12th Grade — Unit S3.5: Extension & Enrichment (Optional): Packaging & Handoff: Preparing Files a Client Can Actually Use

🗓️ Before Class: Teacher Prep

Gather/set out: A finished studio job (real or practice), Computer with Photoshop, Access to the shared Drive.
Pull up today's slide deck (see 🖥️ Slide Deck below) so it's ready to project.

🖥️ Slide Deck (project or share with students)

Short, on-the-board pacing slides for today's Do Now, agenda, vocabulary, and exit ticket -- the full detail lives in the handout above, not here.

Day 1

Open / download this slide PDF

Day 2

Open / download this slide PDF

🧑‍🏫 Substitute Teacher Guide

A scripted, step-by-step runsheet for today's class -- hand this to anyone covering the room who doesn't know the daily routine.

Day 1: 📋 Open Substitute Guide
Day 2: 📋 Open Substitute Guide

🎯 Essential Question

How do we package and organize a finished job so the client (or a print vendor) can actually open and use every file?

📈 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson (2 Days), students will be able to:

Organize a finished job's files into a clear, labeled folder structure a client could navigate without help.
Export a finished job in every file format its delivery actually requires (e.g. print-ready PDF, web-ready PNG/JPG, editable source file).
Write a short handoff note explaining what's included and how to use it.

📐 Standards Alignment

CDOS (Career Development & Occupational Studies)

CDOS 2 — Integrated Learning -- students will demonstrate how academic knowledge and skills are applied in the workplace and other settings.
CDOS 3a — Universal Foundation Skills -- basic literacy, communication, and problem-solving skills required for a career.
CDOS 3b — Career Majors -- knowledge and skills required for success within a specific career pathway (here, Digital Design).

Industry Standards (CCTC)

AR-PRT 2-5 — Apply appropriate software programs in design and production; examine digital proofing technologies.
AR-PRT 1-2 — Apply knowledge of services, equipment, capabilities, workflow process, data acquisition and technology to deliver customer service.

📚 Key Vocabulary

Handoff: The moment a finished job's files are delivered to a client -- everything the client needs should be included and clearly labeled.
Source File: The original, fully-editable version of a project (e.g. a .psd or .ai file), as opposed to a flattened export.
File Naming Convention: A consistent, predictable pattern for naming files so anyone can tell what's inside without opening it.

🧰 Materials & Tools

A finished studio job (real or practice)
Computer with Photoshop
Access to the shared Drive

🧠 Do Now (Warm-Up)

You just received a Zip file from a freelancer with 40 files named "final.psd," "final2.psd," and "finalFINAL.psd." What's wrong with this?

📁 Portfolio Update — Once a Week

Once a week, add your best finished or in-progress yearbook (or, later, studio) work to your portfolio with a 1-2 sentence caption -- and once you're in the Design Studio phase, a photo of the piece in its real, installed location if possible. This is the same evidence trail you'll use for Archive & Portfolio and any PBAT/portfolio review.

✍️ Example description for your Google Sites portfolio (fill in YOUR blanks -- don't just copy this):

For this piece, I made ______________ (name what you made) for “Packaging & Handoff: Preparing Files a Client Can Actually Use.” This project asked: “How do we package and organize a finished job so the client (or a print vendor) can actually open and use every file?” I used Handoff by ______________ (explain how you used it in THIS piece). The hardest part was ______________, and I solved it by ______________. I'm proud of ______________ because ______________.

📋 Main Workshop / Lesson Sequence

This lesson spans 2 Days. Suggested pacing:

Day	Focus	Plan
Day 1	Organizing & Naming	Do Now (5 min, above). Mini-lesson (10 min): what a client actually needs in a handoff (every format they'll use, a source file, clear names) and a real file-naming convention. Workshop (30 min): organize one finished job into a labeled folder structure and rename every file consistently.
Day 2	Exporting Every Format & the Handoff Note	Do Now (5 min): list every format this job's delivery actually requires. Export (20 min): export the job in each required format (print-ready PDF, web PNG/JPG, and keep the editable source file). Write (15 min): write a short handoff note listing what's included and how to use each file. Submit (5 min).

✅ Assessment & Exit Ticket

Folder structure, file naming, and exports checked against a handoff checklist; handoff note checked for being clear enough that someone outside the studio could follow it.

Exit Ticket: What's one thing about your own file organization habits you're going to change after this, and why?

📊 Pull up the anonymous Class Check-In for students to fill out before they go.

🧩 Differentiation & Accommodations

English Language Learners: model every step live, then check in one-on-one; provide translated materials and vocabulary support as needed. Students with IEPs: apply the accommodations and modifications listed in each student's plan (examples include extended time, graphic organizers, speech-to-text tools, chunked instructions, and visual schedules). Students with attention-related needs: break tasks into short, checklist-driven steps and provide brief movement or focus breaks. Students ready for a challenge: take on a leadership role critiquing peers' work, extend the project with a second iteration, or research how today's skill is used professionally in the field.

🔗 Resources & References

None beyond this lesson's materials.