How to convert music to MP3 format?

How can I change my iTunes or other music, to MP3 format so that I can insert them when I am creating a photo video in Movie Maker or Picasa Movies?

This is very easy and a very common question - whether your are using a PC with windows software or a MAC. When we purchase and download music from various vendors or when we rip them CD's, they typically come over the “fullest” version.

However when we want to create a project, using software such as Picasa Movie and or Windows Movie Maker, many of these application programs will not allow us to use the “fullest” version of the music because it is too large.

So when we open the music files from these programs, although we know the songs are there, we don’t see them - the file appears to be empty; so we need to change/convert the music to MP3 format, which all these programs accept - follow these steps:

• Simply open your iTunes or media player
• Be sure on the left you have chosen music as the media folder you want to see, and then find the album or individual song you want to convert to “MP3 format”..
• Highlight the song/songs that you want to convert in the playlist
• Go to the menu bar: in Windows choose Edit and on a Mac/iTunes – Choose iTunes
• When the menu bar drops down, choose Preferences,
• When the Preferences Dialog Box Opens, be sure you are on the General tab
• Now Choose Import Settings (about the center of the dialog box-right side)
• When the Import Settings Dialog Box opens, Change AAC Encoder to MP3 Encoder
• Also be sure High Quality is chosen and then click OK

Now, be sure your songs are highlighted that you want to change

• Right Click on the songs and when the action menu list appears, choose MP3 Version
• You’ll see the songs being converted
• You are done..

Notes:

• Next time you open the music folder from Picasa or Movie Maker you will see the songs as MP3 format and be able to include them in your video..
• You will now have 2 versions of every song – the original “full” version and the more condensed MP3 version

Photo Scanning Tips

Most of us have old family photos that we would like to share - either in a book or movie maker project, or in online photo albums or facebook - or just to have additional copies made.. So scanning allows us to "convert" those photo to digital and save them on our computers.. Here are a few tips when you are scanning photos and documents...

1) Be sure to remove any dirt, lint, or smudges from what you are scanning with a soft brush or lint-free photowipe. I don’t recommend “Canned air” especially for older photos that could be damaged…

2) Make sure your scanner glass is clean of all lint, fingerprints, smudges and particles-use a camera lens wipe, or if you use a glass cleaner, never spray it on the glass surface; always spray it on a lint free cloth and then wipe the glass.

3) Have clean hands, so you don’t leave skin oil on your photos or scanner glass. Many professionals wear white cotton gloves (available from photo stores and hardware stores) when they handle photos...

4) Choose the type of scan-it’s always best to scan in color, even all those old black and whites, so you have more manipulation options when you use your photo editing software, such as Picasa, Photoshop etc.

5) For the best scan resolution (quality), rule of thumb is a minimum of 300dpi (Dots Per Inch) for decent quality for enhancement and restoration techniques and 600dpi or greater if you plan to store these on CD or DVD.

6) Only scan “1” photo or document at a time. If you put multiple photos – you will have 1 scanned item with multiple photos or documents in it…

7) Once you scan your item, before you "save it" be sure the “sizing handles” are around just the actual photo and not the entire scan plate. And don’t do cropping here – save the actual photo, and then you can crop and enhance with your photo editing software.

8) Saving what you've scanned - Some scanners allow you to choose the folder where you want to name and save the scanned photo – others will automatically save it in the “My Scan Folder” and name it with a numbering sequence (the folder will have the date you did the scanning, and each scanned item will have sequential numbers, ie Scan 0001, Scan 0002, Scan 0003 – and the folder name might be: 2011-3.7 (9) – the number in parenthesis indicates the number of scans you did that day.

9) Once you are done scanning – if your scanned items are in the “My Scan” Folder, be sure to “rename” your scanned items instead of leaving them with the scan numbers – otherwise if you combine several days of scanning into one folder – multiple items would then have the same numbers which is unacceptable and you could lose photos…

It's wonderful to scan as many of our old photos and documents as possible, so that they are identified and in a format for "the future" versus sitting in boxes or closet drawers that may then be someday thrown away because no one knows who or what they are ...

Yes, it's time consuming, but so worth the effort...Enjoy

Configuring iTunes for Music Downloads

Before you can start downloading and/or converting songs in your iTunes library, you need to select an audio format to convert to: To do this:

1. Be sure you your iTunes library/account open
2. Click edit (from the main menu at the top of screen) and then click preferences.
3. Select the advanced tab and then the importing tab.
4. Click on the import using drop-down menu and select an audio format (such as mp3 which is my personal favorite to use in most free movie making and other project software or wav).
5. To change bitrate settings, use the settings drop-down menu .
6. Click the OK button to finish.

Note-many of the songs we purchase today are downloaded in mp4 or another format and are often too large to be used in some project software, such as Picasa's movie making; Windows Movie Maker, Power Point and some mp3 players - so personally I always download all music to my computer using the mp3 format, so I can use it just about anywhere anytime...

Converting File Formats - Music & Videos

Making sure files are in the correct format is very important when we are “inserting” them into projects such as videos and music into PowerPoint Presentations, MovieMaker, PicasaMovies and others..

That includes when you want to download a YouTube video for use in either a MovieMaker project or PowerPoint.

This free software/tool does everything you need and much more and also has great additional conversions for all types of applications and is one of my personal favorites… It is a great program “free” to convert music, videos (even YouTube Videos) and much more for use in numerous applications including Movie Maker, PowerPoint presentations etc…

Remember with many of the free & other programs, it is advisable to use the smallest files possible, such as MP3 for music vs. mp4 and this software helps you with all those conversions..

Download from www.dvdvideosoft.com

1. Chooser to install all programs – FREE STUDIO 5.0.4
2. This way you can then do various types of conversions for all types of projects
3. Once installed it will put a great shortcut on your desktop-called Free Studio Manager. This is the complete interface for the suite of programs that are available from dvdvideosoft.com.

Note for Power Point Users: While it is faster to simply link to a YouTube video that will play in your PowerPoint presentation, the down side of this is that you must have a live & fast internet connection for the YouTube video to play.

Here is a link to a youtube video that walks you thru inserting the link directly into the PowerPoint if you have a good internet connection:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RApFAXMtero

When you are unsure about the internet connection where you are going to do your presentation with, you can embed the YouTube video right into your PowerPoint presentation. No internet connection needed.

And also refer to updates & video tutorials which are referenced on our class blog to make this easier.. Using this and other programs simply takes a little practice – so play & enjoy…

Tutorials for Windows Movie Maker 2.6

Windows Movie Maker 2.6 (which is an older version than the new Windows Live Movie Maker) but is more enjoyable to use. Movie Maker 2.6 allows you to be more creative has more options to work with your digital photos, music and video when "creating" your new movie...

There are many websites you can go to to download Windows Movie Maker 2.6, but this one is quick & easy and much less confusing - it only takes a few moments to download it and you will then find it in your start menu and/or in your Program Listing...

Windows Movie Maker 2.6 free software download
http://en.kioskea.net/download/download-124-windows-movie-maker

The following websites at Microsoft will help you when you forget what you've learned in class... Check out each of these websites and save them to your favorites for future reference..

Let Movie Maker create a movie for you
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/getstarted/movies.mspx

AutoMovie, a feature of Movie Maker, automatically creates a movie for you using a theme, title, and background music of your choosing. AutoMovie is the best way to quickly see what Movie Maker can do. This article shows you how to use AutoMovie to create an exciting movie in just a few minutes.

Create and trim video clips
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/getstarted/clips.mspx

Movie Maker can automatically split your home movies, which might be an hour long on a single tape, into smaller clips that are easier to edit. You can also manually trim your video clips to show just the most interesting moments. This article shows you how to use Movie Maker to automatically split movies into short clips and then how to manually divide those clips.

Work with Movie Maker Collections
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/create/collections.mspx

Movie Maker organizes your video, music, and pictures into collections. You can then drag items in your collections to your storyboard to make a movie. This article shows you how to add items to your collections, edit items, and add them to your storyboard.

Use special features to polish your movie
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/create/polish.mspx

Once you add video clips to your storyboard, you can make your movie more fun and professional-looking by adding transitions, special effects, background music, narration, titles, and credits. This video and series of articles show you how.

Save your movie in different formats
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/create/formats.mspx

Once your movie is polished, find out how to save it and share it with your friends.

DOWNLOADING PICASA 3

PICASA (a Google product) is a FREE award-winning software used for working with photos, on your PC, from emails, disk, CD-Rom and digital cameras.

**PICASA’S NEW VERSION 3, can only be used with Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7. If you are using an older “Operating System” such as Windows 98, 2000, ME, then you will continue to use Picasa Version 2

Downloading Picasa to your computer is quick and easy and again FREE - Just open your Internet and on the Internet address toolbar, type: http://www.picasa.com/

• Click on the button that says “DOWNLOAD PICASA”
• This brings you to a dialog box where you must choose whether to “RUN” or “Save” the file, Click “RUN”.
• Depending on your Internet service speed, this may take a few minutes
• Another dialog box will appear asking: Do you want to RUN the software? Click RUN
• The software should be installed on your computer. If you’re asked other questions, respond “yes” or “OK”. Picasa 3 will be installed on your PC
• Picasa then will search over your whole computer for pictures or merely look in the “MYPICTURES” directory. I prefer the MYPICTURES directory only, but you can choose whatever option you wish
• The Picasa Icon is now created and on your desktop (and you can add it to your Quick Launch)
• The Picasa Media Detector should be installed on the system tray in the taskbar toolbar. This is necessary so that Picasa 3 can add any new photos that are added to the MyPictures folder.

Picasa software allow you to:

• Create quick & easy photo Slide Shows- with or without music
• Easy to view Photo Library
• Numerous quick & easy photo editing tools including red eye reduction, cropping and changing photos form color to black & white or sepia
• Photos can be sorted by folder or timeline
• Great tools for printing - wallet, 4 x 6 or full page
• You can convert you photos to movies with sound & motion
• You can easily upload your photos to an online web album for easy sharing
• Or identify all "faces" in your photos for easy sorting-called tagging
• and much much more...

Once you have download the free software, like all Google products, there are great tutorials which will help you learn to use the software - or join us in class...

HOW TO PLAY MUSIC CDS ON THE COMPUTER

Why not listen to your favorite music while you work - it's easy once your computer is on and when you have speakers:

• Put your favorite music CD, label side up, in the CD-ROM drive and close the drive
• When auto play is enabled (which is pretty standard) the CD will start playing the first track (using your default media player, such as Windows or VLC Media Player )
• If the CD doesn’t start playing automatically, open the Start menu. Choose Programs, then Accessories, then Entertainment and Click CD Player. Click the Play button on the CD Player window (a single right-pointing arrow in the top row)
• You can use the Pause, Stop, Skip to Next Track and Go Back to Last Track buttons to control what you listen to.
• Choose Edit Playlist from the Disc menu to program a particular sequence of tracks
• Minimize the CD Player window if you plan to listen to the entire CD while working and you can bring it up anytime from your taskbar

In the system tray (right side of the monitor) you can quickly control the music volume with the speaker icon - just left click on it to slide volume up & down, and by checking the speaker icon or box - you can toggle between MUTE to turn music off for that phone call and then again to turn it back on...

Why not save/rip the entire CD to your computer so next time you simply access your “music list” just as you do with a word document.. it’s there ready for you to listen to

When I download music from the Internet (such as iTunes) or from my CD’s, I always download (save/rip) it in mp3 format so that I can use it on my mp3 player and just as importantly, so that I can use the music in projects that I might create, such as in Power Point Slide shows, Picasa & Windows Movie Maker projects)

What is Picasa Movie Maker?

Picasa is a free “Google” digital photo editing software for anyone who has a PC or MAC. For anyone using Picasa Version 3+, there is a wonderful feature “movie maker” that allows us to quickly and easily convert any photo folder on Picasa into a slideshow/movie..

Picasa software is easy to use, but a few tips on using Movie Maker..

Once the Picasa folder is highlighted, simply choose the “CREATE MOVIE” icon which is:

• located above every Picasa album and also located in the action bar at the bottom of the Picasa screen

Once this icon is selected the movie is created and you can now make other enhancements to personalize your movie...

You can enhance your movie by uploading a song - an audio MP3.
When you add music, you will have several options as to how the music will work with your photos - If you choose ‘fit photos into audio’, Picasa will space your photos to fill the length of the song you have chosen

You can choose various transitions, how your slides will appear on the screen, such as “PAN & ZOOM” seems to be the most popular

You can also rearrange your photos, you can add captions, you can add slides that contain just text AND throughout the process, you can “view” your movie to see how it looks and sounds…

When you are finished you can save it to the computer, send via email, share with Skype, save to your Picasa web albums for easy sharing, or export/upload directly to YouTube or other social networking sites…

Your finished movie is saved and will then be uploaded as a.mov file.

And you can re-edit the movie later if we want to change –remove or add photos..

Try it today – go to www.picasa.com

What is Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is video creating/editing software that is included free in versions of Microsoft Windows XP & Vista; it’s fun & easy to learn to use, to enhance your photos and share them in a different way by combining photos, music, text slides and much more... It is not included in Windows 7 but we recommend going to Microsoft and downloading an earlier version used on Vista or XP, NOT the new Windows Live Movie Maker, which has none of the favorite features which allow us full editing ability…

The LAYOUT consists of a STORYBOARD VIEW and a TIMELINE VIEW, collections for organizing imported video, and a PREVIEW screen. These are the areas where you create and edit your project is displayed in two views, the storyboard and the timeline. You can switch between these two views when making a movie. All versions use “DRAG & DROP” for the effects or transitions, and titles and credits can be added as stand alone titles or overlaying them on the clip by adding them onto the selected clip.

• STORYBOARD: Where you will drag your video or pictures to, creating a project. When in STORYBOARD VIEW, the video project appears as a film strip showing each scene in clips

• TIMELINE: Shows your project & where you add your music/audio to and the TIMELINE VIEW consists of:

• one 'Video' (with accompanying 'Audio' bar)
• one 'Music/Audio' bar, and
• one 'Titles/Credits' bar

EFFECTS, TRANSITIONS, TITLES & CREDITS
Versions 2+ include a wide variety of effects, transitions, titles and credits you can easily use to add professional touches and visual interest to your movies …
• Windows XP has 60 transitions, 37 effects, 34 title and 9 credits animations-Windows VISTA has even more.

ABOUT THE MOVIE TASKS PANE
The Movie Tasks pane lists the common tasks to perform and guides you thru the process step-by-step..

1. Capture Video. options to begin a movie (capture video, import video, pictures, or audio).
2. Edit Movie. options for making a movie (view existing video, pictures, audio & add effects, titles etc.
3. Finish Movie. options to save your final movie, ie to your PC. CD, DVD, email attachment or the web
4. Movie Making Tips. Provides help for the common Movie Maker tasks.

BE SURE YOUR PICTURES, VIDEO’S AND/OR MUSIC ARE IN THE APPROPRIATE FILES SO YOU CAN FIND THEM QUICKLY & EASILY - As always, organizing your work “before you begin a project” is very important… Personally I create a project folder in each category and then sub-folders for specific projects so it is easier to find what I am looking for – in those I put “copies” of hat I am going to use, so that originals stay in their original folder…

• All editing of photos - cropping, lighting, whatever – must be done before you begin this project
• Be sure any music you might want to use is copied (ripped) from the CD and saved on your computer in a file you recognize, so that you can access them easily when you want to bring them over to the project

What to do with the digital photos you are taking?

Here we go again – taking lots of photos and then stashing them in our computers – like we’ve done over the years with photos that weren’t properly identified with whose in the photo, when it was taken or where – we meant to do that, but life got in the way.. Now it's the digital age and we're doing the same thing when we put them in our computer instead of in a box, bureau drawer or closet… We hope these ideas will help you as you build your photo library on your computer…

When you copy photo's from your camera's memory card to your computer to the "My Picture or Picture" folder it is beneficial to immediately create a folder indicating what the event is - better yet, consider having master folders for each year, and then sub-folders for the 12 months during the year and within the months, sub-folders for specific events... When you want a particular photo (s) in one of these sub-folders, simply create a new folder with the project name on it, or to email, or to print, and copy the photos you want from the various folders, to the project folder; done with your project-empty/delete the folder - and you will know that the original photo is safe in the correct folder...

Editing photos using Google's "Picasa" a "free photo editing software program" that allows you to easily and quickly edit your photos, crop them - improve color, change to sepia or black & white, add soft focus lighting or enhance them in a variety of other ways; upload them to web albums to share with friends & families or to add to your blog, create collages, movies, print them and many other wonderful features... and it's all free...
to download this free software, go to http://www.picasa.com/ and follow the download wizard

Windows Movie Maker: another free software, that will allow you to create movies with your photos and enhance those movies with with animation and music that you've downloaded from your favorite CD's. Again, this software is free and easy to work with - finished movies can be saved to CD's or DVD's for gifts or personal use..
This free software is included on all computers with Windows XP & Vista and can be downloaded to those pc's with Windows 7 - for more info on this go to the following hyperlink:
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/02/11/windows-movie-maker-2-6-available-for-vista-windows-7/

Create and Publish your own book: another free software from either http://www.blurb.com/ or http://www.lulu.com/ that allows you to create and publish your own book - either all photo's, all text, or a combination of both... Sizes, styles, paper choices all vary depending on what you want and your budget... when you go to these websites - you can download their free book creation software - blub.com uses "booksmart" and you can then create your book in your own time; personally I know of people who've taken over a year - so no rush.. once the software is on your computer you can work at your own pace...

Hopefully we've given you some food for thought - we will share more ideas with you in the weeks ahead, including digital scrapbooking and more. If you have a suggestion, send it to us so that we can share it with your fellow students... In the meantime - enjoy...

Upcoming Classes

These classes are being held in the next few weeks - to reserve your seat, call Registration 928-855-7812 or 453-1139.. Consider signing up with a friend – coming to class with someone else gives you the motivation to practice and the more people in each class the more is learned from questions....If you have any questions about a specific class or topic – email me: cherie_houston@hotmail.com

Note-The MCC Campus is closed Monday Jan 18th for the holiday-if you can't register before class begins next week - you are welcome to come to class and then go the registration office after class to register..

INTERNET AND IT’S MANY USES LSC071- SEC 121 TUESDAY & THURSDAY MORNING 8:30-12:20PM, JAN 19 & 21 - Two 4 Hour classes with lots of internet tips & lingo, such as ISP, browser, blogger and more; when & why to use F5 & F11; understanding websites & hyperlinks, basics of email, using “Google & Bing” to search web, images, news; translating to & from different languages; blogging

LIST AND DATA MANAGEMENT WITH EXCEL LSC 069-SEC 121: TUESDAY & THURSDAY AFTERNOONS 1PM-4:50PM, JAN 19 & 21 - Two 4 hour classes-Learn to work with a spreadsheet for numbers and list management “text” (budget, contact lists for mail merges) Workbook vs. worksheet; cells, columns, rows, auto-formats; margins, grid lines, sorting numbers & data & print basics - Bring an address book or contact list to class

FIND/ORGANIZE WHAT’S ON YOUR PC LSC 062-SEC 124 MONDAY & WEDNESDAY MORNINGS, 8:30-12:20PM JAN 25 & 27 - Find what you’ve saved on your PC; organize your work, files & photo’s to find them quickly & easily. Learn to back up your pc, photo & documents with portable flash & hard drives, memory cards and memory card readers..

PICASA PHOTO EDITING LSC100A-SEC 222 MONDAY & WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS, 1PM-4:50PM JAN 25 & 27 - Learn to edit & print DIGITAL photo’s using Picasa (a free Google software); learn to upload photo’s from your camera and/or scanner to the PC & learn to order prints online - Bring your digital camera to class

CREATE GREAT LOOKING DOCUMENTS LSC068-SEC 121 TUESDAY & THURSDAY MORNING 8:30-12:20PM JAN 26 & 28 - Two 4 hour classes-reviewing the basics to open, create, save documents; highlight; cut-copy-paste, set & change margins; create letters, envelopes, labels & use clip art, word art to enhance documents, create flyers & invitations & lots of printing tips

MOVIE MAKER LSC100A-SEC 223 TUESDAY & THURSDAY AFTERNOONS, 1-4:50PM JAN 26 & 28 - Two 4 hour classes during which you will create movies with your photos, including music and other special effects: transitions, titles/credits, audio tracks with your favorite music, timeline narration, and much more. This software is free with Windows XP, Media, Vista and/or the new Windows 7 operating systems… Great fun & easy to learn - Bring photos to class (on your camera or flash drive)

DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS LSC100A-SEC 122 MONDAY & FRIDAY MORNINGS 8:30-12:20PM FEB 8 & 12 - Two 4 hour classes-intro to digital cameras; pixels, camera lingo, basic how to’s, move photo’s to your pc with memory card & memory card reader, organize photos on your pc using windows explorer; save photos to portable drives - bring your digital camera to class

COMPUTERS FOR THE FUN OF IT LSC 062-Sec 122 TUESDAY & THURSDAY MORNING, 8:30-12:20PM, FEB 9 & 11 - Two 4 Hour classes reviewing computer hardware, software, printing tips, keyboard shortcut tips, customizing desktop-changing backgrounds, create shortcuts, using quick launch bar, Start Menu, Task Bar, control panel & much more… Bring your questions..

January Computer Classes Begin Jan 12th

Happy New Year Everyone – Imagine – 2010!!!

My Computer classes at Mohave Community College will resume in another week – there are seats available in many of the classes, so call to reserve your spot and join us..
Call Registration 928-453-1139 ..

We have lots of wonderful classes scheduled January thru April, so sign up early to reserve your seat and bring a friend. Coming to class with someone else gives you the motivation to practice more people in class means more questions and we all learn from questions..

The following are our January classes - many of which will be repeated in February, March & April and there are classes in other topics during those months also.. Remember-February Classes fill up quickly due to Spring Frenzy so reserve your seats early..

COMPUTERS FOR THE FUN OF IT LSC 062-Sec 121 TUESDAY & THURSDAY MORNING, 8:30-12:20PM, JAN 12 & 14 - Two 4 Hour classes reviewing computer hardware, software, printing tips, keyboard shortcut tips, customizing desktop-changing backgrounds, create shortcuts, using quick launch bar, Start Menu, Task Bar, control panel & much more… Bring your questions.. The following classes are all 8 hours - held in 2-Four Hr. Sessions.

BLOGGING BASICS – OUR NEW 8 HR. ENHANCED LSC080–SEC 121 TUESDAY & THURSDAY AFTERNOONS 1-4:50PM, JAN 12 & 14 - Review blogging basics, “social networking” “Facebook” “Twittering” etc.. Learn to create a blog for yourself or your group, we’ll show you how, why & when to post – comments; Use templates to change designs and layouts, Add Ons: Links, Photos, Slide Shows, Blog Tools & more – great fun

DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS LSC100A-SEC 121 WEDNESDAY MORNINGS 8:30-12:20PM Jan 13 & 20 - Intro to digital cameras; pixels, camera lingo, basic how to’s, move photo’s to your pc with memory card & memory card reader, organize photos on your pc using windows explorer; save photos to portable drives - Bring your digital camera to class

MAIL MERGE USING WORD & EXCEL LSC068- SEC 221 WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS, 1PM-4:50PM, JAN 13 & 20 - create a data list using both excel and word software learn to enter & sort data various ways; to merge data for multiple “personalized” documents such as mailing labels, other labels, envelopes or form letters..Bring an address book or contact list to class

LIST AND DATA MANAGEMENT WITH EXCEL LSC 069-SEC 121 TUESDAY & THURSDAY AFTERNOONS 1PM-4:50PM, JAN 19 & 21 - Learn to work with a spreadsheet for numbers and list management “text” (budget, contact lists for mail merges) Workbook vs. worksheet; cells, columns, rows, auto-formats; margins, grid lines, sorting numbers & data & print basics - Bring an address book or contact list to class

INTERNET AND IT’S MANY USES LSC071- SEC 121 TUESDAY & THURSDAY MORNING 8:30-12:20PM, JAN 19 & 20 - Learn to maneuver & surf the Internet, lots of Internet tips & lingo: ISP, browser, blogger and more; when & why to use F5 & F11; understanding websites & hyperlinks, basics of email, using “Google & Bing” to search web, images, news; translating to & from different languages; blogging &lots of great websites...

FIND/ORGANIZE WHAT’S ON YOUR PC LSC 062-SEC 124 MONDAY & WEDNESDAY MORNINGS, 8:30-12:20PM JAN 25 & 27 - Find what you’ve saved on your PC; organize your work, files & photo’s to find them quickly & easily. Learn to back up your pc, photo & documents with portable flash & hard drives, memory cards and memory card readers..

PICASA PHOTO EDITING LSC100A-SEC 222 MONDAY & WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS, 1PM-4:50PM JAN 25 & 27 - Learn to edit & print DIGITAL photo’s using Picasa (a free Google software); learn to upload photo’s from your camera and/or scanner to the PC & learn to order prints online - Bring your digital camera to class

CREATE GREAT LOOKING DOCUMENTS LSC068-SEC 121 TUESDAY & THURSDAY MORNING 8:30-12:20PM JAN 26 & 28 - Learn the basics to open, create, save documents; highlight; cut-copy-paste, set & change margins; create letters, envelopes, labels & use clip art, word art to enhance documents, create flyer's & invitations & lots of printing tips

MOVIE MAKER LSC100A-SEC 223 TUESDAY & THURSDAY AFTERNOONS, 1-4:50PM JAN 26 & 28 - Learn to create movies with your photos, including music and other special effects: transitions, titles/credits, audio tracks with your favorite music, timeline narration, and much more. This software is free with Windows XP, Media, Vista and/or the new Windows 7 operating systems… Great fun & easy to learn - Bring photos to class (on your camera or flash drive)

If you have questions about a class or topic, email me: cherie_houston@hotmail.com

Tips about "burning" CD's - DVD's

HOW DO I KNOW MY COMPUTER CAN BURN CD'S?
Fortunately, these days virtually all computers bought new include a drive that is able to both read and write (or burn) both CD and DVD media. If you’re not sure if your computer or laptop has a CD burner then there are two ways to check.

• Look thru your computer owner's guide to learn if you have a CD burner or not OR
• Go online to your computer manufacturer website - put in your model - and it will give you the specifics of whar is on your computer/laptop - or you can email them with the model # and serial #; they will e-mail you back an answer.

HOW DO I BURN FILES ON A CD?
Burning files on a CD is like saving files on a flash drive or portable hard drive. There are two ways to save files on a CD. Follow these steps:

• Highlight what it is you want to "burn/copy" onto the CD-DVD
• Once highlighted choose "copy" (anyone of 5 ways-from edit menu, icon, action key, CTRL+C, right click-choose copy)
• Put CD-R or CD-RW in your CD burner tray
• Go to the folder that has the file you want to save on the CD on it
• Right click - menu appears, choose drive your CD is on
• Now say Paste again one of he 5 ways
• You will have an extra step - whatever you have copied is being held in a temporar folder to be sure you have everything you want "burned/copied" onto the CD - once eveything is there and ready
• Now choose "Write these files to CD" - you can do it now or later - but you must choose this option

OR

If/when you are burning to a CD or DVD using a program such as Windows Media Player, Picasa, Movie Maker, Roxio or others, on the top menu bar it will have an action"BURN" choose thar option and it will walk you thru the steps noted above

You're done!!!!

TO MAKE SURE FILES ARE SAVED ON THE CD

• Go to the drive on My Computer that has your CD/DVD on it.
• Now double click on the drive with your CD and/or DVD in it - it will open and show you what is on the CD/DVD