UNIT 8

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

In this lesson students will:

- Understand the functions, features and different application programs
- Get familiar with the following terms:
Software suite Index
Productivity software query
Web-based software Bitmapped graphics
Allignment Vector graphics
Merge wireframe
Indent texture
Sort clipart
Font fractal
Ribbon frame
Thesaurus rendering
Functions filters
Formula crop
Record file extension
Field multimedia

- Develop language skills on the topic of Application Software.

PART 1: ICT BASICS

Task 1. Look at the digram. Discuss and give a short talk on Application Software
Task 2: Work in pair: Below are two windows of the two most popular programs from
Microsoft Office suite.
a. What do they have in common?
b. In the two windows find out these buttons: Save, Cut, Paste, Copy, Find, Allignment,
Merge, Indent, Sort, Font. What can we do when we press these buttons?
c. What are some other features of the programs that you like?
 d. Match the terms with their definitions.
1. Word processor a. An area at the top of an office program window that
2. Ribbon contains commands for working with the open file; the
3. Formatting Marks commands are organized under tabs.
4. Footer b. Visual representations of data in a spreadsheet
5. Right-aligned c. Mathematical equations that help you calculate and
6. Thesaurus analyze data
7. Spreadsheet d. A printed note placed below the text on a printed page
8. Functions e. Flush with right margin with ragged left edge
9. Formula f. Prewritten formulas provided by the spreadsheet
10. Graphs or charts program that perform calculations
g. A feature that allows the user to view synonyms and
antonyms, and automatically replace words for
enhanced writing.
h. Programs used to manipulate numeric data
i. Software used to produce text document such as letters,
essays, resumes, reports etc.
j. Special symbols that represent spaces, tabs, and
paragraphs, that do not appear on paper when a
document is printed.

Task 3.
a. Study the tables of a Databae program and then complete the text below with words
given beloww.
Field Index Database Query
OLE Record Relational Sort

A (1) ………………… program allows the user to store, change and retrieve information. A
database file is a collection of records. Each (2) ………………….. contains a set of fields with
different field names like Title, FirstName, Surname, JobTitle, TelNo and ID. Each (3)
…………………. holds a separate piece of information. Based on different data types, the field
can be classified as Text (holds letters and numbers not used in calculations), Number (holds
numbers used in calculations), Memo (stores long texts), Date/Time, AutoNumber (assigns a
number to each record), (4)…………………… Object (Object linking and embedding, holds
sounds and pictures), Yes/ No (for alternative values like true/false, yes/no, on/off, etc), or
Hyperlink (adds a link to a website). For example, a student file contains a list of records, each of
which consists of several fields which give their name, address, birthday, etc.
In a (4) ………………….. database, information is stored in tables that have a connection or link
with one another (see the tables above).
A database lets you create an (5) …………………….., a list of records ordered according to the
content of certain fields; this helps you search and (6) …………………….. records into numerical
or alphabetical order very fast. It also has a (7)……………………… function which allows you
to extract information that meets certain criteria.
b. Look at this form of a music collection. Label the data types with words from the
reading.

Task 4. Read the text and do the exercises that follow.

Types of graphics software
Computer graphics are pictures created, changed or processed by computers. There are two
categories.
1. Bitmapped graphics represent images as bitmaps; they are stored as pixels and can become a bit
distorted when they are manipulated. The density of dots, known as the resolution and expressed in
dots per inch, determines how sharp the image is.
2. Vector graphics represent images as mathematical formulae, so
they can be changed or scaled without losing quality. They are ideal for
high-resolution output.

There are different types of graphics software.

• Image manipulation programs let you edit your favourite

images. For example, you can scan a picture into your PC or
transfer a photo from your camera and then add different effects,
or filters.
• Painting and drawing programs, also called illustration
packages, offer facilities for freehand drawing, with a wide choice
of pens and brushes, colours and patterns. One example is Windows
Paint.
 • Business graphics programs, also called presentation software, let you create pie charts,
bar charts and line graphs of all kinds for slide shows and reports. You can import data
from a database or spreadsheet to generate the graphs.
• Computer-aided design (CAD) is used by engineers and
architects to design everything from cars and planes to buildings
and furniture. First they make a wireframe, a drawing with edges
and contour lines. Then if they want to colour the objects and add
texture, they create a surface for the object; this is called 'filling the
surface'. Finally, the design is rendered to make the object look
realistic. Rendering is a process that adds realism to graphics by
using shading, light sources and reflections.
• Desktop publishing (DTP) is based around a page layout
program, which lets you import text from a word processor, clip-art
(ready-made pictures) from graphics packages, and images from
scanners or cameras, and arrange them all on a page. It is used to
design and publish books, newspapers, posters, advertisements, etc.
• Digital art, or computer art, is done with applets that use
mathematical formulae to create
beautiful bright shapes called fractals. A
fractal is a geometrical figure with special
properties, e.g. the Koch snowflake or the
Mandelbrot set. Fractals can also be used
to model real objects like clouds,
coastlines or landscapes.
• Computer animation uses
graphics programs (e.g. digital cartooning systems) to create or
edit moving pictures. Each image in a sequence of images is called Example of a fractal
a frame.
• Geographic information systems (CAS) allow cartographers to create detailed maps.

a. Decide which type of graphics software is best for these users.

1. a person who wants to edit photos at home
2. an economist who wants to present statistics in a form that can be easily understood
3. engineers who need to design the interior and exterior of a
new aeroplane
4. a company which needs to design and publish a magazine
5. an artist who wants to produce illustrations and freehand
drawings for a book
6. an organization that needs to make maps and 3D virtual
models of the surface of the Earth
7. computer animators who make movies like Toy Story and
Shrek
8. a mathematician who wants to make fractal shapes of natural phenomena

b. Complete the sentences with words from the box.

 wireframe bitmap fractals rendering filters clipart
1. Painting programs work by giving a colour to each pixel in an image, creating
a................................. Unlike vector graphics, the image is a single layer, so once something
is painted, it becomes part of the whole picture.
2. In painting programs and image editors.................................are special effects that can lie
applied to a picture, including drop shadows, textures, distortions, etc.
3. The................................model is the simplest interpretation of a true three-dimensional object.
Here the object is represented by its edges and contours and is therefore similar in form to a
normal engineering drawing or sketch.
4. ................................adds textures to each surface, and generates realistic reflections, shadows
and highlights.
5. Most illustration packages come with a bundle of resources that include ready-made
................................images and a selection of fonts.
6. ............................are geometrical patterns that are repeated at a small scale to generate
irregular shapes, some of which are similar to objects in nature.

PART 2: LANGUAGE SKILLS

Task 5. Read the article from http://www.cnet.com/ about Adobe Photoshop Element 13 and
do the exercises that follow.

ADOBE GENTLY IMPROVES PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 13 (HANDS-ON)

Although this isn't a wowser update to Adobe's veteran consumer photo-editing software,
Adobe Photoshop Elements 13 retains the robust tools of its predecessors and adds some nice
enhancements that will probably make it worth your while to upgrade. At the very least, the update
to 64-bit OS and Retina/high dots per inch (aka HiDPI) support should deliver a faster, better
experience for long-time users. Its price remains the same as the previous version: $100, £78,
AU$130 for the full version. Various upgrade and bundle prices are available as well.
The most obvious change you'll see when you launch the application is the new eLive
(Elements Live) section, a curated selection of Elements how-tos, news and more from around the
Web. In theory you won't have to search the Web for help anymore to compensate for that fact that
finding information in Adobe's help system is generally...difficult.
It's also designed to engage you and spur creativity when you boot up the software. It is pretty
effective at giving you an overview of new features and techniques to try, but it really needs a way
to pin or bookmark specific items so you can come
back when you actually need to know about that
feature.
I think the most crowd-pleasing new feature is
likely the ability to semi-automatically generate
Facebook cover photos with matching profile
photos. You can generate one from a single photo
or collage multiple photos. Using a single photo is
 pretty tricky, unless you have a lot of photos in which
something interesting is happening in the lower left
corner, or if you shoot one specifically to use for the
photo. You can resize, but I still couldn't make many
photos fit gracefully.
PSE 13 also includes some new automation features
in Quick Mode, including Crop Suggestions and three
new Guided Edits. Crop suggestions can be quite useful:
just select the crop tool and you can cycle through
different variations of crop box locations and aspect
ratios. You can also constrain it to only suggest crop with
a specific aspect ratio, for example.
Adobe adds to the program's Photomerge repertoire with Photomerge Compose, which is quite
similar to the implementation in the Photoshop Mix app. Basically, it walks you through cutting
an object out of one photo and pasting it into another, with some fine-tuning along the way.
It's a pretty straightforward process as it leads
you through using the selection tools and
refining the edges, then automatically pasting it
into the background image. At this point you
resize and move the pasted object, paint over the
edges to Hide or Reveal areas that might have
been improperly selected initially.
I admit to some disappointment with the last
step, in which it tries to match the look of the
two combined images. Auto never delivers
decent results. The control sliders - Luminance,
Contrast, Temperature and Saturation - not only
don't match the parameters you want to adjust, but don't really strike me as the appropriate tools
for the Quick editor in this program. For instance, one problem you run into frequently is that the
light sources usually are coming from different directions, or one photo was shot with flash and
the other wasn't. So I'd expect a preset called Flash, and/or a way to control directional luminance
(call it "light source," for example) rather than just generic brightness.
The new Guided Edits are all for black and white effects: B&W Color Pop, B&W Selection
and Black and White. The last is a simple black and white conversion in which you can select four
intensities, two lighter and two darker, plus a contrast control.
B&W Color Pop is similar to the selective color filter available on digital cameras in which
you select a color while the rest of the image gets desaturated. You can select from preset color
ranges - red, yellow, blue or green - or select colors within the image and refine the range.
Finally, B&W Selection is the reverse: you brush over the areas that you want to convert to
grayscale and it automatically converts and creates a selection area with the quick mask tool.
There's also a B&W detail brush, which lets you paint pixels in or out.
Adobe has also beefed up the slideshow options in Organizer, introducing more complex,
multiphoto templates that generate movies that you can either upload directly to Facebook or save
to your hard disk as 720p or 1080p movies.
 As always, all of these operations are nondestructive; that is, you can step backward through
everything and it never touches the original. And you can still fine-tune edits with the full Expert
mode.
The editor still seems to take a little too long to load, at least initially, and switching modes
between Quick, Guided and Expert also seems a
bit sluggish. The Organizer is likewise slow on
first load. Once both have been loaded, subsequent
launches are reasonably fast.
There are some annoyances as well. When it
couldn't find the files for an old catalog, I selected
Reconnect thinking it would let give me a chance
to tell it where to find them. (My drive mappings
had changed since I last accessed the catalog.) But
instead it proceeded to run a "preparation" which
seemed to commence searching through all my
unlinked files, with no way to cancel out of it.
Overall, the Photoshop Elements 13 update is solid, if unexciting. It's probably worth it just
for the 64-bit and HiDPI/Retina support, though. And if you already have a favorite image editor,
there probably isn't a lot to lure you away.

a. Mach the words from the text with their meanings.

1. wowser a. Trick someone into doing something
2. spur b. Surprising
3. repertoire c. Encourage
4. strike d. Not capable of erasing data.
5. desaturated e. Small and precise change.
6. nondestructive f. A stock of tools
7. fine-tune g. Begin
8. sluggish h. Surprise, impress
9. commence i. Pure color added with a white light.
10. lure j. Slower than normal

b. Answer the questions.

1. What do these features help you do: Elements Live, Photomerge Compose, B&W
Color Pop, B&W Selection?
2. List 2 of the features that the author feels pleased with. Explain why.
3. List 2 of the features that the author doesn’t really like. Explain why not.
4. What is the author general impression on Photoshop Elements 13

Task 6. Write a short summary of the reading text in task 5.

Task 7. Watch the video about multimedia software and answer the questions.
1. What is multimedia?
2. What are the main categories of audio and video software? What are they?
3. What is a media player? What is the default media player of MacOS?
4. What kinds of icons are normally used in a media player?
5. What is the recent trend with media player?
6. What is a digital audio editor? What are its normal functions? Name some famous digital audio
editor?
7. What is a piece of video editing software? Name some of them.
8. What is the technique used in video editing software? Explain it.
9. What are the requirements for video editing software?
10. What are some popular audio and video file formats?

Task 8. Prepare a beautiful or funny picture (edited with photo-editing software) and explain
how you can do that.