Pixels

Pixels (picture elements) is a point in a raster image and is also what makes up an image. A
Picture element is a tiny square on an image. Images are made up of thousands of picture
elements (pixels) and the amount of pixels in a picture determines the quality of the image.
In a colour image the pixels are typically made up of colours, Blue, Green or Red or
sometimes even Black, Cyan, Yellow or Magenta.

Image Resolution

Image Resolution is all about how much detail is in the image. The higher the resolution, the
higher the quality/detail. For example an image that has a resolution of 1920x1080 has a
total of 2,073,600 individual pixels in it, Compared to an image which has a resolution of
1024x768 it has a total of 786,432 individual pixels thats 1,287,168 more pixels just on that
1 picture so the detail will be a lot finer.

Intensity

Image intensity is the brightness of the pixels on an image, how bright/dark they are. For
example an RBG image has 3 channels of intensities, Red channel, Blue channel and a Green
channel.

Raster Images & Vector Images

Raster Images file and Vector Image files are both used for saving images but there are
some differences between the two. A Raster image is resolution dependant image which
means it is made up of lots of single square pixels, all of a different colour which are
arranged correctly to create your image, If you zoom in to a Raster image you will get
pixilation this is where the pixels stretch and the image loses a lot of quality. However, A
Vector image is different, instead of using thousands of square pixels to create an image
they are made up of Paths, Each Path has a Vector which tells the Paths the size, patterns
and colours of the image.

Zoomed in Raster Image

Zoomed in Vector Image

Types of Raster Images;

.JPEG, (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is one of the most common types of image files
you will come across, they normally achieve a 10:1 compression which is low Loss
compression, meaning that when compressed the image will lose little quality. .JPEG image
files are the most common image file used for digital cameras and other devices which can
also capture images also .JPEG images are normally the type of image file you will find on
websites and across the World Wide Web.
.GIF, (Graphics Interchange Format) is a short animation type of image files where you chain
a number of Bitmap/Raster images together to form a short animation. .GIF animation files
allows you to use a palette of up to 256 different colours from the 24-bit RBG (Red, Blue,
and Green) colour space, this is good for more simple images such as a company logo for
example. .GIF image files are compressed using Lossless compression (LZW), which reduces
the size of the .GIF file without losing any visual quality at all! This compression technique
was created in 1985, 2 years before the .GIF file was created in 1975.
.PSD, (Photoshop Document) is a type of image file which uses layers to edit or add effects
to the image, a .PSD is the default method of Photoshop to save data. When youve
completed your image you can then flatten all the layer in Photoshop and convert it in to a
.JPEG, .GIF or .TIFF image file, once you have converted and flattened all the layers into 1
image you cannot reverse the action.

Types of Vector Images;

.EPS, (Encapsulated PostScript) is a graphics extension file format used for Vector images in
Adobe Illustrator. An .ESP file can also include text as well as images, also .ESP files have a
Bitmap version for simpler viewing of the image.
.FLA, (Macromedia Flash) is a file format used in Adobe Flash and a .FLA file is a raw
editable file in flash to store movies or animation. A .FLA file are mostly converted or saved
into a .SWF file to then be uploading on to the internet. Adobe bought Macromedia Flash in
2005 to then become Adobe Flash in 2005 to add to the Adobe Creative Cloud.
.AI, (Adobe Illustrator Artwork) is file format made by Adobe for representing single page
Vector drawings in an .EPS or .PDF file. An .AI file extension is use in Adobe Illustrator.
Programs that can view an .AI file are Programs such as Adobe Reader, Adobe Photoshop
and Preview as long as the .AI file has been saved as a .PDF compatibility option.

Bit Depth
BPP, (Bits per Pixel) is the number of Bits of information stored in everything pixel of an
image. The more Bits in each image means that more shades of the colours can be shown
into more detail but this will greatly increase the size of an image greatly, For example a
16Bit version of an image can be twice the size of an 8Bit version of the same image.

Monochrome
A Monochrome defines an Images, Drawings or Paintings of 1 colour or different shades of
the same colour .e.g. Black and White and Greyscale or even shades of any colour with
white or black. Another example of a Monochrome is a Monochrome computer display
(screen/monitor) is a monitor that can only display only a single colour, usually colours like
White, Amber, Red, Green and also other shades of these colours.

Sampling
PCM, (Pulse-Code Modulation), Bit Depth is the number of Bits in a sample the lower the
sample and bit the lower quality it will be.

256
In an 8-Bit Image there is 256 colours and there can be 256 shades of the colour for example
Red, Green and Blue will have 256 shades of themselves.

High Colour
A High Colour image is a 16-Bit image which means there can be 65,536 colours shades of
colours in that 1 image. 16-Bit images mainly used for editing Images but they are a lot
bigger in file size. Because they already have such a big file size for being a 16-Bit image they
lose the options of adding effects to the image for example, Texture and Distorting effects.

True Colour
A True Colour Image is a 24-Bit image which means there can be 16,777,216 shades of
colours just in that single image! The human eye can discriminate up to 10 million colours so
you could say a True Colour image is the most detailed images humans can see with the
naked eye. Some Computer monitors also have the use of 24-Bit, 24-Bits per pixel on their
display memory, which gives them the capability of a full range of colours. Disadvantages of
24-Bit images is that they are very high in memory compared to other Images like 8 and 16Bit images, Also you cant print off a 24-Bit images because of the high amount of pixels and
16,777,216 colours on that single image, they can only print off 8-Bit images therefore it
would lose great quality once printing a 24-Bit image.

Colour Space
RGB, (Red, Green and Blue) is how colours are used to be displayed on a computer monitor.
Red, Green and Blue can be combined in different proportions and shades to then retrieve
any other colour in the human visible spectrum. Each colour has an intensity range from 0255 as there is 256 levels for each colour (Red, Green and Blue). The total available colours
is 256 x 256 x 256 which equals to 16,777,216 possible colours the amount of colours shown
in a True Colour image (24-Bit image).
When creating Web pages the number of RBG values are recommended to be considerably
lower, Firstly because most computer display/monitors can only handle 256 colours and
secondly because different browsers on different operation machines recognises 40 of the
256 of these colours slightly differently. So to know that the colours to pick for your Web
page will be the same throughout all browsers, you are recommended to use 216 of these
256 to avoid this happening to your Webpage/Website.

Image Capture
Scanners
Image Scanners is a machine that optically scans handwriting, text, images or an object into
a digital image. Different scanners have different dualities and characteristics, usually Image
scanners produce an image of 24-Bits but some high quality scanners can produce 36-48-Bit
images. Modern image scanners today normally use Charge-Couple Device (CCD) or a
Contact Image Sensor (CIS) as the way to sensor the image being scanned. The most modern
scanners might use these new methods of scanning but Drum scanners are still known to
produce the highest image quality compared to other scanners and they were developed a
lot earlier. All these types of image scanners two-dimencional images that are normally flat.

Flatbed Scanner

Handheld Scanner

All Scanners have an Optical resolution the higher the optical resolution means they can
scan bigger things and the resolution of what is scanned has a lot more detail and quality.

Digital Cameras
There are 3 main types of Digital cameras, Compact, SLR and Bridge cameras.

Compact Cameras
Compacts camera or also known as shoot cameras vary in price and styles, most people buy
them because they are a lot smaller than most other types of cameras as most Compact
cameras are pocket sized. Compact cameras are also good if you are a casual photographer
because Compact cameras usually have x3 zoom and are at least 12 megapixels of image
capture quality.

SLR Cameras
SLR cameras are more advanced than Compact cameras however they are a lot larger and
are not pocket sized. Digital SLR camera have a lot of options when coming to taking photos,
you can take photos in manual mode or Shutter priority, Aperture priority or other program
modes. When taking photos with an SLR camera you need to remember that you have so
many different options with the settings to get your perfect photo.
The best thing about SLR cameras is that the lens are changeable so for example you could
use a 28mm lens for wide images, other lens for more zoom for example and also you can
get lens to add photo effects like fishbowl effects.

Bridge Cameras
Bridge Cameras / super zoom cameras are known as the next level compact cameras. The
main difference between a normal compact cameras and a Bridge compact camera is that
bridge cameras also have a lot more option for photo settings like the SLR cameras.
(Shutter, aperture and program modes). Bridge cameras lens are known be very good for
zooming, some bridge camera lens can zoom up to x40! Bridge camera lens need be
versatile of the settings / options since you cannot switch the lens on bridge cameras like
you can with SLR cameras because Bridge cameras have Fixed lens.
Bridge cameras are great for photographers who want more options with the settings and
exposure to the photos they are taking and also because of the great amount of zoom on
the lenses.

Storage
All Digital Cameras use SD cards as a source of memory to store the captured images. SD
cards are usually only used for Digital cameras, camcorders and handheld devices. SD cards
greatly vary in size from 16 megabytes to 512 gigabyte! But there will obviously be a
distinctive price difference. MiniSD cards are basically the same as normal SD cards but a
smaller version and are used for smaller digital cameras and some compacts cameras and
also some handheld devices also only use MiniSD cards.

Optimising
Target Destination
Target destination is where you want your graphic image to be saved and uploaded and that
they are all located in the same place in each network. Having them all in the same location
will ensure improved performance on your website and because there all in the same
location each graphic can be located quickly.

Bit Depth
I talked about Bit depth a lot in one of the earlier sections and bit depth is the volume of
colour in each pixel. For your image the higher the bit depth means it will take loaded to
load on your website and the file size will be larger but the quality should be a lot better
than a low bit depth image which will load quicker on your website and have a lower file size
however the quality of the image will be less. So basically you are sacrificing image quality
for loading speed of your website.

Resolution
The resolution of the images you choose to use is similar to the bit depth. If you want to use
an image with a higher resolution will be high in image quality but also a higher image size
and would take longer to load when its published on your website. If you choose to use a
lower resolution image for your website then the quality will obviously be lower but so will
the file size and time to take it to load once its been published on your website. So it is the
same as Bit depth, you are sacrificing image quality for loading speed of your website.

Dimensions
The dimensions of an image is the length and the width of the image. Changing / editing the
dimensions of an image can small the image smaller or larger or even completely changing
the shape of the image. When changing the dimensions of an image, the volume of pixels
stay the same but this could result in the pixels having to cover more space / being
stretched which could make the image lose quality and cause pixilation.

Intended Image Output

When deciding the type file output to change your image to when saving you need to make
sure it is the correct format for a website, for example if you choose the wrong format then
it could take a long time for that image to load on your website, here is the comparison of
the same image being saved in different image file formats and the difference in file size
between them.