Digital Graphics File Formats

Calum Johnson

Raster Graphics

Raster graphics are made up of bitmaps, these are made up of graphic pixels which record the amount colour on the selection of an image.Bitmap images always have a set resolution which can cause some complications when resizing as it can add some distortion in the image.

Vector Graphics

Vector graphics are made up of paths and strokes known as vectors.Vectors do not lose quality when resized unlike Raster which becomes distorted when stretched out.

Raster Graphics

JPEGStands For

Used For/Example JPEG’s are used for photographs and web formats.

Advantage An advantage of using a JPEG is that it has a small file size which is good for web data.

Disadvantage A disadvantage is that the pictures can lose a lot of quality when the pictures are saved as a JPEG as they are compressed and made much smaller.

TIFFStands For

Used For/Example TIFF files are common among graphic designers they are used to save multiple documents into one format.

Advantage An advantage of using a Tiff is that multiple documents can be saved. Another advantage is that there a lossless compression so the image loses no quality.

Disadvantage Most website and online images galleries do not support tiff uploading.

GIFStands For

Used For/Example Making small animations that only last a couple of seconds.

Advantage Only require a small file size and keep a good amount of quality still.

Disadvantage only have a maximum colour palette of 256 colours so therefore can sometimes look of a poorer quality than other types of file or image.

BMPStands For

Used For/Example

Advantage

Disadvantage

Vector Graphics

PSDStands For

Used For/Example

Advantage

Disadvantage

AIStands For

Used For/Example

Advantage

Disadvantage

FLAStands For

Used For/Example

Advantage

Disadvantage

WMFStands For

Used For/Example

Advantage

Disadvantage

File Format Capture and Optimising

CompressionDefinition

Advantage

Disadvantage

Image CaptureMethod Scanner

How is it used for image capture of graphics

Method CameraHow is it used for image capture of

graphics

Method Graphics TabletHow is it used for image capture of

graphics

OptimisingWhy would you optimise?

How can you optimise?

Advantage to optimising

Disadvantage to optimising

Storage

File SizeWhat could affect a Working Scale (Photoshop) document file size?

How could you reduce the file size of a Working Scale document without

affecting quality?

What is an advantage of scaling up images before exporting?

What is a disadvantage of scaling up images before exporting?

File Naming ConventionsWhat naming conventions could you use when creating your video game assets?

Why is it a good idea to accurately name your assets?

Asset ManagementWhy would you use folders when storing

your assets?

What folders would you create and what would you save within them