Task 4

Pixels: Pixels are very small squares that make up every

digital image, they consist of three sections which are made
of three different colours, Red Green and Blue. Pixels in an
image are a constant size which means when you enlarge an
image the pizels are enlarged at the same rate, this means the
image quality goes down when you enlarge an image. This is the
opposite for when you shrink an image though, the pixels shrink
down improving the image quality. An images quality depends on the amount of
pixels per square inch, for example an image with 3000 pixels per square inch
would look better than an image with only 700 pixels per square inch. Most
modern computer screen have a resoloution of 1920x1080 which means there
are 2,730,600 pixels which make up the screen, this allows for a very high
picture quality. The intensity of a pixels is how bright it is, for example a very
white pixel will have a much higher intensity compared to a pixel which is black.
This means that pixels with a higher intensity will stand out more on a dark
background, this can be useful when trying to make a logo stand out for
example.
Raster Images: Raster images are the most commonly used, this is because they
allow for very detailed images when used at the correct resolution. The images
are made out of grids of pixels which are commonly referred to as bitmaps.
Bitmap images have very large file sizes compared to vector images due to the
extra data that is stored, this data ranges from the location of each pixel to the
thousands of colours which make up the image. Bitmap images can be stored as
many different file types, for example: bmp, png, gif, tiff, jpg, psd. A jpeg file
stands for Join Photographic Experts Group, this file format was designed in
1986. Jpeg images can display millions of colours in a 16-bit data format, they
are also the standard file format for most digital cameras. Jpegs uses a very
complex compression algorithm to reduce the file size by 60%-75%, this makes
them very useful In situations where a small file size is more important than the
maximum image quality. This format of file is compatible across many platforms
such as PCs and Macs which makes it a great choise due to its ease of use. Its
also compatible on other programs such as web browsers and images editors.
The best uses for jpegs are for still images, real-world images such as photos,
complex colouring and the shading of light and dark. GIF file format stands for
Grpahics Interchange Format, it was created in 1987 by compuserve with the
purpose of transfring images quickly across slow connections. It can only display
256 separate colours but can be interlaced with progressive loading which
means it shows a low quality version of the image first and then adds more detail
as It loads. It allows for single-bit transparency which means one colour can be
chosen to be transparent. GIF images can be animated which makes them great
for simple animations which dont have much movement. The best uses for GIF
images include web graphics where few colours are going to be used (A mouse
cursor for example). Small icons which may also be used on websites.
Animations where not much movement or colour is needed. Simple images such
as line drawings with single-colour borders (Basic blueprints). A PNG file format
stands for Portable Network Graphics. This type of file was designed in the mid

1990s as a way around patent issues with the GIF format.

It was
designed to include benefits from both Gifs and
JPEGs making it an excellent all-round file
format. PNG-8 files are very similar GIFs in that
they can only display 256 colours and only
allow for 1-bit transparency. They are even
smaller than GIF files. PNG-24 files allow 24-bit
colour which is similar to a JPEG, this means they can include
over 16 million colours which makes them great for vibrant images.
PNG files use alpha-channels, this means they allow transparency to
be set on a scale between opaque and completely transparent, this
means they are excellent when creating a faded or translucent look. PNG files
are best used for web images such as logos as they allow for transparency and
fading affects which some logos may contain. Theyre also great for complex
images like photographs if the file size isnt as important as the image quality.
The most commonly used ones are png and jpg. Due to the large file sizes
casued by bitmaps the files are compressed, there are two different types of
compression, lossless and lossy. Lossless compression reduces the file size but at
the same time preserving an excact copy of the original image which is then uncompressed for editing. Lossy compression also preservs a reprensentation of
the original image but its not a perfect copy, this is why lossy compression most
commonly results in a smaller file size as it reduces the image quality more.
Vector images: Vector images use points, lines, curves
and shapes or polygons to create images, this means they
dont uses pixels allowing them to keep the same quality
no matter what size they are. This makes vector images
great for company logos as they can be used anywhere
without loosing any quality, this means they can use the
same image on a website and then on the side of a truck
without any pixelisation. Vector images have very small
file sizes compared to those of a bitmap image due to the
reduction in data that is remembered, this is because the
file only has to remember the location of solid shapes and
their colours, not the location of millions of pixels. Raster
images have different file formats to those of a bitmap as
they remember different information, the most popular
raster image file types are, sai, ct, pwp, hdr and jng.
Bit depth:
Bit depth is the colour information stored in an image, the higher the bit depth of
the image the more colours it can store. For example a 1 bit image can only store
two colours, black and white. 0 (white) and 1 (black). An image with 8 bit can
store up to 256 colours but the most detailed and colourful ones are 24 bit which
can store 16 million different colours. As the bit depth goes up the file size
increases, this is because the file has to store more information as it contains
more colours. This can be a problem if the image has to be downloaded from a
website as it may take an excessive amount of time, to resolve this the website
may lower the bit depth lowering the image quality but lowering the time it takes
to download at the same time.

Colour Space:
Colour space is the range of colour that a camera can
see, a printer can print and a monitor can display. A
higher colour space means that a bigger range of
colours can be shown or displayed,
this means that any device with a
higher colour space will be able to
display more vibrant colours
compared to one with a smaller colour space. Colour space
uses RGB (Red,Green,Blue) to show the range of displayable
colours, this image here shows the different sizes of colour
space provided by two separate programs. The Adobe
programme has a larger colour space so it will be able to display a wider range of
colours making it better for photo editing. Another type of colour space is CMYK,
this uses Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black compared to the Red Green and Blue
or RGB. RGB has 16,777,216 potential colours compared to the much smaller
range of 1,000,000 different colour variants of CMYK, due to this they are used in
different ways. RGB is used on computer monitors, Email, internet/Websites,
CD/DVD files, Television, office and home printers and all digital files. CMYK on
the other hand is used for, posters, billboards, glossies, business cards,
brochures and leaflets and all types of traditional print media such as
newspapers and magazines. The strengths of CMYK are that its great for offset
printing processors, it offers crisper colours on blue-white printing paper and also
makes for warmer colours on creamy-white paper. RGBs strengths are that its
best for onscreen or digital viewing, can adapt to basic home or office printing. It
allows for easy on-screen colour manipulation in programs such as Photoshop,
using a program like Photoshop it can also be converted into CMYK. The
weakness to RGB is that it loses the precision level of RGB when it is converted
to CMYK. The downside to CMYK is the cost of the colours. Grayscale is like colour
space but without the colours, it is a range of Greys which go from black which is
totally absent of transmitted and reflected light to white which transmits and
reflects all light. Like colour space the bigger the grey scale the wider range of
colours or in this case greys it can display.
Image Capture:
To capture a digital image you need to use a device such as a digital scanner or a
digital camera, the image can then be edited on a digital device such as a
computer or smart phone. A digital camera works by focusing light onto a sensor
made out of silicon, this sensor is make up of a grid of tiny photosites that are
sensitive to light. It then records the light detected and creates a digital image.
There are four main types of digital camera. Camera phones are very portable
and can take decent images but may not have as many featured or options as
higher ends digital cameras and they dont work to well in low light situations.
The next best type of digital camera is a point-and-shoot camera, these types of
camera are great for beginners as they take better pictures than most camera
phones but still provided the same ease of transport due to the small size. The
downside to this type of camera is that they still dont work well in low light

situations and most of them dont have interchangeable lenses. If the user is
looking for a much more advanced camera but doesnt want to purchase a DSLR
they can settle for a bridge camera, these cameras are great as they offer high
quality images and often have a very powerful zoom. The downside to this type
of camera is they dont have changeable lenses and are less portable than pointand-shoot cameras due to their bulkier size. The best type of digital camera is a
DSLR, these camera provided the very best image quality whilst offering
changeable lenses and large sensors which allows for great images even in low
light situations. The downside to this type of camera is they are much more
expensive than the others and more difficult to use due to the complex lenses
and settings.
Scanners are devices that analyses the surface of an image or an object and turn
it into a two dimensional digital image, the way they do this depends on the type
of scanner it is. In a Flatbed Scanner a bright light illuminated the images whilst
an array of capacitors moves across the images recording the displayed light.
Another type of scanner is a Sheet Feed scanner, this operates exactly like a
Flatbed Scanner except instead of the image or object being laid down it is fed
through the scanner via a roller. This type of scanner is good for scanning large
amounts of documents as it is more automated than a Flatbed Scanner.
When capturing an image the resolution is very important, the lower the
resolution the poorer the image quality is. This is because a lower revolution
contains less pixels so the image isnt as detailed, for example; 256x256 only
contains 65,000 pixels which would mean the image is very low quality
compared to 1600x1200 which contains almost 2 million pixels, this image would
be HD or high definition meaning its one of the best images possible. Depending
on where the image is going to be used will affect what resolution the image
should be, for example if the image is for download off a website the resolution
should be shrunk down to decrease the download time. If the image is going to
be used for a desktop background it should match the resolution of the screen
for the best results.

It is important that when working with images to try and keep the file size as
small as possible, this is to keep loading times down and allows more images to
be stored on the hard drive or UDB drive. There are a number of ways of keeping
the file size of an image down, one way is to save the image as a different file
type.

Here is an example of the same image that has been saved as two different file
types, one is a PNG image and the other is the programs own file. The PNG
image's size is almost 6x that of the paint.net image as it's has a higher quality,

in this case if the image was to be uploaded to a website for people to download
they should use the paint.net file as it will take less time to download.

Optimising:
The target destination of the images can play an important role when optimising
an image, if the images is to be used on a website which will make it available to
download the image will have to be saved in a smaller file size to reduce the
download times. Another factor they will have to take into account is how
compatible the file type is, if it's a less supported type of file it may cause issues
for people when they attempt to open it with a certain program.
Bit Depth is another way of optimising a file as it allows for great control over the
size of a file. Images with a higher Bit Depth will load slower on websites and
take longer to download but will have a much higher quality, finding the correct
balance between the quality and the file size is very important depending on
where the image is going to be used. Images on websites usually have a lower
Bit Depth to help reduce the loading times compared to Desktop background
which will have a greater Bit Depth as one the image is loaded it doesn't need to
load again.
The resolution of an image can also be used for optimizing purposes, for example
making the resolution larger will work best for images that need to be better
quality and not have a smaller file size. If the quality of the image isn't as
important as the file size the resolution can be lowered allowing for the required
smaller file. This is up to the user to decide which one they will optimise, it will
most often depend on how the image will be used.
When optimising an image changing the dimension (Width & Height) can be very
useful, this all depends on where the image is going to be used. If the image is
going to be shrunk down from its original size the image quality will remain
roughly the same as the pixels aren't being stretched, but if the image is going to
be enlarged instead it stretches the pixels out causing the image to loose quality.
Depending on where the image will be used depends on whether the user should
resize the image with a risk of losing some of its original quality.
When creating or editing a digital image it is important to think about the
intended output or use of the image, this is so it can be made to fit that intended
purpose. The best way to optimise an image for its purpose is to think about if
it's going to be downloaded so the file size should be kept low or if it may get
resized often the resolution maxed out. The intended output acts as guides to
which the creator of the image follows to make sure it's best optimised for its
purpose.