New
New
Year 4

Changing digital images

I can use a range of tools to change a digital image and its composition.

New
New
Year 4

Changing digital images

I can use a range of tools to change a digital image and its composition.

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These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Photo editing software can be used to edit a digital image.
  2. Tools such as crop and rotate can be used to improve an image.
  3. The composition of a digital image can be changed.

Keywords

  • Edit - make changes

  • Rotate - turn around a central point

  • Crop - remove parts of an image or video

  • Composition - how objects are arranged or framed within an image

Common misconception

The digital image we see is always the originial version.

Digital images are often edited for a variety of purposes so we should never assume an image is an exact representation of reality.


To help you plan your year 4 computing lesson on: Changing digital images, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Files needed for this lesson

  • teddy 450.99 KB (JPG)
  • balloons-2331488_1280 168.45 KB (JPG)
  • Mug on Table 1.3 MB (JPG)
  • lighthouse-7331444_1280 385.42 KB (JPG)

Download these files to use in the lesson.

This lesson involves an unplugged, paper-based activity. Have a selection of printed photographs available for pupils to use for this task.
Teacher tip

Equipment

The unit models the use of paint.net but alternative image editing software can be used and modelled to pupils.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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5 Questions

Q1.
What is a photograph?
a drawing made with a pencil
Correct answer: a picture taken using a camera or phone
a type of video
a sound recording
Q2.
Why are pictures used in books and websites?
Correct answer: to make them more interesting and easier to understand
to make them harder to read
to replace all the words
to make them more expensive
Q3.
What is a digital image?
a type of video
a sound recording
Correct answer: a picture stored on a computer or phone
a picture drawn with crayons
Q4.
Which of these devices can take a photograph?
a television
a pair of headphones
Correct answer: a camera
a keyboard
Q5.
What is the purpose of editing a digital image?
Correct answer: to change or improve the picture
to delete the image completely
to make the picture blurry
to remove the camera

6 Questions

Q1.
Is it true that the digital image we see is always the original version?
yes, digital images are never changed
yes, unless the image is cropped
no, only printed images can be edited
Correct answer: no, digital images are often edited for various purposes
Q2.
What does it mean to edit a digital image?
Correct answer: to make changes to an image
to delete the image
to print the image
to take a new photo
Q3.
Match the terms with their definitions:
Correct Answer:edit,make changes to an image

make changes to an image

Correct Answer:rotate,turn around a central point

turn around a central point

Correct Answer:crop,remove parts of an image

remove parts of an image

Q4.
What is the term for how objects are arranged or framed within an image?
Correct Answer: composition
Q5.
Which of these is NOT an example of editing a digital image?
rotating the image
cropping the image
Correct answer: printing the image
changing the colours in the image
Q6.
Why might someone edit a digital image?
to make the image blurry
to delete the image
to turn the image into a video
Correct answer: to improve the image or make it more suitable for a purpose