Have you ever wondered where some of the graphics come from that people are using for their lessons? (Like this beaut of a smartboard file!)
Babbling Abby shared this tip about
Clker.com and I have used it ever since.
It is a bit tricky to use though. (Camille, this is for you! ;) )
When you go to the main page, you will see a lot of stuff. Hey, this is free so it isn't hard to deal with a bit of advertising, right? All you need to worry about is this part of the page. It is right at the top so it is easy to find.
Type what you are wanting to find in the search bar and click "search." Sometimes this box can be very light in color so look for it.
After you wait for a bit (fingers crossed for a good internet connection), this is what you will see.
Don't panic! Scroll down a bit and you will see what you are looking for (hopefully - I have only had a couple of times when I have had to look somewhere else for the image I wanted).
Click on the picture you want. If you don't like any of those images sometimes there are additional pages of images OR you can click on one that is close and you can see variations of that graphic that might work better for you.
After you make your selection is where it gets a bit tricky. You want to be able to download the image to your computer so you can insert it into the program you are working in (for me that happens to be smart notebook at the moment - summer projects, don't ask, I didn't realize how big of a project it would be.)
Click on the word "Download."
Here you are given several different options: easy embed, download to computer with size options, and other formats available.
I have found that MOST of the images I have downloaded are png files, which are my favorite. I don't know much about the other formats, so I'm not sure if or when you would use them. I usually select the medium size just because. (I know enough about computers to get myself in trouble, it is a good thing that my dad and little sister are patient with me.)
This is what you will see after you choose your size.
You will need to save the image to your computer. I have a mac, so this is what you will see if you have a mac.
Choose "Save Page As..." Then, because there are soooooo many images on Clker you are going to want to delete some of the extra numbers and words that are attached to it. I always choose to save the images to my desktop because I am lazy and don't want to have to find them later.
You now have some new clip art to insert into your document. Enjoy!
