media newsletter step by step samantha manoff. front cover€¦ · media newsletter step by step......

Samantha Manoff – Unit 5 – Task 6

Media Newsletter step by step... Samantha Manoff.

Here I will show the process of how I have made my newsletter, which is digital and can be used interactively with the audience. I will explain what I did in the steps I have shown, why I did those steps and how I did them. I am making this newsletter on Adobe Photoshop, which is already installed into my computers system. I will be showing my front cover, music page, fashion page as well as sports page. For this, my target audience is 14-16 year olds.

Front Cover...

I am starting off with creating the size of the page. To do this, I have clicked ‘new’ and then this box showed up. In this box I got the correct measurements from my teacher and typed them in. I then made sure that all the units were correct to match up with the numbers. I did this because these measurements make my page the correct size, and can help make my newsletter look much more professional.

In this step, I have first started to create my actual front cover, which will be for my newsletter. I did this by clicking ‘ok’ on the step shown above. I then have created a background in the colour blue. I have done this by clicking in the colour swatches and then using the fill tool. I have chosen this colour because I think that the writing will be able to stand out well in front of this colour. After this, I have then added my title of the newsletter, which I have named ‘Inside Out’. I have named it this because I feel that it can be very catchy to the audience. I managed to get this text up by using the text tool on the side bar, and changing the size by using the features at the top. Finally, I have then changed the colour of the title to red. I have done this to make it stand out and be bold. I coloured the text by highlighting it, and then selecting a colour from the swatches and double clicking.


I have now got up to the stage of editing and blending my title, as you can see from the picture on the right. To blend the title, I first right clicked on the text layer in the corner of the page. I then selected the blending option near the top of the list. Once clicked on the option, the box, as shown in the left picture will show up and be produced. In this box, I was able to choose different options by clicking on them, and then I was given access to changing the shadows and glows. Once I had changed the options to the way I wanted and the way in which I thought the title looked correct, I could click ‘ok’. I did this whole process of changing the shadows behind the text because it makes the newsletter look more professional, effective and visually appealing. After I have finished with editing the title, I have added a little piece of text saying ‘December issue 2015’. I have added this because the readers may want to know what copy of the newsletter this edition is. I added this text by using the text tool on the side bar. Then I was able to move on to the next step.

As you can see, I have included background boxes of different colours for each piece of writing. So far, I have added a green coloured box for my music selection, pink for my fashion option, and blue for my sport. I have chosen these colours because they can correspond well to the topics and to the target market for who is going to be interested in reading that section. I also got these specific colours from my planning sheet that I made in the other task, from my colour swatches list. The way that I added these boxes to my newsletter was by selecting the shapes tool. By using this tool, it allowed me to insert different shapes to the newsletter. I have included these shapes because they fill the page well and it looks quite presentable. After this, I added text and photos to my first music box at the top. I have made this the main headline because I know that most of my audience may be interested in reading this section, and all could get involved. I have made links in this box too, as I have hyperlinked the pictures to the artists’ store, and where you can buy their album. I did this to make it easy for readers to purchase the music.


Here in this step, I have added my first paragraph to my fashion article. I have done this by first typing it up onto Microsoft Word, to check that all of the spelling and grammar is correct. I then copied and pasted the text into Photoshop. I did this because it means that there will now be no mistakes written in the articles, and it’s a much more efficient way to work from. I managed to get the writing to all fit into the box allocated by using the text tool and the free transformation tool. A shortcut to use this tool is by holding Ctrl + T together, which allows the text to move freely. After I made the text fit the box to how it should be, I felt like I should add a picture in. For this, I added a ‘Father Christmas’ hat, because it can relate to the article well. I got this image from Google images. I then saved it, and opened it back up in Photoshop on a separate slide. Once it was on a different page, I used the magnetic lasso tool from the tool bar to select round the part of the image I wanted. I then again copied and pasted that by using the Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V buttons, and layered the image onto my front cover.

I have now completed my front pages’ navigation tool bar. I have created this navigation tool bar because it looks professional, as well as quite effective, and can help the user thoroughly. The way in which I made this tool bar was quite complicated at first, but then as I got the swing of it, it got slightly easier. I started off with making a list of all the buttons, which I was going to put on this bar. I made this list in Microsoft word, and done this as a planning stage to help me and to make sure that I didn’t forget any ideas. I then went on to Google and searched in the name of what each button was called. I did this separately for each button, one at a time. Once I had found the image of the button, I copied and pasted it into Photoshop and onto my front page. For most of the buttons/ images, I had to delete the background. To save some time, instead of using the magnetic lasso tool, I used the magic eraser. The magic eraser is located under the rubber tool on the side. To use this tool, you have to simply select on the pieces of graphics that you don’t want, and it will do it automatically for you. I found this tool extremely handy and carried on using it for all of the buttons. I then decided to add in a speaker button at the beginning. This button allows the user to click on it, and it will read all of the text and articles out to them. The reason that I included this button was because when I done a survey from my target audience, the majority vote was to have the button, so I thought that they would find this interesting, and it would make the newsletter more interactive. Other buttons that I decided on including were the social media ones, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I included these buttons because my target market may want to look at more articles or images to relate to the newsletter, and this will all be linked through the buttons to the specific pages. Lastly, I created the end ‘next page’ arrow. I created this to help guide the user from page to page in an easy manner. I created this by using the custom shapes, and then adding text on top of it. When doing this, I made sure that the layers were in the correct order, so the writing could be seen.


Now I have finished creating my front cover. I am very happy how this has turned out. I have made changes all the way through the process. The first change that I made since the last print screen is that I have changed the size of all the columns. I have done this to make it look more professional, as all of the examples that I looked at were similar, and followed the same rule of three. I changed this by using the ruler, which I accessed through the top tool bar. I then split 21 by 3, which is 7, so I had each column 7cm. I decided to combine the last two columns together, as I feel that it can gave me more room to write and add pictures to stand out and be bold so the audience can see them clearly. I then added another picture of a stadium into the sport section. I did this by Googling it and then copying and pasting the image. Another image in which I changed was on the music section. In this, I changed the first picture. I did this because I didn’t feel that the other picture was suited in this space. Finally, I included text underneath the pictures in the fashion section. This shows to my target market straight away some of the pricing for the clothes in the newsletter, and can make the more interesting and appealed to the article. I did this first by changing the size of all the main article writing to font size 12. I did this because in all professional newsletters, the average size is 12 for the text, and it can be read easily. The way I did this was by selecting all of the writing and then making it smaller. I did the same process for each of the articles, so that they matched. After, I added my slogan at the top. Again, I did this so that it could catch the eye of the audience, and hopefully it would make them want to read my newsletter even more. If I were to improve this page, I would try harder to get all of the writing the same size, because even though it says they’re all the same, they don’t really look it. This could be because of the free transformation, however, although I tried to get them the same it just wouldn’t work.


Music Page...

I am now making my first inside page. As you can see, I have made a double page. I have done this to make it look more visually appealing, especially with all the colours and pictures too. I made the page double by doubling the width to 42cm. I have started off with making the background of the page blue, the same as the front, and then I have made all of the boxes a green colour, apart from the gossip box, which I will do later. This will remind me to make the writing bold later on in the process, which will make it clear to understand. I did this by using the shape tool to create the boxes, and the fill tool to colour them in. I have designed the layout this way because I wanted it similar to the front. As you can see, I have still kept to the three-column rule. After this, I made a title, and called it music. I did this because its what the page is about, and I didn’t want anything too complicated. I wrote the title by using the text tool and then using the toolbox to the left of this page. By using this toolbox, it allowed me to make the writing bold and underlined, also allowed me to change the size and font of the writing to whatever I felt was best. The next part, which I completed, was the video. As you can see, I have included a video of One Direction. I got this by going onto Google images and saving the image as. I then opened the image onto this page. I then got a play button image, also from Google and copied and pasted it. After this, I layered the two pictures to make it a video. I did this because its very interactive, and I feel that the audience would appreciate it very much.


As you can see, I am on Google images at the moment. I am searching for a picture in which I can use for my next article in my music section. With the picture that I am going to select, I am going to make sure that it links to a place where you will be able to buy the album, or listen to it. By doing this, it allows the user to get involved with the newsletter, meaning they may like it even more, and will want to get the next issue of it. To select the correct image, I will click on search tools at the top and select the 1024 X 768 option from the size option. I will do this because it means that when I insert the image onto Photoshop, the graphics of the picture will be to the best of its quality. I am going to do this by copying and pasting an image using the key tools, and tool bar.

These are the tools that I am going to use through this whole process, to copy and paste all of the images available to me in which I choose from Google images. I am using Google images, as it’s a reliable source, with good quality pictures, perfect to use for my newsletter. To copy and paste a picture I will either right click so this menu comes up, or I can use the keys, as shown in the side of the boxes above. This is helpful to me, as it can save time and is an easy method, which works productively.


In this screen, I have added more text, images and part of my navigation tool bar. I have first added a top 3 songs in the charts this week column. I have realised that in this screen it says ‘chats’, however I am going to change it later on in the process. I have added a ‘Top 3 songs’ area because I think that it interests the reader to know what is the latest music, and what is it that most people like and are enjoying. As I showed above, I have got the pictures in by copying and pasting them with the keyboard tools. I also have added a small article relating to the tile, which I have made size 11.5. I have made it 11.5, rather than 12 because it fits that little bit better. I have also made this font Myriad Pro because it is easy to read and understand. Underneath the pictures of the album covers, I have added a ‘buy now’ sign. I have done this because it looks like it could really be in a professional newsletter, which you would find online, so it can impress the audience. Also it is appealing to the eye, and can be noticed easily. I have got the buttons onto the page buy using images and then pasting them in and moving the objects around until they fit perfectly. I then included a ‘Top 3 music videos of the week’ box, which is similar to the first box above. I decided to include this as well because the two can relate together and link in with each other. I have then changed the video in the bottom of the box. I decided to do this so that I could have more of a variety of music, so that more of the audience would be attracted. Again, with the writing, I used the same tool because it allows me to add text to exactly where I want it in an efficient way. Lastly, I have started to complete the navigation tool bar, as this is what is on the front page at the moment, however, I still need to add in two more buttons to have it finalised properly. I am adding the navigation bar in because it can help the user find their way around the newsletter in a much more fun way. I am doing this the same way as I made the front covers navigation bar, and will take pictures from Google images, use the magic eraser tool, and fit them all in the box in a simple way.


This is my finished first inside page- the music page. I have first taken the underline off of the title. I did this because I think that it looks much better, and brings the whole page together now. I did this by highlighting the writing and again clicking the underline tool to take it off. I then added my article in, which finishes it off from the front cover. To show the reader this, I put at the top of the article ‘continued’ I first wrote my article in Microsoft Word to check the spelling was all correct, but then copied it over to Photoshop’s software. At the bottom of the article, I added a picture that I took myself. I took this picture at a ‘One Direction’ concert in September 2015. I have included this image to show that I am really involved with the making of this newsletter. I have inserted the image into the space by emailing it through the Internet first. Then saving the image in my documents. After this, I opened it up and re-sized it to fit the space. I did this because I think that image matches well with the rest of the page and it can relate to the article well. After this, I added two tweets in a gossip box. I did this because I thought that the audience might want to get involved with what’s happening in the world of celebrities, and it can lead them on to knowing more by clicking the twitter icon at the bottom of the screen. I got these tweets by screen-shotting them from twitter and cropping them down. I then added them into this page by pasting them. Also, I filled the gossip box in green to match the others. I now think it has improved much more. Lastly, I finished my navigation tool bar, by adding the audio button and a ‘Previous Page’ button. The only issue I had with this is that I couldn’t get the ‘Previous Page’ button the same size as the ‘Next Page’ button. I made the ‘Previous Page’ button by using the custom shape tool and adding text on top of it. Overall, I am pleased with how this page has turned out.


Now that I have finished my music page, I am moving on to my fashion page. For my fashion page I am mainly aiming it at girls who are 14-16. I am doing this because my music page is for both genders and the sports page will be specifically aimed more at boys. I have stared off making this page by adding a background, and 3 pink boxes. I have done this because I think it relates to the topic fashion quite well. I have done this by using the colour and fill tool to change the background. I have kept the same colour for the background through out, as I feel this is more professional. After this, I made the pink boxes. I did this by using the shape tool and fill tool. I used rectangle boxes, and laid them out in the way I thought was best. I have again used the professional layout by having three columns. To measure this, I used the ruler tool to make sure all my lines and measurements were correct. I then decided to change up the layout and have a box going over two parts of the page to make the newsletter seem more interesting.

Just like in the last screen, as you can see I have my navigation bar. This navigation bar allows the reader to easily have access around the page and newsletter as a whole. The way, which I made this navigation bar, was by copying and pasting it from the music page. By me doing this, it meant that a lot of time was saved and that I could focus on the other articles more. The next part that I completed was writing the main article, which links to the front page. I have done this because when I looked at professional examples, they all had at least one main article, so I thought that this could look like someone experienced made it. I got the text by first writing it up in Microsoft word. I did this because I wanted to make sure all the grammar was correct. I then went onto Photoshop and made a text box. I did this by using the text tool and dragging out a box to the size I felt was best. After this, I copied and pasted the writing from Word into Photoshop, and clicked the tick. I repeated this method again for the text in the ‘London fashion week 2015’ section. I have made both of the texts size 11.5 because it fits in the boxes best. The font is Myriad pro with a smooth feel to it. Lastly, I created the title for the bottom section, as well as the page title. I did this to let the reader know what the page and article is about. I did this by using the text tool and making it bold. The font of the writing is Engraves MT. I used this font because it can stand out well and attract the reader.

Fashion Page...


Here is the picture, which I have inserted into my London fashion week section. It’s Kendall Jenner, who is one of the most famous models. This is the reason to why I have included it in my newsletter, as for 14-16 year olds, if you see a celebrity wearing something that you like then you could go and buy it. The way that I got this image was by getting it off of Google, saving it to my files and opening it on a separate file on Photoshop. I then used the magnetic lasso tool to go around her body to select only part of the image that I wanted. Some of the image I didn’t select properly, so I used the brush and rubber tools to edit this. After this, as you can see, I am editing the coat that Kendall is wearing, and am showing where it is from and how much. I am doing this because it allows the reader to then go and view the item to possibly buy it.

I have now added all of my articles to my fashion page. I have written them all the same way by originally starting it on Microsoft word, and then copying it over to Photoshop. The article which I have wrote last is my how to stay stylish during winter. The heading of this article is in the Engraves MT font and I have made it bold and underlined. The text size is 11.5 to match all the other writing, as this makes the newsletter look professional. I got the heading as well as the text by using the text tool. I used the buttons ‘Ctrl’ and ‘T’ buttons to make the text box fit to the background shape correctly. I have wrote the article that I did because I think that it will interest my target market well, and when I asked several people, they all agreed that it would interest them. After this, I added 3 pictures. Two of them are my own which I have taken and the other I got from Google. The one of the woman in the coat, and the gloves are the photos I have taken. I took these with my camera and sent them to myself via email. I then saved the images and opened them up into the software, where I have placed them in my articles. I did this because I thought that it would be very creative and imaginative, and would add a different touch to my work. The other picture, like I said before, I got from Google, and like some other images, I copied and pasted the image onto Photoshop and placed it how I thought was best.


Here is my final fashion page. Since the last print screen, I have added more images, as well as captions. I have included the picture of the mannequin wearing the beanie hat in the bottom corner. I have got this image from Goggle and have then copied and pasted it. I included this picture because I felt that it related in well with the topic and fitted in just the right space. The next part that I included was the trousers in the fashion week section. I have got these from Google, and have again used the magnetic lasso tool, which allows me to edit part of the picture. I find this tool very useful and used it quite a lot through the process. I included these trousers because they are very similar to the ones Kendall is wearing, and the reader may want to buy them, this is also why I have added the caption, which tells the user the price and where you can get them. I have got the text under the picture by using the text tool, and typing it the allocated price. I then changed the size of the caption to size 12 and made it in bold. I did this to make it match with the item of clothing above and the piece of writing underneath that. Overall, I am happy with how this page turned out. Later on in the process, where I have finally finished the whole newsletter, I did come back and reline the navigation bar, as I felt that one arrow was bigger than the other and that it just didn’t look right. I am now glad that I changed it, as it looks much better than before. This will be shown in the end screen shot.


I am now starting to create my sports page, which is my final page. I am starting off with adding a background colour, which I have kept the same throughout. I have got the background colour by using the fill tool and changing the colour so that it matches the other pages. Then I created a title; I did this because I wanted to let the readers know a summary of what the page is about. I did this by using the text tool. I made the font Engraves MT and the size 84. I then stretched it out so that it could fit in the middle of the page. After this, I finally made my boxes where I am going to add my articles and pictures, as well as competition. I did this by first measuring 7cm on both sides into the page. I did this by using the ruler tool. This was done so that my page can keep roughly to the same layout and so that it looks more sophisticated. Lastly, I used the shape tool to form my boxes, and then filled them in blue using the fill tool and colour swatches. I did this so that my writing will be able to be seen clearly and easily.

Moving on, I have added two of my articles, as well as images and more headings. Starting off with my main article, which is the one on the left, I wrote all about football and the Premier League. I wrote this because I thought that it would interest my target market, especially boys, who are very keen. I have made the size of this text 11.5, and the font as Myriad Pro. I wrote this article by using the text tool, and then importing my writing from Microsoft Word to Photoshop. I then moved on to my next section, which I thought I’d make a little competition. I wrote about how to enter and what you can win, this is mainly a signed football, as well as signed football shirts. I again wrote this by using the same method as before and the text tool on Photoshop. After I had finished these articles, I decided to add in images to make it more fun and interesting. I first added a picture of the Premier League trophy, and then the logo. I got these images from Google images, which then I copied and pasted. With the image of the logo, I cropped it so that it could fit in the allocated space without being stretched. Once I had completed these pictures, I moved on to the competition. For this, I added a signed Man United ball from the players, as well as a signed Arsenal and Man City shirts. I added these images because they relate to the article, and when the reader sees the images it may make them more intrigued to signing up to have the chance in winning. Again, I did this by using images from Google, and simply copied and pasted them. Lastly, I added a title, which I made bold and underlined so that it would stand out to the reader. I got this writing by again using the tools which I was given access to.

Sports Page...


I have now made my navigation bar for this last page. As you can tell, this navigation bar is different to the others, as I had to take off the next page arrow and replace it on the opposite side with the previous page arrow, otherwise known as the back arrow. I have added this arrow because the reader may decide to re-read another one of the previous pages, so they will need a way to get back to it. I have created this arrow by using the shape tool and adding text on top of it. I then filled the arrow in black by using the colour swatches and then applying the fill tool to it. With all of the other buttons, I copied them over from the previous pages, as this helped me save time, which meant I was quite efficient. After the navigation bar, I moved on to my last article section. In this box I am going to write about upcoming events for 2016. For this, I started off with creating a heading. This heading has been created by using the text tool, which I then changed the font to Engraves MT. I have added this heading because I think that its quite interesting, and many may want to read more once they see it. Finally, I added the three images in the sport in 2016 box. I got these images again from Google images, and copied and pasted them. I chose these pictures, as when I planned for what I was going to write, I think that the article will link to these images well. If I was going to improve anything, I would make the arrow less squashed, and would drag it in. By doing this, it would look much more realistic.


This is my final finished sports page for my newsletter. As you can see, I have added my article in at the top right hand corner. I have based this article on what my ideas were originally. The way I got the text into the space was by using the text tool, and typing it up. I have written about this topic of upcoming sports because I think that it can interest my target audience very well. Also, I have taken one of the images out, as it didn’t really fit in with all of the writing. I deleted it by clicking on the layer, and then pressing the backspace button to delete it. Overall, I think that this page has turned out quite well, and that it can catch the eye of the reader fantastically.


Here is what my newsletter looks like when it is completely finished and it’s all together...

media newsletter step by step samantha manoff. front cover€¦ · media newsletter step by step......

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