Author: AnTiX



Essay #1


Getting Started With Graphic Design

Introduction

    Hey, are you one of the many people who visit an amazing site, and wonder, how in the hell do they do those graphics? Do you get jealous at the skills of the web masters, and wonder how you can achieve the same results? While I can't really get you all the way there, i can sure enough get you off on the right foot, and instill some of the critical basics you need in order to go much of anywhere in this area.
    The first thing I'd like to say is this: You won't excell in this area at all, without practicing. It has been a popular misconception that designing graphics is an easy thing, and requires no thought or hard concentration. The truth is, starting out is no cup of tea.

Bitmap vs. Vector

    One of the first and most important things to realize is that there is more than one type of  graphic format. Your intentional area should decide essentially which of these formats you will use most frequently.

    Bitmap Format

    The bitmap format is the most commonly found format on the web, and in general today. It is most commonly used to store such things as photographs, menus, buttons, and titles to web pages, among other things. The bitmap family of graphics files usually consist of  .GIF, .JPG, .BMP, .TIF, among other extensions. Bitmap images are stored by a series of numbers, which represent a single pixel in the bitmap file. Therefore, the amount of pixels on the screen, color variation, etc., directly correlate with the bitmap's file size. This is a reasonable method of storage for smaller, less contrasting bitmap images, but once the bitmap must store a larger amount of pixels(say 640x480, which equates to around 307200 pixels) the file size starts to grow to a size unsuitable for web pages. Bitmap files are generally useful if used to store/edit photographs, design logos and other printing projects, or web pages, if used sparingly. I recommend a bitmap painting program such as
Adobe's Photoshop for your graphical editing. It is an extremely powerful and versatile program, which I use extensively.

    Vector Format

    The vector graphical format, though not as widely used, is extremely versatile. Vector graphics can usually be found in the field of graphic design, but are not uncommonly found in web page designing. This graphical format is extremely interesting because instead of using a series of numbers to store information, vectors store information by means of mathematical formulae, which severely lessen their file sizes. This system of storage creates another very useful aspect. Because the information is stored via formulas, it is possible to both increase and decrease the size of a vector graphic to a multitude of size, without losing any quality, or sharpness in any way. The vector program automatically substitutes certain aspects of the formula, in order to change sizes, without any loss of quality what so ever. This is an extreme advantage over bitmap graphics, because bitmaps tend to lose their quality and blur. One of the disadvantages to vector graphics, however, is that they are not very well suited for pictures, and extremely intricate graphics. When pictures are converted to vector format, the size of the file is too illogical for any reasonable use, and is too taxing on the CPU to be put to any use.
    One good aspect that the vector format holds in it's possession is the fact that animations can be made and utilized with some of the various editors. Reasonable sized animations are usually pretty small in file size, and can include all sorts of bells and whistles, such as interactivity, sound, and streaming music. I recommend programs such as Macromedia's Flash(which is more for web design and animation), and Macromedia's Freehand.

Plans for this Essay Series

    As time goes on, I plan to add lots of  information to this series, such as how to's, a help section, a message board, and much more. I hope that this first lesson has taught some of you new comers a little bit more about graphics, and that It gives you a little more edge. Please visit frequently to see if new installments have been put up yet or not. Hopefully soon I can set up some sort of mailing list, to automatically inform you as to whether or not the essay has been updated. Thanks for stopping by, and if you have any questions, feel free to email me!



Copyright © 1999 AnTiX and The Immortal Descendants
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Freehand and Flash are Copyright © Macromedia, all rights reserved.
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