Creative Media

Unit 19-Digital graphics

Assignment 1-Understand theory and applications of digital graphics

technology

Laurie Pote
Pixel (Picture Element)
The word Pixel is a combination of the words Picture element. One
pixel is one part of a photograph, a pixel is the smallest unit of data in
a photograph. Think of it as the smallest amount of paint on a canvas.
Image resolution
The resolution of an image is the number of pixels in that image. The
resolution of an image is expressed by two numbers such as 1080 x
720. These numbers indicate that the image has 1080 pixels from left
to right, and 720 pixels from top to bottom.

The number of pixels can also be expressed as a whole number.

Cameras are referred to as having a number of megapixels. One
megapixel is equal to one million pixels. A four mega pixel camera
means that the number of pixels captured in the cameras photo is four
million
Pixel Intensity
The grey intensity of a pixel is a value that is given to a pixel to indicate
its colour. Pixel values range from being black to grey to white. The
value for black being zero and the value for white usually being 255.
The diagram below illustrates this idea.
Colour Space
This idea of assigning pixels a numerical value can be used to add colour to an
image. Taking advantage of the fact that any colour can be produced by mixing red
blue or green, a pixel can be allocated three separate numbers which indicate the
intensity of each colour. Therefore producing any desired colour. Exactly as
grayscale images, zero represents none of the colour and 255 represents the
highest intensity of the colour. The diagram below shows how this mixing method
works.
Raster Images
A raster image is a digital image that is created or captured, by a
camera for instance. A raster itself is a grid with labelled with x and y
coordinates. An image is produced by the certain coordinates
changing colour. The raster file contains these coordinates (and the
colour the coordinate should become), communicates them to the
raster and then an image is produced.
Compression Of Images
To compress an image is to reduce its file size and possibly change some of
its qualities. Compression can alter an images resolution, file type and bit
depth.
There are two types of compression, lossless and lossy. Lossless
compression, as the name would suggest, means that no data in the file is
lost. Since no data is lost the image quality remains exactly the same. During
lossy compression data is permanently lost, lowering the image quality and
reducing the file size. A benefit of reducing the size of a file is that they use
up less space on a computers hard or solid state drive. Another benefit is
that, since the file is smaller it will have a quicker upload or download time.
File extensions. (gif, tiff, jpg and psd)
A GIF compression compresses an image to an 8-bit colour depth. Since
this is a very low image quality a GIF is not suited to HD images. When
an image Is needed to be slightly see through it will be saved as a gif.
An animated gif can be created with this type of compression. Like the
one below
Tiff
Tiff stands for Tag Image File Format.

A tiff file uses LZW compression which is an example of lossless compression. This
means the file size of an image can be decreased without any loss of data. This is a
big advantage of using a tiff file, however, the algorithm needed to produce this
type of compression is patented. Due to this patent, many programs will not read
or write tiff files using LZW compression because the company will want to avoid
paying royalties for the use of the algorithm.
JPEG files
An example of a file type that uses lossy compression is a JPEG. Due
to information being lost, the amount of compression is much higher.
While the file size being reduced is an advantage a disadvantage of
the JPEG file format is that the image will suffer a significant drop in
quality because of fewer pixels being present.
PSD file
The PSD file extension is used in adobe photoshop. PSD is an acronym for
photoshop document. This file extension allows the images individual layers to
be accessed and edited after the image has been saved. PSD is the default format
that photoshop uses in saved files. When the image in the PSD file has been
completed by the user, the user can combine the layers into a flat image and then
save the combined layers as one of the previously mentioned files, a GIFF, TIFF or
JPEG. Once the PSD file has been converted into one of these new file formats, it
cannot be converted back into a PSD file and the layers be edited. A way of around
this is to save a copied version of the PSD file before converting it.
Vector Images
Vector images are produced by a program interpreting a sequence of mathematical equations that
produce lines on points of a two or three dimensional space. A vector itself is defined as a quantity
and a direction at the same time. Using this principal, a vector file is a saved sequence of vector
statements that describe a series of points that should be connected, the equations can be used to
make any shape, the lines produced can have curves and can be used to produce polygons. A
polygon is a series of connected lines that make a closed shape. Vector files are much smaller files
than raster files due to an equation taking up less space than a set of individual coordinates on a
graph.
eps
Another example for a file extension is the EPS extension. EPS is an
acronym for encapsulated postscript. EPS files are able to contain text
and graphics. EPS files normally contain bit map versions of the image
because it allows the image to be seen in a more simple way, compared
to using vector instructions to draw the image.
Bit depth
An images bit depth is the number of bits used to show the colour of a pixel in an image. An images bits per
pixel (BPP) is the number of bits used in an a single pixel. When the number of bits is linked to a pixels colour
component it is referred to as bits per sample (BPS).Bit depth communicates the level of quality in the pixel
colour, bit depth is sometimes referred to as colour precision.
A monochrome image is also sometimes called a binary image. This is because only two colours (Black and
white) can be used to represent each pixel. Monochrome images are very small files due to there only being
two colours and are usually stored as bitmap files.
A high colour image will be created by each pixel being represented by two bytes. This allows the pixel to have
65,536 possible colour options. High colour images will usually be used on small devices such as mobile phones
or portable gaming devices.
True colour is the colour of a pixel using a 24-bit value. This value allows the pixel to be one of 16,777,216
possible colours.
Image capture
Image capture is defined as "the process of obtaining a digital image from a vision
sensor". A vision sensor could be a camera or a scanner. A scanner works by having
a beam of light illuminate a photo, then capacitors move across the whole photo
reading the whole area of the photo and storing the intensity of light that each part
of the photo emit, then the capacitors digitally recreate the amount of light they
receive, producing a scan of an image. Digital cameras work by having light flood in
through the lens onto an electronic sensor where the light rays are turned into
electrical signals, these signals are then used to digitally recreate the image on the
camera.
Resolution
An images resolution depends on its pixels per inch or "PPI". PPI refers to the density of pixels in an image. The
higher an images PPI the more pixels it has in every inch, and the more pixels the higher the resolution of the
image.

Storage
Images are stored in many different places such as SD cards, mobile phones and computers. If an image file is
too large for the memory on the storage device the image size must be lowered. To do this the image can be
exported as a JPEG file, this file type change lowers the amount of pixels in the image (and consequently the
image quality) now since there are fewer pixels the image file is smaller and will take up less space on the
storage device.
Asset management
Digital Asset management refers to the organisation of files. The files that require organisation often belong to
a business that need quick and frequent access to these files and asset management is a way of ensuring files
are easily accessed, restored and distributed.
Optimising

Images are optimised to reduce file size while also retaining a high quality image. Optimised images are
displayed on webpages and stored without taking up too much space. An optimised image will have a fast load
up time, this lowers user wait time and improves the user experience. Optmising will be used by businesses on
their websites to make their load time as quick as possible so their potential customers are not discouraged by
low load times.
Target destination
An images target destination is where the user intends for their image
to be located. Having the image saved in a specific, labelled destination
allows the images or images to be quickly found by a server or user
Bit depth
An images bit depth is the amount of colour in an image. As the bit depth increases
the file size increases. Therefore reducing the bit depth of an image reduces the file
size. A problem with lowering the bit depth is that since there is less colour the
image quality will be lower. The user will have to decide if they value the image
quality or the upload/download speed and file size more.
Dimensions
An images dimensions are the measurements of the images length and width. The
larger the dimensions of an image, the more pixels and the longer load time.
Similarly to bit depth a person must decide what they see as more important, the
quality and size of the image, or the speed at which the image is loaded.
Intended image
When a website is created the images on the website have to be
outputted correctly, in that they must fit on the webpage and need to
be able to be accessed quickly. An images intended output is
information found in a file that informs the images output.
Sources
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/pixel

http://www.ultimate-photo-tips.com/what-is-a-pixel.html

http://www.whydomath.org/node/wavlets/imagebasics.html

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/raster-graphics

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zqyrq6f/revision/4

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/6362574

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zqyrq6f/revision/4

http://whatis.techtarget.com/fileformat/PSD-Adobe-Photoshop-default

http://etc.usf.edu/techease/win/images/what-is-bit-depth/

http://searchwindevelopment.techtarget.com/definition/vector-graphics

https://07268grum.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/bit-depth-sampling-bits-per-pixel-monochrome-high-true-colour/

http://www.encyclopedia.com/computing/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/image-capture

http://static.highspeedbackbone.net/html/scanners.html

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/digitalcameras.html

https://jmarcer547.wordpress.com/

http://whatis.techtarget.com/fileformat/EPS-Encapsulated-Postscript-Vector-graphics-Adobe-Illustrator