Digital Graphics File Formats

Natalie Lynch

Raster Graphics

• Raster Graphics are made up of bitmaps. Bitmaps are are made up of pixels and have a fixed resolution (for example, Photoshop documents use 300dpi). This causes raster graphics to become distorted if resized, especially on a larger scale.

Vector Graphics

• Vector Graphics are made up of vectors, which are also known as paths or strokes. These can’t be distorted when resizing as they have a start and end point, with curves, points and angles in between them. Because of this, vector graphics are perfect for company logos as they can be used on business cards but can also be stretched big enough to fit a billboard without losing quality.

Raster Graphics

JPEGStands For Joint Photographic Experts Group

Used For/Example JPEGs are generally used for photographs and web formats. It is the most used image format on digital cameras.

Advantage • Stores/transfers full colour information of images.

• JPEG formatted files are compatible across most, if not all platforms. This includes PC and Mac.

Disadvantage • It loses quality with every edit that is made.

• Not as suitable for working with text.

TIFFStands For Tagged Image File Format

Used For/Example Good for desktop publishing as well as many aspects of graphic design.

Advantage • Allows for multiple pages in just one TIFF file when used through Adobe InDesign.

• These files don’t lose any quality if the option of lossless compression is chosen.

Disadvantage • These file types have large sizes, making the transfer process slow.

• Not all websites support this file type.

GIFStands For Graphics Interchange Format

Used For/Example This file type is used for creating short digital animations. They’re used a lot on social media eg Twitter & Facebook.

Advantage • GIFs support transparent backgrounds.• They can show and enhance more

emotion/movement than a regular, still image can.

Disadvantage • Usually low quality and look more pixelated.

• There’s no way of editing a GIF after being saved initially so any mistakes mean it’ll have to be created from scratch again.

BMPStands For Bitmap Image File

Used For/Example This is a bitmap image file used to store bitmap digital images. Can range from black and white to 24 bit colour.

Advantage • No loss of quality when edited, unlike JPEG files.

• Similar to JPEG and TIFF.• Supported and compatible on every

device.

Disadvantage • Large file sizes which again make transferring difficult as it’ll take a long time or take up a lot of memory on storage.

Vector Graphics

PSDStands For Photoshop Document

Used For/Example Used for photo image manipulation. An example is how it’s used for creating magazine front covers.

Advantage • Enables you to save layers.• Supports transparency so can make

things to be used against other backgrounds

Disadvantage • Takes up a lot of storage as it uses no compression.

• Not many other programmes allow you to open Photoshop documents.

• Doesn't allow for multiple pages.

AIStands For Adobe Illustrator

Used For/Example Used for logo creation and graphics (something that can represent a company).

Advantage • Can be scaled as small or large as is wanted as there’s no loss in definition.

• Small file size so easy for sharing and transferring.

Disadvantage • Very realistic so user must be patient in order to get it exactly how they want.

• Limitations on where the files can be viewed.

FLAStands For Flash File

Used For/Example Flash Files are used to create animations as well as games.

Advantage • These file types can include video and audio – broadening what you can actually do and include.

• They are of high quality.• They also have a small file size which

means they wont take too long to load when viewed online.

Disadvantage • Flash files are specialist so not many programmes allow the viewing and opening of them.

WMFStands For Windows Metafile

Used For/Example Similar to AI files – can also create logos and graphics but focus more on Clip Art.

Advantage • Can be scaled both big and small again as there’s no loss in definition when resizing.

• These file formats can contain both vector and bitmap components.

Disadvantage • Only available on windows software making it difficult for sharing and viewing elsewhere.

File Format Capture and Optimising

CompressionDefinition Lossy compression is how the file size is

made to be smaller. This is done by reducing the amount of information that is saved within the file.

Advantage Compression is very useful as it makes the file size a lot smaller as well as the amount of storage that is required. This enables it to be a lot easier to share and transfer files as the process of this will be a lot faster than the original file.

Disadvantage Every time a file is compressed, it loses a lot of quality as it saves less pixels, causing the file to become more an more pixelated and therefore less clear.

Image CaptureMethod Scanner

How is it used for image capture of graphics

This allows the user to scan physical images into a computer document such as Photoshop. It enables the person to create things in the form of sketches or digital images that are more realistic and really specific to how they want it and then edit in a programme.

Method CameraHow is it used for image capture of

graphicsAllows you to take photo of a specific thing to be used in your work.

Method Graphics TabletHow is it used for image capture of

graphicsAllows you to control the mouse like a pen and create visual things such as drawings or handwriting. It also gives the user more control over what they’re creating.

OptimisingWhy would you optimise? You would optimise a file in order to make

it easier to view on the web. For example, a larger file size takes longer to download so it can then be viewed.

How can you optimise? Most formats optimise by taking away part of the information in the image or file. You optimise by reducing the file size.

Advantage to optimising Smaller file sizes mean easier, as well as quicker viewing and sharing online. There won’t be as long to wait to download files.

Disadvantage to optimising The image will be more pixelated and less clear as it’ll have a smaller file size. (Losing quality)

Storage

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

Things such as image layers and shapes within the file may affect its size. Another thing that may affect it is how much editing has been done as this means it’ll need to save more information.

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

affecting quality?

By reducing the bit depth of the image.

What is an advantage of scaling up images before exporting?

If saved a JPEG, this will make the file a lot easier to view and share.

What is a disadvantage of scaling up images before exporting?

Scaling up images may cause things such as distortion or result in the image becoming pixelated. If saved as a JPEG this sometimes can’t be altered.

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

When creating video game assets such as the characters, naming conventions should be used in order to be organised and know where everything is. An example is naming the different characters and then labelling each file with things such as the character name and then front, back and side.

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

It’s a good idea to name assets accurately as you’ll be able to find them a lot quicker and are less likely to mistake them with a file you don’t actually need if you come to deleting it. Also if you name it the same as something else you have the risk of losing one of the files when it chooses to replace it.

Asset ManagementWhy would you use folders when storing

your assets?You use folders in order to know where everything exactly is. With certain things (eg video games), there may be a large number of assets and parts to it so folders come in handy when sectioning things in order to find them easily.

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

I would create different folders for sub-topics within the main topic. Each one will contain things relating to each different aspect of the topic. I would do this so everything is separate and easier to find and the file sizes will be smaller if you’re just wanting to transfer one particular sub folder.