Assessment 2 & 3 – Graphics

Stuart Matthews
Assessment 2 & 3 – Graphics

Graphics and images can be used to convey information, add text for headlines, buttons etc, and diagrams for information and to change the look of the document. Using graphics and images means that a presentation can be understood despite language barriers, making it multilingual. Graphic and images come in two different formats, vectors and bitmaps. Vector files are made from lines which means that there is no distortion when the size of the image is increased. Bitmap files are made from pixels, the more pixels the better the resolution. Bitmap file types have a .bmp extension, are the most common and are a windows device. Other file types are used for compressing bitmap files which can be very large and therefore inappropriate for some types of multimedia applications like websites. Application for creating image and graphic files include Paint, PaintShop Pro, Photoshop (bitmap) and Fireworks, Coreldraw (vector). Most of these programs have their own files type and can also open other files. These applications have advantages and disadvantages, the main disadvantage is the price of the software, which can be very expensive but the advantage of the higher price software is the number of effects and options for manipulating images that are available.

Bitmap packages work by dividing the image into a grid of millions of cells and assigns a colour, lightness or darkness to every single cell or ‘pixel’. Once a line or text has been drawn on the canvas it cannot be edited without undoing and starting again. Because the image is made up of single pixels the image cannot be enlarged without enlarging the pixels making the image look ‘jaggy’ with rough square edges. One of the most popular bitmap applications is PhotoShop which has many tools and options for creating, editing and optimizing images.

Vector packages work by treating images as a collection of shapes and lines and stores them as mathematical equations to determine how the image should look. Since these formulas are used to produce the image there is no distortion when the image is rescaled unlike with bitmap images. However as the computer screen is displayed the same way as a bitmap file, using pixels, when zoomed in on the vector image there will still be jagged edges although the edge is perfectly smooth.

The main function of graphics software is to make images ready for publishing on the internet. Before importing files to authoring or web development software files should be compressed in order to reduce files sizes. Photographs can be very large and must be manipulated in order to make them web friendly, things that can be done to reduce file size include cropping the image to only the part that is needed and reducing picture quality. Most software applications will have the option to compress file types and allow the user to change the options for the exported image. The user can reduce the quality, number of colours used and see the final size of the optimized image. For use on the web most images will be exported as either a jpeg or gif file. Files sizes are important when developing an application for the internet because the bigger the file the longer it will take the user to be able to view it. This might not be a problem with broadband connections but users with slower modems will find they have to wait to see large files displayed. The smaller the file sizes the smaller the size of the final production. If the image is to be printed then the highest quality possible should be used to get the best resolution.

Graphics applications have many tools available to assist the user in creating and editing images. Layers allow the user to work on different elements on different layers without disturbing other elements and add effects and styles to one part of image only. Effects such as shadows, glows, bevels, overlays and strokes can be used to quickly change the appearance of layers content. Filters can also be applied to add special effects to a layer like artistic filters that replicate natural or tradition media effects, blur filters and texture filters. Slice tools can be used to divide an image into functional areas such as hotspots for html links and rollover effects. Shapes like rectangles, ovals and stars can easily be created from a variety of shape tools and predrawn shapes. The pen tool allows the users to create straight lines and curves with more precision than other tools. Pen tools can also be used to create ‘paths’ for text to follow. Transparency is possible in a number of file formats, the most popular for use on the web is gif files. Transparent images can be used on sites as spacers and to add corners and curves to tables that usually look square. Other uses for transparency include adding gradients either to images or web pages.

3D rendering software allows the creations of 2D and 3D content with tools for modelling, lighting, texturing and rendering allowing the user to create much more realistic pictures and animations.

Authoring and Web Development software

Stuart Matthews
Part 1 - Software
Authoring and Web Development software

HTML Editors are used to write html files to create web pages. The editor allows the user to write the html code that a web browser reads to display the page, some allowing the user to see the page as it develops. Although html can be written with any text editor most html editors applications use a GUI (graphical user interface) making them user friendly and have built-in functions allowing easy creation of tables, frames and CSS (cascading style sheets). This allows the user to create professional looking sites simpler than using a text editor as the software automates the process of writing html (hyper text mark-up language) and Meta tags used in the head section of the index. Some HTML editors are WISIWIG (What I See Is What I Get) providing a view of how the page should look in a browser. This makes the process of writing complex code easier for the user. There are many rules on how html is written in order for it to conform to W3C Standards. WC3 is the Worldwide Web Consortium and are the main international standards organisation for the web. These rules mean that a solid understanding is needed to write html with a simple text editor while a specialized html editor helps to write the code needed.

Web Browsers are needed to view and interact with web pages on the internet. The first browser was created by Tim Berners in 1991 while working at CERN. Browsers allow the user to view html files as text, images, video and other media. Most web pages are wrote in html code which tells the browser how to display the page and where to place image files, how text should look and what colours should be displayed. Without a web browser html files are just a list of code. There are many web browsers available like Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Opera and now Google Chrome. However as all browsers read html files differently pages look different on every browser which can cause problems for web designers and developers.

Notepad is a text editor that can also be used to write html files because it adds no other formatting to text. Notepad was released in 1985 by Microsoft and is included in all Widows Versions. Unlike other WISIWIG software Notepad and Notepad++ do not automate the writing of html code or allow the user to see how the page will look in a browser. This means the user must have a good understanding of html in order to create web pages. Notepad is often used by designers for debugging as it offers more control than WISIWIG programs as the code is ‘cleaner’ than that of code written in authoring software.

Notepad++ is a source code editor that can be used to help write html code. It is has more features for a designer than Notepad, benefits include syntax highlighting allowing the user to find sections of code easier and auto-completion for the writing of html tags. Syntax highlighting helps the designer to find any problems with the code while debugging web pages.

Authoring software is required to bring all parts of a multimedia application together. In the past this would have required the services of a professional programmer. Media including text, graphics, animation, sound and video is imported from the different applications used to create them to create a final multimedia presentation. Once media has been imported the software allows the user to assign different relationships and actions to elements to add interactivity. Interactive movies can be created using buttons, key frames and markers. To speed up the process of translating commands into binary authoring software includes binary code called Xobjects or Xcommands adding speed and functionality to a program.
Authoring software includes Flash, Director, Dreamweaver and Kompozer. These software applications use user friendly interfaces making it easy to add effects and interactivity using actions and scripts and see how the presentation looks as it develops. Most authoring software is WISIWIG (What I See Is What I Get) that allows the user to see how the finished item will look. This makes the process of writing complex files much easier and without the need of programming skills allowing novices to create professional looking content.
While there are many advantages to using authoring software to write web pages there are times when a simple text editor will be preferred. The main reason is that every browser and program displays the mark-up language differently. Also like all other computer programs web browsers have bugs that need to be fixed, many web developers and designers prefer to use a simple text editor for the debugging process as these programs don’t add any other code to the file making it easier to find problem code.

Flash was created by Macromedia in 1996 and is now developed by Adobe Studios. Flash is a popular program for creating animations and movies for web pages without the need of a programmer. Interactivity is one of the main benefits of Flash allowing the user to integrate sound and video to movies and animations. Flash is better than other forms of animated images as it allows much more interactivity meaning that Flash can also be used for the production of websites. Many web developers and designers rely on Flash animations and movies to reach the widest possible audience. Most browsers require plug-ins to allow the user to view the file. Flash files (.fla) are embedded into the html code on a web page to tell the browser how and where to display the file. The file must then be played using the Flash Player plug-in.

Dreamweaver is currently the industry leading web design and development program. It was created by Macromedia in 1997 and Adobe acquired the company in 2007. Dreamweaver is a WISIWIG tool using a GUI meaning the user can hide the code and see only how the page will look in a browser. This allows novices at html to create good looking pages. The user can create add elements to a page and Dreamweaver will automatically create the code that complies with W3C standards. Behaviours and other actions can be easily added to elements to add interactivity and usability to web pages. As with most HTML editors Dreamweaver edits files locally (on the computer) before the user must upload to the internet using a FTP client. Because Dreamweaver creates the code for the user this means they have less control over it and excess code may be created that can cause slow loading and poor performance of the page.

Kompozer is an Open-Source program meaning that it is available to download, use and improve for free. Open-Source software is programs that are open to the public domain for programmers to upgrade the code to enhance the software. It is a good alternative to Dreamweaver which is very expensive. Kompozer was originally created as a debugged version of Nvu, another open-source WISIWIG authoring program.

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