DIGITAL GRAPHICS

MATT HOWES
Pixels
A Pixel in digital imaging (other wise known as raster image or picture element.) is a
extremely small coloured dot in an image. Thousands of pixels are put to together to create
one image. The further you magnify into this image the larger the pixels will go, meaning the
quality of the image will decrease. This can also be called image resolution. The smaller the
resolution the less pixels the image will have. E.g. – A 4k TV would contain thousands of pixels
as the resolution would be extremely large (3840 x 2160) whereas an old TV, which has a
lower resolution of around 800 x 800 would contain minimal pixels. Depending on the
amount of pixels , will depend on the sharpness of colour and quality of a TV providing a more
intense image. A sharper image is made up of thousands of pixels, such as a 4k or 8k
TV/Monitor. A major problem with pixels are that if you have a small image and you are
wanting to enlarge it, because of the original image size you wont be able to do that without
the image decreasing in quality. This is known as resize in a bitmap graphic. If an image is
taken in a higher lighting, the pixels will come out as a higher brightness. But if there are any
dark spots in the image and you go to edit it into one brightness, you would have to re edit
each individual pixel to the correct colour scheme. This can cause problems with focus points
in the image and colours may show up to be incorrect ruining the original image.
Raster Images
A raster image, contains many small grids in an image. These grids can be viewed on
monitors and paper. When a raster image is exported they are exported in many types of file.
These types of images are not the same as a vector image. This can be shown when you
stretch out the image. When the image is stretched the quality will decrease. If you save a
raster image in its highest quality it will take up more space then a vector image, as it is
saving more pixels and a higher res. Raster images can have file extensions meaning that
they can be saved as several different formats. E.g. JPEG, BMP, PNG or a GIF. Depending on
which one of these you save the file as will determine the quality of the image. A JPEG is a
small file which compresses the image down reducing the quality slightly whereas a PNG will
keep the image at full quality but at a higher file size. File extensions are a way of determine
what type of file that you have. All file extensions come with the . and then three letters after.
This way shows the operating system what type of file that it is so when you go to open it, the
operating system will open the correct software for the correct file. For instance if you have a
JPEG file if will have a save of .JPG ands will open with windows photos.
Vector Images
Vector images, are images that can be resized to any size that you as a user desire with out
the quality or the colour decreasing. Vector images are made up with different objects (such
as polygons) which allow you to change things from the shape, colour and size without any
change in quality. A final vector image are usually exported in a high resolution giving you the
freedom to set any the image to any size without any quality change. These types of image
are also require little memory, no matter of the size of the image, making it easier for you to
save, or even email it to a friend without having to compress the image. (Compressing the
image will mean the quality will be reduced.) Most of the images made in vector don’t look
real as they are used in man made creations such as cartoons etc. Where a bitmap would
contain a real image. So vector would be useful for creating logo, or car badges etc. Vector
images can not be made from cameras and that. They have to be created in software's such
as Adobe illustrator, coral draw and vector graphics software. Most vector images are made
up of basic lines and curves to give a more sharp and clean final image. This is keeps the size
of the final product to a minimal. These lines are connected with points, meaning that it is
not all one shape, but hundreds of lines connected to hundreds of different points around the
image. Using software such as Adobe Illustrator will mean that the final product will have its
own file type. In this case is would be an AI File. If the image contains text it will be exported
as an EPS File. This is because the file will contain more lines and points that need to be kept
at high res.
Colour Space
• Colour space is known also as colour model. This works on a system of numbers to determine what
colour you get as an outcome. For instance 1 could be black and 14 could be green. Green is an RGB
colour and black is a greyscale colour.
• RGB – RGB colour (also known as Red, Green and Blue) are you your 3 base colours to create a colour
chart. These also work on the math system. In the 21st century your typical TV, Digital cameras or
printers all run on RGB colouring. RGB can also be broken down into the main colours, secondary
colours and tertiary colours.
• Greyscale – Greyscale consists of the two colours black and white, and would
have been used in posters and the beginning of the TV era back in the 1900`s.
Greyscale works the same as RGB, however it only has 2 colours two work with
meaning that there would only be 2 main numbers. With black and White, white is the more
dominant colour, so when an image is made there would be very little black included, giving it a
grey look. Hence the name greyscale.
Bit Depth
• In image, bit depth (also known as colour depth) is the number of bits that build up into a pixel, and
give you your first pixel of colour. Each image contains millions of little bits which can not be
recognised like pixels. If you have a greater bits this means that there are more colours available
giving you what is called a high colour. The less bits you have give less colours and less pixels giving a
horrible outcome of an image. For a monochrome, 1 monochrome bit can produce an 8 bit grey
scale images giving 256 shades of grey. This is because with a greyscale image there are less colours
meaning less bits are required. There are also 2 more types of bit depth. True colour is 24 bit, and this
uses the RGB colour scheme. This gives an image that looks somewhat real. A deep colour image
runs on around 48 bit. This allows there two be millions of colours which can give a perfect real
image on a TV. This type of bit could be found on HD monitors and some 4K TV`s. A HDMI lead,
which you use in a TV to give HD screening, uses 30 bit depth colour. So by using one of these you
may not be giving out your TV`s full capability. If you had a smart TV, you don’t need any leads to run
to a box so your TV could then use its highest capable bit rate of around 48.
Optimising
• Optimizing is where you change or edit a piece of work or software to get its maximum
performance out of it. Optimising could also include reducing file size to a requirement whilst
also keeping it at a more maximum quality. With images, by reducing the resolution or
dimensions of it, you can keep the image at a high quality, whilst reducing the file size.
Optimising images for the web would need to be done, as it has a requirement for the
dimensions. Editing images can be done in photoshop by setting the view range to 100% and
then editing it to the size that is required by the web. You can also optimise web sites to suit
different peoples needs. For instance the website YouTube can be used on nearly all devices
out on the market. There software can be optimised to fit on phones, TV's, tablets and even
games consoles. By optimising simple images, this could make a business look more
professional. This can be proven by looking at websites. If a user goes on a website they
expect to be able to have one that fits there display, and for the images and text to be
readable. This is done by optimisation as you have the option on a web browser to change the
view range of the browser which you can then have pre set to fit your display.
Image Capture
• Image capture is basically taking images. In the 21st century there are many ways to capture images.
These can start from pictures on your phone or on a digital camera. Depending on the bit rate of the
camera can depend on the quality of a image. For example a IPhone 7 has a 12mega pixel camera.
However and iPhone 5 only has a 8 megapixel camera, meaning that the quality of the images that
you take will not be as good a colour or quality as the iPhone 7. This process is the same as cameras.
They all run the same way, but different makes could be further ahead with technology in the way
they create them. If you take a picture and you want to scan it into your PC, then you would use a
scanner. Depending on the scanner will also depend on the outcome of your image. You could take
an image on a 12mp camera but your scanner may reduce it to 8mp. This is because it might not
have all up to date colours on it. This is why if you take an image at high res you should have a
scanner that can export it at high res. Taking images in smaller resolutions like 256x256 will give a
really small file size but also a really small image. So this size wouldn’t be able to be scanned as your
pixels would begin to show up on the exported image. Storage on phones are usually used up
mainly by pictures. This is because most new phones can take images in 1080p and 4k, which give a
really big
file size.
Sources
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/dida/graphics/bitmapvectorrev1.shtml

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/dida/graphics/bitmapvectorrev2.shtml

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayscale

• https://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/color-systems-rgb-and-cmyk

• https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=RGB+facts&oq=RGB+facts&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i22i30k1.6136.6690.0.7053.5.5.0.0.0.0.103.455.4j1.5.0....0...1.1.64.psy-
ab..0.5.449...0j0i67k1.KXOdqwOIxMo

• https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=RGB+Colour+wiki&oq=RGB+Colour+wiki&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0.5629.6903.0.7154.7.7.0.0.0.0.318.770.4j1j0j1.6.0....0...1.1.64.psy-
ab..1.6.767...0i22i30k1.GWCXGntZG-w

• https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bit+depth+monochrome+definition&oq=bit+depth+monochrome+definition&gs_l=psy-
ab.3..0i30k1.69289.70654.0.70741.10.10.0.0.0.0.147.937.5j4.9.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..2.8.833...0i7i30k1.shhtZfjynFw

• https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bit+depth+high+colour+definition&oq=bit+depth+high&gs_l=psy-
ab.3.1.0i22i30k1l4.74409.74937.0.77259.5.5.0.0.0.0.189.638.1j4.5.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.5.633...0j0i67k1.oTZGfSMAOvs

• https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bit+depth&oq=bit+depth&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l4.216446.217867.0.218537.9.9.0.0.0.0.109.741.5j3.8.0....0...1.1.64.psy-
ab..1.8.735...0i131k1j0i67k1j0i10i67k1j0i10k1.nqDhpAf7YY0

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_depth#18-bit

• http://www.dictionary.com/browse/optimising

• https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw=1280&bih=904&q=optimising+resolution&oq=optimising+reso&gs_l=psy-
ab.3.0.0l2j0i22i30k1l2.60262.61342.0.62005.4.4.0.0.0.0.81.283.4.4.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.4.281....0.zUZQ6_7gYIs