Digital Graphics File FormatsSophie Husteden

Raster Graphics

Raster graphics are a kind of digital image that uses small rectangular pixels, aligned in a grid formation to make up an image. This format is commonly used for photographs and other detailed images, this is because the format supports a wide range of colours.

Vector Graphics

Vector graphics are made up of paths, the paths can be any shape not just a line, however they must always have a start and end point. These paths are usually used to make simple drawings or detailed diagrams.

Raster Graphics

JPEGStands For Joint Photographic Experts Group

Used For/Example Photos and Web images

Advantage Compatible across multiple platforms.Small file size, means less storage space needed and quicker upload.Useful for web pages, as the upload is faster.

Disadvantage Looses quality with multiple edits, due to compression and recompression each time the image is edited.

TIFFStands For Tapped Image File Format

Used For/Example Desktop publisher and Adobe InDesign documents.

Advantage No compression.Multiple documents can be saved in one file.Format recognise by most computers and cross compatible with both MAC and PC's.

Disadvantage Files are bigger, so more storage space needed.Most online image galleries and websites don’t support TIFF uploading.

GIFStands For Graphics Interchange Format

Used For/Example Short digital animations, by a series of images played one after another in a loop to create the appearance of a video.

Advantage Don’t require your web browser to have a plug-in, as they're treated like images.They have lossless compression, so the image size can be reduced without much distortion.

Disadvantage Low quality.Can slow web page down, as loading time can be high.

BMPStands For Bitmap Image Files

Used For/Example BMP files are used to store bitmap digital images.Similar to TIFF and JPEG.

Advantage No loss in compression.Translate well to output devices, like CRTs and printers.

Disadvantage Large file sizes, so more storage needed.Don’t scale very well, meaning the files must be printed at the resolution they were originally stored in.

Vector Graphics

PSDStands For Photoshop document

Used For/Example Used for photoshopped images.

Advantage Saves multiple layers, page formatting information and swatches. Supports transparency.

Disadvantage Only recognised in photoshop. Large file size.

AIStands For Adobe Illustrator Art

Used For/Example Used for Adobe Illustrator, such as logos for companies.

Advantage Can be scaled big and small as vectors have no loss in definition. There is image linking between Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, as they are both from the same company.

Disadvantage However it isn't compatible on non Adobe programs.

FLAStands For Flash File

Used For/Example Used to create animations and games.

Advantage Produces high quality files in a small file size.Can include sound.

Disadvantage Not much software is able to open them,as they are a specialist file.

WMFStands For Windows Metafile

Used For/Example Used for companies logos, similarly to AI files.

Advantage Can be scaled as it is a vector file.Can contain both vector and bitmap contents.

Disadvantage Only available on windows platforms.

File Format Capture and Optimising

CompressionDefinition Lossy compression is a reduction in the

file size which is caused by reducing the amount of information which is saved.

Advantage Reduces the file size and the amount of memory needed to store the file.

Disadvantage Images loose quality when compressed, and become ore pixelated as less pixels are saved each time.

Image CaptureMethod Scanner

How is it used for image capture of graphics

A scanner is used to digitalise physical images, such as sketches, physical photos or mixed media products.

Method CameraHow is it used for image capture of

graphicsYou take images, which then can be uploaded to a computer.

Method Graphics TabletHow is it used for image capture of

graphicsTechnology that allows you to use hand movements as a mouse, like a pen for illustration.

OptimisingWhy would you optimise? Images which are uploaded to the

internet are optimised for easy viewing on the web.

How can you optimise? You can optimise images by changing the 'image size' in photoshop. Other ways to optimise are reducing the bit depth, reducing the resolution and compressing images.

Advantage to optimising The image will load faster, as the larger the image file the longer it will take to load.

Disadvantage to optimising When optimising the amount of pixel information reduces, images are usually no more than 500 pixels wide.

Storage

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

First and foremost the amount of pixels will affect the document file size for a Working Scale document, an image that is 800x600 pixels will be significantly larger than a 80x60 pixel image. Secondly, the amount of layers and filters applied will drastically affect the file size due to the amount of information being stored per layer within the file .

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

affecting quality?

It is possible to reduce the file size of a Working Scale document by flattening the image. Doing so will not affect the quality, instead it will combine all layers and filters into a single layer. Typically this results in a single layer image of what is currently visible on the screen.

What is an advantage of scaling up images before exporting?

One of the advantages of scaling up an image before exporting it is that after exporting the image can be resized without loosing quality.

What is a disadvantage of scaling up images before exporting?

A definite disadvantage to scaling up any image is the loss of quality i.e. pixilation. A smaller image when enlarged or scaled up will not gain detail. Instead, each pixel will only be multiplied therefore and become more visible to the naked eye and the image will appear of lower quality

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

A common naming convention when naming files is replacing spaces with underscores. This ensures that in code doesn't confuse a space within a file name with a space in the code. A second naming convention to negate this issue it the use of CamelCase. ThisUsesCapitalLetersAtTheStartOfEveryWordInsteadOfSpaces. And naming them things that make sense, like red_button, blue_button instead of button1 and button2

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

It is a good idea to accurately name your assets so that you can easily find files within a complex folder structure as well as knowing what the files contain without having to open them first to check.

Asset ManagementWhy would you use folders when storing

your assets?To keep files organised, and easy to find.

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

Have a folder named ‘College’, inside this folder is three folders names ‘Work Related Learning’ ‘Photography’ and ‘Print’.