Digital Graphics

File Formats
Arran Bull

Raster Graphics
Raster Graphics (a.k.a. Bitmaps) are graphics builtup by pixels that each record the colour information
of a section of an image. Rasterised images have a
fixed resolution, causing them to lose quality when
being resized. The image gets separated into
Megapixels (1 Megapixel = 1,000,000 pixels) and
records the colour that area of the image should be.

Vector Graphics
Vector Graphics are built-up of paths/strokes defined by A to B
points with angles, curves and points in-between. With all this
information combined, the path becomes a shape, ranging
from a square, a triangle, a circle and even a line. Vectors
have no loss in definition which means they can be scaled to
different sizes without losing any quality; making vectors ideal
for creating logos.

Raster Graphics

JPEG
Stands For

Joint Photographic Expert

Group

Used For/Example

Uploading photos to the internet. For

example, images that are uploaded
to Facebook are saved as JPEG files.

Advantages

JPEG images have full colour

information. Thats because each
image consists of millions of
coloured pixels, each with its own
binary colour code. This makes it
great for displaying high-quality
images on screen in full colour. They
can also be uploaded on to the
internet for photo sharing without
requiring much data.

Disadvantages

Each time a JPEG image gets edited

(mainly increasing the image size
on-screen), it will lose quality due to
how it needs to be compressed and
decompressed in images content as
you can access the images edit
software when its a JPEG.

TIFF
Stands For
Used For/Example

Tagged Image File Format

It is used for desktop publishing. For
example, Adobe InDesign documents
are stored as TIFF files.

Advantages

Multi-page documents (such as word

documents) can be saved as TIFF files
so that they can be published online
for anyone to see without needing any
additional software. They also have
lossless compression so editing the file
will not loose any of its resolution
quality.

Disadvantages

The file size can be huge depending on

how much text, imagery or any
additional data is on there. This can
clog up data and can also be slower to
load.

GIF
Stands For

Graphic Interchange Format

Used For/Example

They are used for short, digitised

animations on the internet. For example,
the Nickelodeon website uses GIF
animations for their menu icons to make it
flashy and appealing for kids.

Advantages

They have lossless compression which

means that they wont lose resolution
quality when compressed. This makes the
format suitable for making logos it makes
them look clear at any resolution. It is
suitable for uploading animations thanks to
its video function and it has transparency
support so they can be at any cut-out
shape.

Disadvantages

The file type has a very limited colour

pallet: only 256 colours are available with
these files, which is why a lot of GIFs look
pixelated. The file sizes are huge which can
clog up storage space and can be slow to
load.

BMP
Stands For

Bitmap Image File

Used For/Example

Storing bitmap images. For example, BMP is

a great format for desktop wallpaper.

Advantages

The format supports lossless compression.

This makes the file type ideal for photo
editing and resizing, as no resolution quality
will be lost in the process. They are also
ideal for desktop wallpaper thanks to again,
the format having no loss in compression.
So no matter how big or small the resolution
is, the quality will be the same.

Disadvantages

BMP files often have a large file size, which

means they can clog up storage space and
can take longer to load when accessing the
file.

Vector Graphics

PSD
Stands For
Used For/Example

PhotoShop Document
Manipulating image files. They are often used for
front covers of magazines.

Advantages

PSD files have transparency support, so they can be

presented at any cut-out shape. Layers can be
saved onto these files in any order. This is a really
efficient feature for photo editing as you can layer
out each asset in any order you want. Speaking of
editing, theres a huge variety of tools to work with
and theyll all easy to use, making it user-friendly.
You can also tightly integrate PSD files onto other
Adobe formats with lossless compression, making it
easily portable with Adobe software.

Disadvantages

PSD files often have a large file size, which makes

them slower and harder to load and can take up
storage. Also, the format is exclusive to adobe
when it comes to integration, so while it is portable,
its very limited what you can port the files on. This
also means you have to have adobe software in
order to access a file in this format, which further
adds limit to the file types accessibility.

AI
Stands For
Used For/Example

Adobe Illustrator Art

To create graphics for illustrations and logos. For
example, illustrations for childrens books that are
produced digitally would use an AI format due to its
lossless compression and art-based tools.

Advantages

The format uses vector graphics for assets. This gives

the assets no loss in definition, making this format
perfect for resizing and editing as no resolution quality
will be lost. Speaking of editing, theres a large variety
of art-based tools for any user to use to create amazing
illustrations easily and efficiently. Like PSD files, layers
can be saved onto these files, making it easy to edit
graphics with this format. It also integrates with other
Adobe formats really well like PSD files.

Disadvantages

Trying to use the software effectively can have a steep

learning curve. This is a program designed for graphic
artists so the art-based tools, while efficient and fun-touse, does take some getting-used-to in order to use
them well. Sharing files on the internet in this format
can be tricky due to their large file sizes and restricted
online integration. Editing assets is limited compared to
PSD files as a new layer isnt automatically created
when a new shape is created. To efficiently use the
software for art, you may want to use a graphics tablet
in order to draw and paint more accurate outlines and
strokes.

FLA
Stands For

Flash File

Used For/Example

Creating animations and games for the internet. For

example, every animation and game published on
Newgrounds is a flash file.

Advantages

You can create a high quality flash file on a small

file size, which means flash files wont overly take
up storage space. These files also have no loss in
definition when editing thanks to the format being
vector based. So the file will be presented in the
same level of quality no matter how big the
resolution is. Sound, video and interactivity can be
incorporated into flash files as well as vector
graphics. This makes it more suitable for
entertainment than most other file types. The
software is designer friendly which is great for new
users.

Disadvantages

Flash files are mot compatible with all devices.

Thats because they require a flash player in order
to run. Not every device can support a flash player
so flash files have very restricted accessibility.
Depending on the file size, it can take very long to
load due to its added sound, video and interactivity
functions.

WMF
Stands For
Used For/Example

Windows Metafile
Used for making logos and displaying
images on screen. For example,
Microsoft Word clipart are WMF files.

Advantages

The format has both raster and vector

components, but its mostly vector.
This makes it great for resizing images
while simultaneously making it more
efficient for data storage.

Disadvantages

The format is not often used by

professional graphic designers due to
how unprofessional it looks from a
designer stand-point. In the case of
Microsoft Word clipart, using the
format can cause Plagiarism as it can
only offer images that are already
made by the software developers.
Therefore they belong to them.

File Format
Capture and
Optimising

Compression
Definition

Advantage

Disadvantage

Lossy Compression is where you remove

irrelevant or redundant information from
data in order to save storage or to transmit
image data efficiently. This also may include
reducing the image quality by decreasing
the resolution. However, thats not the case
with lossless compression, where you can
edit data with no loss in definition.
Getting rid of irrelevant information from
image files means that less data is saved.
This gives the file more space for more
necessary data to be saved.

However, reducing data does cost the

image to have lower quality by becoming
more pixelated. This is because the more
image compresses, the smaller the amount
of pixels there are on the image.

Image Capture
Method

Scanner

How is it used for

image capture of
graphics?

Digitising tangible images so they

can be transferred onto a device and
saved as any raster graphics file
type.

Method

Camera

How is it used for

image capture of
graphics?

Digital cameras have a sensor that

records information from the light that
enters the cameras lens. The
information is then passed onto the
cameras database and is next
translated into pixels to create a
digital image.

Method
How is it used for
image capture of
graphics?

Graphics Tablet

A tablet that you connect to a

computer. On it, the mouse is in the
form of a pen and you use the pen
on the tablet screen to enhance
production on digital artwork,
animations and handwriting.

Picture

Picture

Picture

Optimising
Why would you optimise?

Optimising is incredibly handy for making

an image easy to load and view on the
internet. This includes reducing the file size
(E.g. pixel information in this case) so that
the image will load a lot quicker on the web.

How can you optimise?

You can compress the image by decreasing

the resolution or bit depth of the image; the
lower the display quality of the image, the
less data required to process. Therefore, the
file size of the image will be smaller and will
be quicker to load and save in the process.

Advantage to optimising

Making the file size smaller will make the

image load faster on the internet because
there will be less data required to process.

Disadvantage to optimising

Reducing the file size by optimising and

compression means that the picture quality
will be lower.

Storage

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

The number of layers may affect the file size, as each

layer contains data, and data is what builds up a
computer files size. You can also affect a working scale
file size by rasterising graphics or by changing the
resolution of rasterised graphics due to how rasterised
graphics have a loss in definition when compressed. The
variety of the colour palette may also affect the file size
as the device has to read and process all the different
colour codes in order to present an image in full colour.

How could you reduce the file

size of a Working Scale
document without affecting
quality?

You may use vector graphics instead of raster graphics

because vector graphics have no loss in definition when
theyre compressed. Therefore, the quality will remain
the same and no optimisation is required. You can
maybe delete any layers that have no importance to the
image or you can merge layers together if theres no
need to edit them separately anymore.

What is an advantage of
scaling up images before
exporting?

If the files graphics are vector-based, the image quality

will remain consistent with any resolution size, even
larger sizes. So you can view graphics at any possible
size, and the picture quality will still be at a high level.

What is a disadvantage of
scaling up images before
exporting?

If the image is rasterised however, the image will have

to optimise in order for the scale to increase. So a larger
scale has the expense of a lower level of resolution
quality. The file size may also be increased which clogs
storage space and it will take longer take longer to load
as it will have more data to process.

File Naming Conventions

What naming conventions
could you use when creating
your video game assets?

Why is it a good idea to

accurately name your assets?

You should keep file names short and simple

so theyll be easy to memorise and find. If
you have made copies of a certain file, give
theme simple renames (E.g. filename,
filename2, filename3 etc.) You should also
record the dates and times of when the files
were created and when they were last
modified, as you can arrange files in
chronological order. Speaking of orders, its
ideal that you store the files in an orderly
fashion (E.g. alphabetical order, numerical
order etc.)
It makes it easier to identify and find a
specific file for when you need to access it
again. It also keeps the storage neat
because naming files makes your storage
more organised. Also, if you give your files
short names, less unnecessary data will be
stored, as text also adds data to storage
space.

Asset Management
Why would you use folders
when storing your assets?

So I can store data in an orderly

fashion. This makes it easy to
navigate through files and will
categorise my work so ill never be
lost when searching for a
particular file.

What folders would you create Media Coursework

Media Project
and what would you save
Proposal
within them

Pitch Presentation
Pitch Script
Analysis

Print Graphics

Comic Photos

Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3

Photoshop practise

Rotoscope Task
Shape Task
Film Quote Task
Text Task