THE ART OF MAKING A TRANSPARENCY AS A VISUAL-AID
Reynaldo O. Joson, MD, DPBS
By transparency is meant a transparent visual-aid material
which is used in conjunction with an overhead projector. The
transparent visual-aid material may be an ordinary plastic paper,
an acetate paper, or a clear X-ray plate. Because of their
lowest cost and availability, ordinary plastic papers are most
commonly used.
Using an overhead projector and transparencies is now a very
common form of visual aid in all kinds of presentation. The
method is being used in classrooms to facilitate teaching. It is
being used by physicians in scientific conferences. It is being
used by administrators. It is being used by almost everybody
and almost everywhere where there is a need to facilitate
communication to a group of people.
There is an art in the making of a transparency. What will
be described here is the art of making a transparency using an
ordinary plastic sheet and a transparency that contains manually
printed letters. This is the most common method of making a
transparency.
After buying a huge sheet of ordinary plastic sheet, cut it
into several pieces of short bond paper size.
Make a draft of what is going to be printed into each sheet
of plastic sheet. Plan out what message, what words, what colors,
what size of letters, and other details that will be placed in a
plastic sheet. The goal of a transparency is to
facilitate communication through the use of clear words and
clear message. A visually appealing transparency, one that is
clear, clean, beautiful and not jampacked, also facilitates
communication.
To achieve the objectives of a transparency, the following
tips are suggested :
1. Use permanent marker pens. This type of pens tends
to produce clearer and sharper letters than water
soluble marker pens.
2. The best color to use is black. Black marker pens
produce the clearest and the sharpest letters. The
other colors may be used for contrast and
variation. However, they should be used sparingly
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and selectively because they do not stand out as
much as the black color. They tend to produce faded
letters which will contribute to a problem of
clarity. In general, dark colors are better than
light colors. The next best color after black is
blue.
3. Avoid using marker pens that are running out of
ink. They will produce letters of poor quality.
4. A ruled paper or a graphing paper should be placed
at the back of the plastic sheet to facilitate
the lettering. Using the ruled paper as a guide
will more likely produce letters in a clean straight
line. A visually appealing transparency will result
with the use of the ruled paper than without.
5. Print all letters. Do not use longhand writing.
Printed letters are easier to read than longhand
writing.
6. Print all letters in capitals. Use small letters
sparingly, if need to be done. Again, capital
letters are easier to read than small letters.
7. The size of the prints should be big enough to be
clearly seen at a distance. It is better to err on
too big a size than on too small a size of the
prints. Small-size letters are difficult to read.
8. Avoid jampacking a transparency. In other words,
avoid a crowded transparency which may be difficult
to read, especially if it contains letters of small
sizes. Use key words. Avoid unneccesary articles
and prepositions. Use few lines, maximum of 1O
per transparency. Use few words per line, maximum
of 5 per line.
9. As much as possible, place only one message or idea
into one transparency. Several ideas in one
transparency tend to produce a crowded transparency.
A crowded transparency is a cause for distraction.
The audience tends to read all that are projected on
the screen. The audience reading the part of the
transparency not in discussion but projected on the
screen is the kind of distraction that a jampacked
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transparency will produce. Covering a part of a
long transparency is often used. However, it only
minimizes but not avoids distraction.
10. After printing into a transparency is completed,
protect the transparency from dirt, folding of
corners, and blotting. Always place white papers
in between completed transparencies.
With the above guidelines, anybody can easily produce a
transparency that is clear, clean, and not jampacked. A
transparency that possesses these qualities and one that is
visually appealing to the audience will certainly help the
presentor achieve his goal of communication.
Below are some more pointers on the do's and dont's in the
making of a transparency of whatever method :
1. Don't use ordinary portable typewriters as these
produce small unclear letters. Use special
typewriters or printers that can produce letters of
proper size and letters that are clear.
2. Do not use recycled plastic papers, acetate papers,
or clear X-ray plates unless they are perfectly
clean.
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