File Formats.

Pixel.

A pixel is a single small square of information that is used in a collection to create an image. It is the smallest part of an image. In games pixels can be used in many ways, all games contain them however some games choose to highlight the use of pixels more than other games who choose to use more realistic graphics.

Image Resolution.

Image Resolution is the information an image contains and is used in reference to Raster Images.

Pixel Colour Intensity.

This is a variable factor in a pixel that makes up for the colour and how bright the pixel is. It uses a RBG chat for base colours. This also includes CYNK.

Pixel Colour Intensity Storage.

Pixel Colour Intensity is stored in the RGB, this is the amount of colour in each of the sections, such as the number of red, the number of green and the number of blue.

Compression.

Compression is the process in which an image is scaled down to a smaller sized format. Compression is important for digital imagery as it allows for an image to be compressed into a size that is a lot smaller and a lot easier to download. A lossy compression is the process in which unused data is discarded and lossless compression is the opposite, it will ensure that all data remains for future use, however it will give you a larger compressed file in comparison.

Types of digital graphics.

The image above shows the difference between a vector and raster image file types.

 

 

This above image shows how compression can effect a high quality image, this shows a full compressed file.

A raster is a file that is made up of lots of tiny dots of colour, there are a large amount of different colours that create a final image. When you download an image from the internet it will most likely be a Raster image and will be in the most common file format, Jpeg. A raster image when zoomed in on will become distort and blurred, you will see a large amount of different colours. .BMP file doesn’t use any compression so it is a huge file, the quality of the files are really high though and you’ll mainly see these on computer graphics such as textures for 3D models. GIF files aren’t as high quality and they are in a lossless format, unfortunately they only provide 256 colours, so they are mainly good for lineart and simple drawings, they allow for animations though!

A TIFF file uses a lossless format also, they have large files and you are able to store additional information into them. These are ideal for photos as the file quality is so high. JPG is the most common file format and is often used for all different types of media, in images you can compress a JPG to many different sizes, however, the lower you compress the file the lower quality the image will be.

A vector image is a file type with numerical values, this means that unlike a raster image you will be able to zoom into large details of an image without it blurring. There are file types that produce Vectors and the most common is PSD and FLA

A PSD image is a Photoshop Document, this is the file that is used for creation in photoshop, being a PSD means the image is in vector form, you are able to zoom into the image to create minor details and change individual pixels. They can store many various additional information such as Layers, Fonts and Textures. It is a source file and doesn’t compress.

A FLA is a very similar file to a PSD in which it is a raw source file in which you will create images in FLASH software. It is a vector image. It will store extra information such as animation.

An .AI is an adobe illustrator file, this again is a raw file similar to .FLA and .PSD these files once finished are exported and compressed, they are best compressed as a PNG or another vector file or they will lose a large amount of their quality.