DIGITAL GRAPHICS

Daniel Crush
PIXELS
Pixels (also known as picture elements) build up an image. Each image contains thousands of these pixels, all clustered together forming an image. In
addition, the more pixels used within an image, the higher the resolution will be. Within an image, the pixels are arranged in rows, horizontally and
vertically. Because they are placed together so tightly, it gives the illusion that they are connected. The pixels also have some properties; within the
grid of pixels, every pixel is the same size and each pixel has its own individual colour (No same pixel can have more than one colour). Furthermore,
within an image the other pixels around the main ones will have a similar shade. These will become more prominent when an image is zoomed in. As
technology has progressed drastically over the years, televisions and other electronic devices with screens will have a much higher resolution than
previous years meaning that when you zoom in, the image will appear sharper and less blurry. It will take more zooming in to start seeing different
shades of the pixels.

This is an example of a bitmap

image, taken of the coast. As
you can see from the image on
the right, the sea has been
zoomed into leaving lots of
different shades of blue. These
are all separate pixels. The
more the image has been
zoomed in, the lower the
resolution.

Furthermore, pixel intensity is measured by the brightness of an image. For example, if an image is taken by a digital camera of good quality and is
focused on a certain point within the image (this could be any object or person) this area will appear brighter that the rest of the image. This means
that section of the image has a high intensity. This will also be the case if you were to focus on the background rather than a certain object.
Additionally, when the whole of the image is set to the highest intensity level, it will turn white in colour. However, the image turns black when the
intensity level is low.
 RASTER IMAGES
Raster images (also known as bitmap) is a way that digital images are represented. A raster image can be created in a variety of formats. Some of
these include gif, jpg and bmp. The image will contain information which translate to pixels on a screen. These pixels will build up a finished image. As
the quality of an image from a digital camera is so good, the file size will be large. So when you reduce the file size of an image, it will lose
information, reducing its quality. This is an example of a lossy compression. This means that the high quality resolution cant be maintained if you
were to scale the image. Moreover, to get a lossy file compression you would have to store a digital image under the file format of JPEG. However,
there is a way around it with lossless compression. This is where an image can maintain its high resolution and is therefore used for vector graphics. To
get a lossless file compression you would need to save a digital image under the file format of ZIP as is breaks down the image into individual parts,
allowing for an easier transmission of the file.

GIF The GIF file format stands for Graphics Interchange Format. It is used all around the world and supports various
resolutions and colour. In addition, it also includes data compression.

TIFF The TIFF file format stands for Tag Image File Format. It is a common format that is used for exchanging bitmap
images between various programs.

JPEG The JPEG file format stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. It is another method of compressing digital
images. However, when compressed the details of an image are lost, reducing its resolution. Additionally, JPEG images
are often used for the web.

PSD The PSD file format stands for Photoshop Document. It is a default format that Photoshop uses for saving data.
 VECTOR IMAGES
Vector images are known to be more flexible than raster images. This is because they can be easily made larger, smaller and they can even be
stretched. As well as that, vector images require less memory than raster images which allows them to maintain a high quality when enlarged or
reduced in size, instead of being pixelated. This is why vector images are known to look better on devices such as monitors and printers. However, there
is a big disadvantage with vector images and that is they are not as realistic as raster images and have to be simplified. Furthermore, the main
programs associated with vector graphics are normally Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand and Corel Draw. Vector images are made up of multiple
paths which use points, lines, curves and even polygons to create simple drawings and illustrations.

Moreover, vector images have different file formats. These include Below are a few examples of raster images vs. vector images. As you can see
.EPS and .FLA. The file format .EPS (used in Adobe Illustrator) the raster images remain detailed and realistic whereas the vector images are
stands for Encapsulated PostScript and is the most used file format simplified.
for vector images. In addition, this file format is used for text,
images and graphics. Another file format is .FLA which can be used
on the program Flash. Flash allows you to add interactivity to web
pages by using animation and video. Additionally, .FLA file formats
are compressed and can be viewed on the web with Flash.
 BIT DEPTH
Bit depth is looking at how many unique colours there are within an image colour palette . If an image has a high bit depth it means it will display a
larger amount of colours and shades. This is because more combinations of 0s and 1s are available. Furthermore, if an image has a low bit depth it
means it will display a lower amount of colours and shades, making the image sharper but less detailed. The three primary colours (red, blue and green)
are colours that are mainly used as a colour channel and include multiple ranges of intensity levels determined by its bit depth.

Monochrome High Colour True Colour

Monochrome is the term used to describe an
image when only two colours are present.
These two colours are black and white.
However, it does allow shades of grey to
come into an image to add extra detail and
effects.
High colour graphics store information of
images by having a pixel showing of 2 bytes
which is equivalent to 16 pixels. Some devices
support 15-bit high colour but usually the
colour is represented by all 16-bits.
24 Bit
True colour graphics store information
about an image with the computers
memory. For example, an image which has
26 bits will include multiple colours and
shades. Furthermore, true colours are
made up of 24-bit depth which is used by
modern operating systems, using RGB
colours. It is named True Colour because
images that are taken using 24-bit depth
can display the true colours.

As you can see here, this is an example of a 24-bit

colour palette along with what a 24-bit image would
look like. The colours are blended together even
As you can see here, the image on the left is 8-bit and the more and the detail on the bottom image is more
image on the right is 16-bit. The 16-bit image has a higher it prominent. This is because it has a higher bit depth,
depth, which means more colours are present and they blend and the higher the bit depth the more colours and
better, compared to the 8-bit image. shades an image will display.
COLOUR SPACE
Colour space (also known as Colour Model) is a system used in order to show a colour numerically. It is based on the RGB colour model. The RGB
colour model (red, green and blue) is known to be the best for displays and scanners because the colours within the image are accurate, creating
detail. However, if you were printing you would use CMYK and for videos and TV, YUV is recommended.

Greyscale

Greyscale is where colours of different shades of grey are put together to make a greyscale image. These colours are green, red and blue and they
will all have the same intensity space as RGB colour. This is because every pixel will require less information. The colours will all have the same
intensity as an RGB image as less information is required for the pixels when the colour needs to be decreased, in order for it to be created.

RGB

RGB stands for red, green and blue. These colours are combined together to form a colour that is displayed on a device. In addition, they can make
any other colour or shade that is needed within an image. RGB is extremely popular format and is used mainly for game graphics. The colours that
are used dont have to all be one shade. If for example you have just one solid colour of red, green and blue, the image will look sharper but less
realistic. However, when multiple shades of red, green and blue are used it can make the image look a lot more detailed and realistic.
 IMAGE CAPTURE
Image capture is when you capture an image through a gadget such as a digital camera or a scanner. You can also capture an image
through the use of a smartphone. Once these images have been taken, you can transfer them over to electronic devices, including
computers, laptops and phones. Furthermore, these images can then be manipulated in programs such as Adobe Photoshop. However, the
images taken with these gadgets are not always of the highest quality. For example, if you have a top of the range camera that has a high
resolution, the image will be of a higher quality. On the other hand, if the camera has a low resolution, then the quality will be much
worse. The resolution is measured by the amount of pixels an image has. So if the image has more pixels, it will have a higher quality.
Moreover, you can buy external lenses and optics for a camera to improve their sharpness. This is especially useful if you are going for a
different look. When using an expensive camera, the light resolution can range from around 20 million pixels. In addition, there are a
range of popular resolutions that people choose to use. The first one is the 256x256, and is mainly found on cheap phone cameras. Another
resolution is the 640x480. This is again low in quality but is used for images on the web. The next resolution is the 1216x912 and this
resolution is good for printing pictures. The final resolution and the best one is the 2240x1680. This is the best resolution because it
captures the most colour from images, it has no loss of quality and it is great for quality prints. Moreover, digital cameras have been
around for over 20 years and have been constantly developing. Every year a new and improved camera is released, along with that, the
quality of images that the camera can produce. Back when cameras were first released, you would have to get your photos developed.
However, nowadays technology allows you to be able to transfer photos over to computers, laptops and phones, and from there they can
be printed onto different items including furniture, clothing and much more.

When a camera or gadget captures colour from an image, the sensors use a filter that allows the camera to focus on the three primary
colours. After that, they combine the three to the full spectrum. The focus and exposure of a camera is all to do with its shutter speed and
aperture. These control the amount of light that's able to get through to the sensor. For bigger SLR cameras, the aperture is manually
controlled when taking a photo. However, for most digital cameras the aperture is controlled automatically. Furthermore, the shutter
speed of a camera is how fast it takes the photo. For example, if a photo is taken quickly, more light will be shown.

The most used scanner in the industry is a Flatbed or Sheetfed scanner. They have a glass platen and a lid where a product can be placed
inside to be scanned. There is an option to view what you are scanning before you actually do so as well. You can also get Handheld
Scanners which are similar to Flatbed Scanners but they produce a lower quality image. However, the one benefit is that it is a much more
efficient process.
 OPTIMISING
Optimising is the term used to describe the compression of image files in order for them to be a suitable size on a webpage. The most common compression
format used is JPEG as it maintains a high quality and it reduces the size of the file. However, with other compression formats, this is not normally the case.
When compressing a file, the image (for example) will be losing information in order to reduce the file size. This means that the quality will decrease , and
details will be less prominent on a webpage. However, if you dont reduce the image size it will maintain a high quality but it will come with some disadvantages.
One of them is the loading time of a website. If the graphic used on a webpage is not reduced in size, the loading time will increase, leading to a loss of visitors.
This is because most visitors will be inpatient and will leave the site if it is not loading properly.
Target Destination
Target destination is the location of where you want all of your graphics to be stored. For example, you would need to set up a folder where you would keep all of
the graphics related to that web page. This will ensure that the web server locates the graphics easily and at a fast speed. This means the performance of the web
page will be optimised.

Bit Depth
Bit depth is the amount of bits of colour within an image and it is measured in Bits Per Pixel (BPP). Every image is made up of bits of colour and the quality of that
image is determined by its colour range. For example, if an image has a high colour range then it means it will have a higher quality. However, one issue is that the
higher the image quality, the higher the file size which could slow down a web page.

Resolution
Resolution is the term used to describe the quality of an image. It is mainly associated with raster images as the higher the level of detail an image holds, the
higher its resolution is. Furthermore, it is measured using Dots Per Inch (DPI) and Pixels Per Inch (PPI). Also, if you stretch or enlarge an image, it will lose quality,
decreasing its resolution.
Dimensions
Dimensions are the length and width of an image. If you are able to control the dimensions of an image or graphic then you can adjust the size depending on the
context of it. In addition, some sites allow measurements such as cm, mm and inches when working on images. However, this depends on the size of the image.
Intended Image Output
Intended image output is where you find out the output of an image needed for a webpage. It must be at a good standard so that it can be processed quickly by
computers. In addition, image output basically gives guidelines on how you can create graphics.