How Different Types of Graphic Images Relate to File Formats
In this document I am going to talk about how different types of graphic images relate to file formats. I am going to talk about the following things:
ü Converting files
ü Different file formats alongside typical file sizes
ü File management
· Naming files
· Folder structures
ü Compression techniques
Converting Files
Converting Files
Converting files are basically converting one file format for example JPG to another file format for example TIF. As most graphics designers will want to work with different file formats because different applications take different file formats. To change the file formats you basically go and open a graphic application for example Adobe Photoshop and go into the file menu to export or save the file as a new file type. The image on the right shows how you can convert the file(s) you are working with too different file formats.
File Formats
File Formats
The file format is the way that graphic files are structured. So each application used must be able to understand the way in which the files are structured, so they will be able to produce the image to the output (screen), print or edit the images. The table bellow shows the different file format files sizes.
JPG | BMP | GIF | PNG | TIF |
2305 KB | 209 KB | 440 KB | 348 KB | 2305 KB |
File sizes are the sizes of files. Bitmap graphics files can be compressed using different file qualities but when you reduce the amount of quality the image goes slightly pixelated bit will reduce the file size. Vector graphics can’t do this as vector images are small in size anyway.
This shows how you can reduce the amount of quality to make the file size a lot smaller and increase the amount of quality to make the file size a lot larger.
File Management
File management is basically the way you look after saved files/folders.
File management is basically the way you look after saved files/folders.
Naming files is simply means giving names to the files you have created. The best way of naming files are using file names that you are going to remember so you can locate it when you are need it again. You can also name the file something that relates to the document for example if your document is about Dolphins then you could name the file Dolphins but if you name that document Castle then it will be harder to locate that file because it doesn’t relate to the topic you were talking about. The image to the left shows a good way to rename files as they are related what the documents are about.
Folder structure is basically the way that you organise files within your computer or portable devices. Most people use this so they can quickly locate a file within the folders. For folder structure if you want a file right at the start of the folders then you can put A at the start of the name so “AHolidays” this will put this file at the top so it can be easily located. To put a file at the bottom of the folder you can put a Z at the start of the name so “ZCollege” this will put this file at the bottom of the folder.
Compression Techniques
Compression Techniques
Compression techniques are used to reduce the disk space needed for the file. File size is important because if you are sending a file that is larger in size to a person which is attached to the email then it will take longer to receive that file but if it was smaller then it would be shorter time to receive the files. You can also have to compress files because there might be limited amount of space within your hard drive so as graphic files are quite large you might need to make the file smaller so it can fit into the hard drive.
Comparison between bitmap and vector:
Bitmap files tend to be a lot larger than vector because of all the different colour pixels. Vector files tend to be a lot smaller because they use mathematical equations instead of pixels so this tends to make the file sizes a lot smaller.
Using bitmap files you can’t zoom right into an image and still have the image visible as when you zoom in it shows all the colour pixels within the image but when you zoom into a vector file they stay the same and doesn’t lose quality. These are commonly used in logos such as Pepsi logo, they use these because it provides then with a crisper image.
File Formats for Vector:
There are many different file formats for vector images including the following:
1. .AI
2. .SVG
3. .EPS
File Formats for Bitmap:
There are many different file formats for bitmap images including the following:
1. .JPG
2. .BMP
3. .GIF
Lossless Compression:
Lossless compression is a technique where no data is lost from the compression of a file. This is done my signifying redundant data within the file then reducing the image size. For example having a 2.5MB file would be reduced to about 2MB or even less file size. A .GIF file uses this form of compression.
Lossy Compression:
Lossy compression is a technique where data is actually lost from this type of compression. This is done by removing unimportant parts of a file an example are removing unused colours from the image. However when you use this technique it actually looses the images quality. The only advantage of this is that lossy compression files are a lot smaller than lossless files.
 |
| Comparrison Between Lossless and Lossy Images |
