and your design.

THEATRE

DESIGN

TECHNOLOGY
F

2006

http://www.Amazon.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2006