Thank you all for your responses to my inquiry about READ CD offered by ALA. I
have copied and pasted your thoughts below.
-Yes, I have used the READ CDs with Adobe Photoshop. I wanted to make posters of
our teachers and the administration to promote reading. I use Photoshop with my
yearbook class so I am familiar the program which I think makes a difference. After
taking the picture, you have to find the poster setting that fits best, or take the
picture with the poster setting in mind. Some of the pictures were taken by someone
else and I had a harder time because of the quality (or lack quality) fitting them
to a poster. Our local photography developing places refuse to print large photos
from a digital file, but I use Shutterfly.com and they will tell you how large a
photo will print with good resolution. I printed them as a 20 x 30 photo and
purchased a frame at Wal-Mart. They look great! There are other programs besides
Photoshop, like Gimp, that are less expensive. Gimp, I understand since I’ve never
used it, is free and does the basic things you need to work with layered files. My
cost!
for Sh
utterfly was about $23.00 per photo (poster) and the frames were about $12.00 each.
You can also make bookmarks. I think the most “cost” is the time it takes to get a
good poster. You have to cut out the person reading, put them in the layered file
and position them to the correct size.
-I have used it. It was difficult for me to learn the Photoshop part at first, but
that's just me. Once I cropped the people out of the original picture, I was able
to place them on a background and it made great posters. We did our superintendent,
students, and teachers. I have not done any new ones this year. I only printed them
11x17. I emailed the file to the local UPS Store, and they printed on their color
copier and laminated for me. I only paid $7 a poster .... they give a discount to
us since they are a business partner.
-One of our librarians here in Dallas purchased the CD and charges $10 per poster
to any and all who wish to purchase one. I have been trying to talk my principal
into purchasing them of each teacher to display in
the hall to promote reading to our students.
-I purchased one several years ago. never learned to use it. I print my read
posters for the AR 200 point club on www.bighugelabs.com. And use the motivational
poster--of course they are only 8 x 10 but we mount them on construction paper and
laminate and they serve the purpose.
-Contact Anna Sanders, the Wharton High School Librarian, Wharton, Texas. She has
successfully used this software and made some wonderful posters for her library.
asanders@wharton.isd.tenet.edu Give her all your inquiries and I know she will
gladly advise you!
-I believe the City of Richardson Public Library in Richardson TX has that program
as my grandson was recently featured in one of their READ posters. You may wish to
email them for comments and ideas of cost and creating the product.
-I have it and love it! I make regular paper sized posters for my students for
reading incentives and I also make READ bookmarks for incentives. It takes a lot
of time, but they really love them. I have plans to use the posters with the
teachers pictures around the school for special library weeks and book week. I
always print on the color printer, but I would think you could take the file and
have it printed on larger paper if you chose to. Also, if you have a poster
machine with the correct paper to print photos, you could also use that to make
larger posters. It is very expensive, but depending on what you need, it could be
a great purchase.
-We have used it for several years, although i think the version with Adobe
Photoshop is new. That is a good thing if you don't already have photoshop,
because some kind of photo-editing software is required to make the posters. So the
cost is dependent on whether you need that additonal software. There are two
versions available without the photo editing software if you already have that.
Once you have both, the only other needs are patience, time and supplies for
printing. Of course someone has to take the original photos on a digital camera.
The art teacher agreed to print the posters if we
reimbursed her for the ink, but after a while it was easier to store them on a CD
and take them to Staples for printing. They had a printer that could provide larger
posters.
-Last year in elementary school I used the software to make over 300 posters for
students as they reached their reading goals. Photoshop takes a little practice
but I got really fast by the end of the year. I also made posters for the teachers,
who all displayed them outside their rooms.
-This year I am at the high school level and purchased the new, improved READ CD
software. I have to relearn this newer version of photoshop but there are more
choices for the posters and they can be printed (without being resized, which I had
to do myself in the old version) on 8 1/2 x 11" paper. So far, it is not as
popular in high school as it was in elementary school. If you get it, make sure
you have a good color printer and a budget for ink. The new version does use a lot
of RAM though. I was going to have a couple of my student helpers learn the
program and I don't have a computer in the library proper that has enough memory to
make it worthwhi le teaching them.
-I would like to hear what you find out about this. I made posters this year of
my faculty with their favorite book at FedEx Kinko's They were 11x17 and cost 1.98
each.We mounted them on matte board and then made little banners and idea bubbles
with Read or Reading is fun or something similar. They turned out really well and
were a big success.
--
Carolyn Wert
Librarian
Charles Boehm Middle School
866 Big Oak Road
Yardley, PA 19067
Phone: 215.428.4220, ext. 30870
Fax: 215.428.9605
cmwert@comcast.net
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