Unit 30 - P1 - Hardware and Software

Graphic cards
A graphics card is a hardware part of the computer where it process the images that we can see on the computer. The graphics card will control the rendering of the image that will go to the monitor. It is accomplished by data being converted into a signal which the monitor will understand. A graphics card is able to be used to edit graphics due to this is how images are processed and are how the image is seen on the monitor.


Internal memory
 
Internal memory, or RAM (Random Access Memory) is faster than the Hard drive and more storage is added to the computer, so the overall speed of the computer is computer. The RAM has the files stored and uploaded on to it when an image is being edited or viewed, where the file is transferred from the Hard drive whilst the image is open.

Processor
The central processing unit, CPU is like the brain of the computer, where it handles all of the calculations instructions that is given to the computer, where the faster it is done, the better. The CPU in editing is to process the instructions the user wants the computer to do then the CPU tells the computer what to do, so the editing is done in the way that the user wants it to and the out come is what they expected it to be.




File storage - USB Flash Drive, Hard Drive
A hard drive stores and retrieves information permanently. The amount of data available to be stored on a hard drive is normally 8TB. Hard drives are slow, so to speed up the process, the hard drive sends the image file to the RAM, which is faster.

A USB is a small, external and portable flash drive where it can b used on any computer that has a USB port. The USB will work in the same way that the Hard drive does when it stores files, but there is less storage, where it is normally 8Gb.




Input
Graphics Tablet - a graphics tablet comes with a stylus, enabling the user to draw or edit a picture with the required software installed to the computer. Graphic tablets are simple to use and makes graphic editing easier on computers as it is like drawing straight onto paper, where the work is displayed onto the monitor.

A mouse is a typical input device for a computer, where it is able to wireless or connected into the computer by a cable. The mouse enables the user to complete actions as well as navigating and controlling aspects on the computer. The mouse  can be used to edit or create images instead of a graphics tablet, but it is harder to use the mouse.





Output

A monitor is the part of the computer
allowing the user to see the work  that they are completing. The monitor would allow the user to see what their work looks like, if they were creating or editing an image, so if it needed to look different, the user would know.




 A printer makes a copy of work that has been accomplished on the computer onto paper. A printer will be used with graphic images when the image has been completed, whether it was being edited or created from scratch, where the image would be used in a way that isn't electronic.



Software

Vectors in graphic software

 A vector graphic is an image where there is no pixels. There is coordinates, paths where the CPU will complete the calculations of resizing the vector images, where the smooth edges will stay smooth.

Fireworks is a vector graphics editor for leaflets, websites or other advertising purpose.

Fireworks allows you to create coordinates, change the paths of the drawn objects, merge two objects paths together and change the coordinates of a shapes position.

 Bitmap Software
Bitmap graphics are mad of millions pixels, where they can be coloured. Each of the individual pixels can be edited  and each of them have its own information, which is saved to the computer, making the bitmap file size large.
Paint is a bitmap editor, where it lacks the support of transparency, filters or  layers, but images are able to be resized, rotated and merged. There is also a small selection of 16 tools which is able to perform basic tasks.
Paint is a very simple image editor, which can be good or bad. Due to the small selection of tools, it is easy to remember what tools perform what tasks. But the lack of tools limits the amount of tasks that the user can do on an image, so if more complex tasks are needed to be done, another program will be needed to be used.

Photoshop
Photos allows the user to transform an image into a more desired image, where Photoshop is developed by Adobe. Photoshop is able to crop, resize and improve colours of an image.
Photoshop is a pixel based software, so the images won't always be of the best quality, some may look pixilated. It is also not the most user friendly software available as there is more tools than paint and it is expensive to buy. However, for users who know how to use Photoshop, they can edit images quickly and easily.


Other tools (photo galleries/file converters)
A photo gallery is able to be stored electronically or it can be a physical album, where electronically, it will store all of the images or videos until they are deleted. An example is a gallery on a mobile phone which has a camera, where the camera will automatically save the video or photo to the gallery.
File conversion software is software which will change the file type of any file on a computer. It can be used when an image file needs to be changed to be supported online, as the original file may not be supported online. An example of file conversion website is http://www.convertmyimage.com/