Hardware and Software

Hardware means the physical equipment used to create and work on documents: the parts you can touch. This includes the components inside a computer, such as the processor, memory and display, the devices you plug in, and non-electronic tools such as pens and paper.

A peripheral is a device that plugs into a computer, such as a mouse, keyboard, scanner or printer. A peripheral is always hardware, but not all hardware is a peripheral. The webcam and speakers built into a laptop are hardware even though nothing was plugged in to add them.

Three groups of hardware for planning work

• Input devices put data into the computer. A keyboard types text, a mouse selects items, a graphics tablet draws, and a scanner captures an existing picture or page.
• Output devices present the work so you can judge it. A display shows the document on screen and speakers let you check recorded sound.
• Non-electronic drawing materials are hardware too, because pens, pencils, rulers and paper are physical tools. They are used to sketch layouts and jot ideas by hand before anything is typed or drawn on screen.

For example, imagine you are planning a four-panel comic strip about a school trip. You sketch the rough panels with a pencil on paper, type the speech bubbles with a keyboard, and check the final colours on a printed proof from a printer. Paper, keyboard and printer are all hardware, but each does a different job.

All three groups are physical equipment used at different stages of planning, so a document can move from a hand-drawn sketch to a typed and displayed digital version.

Input hardware is any physical device used to enter data or instructions into a computer. Output hardware presents the work so you can see or hear it. When planning on a computer, you need both: a way to get your ideas into the computer, and a way to check what you have made.

Input devices and their jobs

The device you choose depends on what you need to put in.

A keyboard is usually best for words and a graphics tablet with a stylus is usually best for drawing, because each one matches the kind of data going in.

Seeing and hearing the work

A display or monitor is the main output device: it shows the document on screen so you can judge its layout, colour and spelling. Speakers let you check any audio you have recorded. Without output hardware you could still type and draw, but you could not tell whether the result looks or sounds right.

Two displays, more space

Adding a second display gives you more desktop space. You can keep the document full size on one screen and put the things you are referring to on the other, instead of switching windows all the time. For example, while laying out a leaflet for a local climbing club, you could keep the leaflet open on one display and the club's logo files and a list of session times on the second. The two displays can also show different views of the same work, such as the whole page on one and a zoomed-in corner on the other, so small alignment problems are easier to spot.

Non-electronic drawing materials are physical tools used to plan work by hand. They include pens, pencils, rulers and paper. Because they are physical objects you can touch and use to create pre-production documents, they count as hardware too, even though they do not plug in or use power.

You can use these materials to sketch a layout, write short notes or arrange early ideas. A ruler helps you draw straight edges for a rough page plan, while a pencil lets you rub out and change a line without starting again. The paper becomes the working surface for the document.

Where hand drawing is chosen

Storyboards, visualisation diagrams, mind maps and mood boards are often created on paper or board. Drawing by hand can be easier when you do not have a graphics tablet, because you can pick up a pencil and start straight away. Paper also lets you sketch quickly and annotate ideas in the margin without opening software or saving a file.

This makes non-electronic materials especially useful in the early stages of planning, when ideas are changing fast. For example, you might sketch four rough storyboard frames for an animation club film in pencil, then rub out the weakest one and redraw it in a new position once you have settled on the order.

A hand-made document can later be digitised if it needs to be shared or edited on a computer, but the first planning work can still be done with simple drawing materials.

A graphics tablet is an input device used for drawing. You draw on the tablet with a stylus, and the tablet copies what you draw onto the computer screen.

How the stylus works

The stylus behaves like a mouse. Moving it over the tablet moves the pointer on screen, and resting the stylus tip on the tablet is like pressing the left mouse button: keep the tip down and drag to draw a line, or lift it to stop. This means you can sketch shapes and lines, annotate an image with notes and arrows, and select items in software. Tapping the surface selects an item, just as clicking once with a mouse would.

Pressure sensitivity

Some styluses have pressure sensitivity. In brush-based software, pressing harder can make a brush stroke thicker, while a lighter touch makes it thinner. This gives more natural-looking lines, especially when sketching. For example, when sketching a poster layout for your school's book swap, you could use light strokes for thin guides and press harder to make the title stand out.

Where it is useful

A graphics tablet suits pre-production documents that need drawing or annotation, such as visualisation diagrams, storyboards and digital mood boards. It is not the best tool for a script, because a script is a typed document and a keyboard is more suitable for entering text.

The stylus and graphics tablet are not the same device: the stylus is the pen-like tool, and the graphics tablet is the surface you use it on.

The best hardware depends on the document you are making and the situation you are making it in. A keyboard, a pointing device and a display are the common set for almost every digital pre-production document, because together they let you type, select and see what you are creating.

Documents that are mostly typed

For a script, the keyboard does the main job: you type dialogue, character names and stage directions. The display lets you view the script and check its layout, such as whether scene headings line up on the left. A mouse is used to select, cut and paste sections when a scene needs moving. Writing a two-minute radio advert script, you would type it, then drag the mouse to move the closing lines so the advert ends on the price.

A graphics tablet is not a good choice for a script, because a script is a typed document. A stylus is clumsy for placing a cursor between two words, while a mouse selects and moves text precisely.

Documents that are drawn as well as typed

For a visualisation diagram, the keyboard is used for text and annotation labels, a mouse selects and moves objects around the design, a graphics tablet is used for sketching the layout, and the display shows the work in progress. A visualisation diagram of an arcade game's start screen needs both sketched graphics and typed notes explaining which button does what.

Swapping one device for another

A trackpad or trackball does the same job as a mouse, and a touchscreen used with a stylus acts as both graphics tablet and display, because the drawing goes straight onto the screen. That is why scripts, storyboards and visualisation diagrams often share the same hardware, with a graphics tablet or stylus added for the drawn ones.

Match the hardware to the job: typed documents need a keyboard and pointing device, drawn or laid-out ones may need a stylus as well, and a paper sketch must be digitised before it can be shared.

Digitisation is turning a paper or board document into a digital file so it can be shared with others. For example, a handwritten recipe from a food technology lesson could be photographed and emailed home instead of the paper being lost.

Scanners and digital cameras mainly digitise existing documents; they do not create a new document from scratch.

Scanners

A flat-bed scanner has a glass surface where you lay the page flat. Some scanners are built into another device, so you may already have one. A sheet feeder pulls through and scans many pages automatically, saving time. A scanner lights the page evenly, so you avoid shadows or poor lighting, and it can capture images and photographs at high resolution.

Digital cameras

A digital camera is a quick way to digitise a document. A professional camera gives more control over image quality, aperture and focus, while a camera already to hand may be good enough for a simple note. A camera beats a scanner when the item is very large, three-dimensional, textured or cannot be scanned easily. For example, a scale model of a stage set can be photographed from several angles so the director can see each scene from the audience; a flat scan could not show that.

Graphics tablets and sharing

A graphics tablet is a flat pad used with a stylus. Whatever you draw on the pad appears on screen, so a game character can be created and saved as a digital file straight away. You can also place a pencil sketch on the tablet and draw over its lines with the stylus, turning the paper drawing into a digital file. Scripts are rarely handwritten, so a script is unlikely to need digitising; it is normally typed and saved digitally from the start.

Digital documents are generally easier to share than physical ones. A physical document can still be digitised with a scanner, digital camera or graphics tablet before it is shared.

Different programs often provide similar tools, so focus on the software type rather than only the brand name. Knowing the type helps you choose a tool that matches the pre-production document you need to make.

Image, slide and page software

Image editing software edits graphics and photographs. Raster (bitmap) editors work with pixels and suit photographs; vector editors work with paths and shapes and suit crisp logos. Presentation software can create and arrange some pre-production documents, such as a mood board or a simple storyboard.

Desktop publishing (DTP) software is used for page layout: magazines, books, posters, leaflets and brochures. Its layout tools make arranging images and text easier than in a word processor, which is designed mainly for typing and editing text, not for precise page design.

Dedicated and general tools

Mind mapping software is dedicated software for creating mind maps, with branches and nodes that you can move and reorganise.

Dedicated applications are made for one particular use, such as script editing, storyboard editing, wireframing or flow chart creation. They may run on a computer or as an app, be free or paid for, and be downloaded or online. Because they focus on one job, they can be quicker and offer tools that general software lacks.

General software can create many different documents. For example, a word processor can make a simple table for a storyboard or asset log, but a dedicated storyboard app may add numbered frames and shot notes far faster. Choose general software when it is good enough; choose specialist software when its extra features save time.

Mind maps, mood boards and scripts can each be made with more than one type of software, depending on whether the document is mostly text, drawing or images.

Mind maps

A mind map can be hand drawn with pens, pencils and paper, which is quick and needs no equipment. Or it can be made digitally using mind mapping software, presentation software or desktop publishing software. Mind mapping software is built for the job: you add a branch and it moves the rest to fit, which paper cannot do automatically. Presentation software works because a slide can hold branches built from shapes, text boxes and connector lines.

For example, planning a school talent show: a central idea with branches for acts, stage times and ticket sales is easy to sketch on paper, but on screen you can drag branches around and insert photographs of the venue straight in.

Mood boards

A physical mood board uses real materials on a surface, such as printed photographs, magazine cuttings and coloured paper shapes glued onto a large sheet of card, so you can compare how the printed colours look together. A digital mood board on a computer or tablet can be made with image editing software, presentation software, desktop publishing software or specialised mood board software, which can arrange images in a grid and let a team comment on a shared board.

Scripts

A script is nearly all text, so it is made with a word processor or a dedicated script editor. A word processor is often used because it lets you easily go back and edit text: you can cut, paste, comment and check spelling as the story changes. A dedicated script editor adds advanced features such as layout tools that set out scene headings and dialogue in the correct format, and character identification, which recognises names in the dialogue and keeps them consistent. That makes it faster for a long script, though a word processor is enough for a short one.

A storyboard is a sequence of sketched frames showing what happens shot by shot. You can make one by hand, often on a printed template of empty frames, or digitally on a computer or tablet by drawing with a graphics tablet and stylus, or with a touchscreen (often with a stylus).

You do not need special software to make a storyboard digitally. Presentation software works well because each slide can hold one frame and the slides are already in order. Image editing software and desktop publishing (DTP) software can also be used, while a dedicated storyboard application is built only for storyboarding and may add extra tools.

Storyboarding software features

Useful features save time and keep frames consistent:

• Layout tools and drawing and aligning boxes to build frames and line them up tidily.
• Inserting assets and images, such as character drawings or photographs.
• Sketching directly in the software, plus adding text, annotation and scene information such as shot type or camera movement.
• Copying and pasting backgrounds and objects, then resizing and reordering frames when the order changes.

For example, in a storyboard for a 30-second advert about a rescue dog, you could paste the same kennel background into six frames, change only the dog's position, then drag frame five before frame four.

Visualisation diagrams

A visualisation diagram is a rough plan of what a finished product will look like, such as a recipe booklet cover. You can create one with image editing software, presentation software or DTP software. Professional designers often favour desktop publishing or image editing tools for this work because they offer stronger design controls, including accurate positioning of text and pictures.

In image editing software, you can insert photographs and images directly from image libraries into a digital diagram. A digital diagram is easier to edit, move items around in, and share than a physical diagram, which must be digitised first.

Wireframes, flow charts and asset logs can each be created with a range of software, and sometimes without any software at all. The table shows the main choices.

Wireframes and flow charts

A wireframe layout can be sketched quickly with pen and paper, which suits early ideas that are still changing. General software such as a word processor or presentation software can build one, but drawing and aligning every box and label yourself can take longer than using pen and paper or specialist wireframing software, which has tools made for the job.

A flow chart is usually made on a computer but can be drawn by hand. Basic software can add shapes and join them with arrows. Specialist flow chart software offers ready-made decision diamonds and connectors that stay attached when a box is moved, which saves time when a chart is edited.

Creating an asset log

An asset log records the assets a project needs. Dedicated asset log software exists, and a log can also be made with database, spreadsheet, word processing or desktop publishing software. Spreadsheet and database software suit logs because each asset can sit in a row and each detail, such as a file name or owner, in a column, making the list easy to sort and search. An asset log is typically created on a computer or tablet using a keyboard to type entries, a pointing device to select and move between cells, and a display to view the list.