Image capture

Scanners- A scanner is becoming pretty outdated as the digital world is developing at such a vast rate, the idea behind a scanner is a way for an individual to transfer an image from one source, either the original copy of the image or from a book, magazine or any other form of printed media. Once the image is scanned a copy is then digitally available on the user’s computer to edit or manipulate to their desire. The reason that I say they are becoming outdated is because of the use of mobile phones and digital cameras, these devices make file transfers so much easier than they were previously. Digital cameras- Digital cameras were once a luxury item, now they seem to be a device that everybody has access to, whether this be at its most basic form built into a mobile phone or the actual device of a camera. This makes image capturing much easier as they are much more portable compared to other forms of cameras because you can simply slip one in your pocket and you’re ready to go. Storage- There are many forms of storage that you should be aware of. One of the most common types of storage which we take for granted would be flash memory (memory sticks), these are convenient because they are portable and can have a large capacity on such a small device. Other storage devices that users should be aware of is an external hardrive, these are also very portable but allow you to store much more compared a memory stick, they are slightly more bulky compared to a memory stick but can still be carried around in your pocket or bag pack. One of the latest developments that exists in the digital world would be cloud storage, there are many of cloud storage providers out there which offer it for free. This is where you can save your file online and then can access it from anywhere with an internet connection. This could come in useful if you are working on a group project and need to upload resources to an area that is accessible to many people. It is important to crate backups for your files, this important whether this be for your personal files, or the files that actually mean something such as your work, if you don’t create a backup then you are heading towards disaster. The ideal backup location would be somewhere that isn’t in the same area of your original file. For example you could have your original files on your home computer and then your backups on a memory stick which is located offsite. File sizes determine the amount of documents that you can save onto your storage device, there any many things that determine the file size, one of these would be the actual application you are using, such as Adobe Photoshop, these file sizes would be considerably bigger than something like Microsoft word.

Colour space

Greyscale- A greyscale image is an image where the image is made up of colours that are shades of grey. The reason that people choose to use greyscale could be because they feel that each pixel doesn't need to be as detailed as each individual pixel stores less information. Sometimes the greyscale format can be used to create a retro feel to the production. RGB- RGB (red, green and blue), is the most commonly used colour format used in the industry, the computer screen you are looking at right now mainly uses RGB. This is because the colours red, green and blue combine to create any colour in the visible spectrum. When creating web productions it is important to remember that RGB values are reduced, as many displays can only handle 256 colours and then web browsers handle some of these different Hues- A hue is very simple, basically all a colour hue is, is a shade of a particular colour. They are most commonly referred to as the names of the actual colours. All hues can created from mixing the primary colours.

Vector images

Vector graphics are very different compared to other JPEGS and other file formats, the reason they are unlike is vector images aren't made up of pixels but they are made up of very detailed paths. These paths always have a start and an end point, along the way there are many points, curves and angles. Paths can be any shape or size such as a straight line or a curvy line. Also because vector graphics are not made up of an amount of pixels they can be enlarged without taking away from the quality of the image.

Raster images

A raster image is also known as a bitmap, this is a way to display an image. There are a variety of formats that a raster image can be created such as, .gif .jpeg and .bmp. When a raster image is created the image on screen is presented in the form of many pixels which determine the colour. A raster image uses the colour format RGB.

Pixel

Picture element- A picture element is basically another way to say pixel. So what is a picture element? A picture element is a physical point in any raster image, this would be the smallest element of any image, all the picture elements go on to create the visual display of the image or text we see on the screen. Image resolution- Image resolution refers to the clarity of the image, resolution is important in many formats, one of the most important sectors where resolution is really important is the printing sector. When an image is printed it is important that the image is sharp so the user is able to actually determine what the image is. To get the best resolution the user will have to find the most suitable DPI (dots per inch) for their publication.

Animated graphics

Animated Gifs- Animated gifs are a very popular form of animation used online, one of the main reasons behind their popularity would be the file size compared to other forms of animation they are much smaller, this allows web designers to include more of these on the website. However there are certain draw backs to GIFS compared to other forms of animations such as they don’t offer the same amount of control and flexibility once they are launched. Web banners- Web banners are seen more frequently these days, it almost seems impossible to go online without seeing one, you probably see them and don’t even realise what they are. A web banner is where companies place advertisements on their websites either for their own products or an external company, they usually will include a link to the advertisers own website. As technology is developing more each day web banners get more complex and include images, text, animated graphics and even sounds in some cases. Screen Icons- A screen icon is possibly one of the most common forms of interactive graphics seen, you see hundreds of them daily, all you have to do is look down at your tool bar and I’m sure you have at least 6 on display, internet explorer, skype and Spotify are just some examples. Screen icons are so popular is mainly for the user, as it allows the user to clearly navigate from application to application. Backgrounds- The background is key to any form of production, the reason behind this is because the background is any part of the product that isn’t covered by photos, text or graphics. It is important that colours are taken into consideration when choosing a background, it is important that the colour doesn’t detract away from the content of the website.

Navigation

Rollover- Rollover can be used in many forms, the most common forms it is seen in would be image, text or buttons. The term rollover is pretty self-explanatory as all it requires is for the user to rollover the hotspot and it will begin to animate in some form. The advantages to a rollover element in an interactive graphic is that it allows the user to interact with the system. Another advantage would be that the creator is able to have more information on the screen than originally meets the eye without their website looking crowded. Navigation bar- The navigation bar is one of the most important elements of any websites, this could either make or break the users’ opinion on the website, let’s face it, we’ve all been in the situation where the navigation bar on a website just looks tacky or is really outdated and it has put us off the website. There are many key elements that need to be taken into consideration when creating a navigation bar. The most important part of the navigation bar would be the content, it is important to only include the most important parts of your website as the main buttons, this is so the user doesn’t feel overwhelmed when using the website. There are a couple of navigation bars that you need to be aware of, the first one would be One level navigation, this is the simplest of navigation bars, this is basically a what you see is what you get bar. The second type would be a drop down/multi-level navigation bar, this is the type of navigation bar which drops down and shows the user more options when the cursor is on one of the buttons.