Working With Images Computer Platforms Used for Graphics

Today, almost all commercial graphics work, design, and illustration is done on the computer rather than by hand. Designers need to be as skilled with computers and software as they are with artistic techniques.

The era of art on personal computers was started in 1984, with the release of the first Apple computers. Their use of pointing devices, the WYSIWYG interface, and graphics programs made Apple and Macintosh computers a good choice for artists and designers.

With the advent of Windows, IBM-compatible PCs caught up with the Macintosh in terms of graphics performance. Today, PCs are also used extensively in the graphics and design fields.

Because of their power and expense, workstations are reserved for the most demanding graphics applications.

Graphics software is available for different computer platforms, including Macintosh computers and IBM-compatible PCs. Some graphics applications are available only for workstations.

Types of Graphics Files

Graphics files fall into one of two basic types: bitmap and vector.

Bitmap graphics define images as a grid of cells, with each cell filled with a color. Vectors define objects in a drawing by using mathematical equations to pinpoint their location and other features. A file format is a means of encoding data for storage. Many different file formats are used with graphics. Common bitmap file formats are BMP, PICT, TIFF, JPEG, and GIF. Not all file formats work in all programs, a problem called incompatibility. To solve this problem, developers have created universal file formats that are compatible across various software applications.

Getting Images Into Your Computer

Scanners enable the user to digitize hard-copy images such as photographs so they can be stored and edited in a computer.

Digital cameras are gaining popularity among professional and casual photographers. A digital camera stores images in its memory or on a disk until they can be loaded into a computer.

Clip art and electronic photographs are images that are already available in digital form. These images cover a wide range of subjects, from cartoons to business. Clip art can include sketches and drawings as well as high-quality photographs.

Graphics Software

Paint programs work with bitmap images and manage the individual pixels that make up an image. Paint programs include various tools and can be used to add special effects to an image.

Photo-manipulation programs work with bitmap images and are widely used to edit digitized photographs. You can use a photo-manipulation program to repair problems with an image, such as adjusting colors or hiding mistakes. Powerful photo-manipulation programs can produce sophisticated effects, such as combining multiple images into a seamless whole, hiding parts of an image, creating text, and more.

Draw programs work with vectors and give the designer a great deal of flexibility in editing an image. Objects created in a draw program can be altered easily and without loss of image quality. Draw programs work well with text.

Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software is used in technical design fields to create models of objects that will be built or manufactured. CAD software allows users to design objects in three dimensions (3-D), and can produce 3-D wireframe and solid models.

Three-dimensional (3-D) modeling programs are used to create spectacular visual effects.

Three-dimensional modeling programs work by creating objects via surface, solid, polygonal, or spline-based modeling.

Computers are used to create animation for use in various fields, including games and movies. Fly-bys and walk-throughs are basic types of computer animation. Character animation is the art of creating a character and making it move in a lifelike manner. Compositing tools allow game makers and filmmakers to add characters and objects to scenes that did not originally contain them.

The GIF and JPEG image formats are the most widely used formats on the World Wide Web. Animation can be added to a Web page by using simple animated GIF images or plug-in software such as Flash or Shockwave.