Digital Graphics File Formats

Niamh Darby

Raster Graphics

Raster graphics are made up of Bitmaps. Bitmaps are tiny pixels that have a fixed resolution. Resizing these graphic could lead to distortion. The resolution commonly used on Photoshop is 300 pixels per image.

Vector Graphics

Vector graphics are made up of paths or vectors. Vectors are defined by a start and an end point with curves and angles between them. From these curves and angles, the path can become a line, a square or a curvy shape. Vectors can be sealed big or small without loss of definition, which is perfect for company logos.

Raster Graphics

JPEGStands For Joint Photographic Experts Group

Used For/Example JPEGs are very universal. They are used on social media websites, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Advantage JPEGs are adaptable. They have a low resolution for a small file so if the image is featured on a website, the page can load quicker than a larger file.

Disadvantage JPEGs lose quality when they are edited multiple times due to the compression and recompression of the file.

TIFFStands For Tagged Image File Format

Used For/Example TIFFs are used for desktop publishing.

Advantage TIFFs can save multi-page documents.

Disadvantage The file sizes can become huge and might not open on certain devices, such as Android or Apple phones.

GIFStands For Graphics Interchange Format

Used For/Example GIFs are used for short digital animations, often found on social media or websites.

Advantage GIFs are a series of images played one after the other in a loop to create the appearance of a video.

Disadvantage GIFs can have very bad quality playback meaning it has limited uses.

BMPStands For Bitmap Image File

Used For/Example BMPs are very similar to TIFFs and JPEGs.

Advantage Bitmap Image Files have no loss in compression so they have unlimited uses. They also have a large file size, so the level of detail is still featured.

Disadvantage Due to the large file sizes, BMPs take up a lot of memory space on devices.

Vector Graphics

PSDStands For Photoshop Document

Used For/Example PSDs are used for image manipulation, which is very adaptable for front covers of magazines.

Advantage They can save lots of layers at one time and supports transparency, for example; text and images.

Disadvantage PSDs are really big files and take up a lot of space on certain devices, so once finished with the final document, you have to save it as a JPEG. Also, PSDs are not supported on every device, such as Apple phones.

AIStands For Adobe Illustrator Art

Used For/Example AI can be used for companies to create logos.

Advantage AI can be scaled big or small because vector have no loss in definition.

Disadvantage Due to the files having no loss in compression, every time a file is saved under this format, it takes up lots of memory on devices.

FLAStands For Flash File

Used For/Example FLAs are used to create animation and games.

Advantage FLAs produce high quality files with a small file size which includes sound and video. Also, FLAs are not overly complicated to use.

Disadvantage If batches of FLAs are saved, it can take up lots of memory.

WMFStands For Windows Meta Files

Used For/Example These are similar to AI as they are used to create logos and clipart. WMFs can contain elements from both vectors and bitmaps.

Advantage WMFs can be scaled big and small as vectors have no loss in definition.

Disadvantage WMFs are very low quality and are only found on Windows devices.

File Format Capture and Optimising

CompressionDefinition Compression is the way in which file sizes

are reduced by reducing by reducing the amount of information saved.

Advantage The file sizes are small due to the file saving smaller amounts of coloured squares each time.

Disadvantage Images become more pixelated the more they are saved due to the compression reducing the file size, then reducing the quality of the file.

Image CaptureMethod Scanner

How is it used for image capture of graphics

Scanners allows images such as physical photos to be digitalised.

Method CameraHow is it used for image capture of graphics

Digital cameras allow you to take photos on the go as it is portable, also the images taken can be uploaded on to certain devices such as computers.

Method Graphics TabletHow is it used for image capture of graphics

A tablet allows you to control a mouse like a pen. It can be used for drawing and creating digital handwriting.

OptimisingWhy would you optimise? Images are optimised so when they are

uploaded to the internet, there is easier viewing.

How can you optimise? You can optimise an image for web by changing the image size in Photoshop. This reduces the image depth, resolution and compresses the image to optimise.

Advantage to optimising It is easy and simple to optimise your images in Photoshop. When the images are optimised, they can be downloaded quickly from the internet.

Disadvantage to optimising Images that haven’t been optimised result to the webpage taking a while to download images and text on the page, as well as downloading the image itself.

Storage

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

A working scale file size could affect the image resolution in a document. For example; the image could become pixelated more if the file is saved often.

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

You could compress the file size so the quality is still the same but the file size is smaller.

What is an advantage of scaling up images before exporting?

Scaling up the images before exporting them ensures the image can fit the page that the image wants to be exported to.

What is a disadvantage of scaling up images before exporting?

The image may have to be adjusted to the page, so it is measured accurately to the document.

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

Every time I create a new version of a document I will name it, for example; “Cat Cartoon V0.3”, so I know which file is the most recent I have worked on. Also, I will keep the other versions of my files just in case I lose one.

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

It is a good idea so you know which file is which and you don’t waste time trying to find the correct file.

Asset ManagementWhy would you use folders when storing your assets?

It is easier to use folders for organising your files as everything is in the correct place and nothing will get misplaced, and it is much easier and neater than having thousands of files to scroll through.

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

I would create a folder for each character and save everything that belongs to the certain aspect in the folder assigned to the correct character or object.