Marketing the Product

By Dru Irwin

Graphics Cards (Video Card)Images on the screen you are looking at is made up of at least a million pixels. Pixels are tiny dots that create an image. In order for these pixels to form an image they need to know what to do. This is where graphics cards come into play. They process each pixel and translate each tiny pixel into an image. The graphics card is complex, but easy to understand. It turns small dots into a picture.

Graphics Tablets

A graphics tablet is a smart device which allows a person (mostly artists) to draw a image on it and then inputs the image onto the screen. So it’s a small drawing pad that comes up on a computer screen while you draw. A graphics tablet is normally a flat object that you draw on with either a ‘pen’ or a ‘stylus’ (a stylus is a small pen with a round point on the end to reduce scratching the screen). It can be used for making images, editing images on Photoshop, creating PowerPoint's’ and a lot of other things.

PrintersA device that prints text or illustrations on paper. There are so many different types of printers. Because there are so many printers, they are all categorised into different things. For example you could have a type writer, or colour laser jet printer. A laser jet printer is more likely to be used in printing of images in high quality. A type writer is more likely to be used by a writer when they create a draft of a story.

MonitorsThrough out the years monitors have gone from TV like, bulky screens to slim, flat ones. A monitor is a screen that projects millions of tiny pixels (that have been processed by a graphics card). The better the graphics card and monitor the better image you will get from the monitor.

CD-Rom(Short for Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory)

From floppy discs to Cds, DVDs and portable hard drives. CD-Roms is a device that reads and burns information (games, movies, music) to a cd. Which is a round disk with memory burned into it. You can then overwrite the memory with your own data.

HDDA hard disk drive (HDD; also hard drive or hard

disk) is a magnetic data storage device. A HDD can be found in many game consoles such as ps3’s, Xbox's and also computers.

Secure Digital (SD) is a memory card format developed by the SD Card Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. Such as mobiles and cameras etc;

Memory SD Cards.

GRAPHIC SOFTWARE;

Vector Graphic Software (corel draw, visio)

A vector image is one of the two major graphic types (the other being bitmap). Vector Graphics are made up of individual objects which are each defined by a mathematical statements and individual properties. Common vector editors/formats include AI (Adobe Illustrator), CDR (CorelDRAW), CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile), SWF (Shockwave Flash), and DXF (AutoCAD and other CAD software. Visio (Microsoft Office Visio) uses vector graphics to create diagrams.

‘Raster’ Bitmap Software (paintshop pro, paint, GIMP)

A bitmap (or raster) image is one of the two major graphic types. Bitmap images have a fixed resolution and cannot be resized without making the image blurry or lose its quality. Common bitmap-based file types are JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG, PICT, and BMP. GIMP is a GNU manipulation programme where you can manipulate photos and edit them. Its mainly used for retouching and editing. Other programmes you can use are ones such as paint, which you can create images and also edit them. But you are very limited to what you can do. Paintshop pro is a more advanced version of paint where you have more tools etc; to edit photos.

photo manipulation software (photoshop)

Photo manipulation is a programme that you can use image editing techniques to photographs in order to create an illusion or to retouch photos. For example air brushing is manipulating a photo. Photoshop is one of the main programmes that are used to manipulate photos.

Differences between Vector, ‘Raster’ Bitmap, Photo manipulation software

They are all very similar but Vector graphics can be edited and resized because they don’t have a fixed resolution. And if they go blurry they can be retouched. Bitmap on the other hand has a fixed resolution so you cant change the size as it takes away image quality. Photo manipulation is where you can change the resolution, size, colour and lines etc;

What do I think is best for creating and editing images?

I believe that Vector Graphic Software is better to create and edit images. This is because you can change the size and resolution of a photo but still keep its quality. Also you can easily create different and unique lettering using coral draw.

Photoshop Vs. Paint

Paint is a very basic image editing software whereas Photoshop is a highly powerful software. In paint you can make very basic shapes and draw basic things like a house. Its very easy and basic to do as anyone can pick it up. There are several tools in Photoshop not available in Paint. Photoshop is much more advance in photo manipulation and takes months to become very good at it. As an example, Paint does not have a clone stamp tool, which is a tool used to erase a portion of an image that you do not wish to have and replace it with a background of your choice. So Photoshop gives you more options when editing photos and images, where as Paint doesn’t. Paint is a very basic drawing program whereas Photoshop is a very advance drawing and image editing program.

Examples;

Paint has very basic shapes, you can change the shape, size and colour but they are very basic.

Paint; Photoshop

Photoshop on the other hand has a much wider range of shapes. Including custom shapes such as thought bubbles and grass leaves!

Paint is very basic, it has no blurring or editing tools. So the picture would be very basic and simple. You have very easy tools to rotate and change colours easily.

Photoshop on the other hand has blurring tools, brush stroke editing and you can also edit the whole picture by adding artistic features as well. There are a lot of editing tools that can be used. But it takes a lot of practice and time to get used to.

Paint; Photoshop;

Which is better?

Both have good qualities in their own right. Paint is easier for a basic user who wants to make basic images such as a house etc; Where as Photoshop is much better for advanced people because its much easier to manipulate photos by blurring, sharpening etc; It depends where you are at with ICT skills. If you are advanced or a quick learner Photoshop is for you. But if you are just starting off and getting used to using a computer to create images Paint is the one you want.

FILES/FILE TYPES/CONVERTING FILES

File Types; What is it? What does it stand for?

Jpeg. Is commonly used to store digital photography.

"JPEG" is an acronym for the Joint Photographic Experts Group

Gif. is a bitmap image format .

Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)

Png. is a bitmapped image format

Portable Network Graphics

Bmp. is a Raster graphics image file format

Bitmap Image File

FILE TYPES

Differences?

All file types are different and used to different things. For example Jpeg are used for digital photography. BMP is used for storing raster graphics and displaying them on graphic adapters etc; its capable of storing 2D images. GIF is used for animated pictures. PNG was created as an improved version of GIF because it doesn't need a patent license (Intellectual property).

Converting Files Certain programmes require certain file types or produce certain file

types. For example Microsoft word produces ‘.doc’ file types which can then be turned in to ‘.pdf’ (adobe) which can then be used in meetings etc; its much more useful then reading a whole word document. Another example would be pictures. For example, if you edit a photo in Photoshop it will be saved as a ‘.psd’ file which can be edited again later. But if you save it as a ‘.jepg’ it will be better quality and unable to edit. Making it an actual jpeg image (picture) which is available to copying and pasting. Also, compressing files will save memory and space. The smaller the file the quicker it will load. Some images may be very big and making them smaller, they will lose their quality. By compressing files you will keep the quality for example changing a picture into a JPEG it’s only one tenth of the image memory but all the quality is still there.

File Sizes

File size can be found in any file that is on your computer. They show how much space a certain file is taking up on a computer. Some files such as pictures/images can take up lots of memory and can slow down your computer. If it’s a big image, making it smaller will save space but make it lose quality. By compressing the image it saves a lot of space but the image keeps its quality.

File Size Unit : KB(Kilobytes- 1000bytes), MB(Megabytes – 1000KB), GB(Gigabytes – 1000MB), TB (Terabyte – 1000GB)… PetaByte(PB), Exabyte(EB), Zettabyte (ZB), Yottabyte (YB).