Unit 30 – D2 – Impacts of compression and file format on size

I have saved the same digital image in three different file types, JPEG, GIF and BMP and because I did this, I am able to see the impact that is made on a file when the same image is saved in different formats. Since I have saved the image as different file formats, the size of the file has had an impact.

A Bitmap file format is used for storing digital images and is an image which is made up of millions of pixels, which are tiny dots and the bitmap remembers how the pixels are arranged in the image. Due to the Bitmap image saving the information on each pixel, the Bitmap is usually a big save file, and so need more of room on the hard drive to be saved than a JPEG, which is seen above in the screen shot. The Bitmap image is 17,498 KB which is over 14 times bigger than the original JPEG file, even though it is the same image. Also, the more the bitmap image is enlarged, the worse the quality gets and the image looks jagged. This is pixilation and is when you can see the individual pixels more than you could at the smaller bitmap file.

A GIF (graphics interchange format) is the file format that many of the images on the internet are as GIFs are relatively small (bigger than the JPEG by just over 3 times as much), so the GIF image doesn’t need a lot of space to be stored or a lot of time to be uploaded to webpages, as well as a GIF file being compatible and supported by the internet. GIFs that are found on websites are able to be a short animation, which is eye-catching. But GIFs have two colour settings, RGB or greyscale, where RGB is red green and blue mixed together to create other colours and greyscale is the shades of grey from black to white, so solid colour areas are the best the GIF image can produce, meaning the quality of the image isn’t the best. Since the GIF has the greyscale and RGB colour scales being the range of colours that the image has, and not much colour information is able to be stored by a GIF, the file size is smaller than some other file formats.

A JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a file that is used online a lot as a JPEG has a small file size, with good quality and the JPEG being compatible. The quality of a JPEG is good as it supports greyscale, RGB and CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and key which is black), so a JPEG has more colour options and this makes the image quality better, since other file formats lacking the support of CMYK. JPEGs are small in file size, but this doesn’t affect the quality of the image and a JPEG is able to be opened in the majority of image software to view or edit due to the JPEG being used so often. In most cases, a JPEG is larger than a GIF, due to wider range of colours that have been used in the image, but it is smaller than a bitmap as not store every single pixel and the associated information.

I have saved the same digital image with three different file resolutions, seen by the screenshot above. One of the files is where it was half the original size, one is a quarter the original size and the other is larger than the original size. Since I have saved the image as different resolutions, the size of the file has had an impact as the larger the resolution is, the more pixels there are in the image and more data is saved. The original image had a resolution of 5184 x 3456 and had a size of 1,242 KB. I then reduced the resolution to exactly half of the original resolution, 2592 x 1728, and had a file size of 371 KB, which is over 3 times smaller the original file size, due to the amount of pixels in the image dropping. I then changed the resolution to 2994 x 2494 and since this was a slightly bigger resolution than my first change, it had a larger file size, of 529 KB, as there were more pixels in the new image. I finally changed the images resolution to 5988 x 4998. This was larger than the original image, and had the largest file size of the image as it has the most pixel information to save. So, the larger the resolution of your image, the more pixels it will have to make the image, so the file size will be increased as more information is stored about the image. A high quality image will generally need a larger save file and the smaller file size the lower the quality of the image is.

I have changed the colour depth of the original image 3 times, to colour depth 8-bit, colour depth 128-bit and colour depth 256-bit. The lower the colour depth, the less colours are in the image and as there is less colours in the image, there is less information to be saved and the lower the file size is. I first changed the colour depth to 8-bit, meaning there are 8 colours in the image. This is one of the lowest colour depths you can have in fireworks and due to the original image using more colours than the 8-bit image, the new image had a lower file size. Then I created a 128-bit image, which is the second highest colour depth in fireworks and the file size increased from the original of 1.21 MB to 1.68 MB. This means that the 128-bit image had more information to save than the original image did, meaning it needed more room to be saved. I finally saved the image as a 256-bit, which is the largest colour depth you can have in fireworks. This caused the file size to increase by nearly 1MB of the original image, where the original image was 1.21 MB and the new image was 2.11 MB, meaning that there was a lot more information in the 256-bit image than the original image. The lower the colour depth, means a lower amount of colours possibly used in an image and the lower the colour depth is, generally the lower the image quality is and the smaller the file size is, but the higher the colour depth is, the more colours can be used meaning the quality of the image should be higher. But in some cases, the amount of colours in the image doesn’t match the colour depth, so the colour depth isn’t always needed to be on the highest option.

Unit 30 - M2 – Justifying Software, types and tools

The software I used to create my own graphical image as well as the school’s IT display and to edit existing images was Fireworks CS4. I used Fireworks because it’s a professional software that included all of the features and effects that I needed to use to create the retro game’s design. These features were like the vector line tool. I didn’t use Paint or other free editing software which were available because Paint or software similar to Paint are very basic and don’t include the editing features needed to create my retro game’s design. Fireworks was better than Photoshop to create the graphical image I wanted to create as Fireworks is a software for creating or editing vector images and Photoshop for bitmap images. Also, with the limited time to create the image and the knowledge on how to use Fireworks, it would have been easier to use Fireworks than Photoshop. The school already had Fireworks CS4 installed on to the school computer system meaning I would be able to work on the retro game design on any computer in the school. This ensured that I could work on the images within the school, at any computer so I could edit the images at any time within the school.

The first main tool I used in the retro game design was the Pencil tool. It was used relatively often throughout the creation of the retro game layout. The pencil tool was used to make sure that I could create any little sections that weren’t able to be created with a different tool.  The second main tool I used in the retro game design was the vector line tool. It was used a lot whilst I was making the retro game layout as I was able many outlined sections of my image were straight lines, so it was easier to use the vector line tool than the pencil tool. The vector line tool also couldn’t been drawn over after it had been drawn other than with the other vector tools, so the straight lines weren’t affected often. The next main tool I used in the retro game design was the paint bucket tool. I used it fairly often during the creation of the retro game lay out for when I had a bulk of colour to add to the image, like the floor, or the sky. This meant that I could create the coloured parts of the image faster, than if I was only able to use the vector line tool or the pencil tool. The paint bucket also allowed me to change the gradient of the colour, so I was able to create different effects in the images I was creating. The fourth main tool I used in the retro game design was the rectangle tool. I used it fairly often during the creation of the retro game lay out, especially when I needed a square or rectangle that looked natural in the image. I would have been able to create the squares of the stair case, or the turrets in the tower by drawing them by the line tool, but it was easier to create one with the rectangle tool, and have the outline a different colour to the main colour. This meant that I was able to define the different sections easier and the time to create the image would be shorter than if I had to draw these objects out by the line tool. The fifth main tool I used in the retro game design was the oval tool. Even though I didn’t use it very often, it was a key tool in creating the clouds in the retro game lay out. Using the oval tool was very similar to using the rectangle tool. I could have created the clouds by the pencil tool and the fill bucket, but it was easier to create them with the oval tool used several times then each oval in the cloud would be grouped together. This meant that the time to create the image would be shorter than if I had to draw these objects out by the pencil tool and the fill bucket. The last tool I used in the retro game design was the text tool. I used it on multiple occasions throughout the creation of the retro game layout. I used it to create the P in the flag and on the improved image, I used it to create each of the M’s on the staircases. I used the text tool to create the letters as that was the quickest and most effective way to create the letter, where if I used the line tool or pencil tool, it would mean that the time to create the letters would be vastly longer. Each tool was used to make sure the image was created as best and quick as possible.

As I was using Fireworks to create the retro game design, the file was saved as a PNG file. A PNG file is small and are a lossless file so won’t lose any detail if the file was to be compressed. A PNG file can have an 8-bit colour depth meaning that there could be 256 colours in the file. A JPEG would better if the image needed more colours as a JPEG has a 24-bit and 16 million colours, but when editing a JPEG, a lot of the original image’s information is lost. A BMP wouldn’t be appropriate as the file would be big due to each pixel being separate and it doesn’t scale or compress well. So, for the design I was creating, a PNG file was best as I didn’t need many colours and it was a small file when finished.

The resolution of the retro games image I created was 660 x 440 pixels. The image’s resolution would need larger to be used as a corridor’s display. I used a smaller canvas than what I should have to get an idea of the placing of the different parts of the image and then I would be able to scale the retro games design to fit a bigger canvas which I decided that the canvas would have a resolution of 1000 x 800 to fit the purpose of the design. Even though the canvas was smaller than it would have been for the final print and then the image being scaled bigger for the final print, the image looked professional on both the smaller canvas and the larger one and the final quality of the image was good and satisfied the user needs.

The colour depth that I used for the retro games design was 8-bit as PNG files are only able to support an 8-bit colour channel. As I didn’t need as many colours as modern images, I didn’t need to have a high bit channel and since I used the same few colours throughout the design, using an 8-bit channel was suitable to produce a good quality. If I was using more colours than I had, I might have made the quality worse due to the 256 maximum colour limit to an 8-bit channel and the colours being blotchy. Due to the PNG file not being able to be used on the internet, the colour depth could have been seen as to simple, so with the lack of internet support, an 8-bit image was suitable. As I was creating a retro games design for Archbishop Holgate’s schools corridor, the colour depth of the image was suitable for the purpose.

Unit 30 – P6 – Copyright and Digital Images

In this task, I am going to be talking about the benefits and issues of copyright involved with digital graphics. At a school or work environment, the internet is the main source for information like images, which generally needs the authors permission to be used, but not in all cases. So, when we use an image from the internet, we are breaking copyright laws if permission isn’t required, we don’t have fair use or the image isn’t copyright free. Even if the author gives you permission to use their work, it can set you back in so much money to use it, and it may not be worth the amount to be paid to use the image.

Copy right is when the owner of original work has rights to their work. So if an author of an image, for instance, doesn’t want other people to use their work, they can restrict the use of their work, making it illegal to use it. In some situations the author of the work allows other people to use their work, but they ask for the person using it to give them money – known in some cases as royalties – but this is the original author giving the person wanting to use their work permission to use the work. Authors of work copyright their work to make sure people don’t use the work without permission to use it, where copyright laws are needed to ensure people who use work that aren’t theirs without permission are prosecuted.

Copyright free is when an image is free to use by the public without permission of the author due to the copyright protection expiring or the author allowed their work to be used without permission. The quality of the image isn’t always brilliant due to this, so the image may not be used as much as images needing to have permission acquired to use. Fair use is when a person has a document that allows them to use material when they want to without permission, even if it is copyrighted material. Some organisations have fair use given to them automatically, like schools, if the image is used for an educational purpose within the school.

An image is technically already copyrighted as soon as it is created or taken. But, in some instances, like Instagram, the copyrights go to the applications creator and the original owner loses the copyright right’s to their image as soon as they upload it to the application. To ensure you have copyright for an image, you get a form, which is sent to the government to get copyright on the image, where the image wanting to be copyrighted is sent with the form. The author will need the image to be on their SD card, if taken on a camera, or another way to show that the image is theirs, to prove that it is their image and get the copyright applied to the image.  

If you want to use someone else’s image in our work, we have to ask the author if it is okay to use their image first, then if we are allowed to, we need to reference where we got the image from. Also, the author of the image may ask for so much money to let the person use their image, which the person wanting to use the image has to pay to be allowed to use it and if it isn’t payable, they would need to decline and look for a similar image and see if they can use that one instead. If and when the person wanting to use an image finds a price they are happy to pay, the author and the user will have a contract to tie the agreement.

Copyright limits the use of images found on the internet as permission is needed to use an image or other work, so time is need to contact the owner and for them to reply, then if the person wanting to use the image doesn’t get permission, then they have to contact someone else to use a different image.  This can be time consuming and the person wanting to use an image may not have the time to ask so many people and it may be faster to just make an image themselves. Copyright in some situations also limits the ownership of the image, like on Instagram, the image isn’t actually owned by the person who put it on, but by Instagram, even though they didn’t take or make the image.

If someone’s work has been reproduced or copied without permission, then they are using the work illegally and can have several prosecutions. One prosecution is if a person is caught using copyright material without permission they may get sued for the use of the copyrighted material. The person may also have to pay the legal fees to be sued. The person using the work without permission may have to stop using the work that is copied and the court may confiscate any copies of the work during the trial, then after the trial, they would be destroyed. The person using the work without permission may have jail time, community service, probation, possessions repossessed like the equipment used to copy the work or their property or work privileges revoked.

unit 30 - P5 - Feedback from your designs

Good Features of the Designs

• Graphics are well done

• Gradient of sky is good

• Good house style – makes the graphic image more realistic

•Reminder of youth/past (replicates older Mario games

Negative Features of the Designs

• Floor is a little unrefined – colour should be different to castle

• Turrets in tower not symmetrical

•A very simple design

Possible Improvements

1.Make the floor or the castle/tower colours different from each other

2.Add more detail to the steps

3.Multiple sky features

4.Make the flag pole a more noticeable colour

5.Make turrets in tower symmetrical

Improvement One

Before

 

 

 

 After

 

 

 

 The first Improvement I made was changing the colour of the castle as it originally was the same as the floor, so the castle and the floor colour wouldn’t be the same. The colour of the castle has been changed to a darker brown, so it wasn’t the same as the floor or the steps. I changed the colour using the pencil tool and the fill bucket tool.  I used the pencil tool to change the colour of the smaller areas and the fill bucket for larger brick areas. This improved the image as the castle and the floor looked more like their own item within the graphic image.

Improvement Two

Before

 

 

 

After

The second Improvement I made was adding the M’s into the staircase to add extra detail into the stairs. I made the colour of the M’s red to replicate the colours of Mario’s suit and the M in his hat, so the M’s that I did would be associated with Mario more. I created the M’s in the staircase by using the text tool for each one. This improved the image as the staircase hadn’t much detail in the original image and so the lettering added slightly more detail to the staircase and since I used a red M in the image, the image overall can be associated with Mario more than it did already.

Improvement Three

Before

 

 

 

After

 

 

 

The third improvement I made was adding the clouds into the sky to make the sky seem less simple than it was in the original image. I made the clouds by using the oval tool 12 times for each cloud where there is 11 ovals to make the outside of the cloud and 1 oval to fill the middle of the cloud. I made the clouds grey to make them stand out more than if I made white clouds, but black clouds would over power the image. The clouds improved the image as they make the image seem to be less simple overall.

Improvement Four

Before

 

 

 

 

After

The fourth improvement I made was changing the colour of the flag pole, so the flag pole would stand out more on the blue background. To do this, I used the line tool to make the pole black and to make the top of the flagpole a different colour, I used the oval tool where the outline of the oval was dark grey to show a shading like effect of the oval. This improved the image as it makes the flagpole stand out more than it did when in the original image when the flagpole was green.

Improvement Five

Before

 

 

 

 

After

The last improvement I made was changing the turret sizes, so the turrets on the castle became symmetrical as they originally was fitted to the different layers of the castle. To do this I had to make the castle slightly bigger, so I used the line tool to make the brick like effects carry on and to make the outlines of the turrets, then I used the fill bucket to make the new sections of the castle the same colour as the rest of the castle. This improved the image as it makes the castle look as if it is fully complete now where as in the original image the castle looks as if it has an element missing from it.