Snag

I tried photocopying flashcards at school copiers yesterday. The quality of the image cards is unacceptable. Even after experimenting with the output variables at different settings, some of the images are too dark, some are completely washed out. So, I don't know what the solution will be at this point. Some image styles are better than others - line drawings work pretty well, as long as there isn't much text. Flashcard exchange only allows jpeg format images, which doesn't render text sharply - GIF format is much better for that. Photos are a mixed bag, depending on the contrast in the original image. So that means taking more time to find appropriate image types, or in some cases just not including images. I could also make all the image sheets on a printer and then run through a copier for the text - not unreasonable using a laser printer. I really think the image cards are essential, even more so than the straight definitions, so I will keep working on them, but they will take even more time than anticipated. I may also think about making the image cards bigger, which would take care of some problems (text legibility) but not others (widely varying contrast between images makes copying difficult regardless of size).

The second snag is less of a problem. As I feared, the borders on double sided cards do not line up properly on the copier. Even though the office copier has options for adjusting the "offset," which would probably allow me to make it work, it seems a simpler solution to just get rid of the borders on one side of the cards, which I will do sometime today.

Obsessive

I could not be satisfied until I got to a logical stopping point with the flashcards. Just finished the image card set for the first three units now posted in sidebar. It's the frickin weekend in summer and I couldn't let it go until Monday - I had to get it done. I need (mental) help! Well, it's over for now.

UPDATE (7/23/07)
It's never over. Just one problem with google spreadsheets is that there's no spell check. So I have to save as excel, then do spell check and make corrections. So that was the real last task and I think I'm finished up through Unit 3. I will make some copies on the school copier tomorrow to make sure it all aligns properly. If not, I will need to make a few more adjustments.