Task 01 – Explain how different types of graphical images relate to file formats, file conversions, formats and compression. Emily Riley

File types: JPEG’S Joint Photographic Expects Group images, otherwise know as JPEG’s. JPEG’s are one of the most commonly used formats within the graphics industry. They are more commonly used in digital graphics this is because most images captured on a digital camera are registered as JPEG images. JPEG’S are commonly used in images because they provide many benefits for the graphic designer, this is because JPEG’S don’t take up as much file capacity as other image files. They also have relatively good quality which once again is suitable enough to be used by graphic designers. When JPEC’S are first created they often use an effective method which makes them unique. To explain this a bit more they basically remove all the aspects of information from the image that the image doesn’t need. Overall this helps to improve the quality of the image and this is what makes the file size decrease by such an large amount. JPEG’S are very good alternatives to original images because original images appear in different formats. Meaning JPEG’S take up less file storage.

File types: BITMAP Bitmap images are the other main type of graphic image that is used by many people. They can provide images in a clear format with high levels of detail and quality. Bitmap is often used in photography although they can have many other purposes. Several graphic designers choose to use Bitmap images because they suit their needs better and the overall quality of the images is significantly higher. Bitmap images do have major drawbacks. For example they take high amounts of storage space, which is not ideal for graphic workers. Along with this they can’t be resized easily, if the image is made bigger then the image loses quality as a consequence.

File types: PNG Portable Network Graphics (PNG) was developed as a patent-free alternative to GIF. PNG format is used for lossless compression and for display of images on the web. Unlike GIF, PNG supports 24‑bit images and produces background transparency without jagged edges. However, some web browsers do not support PNG images. PNG format supports RGB, Indexed Colour, Grayscale, and Bitmap mode images without alpha channels. PNG preserves transparency in grayscale and RGB images.

File types: GIF GIF stands for ‘Graphics Interchange Format’. GIF is the file format which is most commonly used to display indexed-colour graphics and images in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) documents over the World Wide Web and other online services. GIF is an LZW-compressed format designed to minimize file size and electronic transfer time. GIF format preserves transparency in indexed-colour images. However, it does not support alpha channels.

File Compressions Compression techniques are normally used to reduce the size of a file. This could either be a image or another type of document. This helps people share their work with each other without hitting the barrier of file size. There are two main types of compression that are commonly used by graphic designers. The first main type of compression methods is known as the lossy methods. The second main type of compression is called lossless compression.

Lossy Compression Lossy compression is when an image file has its file size significantly reduced, although some image quality can be lost in the process. Therefore users have to be carful when using this method. Lossy image format disposes of some image detail so that this method is more effective. Certain digital graphics that have large file sizes, such as Bitmap can be significantly reduced by using this method.

Lossless Compression Lossless compression means that when a file size is significantly reduced, it does not effect the image quality. This method has a major impact on the file size along with the file size being dramatically decreased. Images with large file sizes, such as Bitmap can be significantly reduced by using this method. One of the main factors about this method is that no matter how small the file size gets when it is compressed, it hardly loses any quality.

File Conversions Files are designed in a given format, otherwise know as the original format. These can be images, text or other forms of multimedia such as video's.

Bibliography http://prezi.com/seirr8ggkqug/p2-explain-how-different-types-of-graphic-images-relate-to-file-formats/ http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/RAW-file-format.htm http://help.adobe.com/en_US/photoshop/cs/using/WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-7758a.html#WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-774ca