SOFTWARE & HARDWARE

Teddie Hillier | Unit 30 Digital Graphics | 31/03/17

Task 1: Hardware
GPU: a graphic processing unit is what your computer uses to process and display 3D
models and vector images, the better the graphics card the better quality of model or
image your computer will be able to show.

CPU: (central processing unit) - the central processing unit is where all of the main
calculations take place, it is like the brains of the computer. When using programs such as
Photoshop, all the tasks that are taking place for example changing an image size or
adding a colour to the screen all have to be ran through the CPU before it can take place,
the CPU is what allow all tasks to take place.

RAM: (Random access memory) - random access memory is what allows you to do
multiple thing at a time on your PC, the better you RAM the more your will be able to do
at the same time on your PC without it slowing down or crashing. Once you have finished
using an application that uses RAM, all the data is completely wiped as so to not slow
down the PC. Having better RAM in your PC allows you to load up larger resolution
images quicker and allows you to open multiple without slowing down your computer.

File storage:

CD ROM- CD ROMs are not very popular anymore due to the size of hard drives
and the usefulness of compact USB sticks, but they can still be used. CD ROMs are
Compact discs, resembling what you would see with DVDs that are used as read
only optical memory devices for PC. It can also be used to store graphic images. It
can also be transferred between PCs as long as it has a disk tray.

Hard drive- where all information on a computer is stored and where it is all
retrieved from, there are multiple forms of hard drives, and there are solid-state
drives, which are external hard drives. they are more durable and easy to transfer
than magnetic hard drives which are kept inside that PC and are held together by
magnets

USB Flash drives- USB flash drives are very similar to external storage device
except my easier to use due to size and they are built to plug straight into a PC via
any USB port. They are a lot smaller therefore easier to carry around with you but
they are also allot smaller in storage size, meaning they cannot store anywhere
near as much as a normal hard drive.

Input devices:

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 Graphics tablet- a graphics tablet is used by a lot of professional designers, this
allows the user to draw out and design an image using the same process that a
designer would use when drawing on paper, except it is better as it still allows you
to use all the tools available on the designing software being used

Mouse- the computer mouse is the most basic necessity for a computer, and this is
the same for graphics, the mouse is what allows to do things like drawing, resizing
images, cropping images etc. youre not going to get very far without a mouse

Output devices:

Printer- a printer is to be used to print out all the different type of graphic content
that been created on a computer, it allows the user to create a physical copy of
their work.
Computer monitor- a computer monitor is vital to being able to use a graphical
application, the monitor is what allows the user to see what is going on when they
are using the application.

Software:
Vector based:

Adobe Illustrator- adobe illustrator is one of the most popular vector based
graphic software there is, it is normally used by companies to make logos etc. due
to it using mathematical equations to draw out designs, unlike bitmap which
stores the images on a grid of dots. The reason vector based images are used for
logos etc. is because it allows you to change the size of the image without the loss
of quality

Bitmap:

MS paint- Microsoft paint is basic graphics utility that has been included across all
versions of windows. It can be used to make basic drawings. And can also be used
to colour and edit pictures. This is a bitmap application so the images are stored as
a grid of dots.

Graphic images

Vector graphics- vector graphics are a type of graphic image that uses
mathematical algorithms to create its images. This means that it is perfect for

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 company use when creating things like logos, banners etc. this is because changing
the size of the image wont affect the resolution of the image.
.ai- (Adobe illustrator artwork) this type of file format allows you to use single
page vector based drawings with PDF (portable document file) and EPS
(encapsulated postscript)
.svg- (scalable vector graphics) this type of vector image format that is used in two-
dimensional graphics with support for animation.

Bitmap graphics: a bit map graphic image is made up of a thousand pixels, all the pixels
are given different colours that all come together to create one big picture. The downfall
with bitmap images is that rescaling the image causes a loss in resolution, this is due to
the pixels in the image being stretched out, causing distortion in the image.

.jpeg- (joint photographic experts group) this type of bitmap graphic is commonly
found on digital photos, digital cameras often use them due to their compression
method.

.gif- (graphics interchange format) gif are commonly used for animating pictures
and can support a wide range of colours. Being able to use a wide range of colours
makes it ideal for animated images.

.png (portable network graphics) png is used because of its ability to perfectly
compress and decompress images without losing the overall quality of the image.

.tiff (tagged image file format) tiffs are used due to their flexibility available for
across a wide range of platforms, they are popular among digital graphic artist and
photographers.

Types of file compression:

Lossy compression- lossy compression is a type of compression that permanently deletes

part of the data, this means that when the data is retrieved, it can only retrieve part of the
original data, meaning it loses its overall quality.

Lossless- unlike lossy compression, lossless uses complex compression algorithms to

compress files and uncompressed files without the image losing its overall quality.

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