Image Creation Tools

For this week’s sandbox activity, here is my own image modified using tuxpi.com. I also decided to add a Creative Commons license for attribution, the ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Monarch Lion by C. Vera is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

I chose Tuxpi to edit my image because I was impressed with the variety of 60 photo editing tools. I had never created a pop art image with any of my photos, so this was a good opportunity to do so. With Tuxpi, you can: add different effects to photos such as borders and frames; crop, resize, and rotate pictures; and add text, change colors, and create photo montages. Working with this online photo editing tool was easy and quick. With elementary students, after reading a book, they can create a Wanted Poster with a photo or drawing of a character. Multiple descriptions can be added such as who the character is, what he or she looks like, when and where he or she was last seen, and a brief description of an event in which the character was involved.

An interesting creation tool I’ve explored is Foldplay. With your own photos, you can create three-dimensional items like: puzzles, a kaleidocycle, a foldbook, and an invertible cube. Tutorials and video instructions are also included. Younger students may have a difficult time folding, so working in pairs may help the students with their fine motor skills. One activity for students is to create a foldbook with their own photos and produce short stories. Students of all ages can easily upload their photos and add text to describe the photos. Eight pages can be made and there are instructions on the website about how to properly fold the pages into a book.

PicMonkey is another online photo editor that can be used for touching up photos, creating designs, and collages. Students can use this tool to construct collages from their field trips. They can add captions and descriptions to the collage as well as cool facts they’ve learned. Or, students can customize journal pages with their own pictures and a school-rule overlay with a cursive font such as Pencil Pete or Learning Curve. Educators can also make their own charts and mini-posters using their own pictures, creating a background, and even adding in a checklist.