Immunization and child health materials development guide pdf

- Get Outside Help, If You Need It. Creating computer code, or logical algorithms
like that used in PATH’s RiskAdvisor, is difficult and requires long and careful
thought—and probably the help of a consultant. You may also need help
learning how to transfer completed files onto a CD-ROM. It’s not as simple as
saving information on a floppy and requires special equipment that you may or
may not have available on your computer.
FILE SIZE
Image, audio, and video files tend to be large. They are almost always distributed with some
type of “compression” to reduce file size. There are drawbacks to compression, however, since
the more you compress a file, the lower the quality of the picture, sound, or video clip. The trick
is to find the balance between file size and quality. Often you’ll need to experiment to find out
what level of compression works best.
Here is a general rule for compressing images:
• If the picture is a line drawing or is made up of large areas of exactly the same color, save it
as a “.gif” file. You’ll find this option in any image processing software.
• But if the image is a photograph—color or black and white—save it as a “.jpg” file.
• If in doubt, save the image twice, once in each format, and compare file size and quality.
c. Develop a User’s Guide. Unless you’re creating a Web-based product, you’ll usually
need to write a user’s guide. This document tells users about the product—remember,
they cannot leaf through your computer files before installation—and provides
instructions for installing the product, hints for solving any problems, and contact
information for help. The user’s guide does not have to be an expensive publication;
most users will look at it only once. Concentrate on content, not on flashy style.
• Print Instructions Directly on the CD-ROM Label and Sleeve. It also is a good idea to
print installation instructions directly on the floppy disk or CD-ROM label, and on the
outside packaging, if possible, since the disk might become separated from the
user’s guide.
• Create a “Read Me” File. If you want to distribute the user’s guide as a word-processed
document or “read me” file, save it in “Rich Text Format” (.rtf) instead of the standard
format for your word processor. All modern word processors can interpret .rtf files. Be
sure to test the document after converting to .rtf, since some formatting options, like
hyperlinks or fancy tables, may be lost.
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