Freedom in Creativity

My Background

Graphic and Web Designer for Birmingham Friends of The Earth

Freelance Artist

Studied Multimedia Graphics at Staffordshire University

Studying Digital Arts in Performance at Birmingham City University

My Interests

Glitches and errors

Free culture

Open source

The first presentation

June 2009

Introduction to software

Showcase of success stories

Freedom

The Four Freedoms

The freedom to run the program, for any purpose

The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour.

The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others. By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

Do these freedoms translate to art?

Applications

GIMP

Raster graphics editor

Started in 1995

Alternative to Adobe Photoshop

Finally getting single-window mode!

Inkscape

Vector graphics editor

Started as Sodipodi in 1999, forked to Inkscape in 2003

Aims to be SVG compliant

Alternative to Adobe Illustrator

Scribus

Desktop publishing program

Started in 2003

Alternative to Adobe InDesign and Quark

Imagemagick

Command line program for modifying images

Useful for batch processing

Effect on Me

Programs to cover many uses

More learning involved

Some command line, some with a GUI

Free to experiment with programs

Free to use programs

File Formats

File Formats

Output file formats are available freelyJpg

Tiff

Pdf

Gif

Png

And more...

File Formats

Multi layered images

File Formats

Working files' formats are not available freelyPsd

Indd

Dxf

cdr

File Formats

Open formats?Xcf

Svg

Open Raster

File Formats

XcfTied to one program

Not even recommended for use by its developers

File Formats

SVGStandard file format

Interchangeable between many proprietary and open source applications

File Formats

SLAOpen format but not open standard

Can only be read by Scribus

Incompatible with earlier versions

Effect on Me

Unable to share resources

Unsure if files will print

No interoperability between programs

Denied work opportunities

Copyright and licensing

Copyright

Anything you create is automatically copyrighted by you

Everyone has to gain your permission before they can use your work or even access it

Ultimate power

Lasts between 50-70 years, but can be extended

Are copyrights bad?

Copyrights hinder creativity

Similar to patent law?

Copyleft

GNU GPL

Creative Commons

Public Domain

Creative Commons

A set of Copyleft licenses

Attribution

Non-Commercial

Share-Alike

No Derivatives

Mix and Match

Open Clip Art Library

All content licences under Public Domain

Available in SVG or png format

Remix or Reuse?

Stock resources aren't supposed to be finished pieces

Save time and possibly money

Remix or Reuse?

Remix or Reuse?

Could you remix this artwork?

Remix or Reuse?

Copying?

Can you sell CC licensed artwork?

Commercial Usage

Received an offer on this artwork

Did CC help?

Effect on Me

How do you track who has used your work?

People have only enquired about commercial uses

Useful for creating bigger artworks out of smaller components

Sharing Work

Effect on Me

PressureReveal sources

Reveal techniques

Release source files

A different set of restrictions

Freedom in choice

Questions?

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