Submitted by Elizabeth on
This is a story of starting small. I’m a librarian, and much like many of you reading this, I’ve had more than my fair share of run-ins with clip art.
It’s not that there is anything inherently wrong with clip art--I want simple graphics on a regular basis, and that’s what it’s for--great! Maybe my expectations are too high, or perhaps I consider myself a little too sophisticated for what’s available. Either way, I have decided that I am just going to make my own from now on, and if you have a smartphone and the drawing capabilities of a 6 year old, you can too!
A few weeks ago, I wanted something very specific. I was creating a Valentine’s Day display sign at the library and got my mind set on a graphic of a book shot through with a cupid’s arrow. Go ahead and do a quick search for that. My options were….limited.
Enter Jot Not. I could have hand-drawn a sign, but again--I am aiming for a slightly higher air of sophistication. Jot Not is an app billed as a document scanner, which uses your smartphone camera to create PDFs. In between picture and PDF, the app processes and enhances your photo, so if you’re using a (perhaps childlike) drawing instead of a document, it can look like a rather quaint computer-generated graphic.
Voila--any “clip art” your heart desires can be made a reality:
Clip art robot selection got you down? Hand draw your own!
Combine your drawing with some colored paper and a button machine, and you’ve got a whole army of custom robot pins! This happens to be one of our small prizes for a Teen Tech Week scavenger hunt we’re running, and so far, kids and staff alike are loving these guys:
If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I really want to get in on making, but I don’t have anything to get started!” don’t worry--that’s where a lot of people are right now. Start small, then build your robot army, little by little.