File Types

Terms Multimedia- the integration of text, sound, video and/or animation into a document Letters, brochures, newsletters, web pages or presentations. Graphics- everything on a page that is not text Multimedia and Image Management choices communicate a message and business success depends on the effectiveness of that message.

Image Formats Image programs save graphics with specific extensions indicating the file format. Extensions are 2-4 letters following the. At the end of a file name Ex. Picture.jpg Each program has a native format specific to it. Images should be saved in their native format for later editing. Different file formats are appropriate for different situations so knowing the difference between them is important.

Painting Programs Painting programs create images by using pixels. Pixels(Picture element)- a data representation of a specific color at a specific location on a grid. I.E. small squares with each pixel assigned a color. Painting programs are usually easier to use but do not give as high quality of results as drawing programs. Examples of Painting Programs Microsoft Paint Adobe Photoshop

Painting (cont’d) Painting programs create bitmap graphics made of pixels. Each pixel has a defined color, size and place in the image Sharpness is determined by the density of the pixels and the density determines the resolution. Resolution- Dots per inch or the numbers of pixels in rows and columns The higher the resolution, the better your image will appear or print.

Bitmapped Images Bitmap images(.bmp) are usually used in word processing documents or ones that run Windows. They are limited to 256 colors but are still rather large files. Tagged Image File Format (.tif) files work well in all environments They are also very large and often used in print documents Uncompressed and can show 16 million colors Some scanners and digital cameras produce TIFF files.

Images for the Web The time it takes to download a graphic on the Internet depends on the size of the file. Algorithms have been written to improve download speed by reducing or compressing the file Compression-process of reducing the size of an image 2 types Lossless- reduces file size without losing any pixel information Lossy- changes pixels by removing pixels it considers not essential.

GIF Graphics Interchange Format(GIF) Developed by CompuServe in 1994 Other software companies must pay royalties to them to use file format Only use 256 colors and are very small Used to create line drawings, images with transparent backgrounds an animated figures. Not good for images that require great color depth, like pictures GIF compression is loseless. 2 choices Interlaced- image loads onto Web page in stages until it reaches full resolution Noninterlaced- loads image from top down until image is complete.

Other file types.JPG(jay-peg) Uses 16 million colors Reproduces the quality, color and detail found in photographs. Most digital cameras use to save graphics Compression formula allows you to choose amount of compression to balance quality with size.PNG Uses 16 million colors Not supported by all web browsers

Drawing Programs Drawing programs create images made of mathematically defined lines and curves called vectors. Vector- an image created by using a series of mathematically defined lines and curves rather than pixels. Makes images easier to resize or scale. Unlike bitmap images, quality remains same despite scaling. Scaling-enlarging or reducing image Smoother than a bitmap image

More on Drawing Once graphic is completed, it can be saved as a bitmap(rastor) image, called rasterizing for use on the Internet Are smaller than bitmaps but do not show gradations of color Common vector file formats.cdr- CorelDraw.ai Adobe Illustrator.swf Shockwave Flash

Comparison Activity Create a drawing in Adobe Illustrator Make sure that your drawing has color At least 3 elements Save the file as an.ai file called vector example Then Save for Web and save file under same name but as a.gif or.jpg. Create a similar drawing with the same requirements in Photoshop Save the file as a.psd document called raster example. Then Save for Web and save file under same name but as a.gif or.jpg.

Activity Part 2 After you have created each file, answer the following: What is the size of each file? Which is bigger, why? To determine size, open My Computer and point to the file. Which file is better quality? Which file would be best for the web? Which file would be best for print? Zoom each file to 800%. How does each file change, if it changes? List 2 advantages of vector art. List 2 advantages of raster images. List 3 file types and give 1 pro and 1 con of each. What is the difference between PhotoShop and Illustrator? Which is easier to use, why? Answer in at least 3 sentences. Save the word file with the answers to the questions as vectorvsbit_firstnameli