The document discusses different types of digital graphics file formats including raster graphics (made up of pixels), vector graphics (made up of paths and shapes defined by points) and various specific file formats. It covers raster file formats like JPEG, TIFF, GIF and BMP and vector file formats like PSD, AI, FLA and WMF. It also discusses topics like compression, image capture methods, optimizing files, file sizes, naming conventions and asset management.

1. Digital Graphics
File Formats
Becky Coughlin

2. Raster Graphics
A Rastor Graphic is one of the main types of
Digital Graphics, these types of graphics are
mostly found on the internet which are made up
of Bitmaps. These Bitmaps are made up of tiny
pixels; all different colours to create an image.
These are often used for Photoshop.
Although, because of this, resizing can be
difficult as stretching the pixels can make them
distorted.

3. Vector Graphics
A Vector Graphic is made up of vectors or paths/strokes
which are defined by end and start points, with curves,
points and angels between them. With the right
information, the path can become anything from a line to
a square.
These different control points being changed does not
make the image lose definition unlike the Raster image.
Unlike rastor graphics, there is no loss of definition which
can be useful to companies when making their company
logos as they can change size easier for things such as
business cards or billboards.

4. Raster Graphics

5. JPEG
Stands For Joint Photographic Experts Group
Used For/Example Photographs and web formats or even
photographs on Facebook etc. They could
then use this for a magazine or to show
their work to other people.
Advantage Can be opened by any computer due to
being compatible with every program.
Large compression means it’s quicker to
transfer the images.
The file is much smaller than others which
keeps memory usage low and managable.
Disadvantage Loses quality each time it is edited due to
compression and recompression to keep
the file size down. What this means is that
each time the photo is saved, less pixels
will be saved with it over time resulting in
it to lose quality.

6. TIFF
Stands For Tagged Image File Format
Used For/Example Desktop publishing (popular with graphic
designers) who could use this for their
images in a magazine. Adobe InDesign
documents can also be saved as TIFF’s.
Advantage Adobe InDesign documents saved as TIFFs
can save multi-page elements to a single
TIFF file which is why they are normally
saved using this format.
It also doesn't lose quality which means
you can save it many times over time
without it losing quality at all.
Disadvantage As it has a lot of information on it, it uses a
large file sizes which then means it
requires certain software’s to open the
image which restricts where it can be used
or opened.

7. GIF
Stands For Graphic Interchange Format
Used For/Example GIF’s are used for short digital animations,
often found on the internet. Can be used
in presentations to make it look more
professional.
Advantage Small file sizes so can be viewed mostly
any place e.g. The internet.
Can show movement and emotion which
could help in certain job presentations or
companies websites to make them look
more professional and interesting.
Disadvantage Bad quality due to large pixels which can
make them look blocky as there is a
limited colour palette.
They are dependent on an internet
connection.
Once it is saved, it can not be edited again.

8. BMP
Stands For Bitmap Image File
Used For/Example Similar to a TIFF and JPEG file, it can be
saved as any pixel-based image.
Advantage No loss in compression- keeps the detail
because they are saved in high quality.
They can store raw image data.
Supported by most devices which makes it
easy to use.
Disadvantage Has a large file size due to the high quality
which can take up a lot of memory.
They do not scale well and it can change
the image as it removes pixels or adds
them to allow the size to be changed.

9. Vector Graphics

10. PSD
Stands For Photoshop document
Used For/Example Image manipulation, front covers of
magazines etc as it can be saved in layers.
Advantage Saves layers, page formatting information
so it becomes easier to return to an image
and change certain things.
It can have a transparency background
which can make presentation look more
professional.
Disadvantage Only works on Photoshop or Adobe
programs which can limit the amount of
use in the image as well as taking up a lot
of memory due to the large file sizes.

11. AI
Stands For Adobe Illustrator Art
Used For/Example Logos to represent companies and
different graphics similar to this.
Advantage No loss in definition as the images can be
scaled smaller or larger without losing
their quality.
Disadvantage Need certain software to run it which can
limit where it can be used and viewed.
Need a certain skill or training to master it.
Takes a long time to add all the detail and
you would need a lot of patience.

12. FLA
Stands For Flash File
Used For/Example Used to create animation and games.
Advantage Can produce high quality files with a small
file size which is good when it comes to
using them for the internet as they won’t
take long to load. Can include sound and
video.
Disadvantage Specialist software needed to open the
program which could be difficult for some
people without that software.

13. WMF
Stands For Windows Metafile
Used For/Example Similar to an AL file. Used for company
logos and graphics, it can be also used for
clipart.
Advantage Can be scaled big and small as vectors and
have no loss in definition. Can contain
both vector and bitmap components.
Disadvantage Only available on Windows platforms.

14. File Format Capture
and Optimising

15. Compression
Definition Loss of compression is the way in which
files sizes are reduced by reducing the
amount of information that is saved.
Advantage Reduces amount of information saved
which makes them a smaller file size.
Disadvantage Images become more pixelated as they are
compressed as they save smaller amounts
of coloured squares each time.

16. Image Capture
Method Scanner
How is it used for image capture of
graphics
Used to digitally capture physical objects
such as a document.
Method Camera
How is it used for image capture of
graphics
The light coming into the camera is
recorded by a sensor, it records the
information of the pixels which is then
used to create an image.
Method Graphics Tablet
How is it used for image capture of
graphics
You can control the tablet with your touch
or a special pen made for the software to
create drawings.

17. Optimising
Why would you optimise? To make it easier to view on the internet.
How can you optimise? You can optimize through changing the
image size in Photoshop, as well as being
able to optimize the colour, size and
resolution.
Advantage to optimising Reduce the file size making it easier to
open, download and use on different
software's.
Disadvantage to optimising Can limit the amount of information in the
image which stops you from making the
image bigger as it becomes pixelated.

18. Storage

19. File Size
What could affect a Working Scale
(Photoshop) document file size?
Things that could affect these things is the
size of the document as the resolution can
change within the documents.
How could you reduce the file size of a
Working Scale document without
affecting quality?
You an reduce file size through optimizing
the file and save the documents as a JPEG.
What is an advantage of scaling up images
before exporting?
It allows you to adjust the size of the
image and what you would like to do with
it such as change it to a JPEG.
What is a disadvantage of scaling up
images before exporting?
It can be stretched too much which could
result many details to be lost and the
image could become more pixelated.

20. File Naming Conventions
What naming conventions could you use
when creating your video game assets?
I would name each convention with the
right name as well as the date it was
made/updated.
Why is it a good idea to accurately name
your assets?
It stops confusion as well as letting you
pick out the right assets quickly without
losing them when they need to be
changed.

21. Asset Management
Why would you use folders when storing
your assets?
To keep them organized and make it easier
to find the right assets.
What folders would you create and what
would you save within them
Different aspects according to the context:
Person, Background, House etc.