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1. Digital Graphics
File Formats
Lewis Urquhart

2. Raster Graphics
Raster graphics, also called bitmap graphics, are
digital images that are composed of tiny rectangular
pixels, or picture elements, that are arranged in a grid
or raster of x and y coordinates (includes a z
coordinate in case of 3D) in such a way that it forms
an image. It is also referred to as bitmap since it has
information that is mapped directly to the display’s
grid.

3. Vector Graphics
Vector graphics are created in graphics
packages and consist of shapes called objects.
It is possible to edit each object separately, for
example, change the shape, colour, size and
position.
Even if an object in a vector graphic is quite
large, it doesn't need a lot of computer
memory. Therefore the file size of
a vector graphic is often very small.
Vector graphics are scalable –
i.e when you resize them, they
do not lose quality.

4. Raster Graphics

5. JPEG
Stands For Joint Photographic Experts Group
Used For/Example Common web formats, e.g. Facebook
images. JPEG’s would predominantly be
used by people who share photographs on
the internet.
Advantage The most common kind of photo format
on the internet meaning all computers can
display and save the images.
JPEG’s tend not to be large files making it
easy to store many of them.
Another advantage would be they can
display millions of colours.
Disadvantage Loses quality with multiple edits due to re-
compression every time.
This file type is bad for re-editing, it is not
saved with layers.
JPEG’s can also have a longer load time.

6. TIFF
Stands For Tagged Image File Format
Used For/Example Adobe InDesign documents save as tiff
files. TIFF files tend to be used by
designers as these files are good for
desktop publishing.
Advantage TIFF have the option of lossless
compression, this means that no quality is
lost during compression. Adobe InDesign
documents saved as TIFFs can save many
documents to a single TIFF file. Most
computers recognise TIFF files meaning
they can be opened on that device.
Disadvantage Most websites and online galleries do not
support TIFF files, this makes it hard to use
when publishing work or using external
software.
TIFF files have slow speeds when
transferring to online galleries that do not
support TIFF files.

7. GIF
Stands For Graphics Interchange Format
Used For/Example To create short digital animations, on the
internet.
GIF files are used predominantly on social
media as some platforms do not support
videos.
Advantage Smaller file size than a video. Most
websites can support GIFS, this makes it
good for publishing work and sharing.
GIFs load quicker than videos as the file
size is smaller.
Disadvantage Despite the above they can take a long
time to load compared to JPEGs and are
larger file sizes than normal photo files.
Too many GIFs on one webpage can
significatly slow it down.
They can often have a low quality
pixelated appearance

8. BMP
Stands For Bitmap image file
Used For/Example Similar to TIFFS & JPEGS, BMPs are used
for design.
Most commonly for print, i.e posters.
Advantage BMP’s have no loss in detail when
compressed. This makes them good for re-
editing and large scale projects such as
posters.
BMPs are supported by most devices
meaning they are versitile.
Disadvantage They have very large file sizes, meaning
the file may be too big to put on some
sites.
Not easy to share, they can be too large to
put in an e-mail and take up a lot of
memory.

9. Vector Graphics

10. PSD
Stands For Photoshop Document
Used For/Example Image manipulation, magazine covers.
Photoshop is the most common software
used by designers, this is due to its
versatility and range of tools.
Advantage High quality and can be edited however
the user wants. This makes them good for
designers or photographers as it means
they are very versatile and are of
publishing quality.
PSDs do not lose quality when edited.
Disadvantage Generally only recognized by Photoshop
software and certain other image
manipulation software, meaning that
they cannot be used by amateur
designers that do not have access to
official Adobe software.

11. AI
Stands For Adobe Illustrator
Used For/Example Adobe illustrater is a favourite for
designers undertaking logo creation. This
is because AI files can be scaled big and
small without a change in quality.
Advantage Can be scaled as big and small as vectors
have no loss in definition. Making them
good for both logo and poster creation.
Give more control over text formatting
due to paragraph formatting.
Small in size so easy to share.
Disadvantage Much like PSD’s they are generally only
accessible within Adobe software making
it difficult for people who opt for other
design systems to share work.
After they have been exported they
cannot be converted to another format.

12. FLA
Stands For Flash File
Used For/Example FLA files are used when creating moving
graphics such as Animations & Games.
Advantage Can produce high quality files while
keeping the size small.
Can include sound & video.
They can also be converted into other
formats after exporting.
Flash files are small as they are in vector
format.
Disadvantage Works solely on flash systems sometimes
making collaborative projects hard to
complete if the partner does not have
access to flash systems.
Flash features on a website can take a long
time to load. They are also not mobile
accesible.

13. WMF
Stands For Windows Metafile
Used For/Example Similar to AI files can be used to create
logos due to their versatile scaling.
Advantage Can be scaled to any size as it is a vector.
Can also contain both vector and bitmap
components.
Can be acessed on all windows PC’s
worldwide.
Disadvantage WMF’s are only available on Windows
platforms and can only be created there,
meaning sharing work with for example
macs is difficult. Windows Metafile is also
considered to be not as sophisticated as
its adobe counterparts.

14. File Format Capture
and Optimising

15. Compression
Definition
• Compression is the way that file sizes are reduced by
reducing the amount of information saved within them.
Images become more pixelated the more compressed they
are.
Advantage
• Making file sizes smaller can mean they take up less storage.
Disadvantage
• Images become more pixelated the more compressed they
are and can completely lose detail.

16. Image Capture
Method Scanner
How is it used for image capture of
graphics
It allows you to incorporate physical
images such as sketches & physical
photos.
Method Camera
How is it used for image capture of
graphics
Taking pictures, Light enter the lens of a
camera and it is then recorded by a
sensor, these sensors record the
information for all the pixels which is then
produced into a image.
Method Graphics Tablet
How is it used for image capture of
graphics
They are used to hand draw graphics.
Usually using a mouse/pen these tablets
are commonly used for comic books. They
help designers who are better at drawing
by hand than creating photoshop graphics

17. Optimising
Why would you optimise? Images that are posted to the
internet are optimised allowing
them to be viewed easily.
How can you optimise? Images can be optimised by
changes the image size in
Photoshop.
Advantage to optimising It makes images bigger
therefore better for viewing.
Optomising an image can also
improve the quality of it
Disadvantage to optimising Images that aren't optimised
have large file sizes leading to
downloads taking longer.

18. Storage

19. File Size
What could affect a Working Scale
(Photoshop) document file size?
The working scale is affected by the
amount of colours, layers/effects and the
pixels per inch.
How could you reduce the file size of a
Working Scale document without
affecting quality?
To avoid affecting the quality you could
work on a smaller canvas size, merge
appropriate layers or work at 72 pixels per
inch as opposed to 300.
What is an advantage of scaling up
images before exporting?
Scaling up an imagine before exporting
improves the images quality.
What is a disadvantage of scaling up
images before exporting?
Scaling up images can also increases file
size.

20. File Naming Conventions
What naming conventions could you use
when creating your video game assets?
To keep track of files it is easiest to name
the file something relevant to the
information, for example: (Unit 1)
Why is it a good idea to accurately name
your assets?
Accurately naming files makes it easier to
keep track of them, instead of leaving all
your folders named the default “Untitled”.
Asset Management
Why would you use folders when storing
your assets?
Using folders helps organise files into
relevant sections. This helps avoid losing
them.
What folders would you create and what
would you save within them
I would create relevantly titled files and
then subfiles to keep things tidy, for
example: Pictures<Designs< - files