Digital File Formats

ACCT-IGD-10: Students will generate and manipulate various graphic imaging processes.

ACCT-IGD-15: Students will identify and produce files utilizing different digital formats.

ACCT-IGD-16: Students will identify and demonstrate page layout terminology and tools.

ACCT-IGD-17: Students will identify and understand the differences in page layout, raster based photo manipulation, and vector based graphic software applications.

By:

Michael Simmons

Computer Platforms

• Platform – the standard around which a system can be developed.

• Computer platforms include the elements (programs/software, printers/hardware) necessary to create, assemble, and output data in the finished form.

• Mac, IBM, Unix

Common Software

• Adobe Indesign - edit/create page layouts• Adobe Photoshop – edit graphics (both raster

and vector)• Adobe Illustrator – edit/create vector graphics• Corel Draw – edit/create graphical designs (t-

shirts)• Each program saves the file in different formats

for different usages.

Digital Image File Formats

• The file format selected will determine the type of modifications that can be made to the file and the type of compression used to storage the file and the quality of the file after decompression.

Image Terminology• Lossless Compression – no data is lost during file compression

or decompression (zip file)

• Lossy Compression – data is lost during compression or decompression (video or .jpg)

• Raster Images – images made up of pixels (also referred to as bitmap or pixmap)

• Vector Images –image made up of lines

• Open Press Interface – a computer and software configuration that allows the designer to use low-resolution images when creating the document layouts in page composition programs and high-resolution images automatically replace the low-resolution images when the file is sent to an output device (Indesign)

Raster v/s Vector

TIFF or TIF(.tiff or .tif)

• TIFF - Tagged Image File Format

• Used to exchange bitmapped images between applications

• Lossless or Lossy compressions

• Supports Grayscale, RGB, CMYK

• Easily exchanged between computer platforms

EPS(.eps)

• EPS - Encapsulated PostScript

• One of the most stable files used in delivering digital output

• Less convent than .tif

• Handle both raster and vector

• Supports Grayscale, RGB, CMYK, Spot Color

• Provided open press interface

• EPS files can be opened in a text editing software (Notepad)

Desktop Color Separation

• EPS graphics that are saved as a single file that can include five plates (CMYK) or six plates (CMYK and two spot color) and a master image

• Supports Grayscale, RGB, CMYK, Spot Color

• Prints faster than standard EPS

• Contain both raster and vector

GIF(.gif)

• GIF – Graphics Interchange Format

• Supports raster images and only handles 256 colors

• Effective format for drawn images, animations, internet images

PDF(.pdf)

• PDF – Portable document format (created by Adobe)

• Universal file format for electronic documents (even images)

• Keeps all the aspects of the original file, regardless of what application or platform created it.

• They are page independent which means a single page can be printed, replaced, or altered without reprocessing the other pages

• Self contained document – all the images, fonts, and other resources that are needed to reproduce the image contained in the file.

Naming files

• The name of the file should be simple and is placed before the extension

• Example - name.extension (simmons1.Pdf)

General rules for naming files:• Use only alphanumeric characters.• Symbols should be avoided.• File names should not begin with a space

References

• http://www.signindustry.com/computers/articles/2004-11-30-DASvector_v_raster.php3

• http://en.wikipedia.org