Back to school – Some fun with images

School is back and after a curriculum day yesterday we are right back into the classroom work today.

I have been looking at some new image tools. I have found a few simple little tools that allow you (or your students) to find or have a bit of fun with.

1. Stretch your face is a site that allows you to make some comic pictures by simply distorting them with a stretch effect. 

It is very simple and straightforward to use. All you need to do is upload a photograph (the maximum size is 2 MB) and then distort the picture on-line by using your mouse.

When you are satisfied you can download the file and share it with friends, via your social networks, or embed it on your blog.

This is great for those who are not artists/good at drawing but want to create some simple comic images.

 

 

 

The second is another Google image tool, Similar images.

This is a new Google feature that is still experimental. The Similar Images feature in Google Labs offers a new way to refine image searches by narrowing down your results based on images that are very similar to what you are searching for. 

It works like the Google Image Search, with the exception of a new Similar Images link that appears below each result (as long as similar images exist  – but of course the chances of finding similar images is good because  Google is so huge and searches hundreds of millions of  images). When you click it, you will find results that resemble the original. This may mean that you will be provided with the same object but from different angles. Some searches may bring up the same image might be found, if it exists on different sites.

There is of course a “how-to” video available on YouTube to explain Google’s similar Image search.

I am still playing around with this but I like finding different perspectives of an object and will be showing it to the Visual Art teachers.