Portfolio Guide version 1.0
Updated 1/19/10

Step 5: Preparing Projects

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Contents

Why do I have to prepare my projects?

The Portfolio system is very picky about the size and kind of files (your projects) it will allow. In order to avoid problems uploading, you must make sure that your digital files are set up in a specific way. We will go over that now.

Allowable file types

The Portfolio system will allow 3 types of attachments:

Your projects must be turned into one of these file types before you can load it into your portfolio.

PDF
PDF stands for Portable Document Format. PDF's are great because they can be opened on any operating system with free software. All of your essays, papers and keynotes will need to be converted to PDF for uploading to the portfolio.
JPEG
JPEG's are named after the Joint Photographic Experts Group and are the most recognizable file type for photographs. All of your projects that are not already digital (drawings, paintings, dioramas, and physical items) either need to be scanned as a JPEG or need to be photographed as a JPEG. Also, any projects created in programs like photoshop will need to be exported as a JPEG.
URL
URL stands for Universal Resource Locator and is just web speak for the web address. Some examples of URL's are:
  • http://www.google.com
  • http://www.envisionacademy.org
  • http://www.youtube.com
You will have a URL attachment if you are linking to your work on the internet. This my be a URL to your Prezi or video sharing site. All video performances or multimedia presentations from another website will have to be attached by a URL.

Converting to PDF

As mentioned above, all papers, essays, and keynotes need to be converted to PDF before you load them into the portfolio system. But also know that anything that can be printed can be converted into a PDF, so there may be other project types that you will need to convert to PDF. To convert an item to PDF, follow these directions:

Converting papers, essays, or any other printable item
  1. Open your paper in Open Office, Pages, or whatever program you used to write it.
  2. Once open, go to the File menu and then to Print. You should see a print screen that looks like this:
  3. Notice in the lower left there is a button that says PDF. If you click it, you will see a drop down menu that looks like this:
  4. Select the option "Save as PDF". You will now see a standard Save window, asking you what to name your file and where to save it. I recommend saving to the Desktop. Also, give your file a name like "my essay pdf" so you can easily spot it as a PDF
  5. You should now have a PDF version of your essay on the computer desktop.
Converting keynotes to PDF
Section needs to be written

Converting to JPEG

If you need to take a photograph of one of your projects to add it to the portfolio, it needs to be a JPEG. The good news is that if you take the photograph with one of the schools cameras or with Photo Booth, it probably already is in the JPEG format. If you have some other photo type though (like GIF or PNG), here's how to convert it to JPEG.

Converting images to JPEG
  1. Drag your photo to the Desktop of the computer.
  2. Hold down the control key on your keyboard and click on the picture. You will see a menu that looks like this:
  3. Go to "Open with" and then select the application Preview (it may already be the default).
  4. Once in Preview, go to the file menu and select "Save As". You will see a screen that looks like this:
  5. Where is says format, click on the menu and change it to JPEG. In the "Save As" box, make sure you give it a name like "My picture jpeg" so that when it saves, you know it is a JPEG. When you are done, hit save.
  6. Your should now have a JPEG version of your photograph on the Desktop.

Converting to URL

If your project is a video performance, a prezi presentation, or is just bigger than 7 megabytes (the maximum size for attaching files to the portfolio system), you will need to link to you project with a URL. Linking to a URL just means that instead of being uploaded to the portfolio system, your project will live somewhere else on the internet. Lets go over your options now.

Converting prezi's to URL
  1. Go to the Prezi website and log in to your account.
  2. Open the prezi you want to use for your portfolio.
  3. The page that opens will be the URL of your prezi and is what you should use for your portfolio link.
Converting video performances to URL
  1. Get your video performance from the school technology coordinator or your performing arts teacher.
  2. Create an account at Blip.tv. Blip.tv is a video sharing site similar to YouTube.
  3. Follow the directions on Blip.tv's website for uploading your video.
  4. Once the video is uploaded, you will be able to open it in an individual page. This page is the URL that you should use for your portfolio link.

Naming your files

Before uploading your files to the portfolio system, you should know that there are two main rules to follow when naming your files:

  1. The portfolio system doesn't like spaces in your file name. Instead of using spaces, you should use the underscore symbol (the same symbol between your first and last name when you log in). So, instead of having a file named My first artifact, it should be named My_first_artifact.
  2. The portfolio system doesn't like when the file type is not part of the file name. So for PDF's, the end of the file name should be .pdf, and for JPEG's, the end of the file name should be .jpg. So instead of having a file named My_first_artifact, it should be named My_first_artifact.pdf or My_first_artifact.jpg

End of this section

Congratulations! You have successfully prepared your projects! Now lets go on to step 6, Editing Artifacts. Go to next step

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