Tech Tips - presented Oct. 8, 2007

  1. How do I install the FirstClass client at school and at home?
  2. How do I create a distribution list in FirstClass?
  3. How can I quickly resize photos on the PC side?
  4. How do I resize photos in iPhoto on the Mac side?
  5. How do I create a .pdf (portable document file) that will open with Adobe Acrobat Reader on the Mac side?
  6. How do I create a .pdf (portable document file) that will open with Adobe Acrobat Reader on the PC side?
  7. How do I add a PowerPoint to my FirstClass webpage?
  8. Comic Life in Education - good ideas and tutorial

 

1.To install the new FirstClass client at school, go to the common drive and locate the icon named FC8326US . Double click the icon to install it on your hard drive. If at some point a "locked" message appears, right click on the FirstClass icon on the right-hand side of your task bar and select Exit. You may then continue the install.

At home go to webfc.ahisd.net. Click on download the FirstClass client. Select Mac or Windows and run the installer. Remember you may have to enter fc.ahisd.net as the server on the setup screen the first time you open it.

2. To create a distribution list in FirstClass

3. To quickly resize photos on the PC side, go to the common drive and copy the PhotoResize program which is in the photresize folder. The program may be named PhotoResize400 or 800. To resize a group photo for your webpage, drag the photo or even a whole folder of photos on top of the PhotoResize400 program. The program will automatically create a resized photo named originalname-400 and keep your original in the same location. For PowerPoint presentations, use PhotoResize800.

4. To resize photos in iPhoto, select the photo(s) you wish to resize, then choose File-->Export.
In the export Photos dialog be sure to choose the JPG format and click the button to Scale images and type in a desired width. Height will change automatically to match. Click Export and choose your save location.

 

5. In any may application, choose File-->Print. At the bottom of the print dialog window there is a PDF drop-down menu. Select Save as PDF and choose your save location.

6. To create a .pdf document on the PC side, first install Cutepdf. Go to the common drive/Installers/cute pdf folder. Open the folder and double click the Converter file. After it installs, double click the CuteWriter file. Now whenever you select Print in a PC program, one of your printer choices will be Cutepdf, and you may save your document as a .pdf.

7. To add a PowerPoint to your First class webpage, simply drag the PowerPoint file onto the page. In the example below a table has been created to hold several files - a Powerpoint pdf, an Excel pdf, and a PowerPoint file. Each file was simply dragged onto the page and a description was typed beneath the file. On the web the files are clickable, and the user will be asked to Save or Open the selected file.