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

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

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.