Technical aspects and file formatting
When it comes to digital media, file formatting and the type of data & file type you choose to use play a big role in the workflow and outcome of the final product. The following is a breakdown of technical aspects, and related key aspects;
Resolution
Digital Media
Resolution is the dimension of an image or moving image calculated on the number of pixels on the horizontal and vertical plane of the ‘canvas’.
Example;
- Modern laptop screen resolutions: 1400 × 1050, 1920 x 1080, 1680 × 1050.
- Modern mobile phone screen resolutions: 1440 x 2560, 1440 x 2960, 1920×1080
These mean that, for example a laptop screen can have a resolution of 1400 pixels on the horizontal plane by 1050 pixels on the vertical plane.
Printed Media
When it comes to printed media, another factor plays an important role which is the DPI. DPI is the count of pixels in a specific print area, in this case DPI stands for Dots Per Inch. This means that a DPI of 300 has 300 ‘Dots’ in every square inch of the canvas/image. Therefore, when an image of for example a photograph can be printed with a resolution of 1800 x 1200 with a DPI of 300 Dots Per Inch, this means that the print will be 6” by 4” (6 x 300 = 1800; 4 x 300 = 1200).
Figure 2- ‘Dots’ in a printed image
DPI PPI
DPI – The number of Dots Per Inch
PPI – Pixels Per Inch
Whilst the two may seem similar, DPI is usually used for printed media meaning the number of printed dots on a medium per square inch, whilst PPI is usually for digital screens/displays referring to the number of pixels per inch.
Compression
Image compression is the process of taking a large amount of information (colour, pixel & dynamic data)and reduce this data by removing the ’unnecessary’ information and in turn, making the file size smaller with minimal loss in quality. This is used for easier file transferring, storage and sharing.
Figure 3- Loss of information in an image
File Formats
Images
TIFF – Tagged Image File Format are lossless images files meaning that they do not need to compress or lose any image quality or information (although there are options for compression), allowing for very high-quality images
Bitmap – Bitmap Image File is a format developed by Microsoft for Windows. There is no compression or information loss with BMP files which allow images to have very high quality, in turn these are very large file sizes.
JPEG – which stands for Joint Photographic Experts Groups is the most common image file format, but tends to have quite a lot of information loss.
Gif – Graphics Interchange Format files are widely used for web graphics. A GIF is usually animated (series of images). This file type is limited to 256 colours.
PNG – Portable Network Graphics files are a lossless image format. This format is used to compress image files without loss of information. You may also save with ‘transparent’ backgrounds (logos and artwork).
RAW – Images that are unprocessed, out of camera. This file type contains a great amount of information, allowing more flexible editing.
Video
MP4 – MPEG-4 is the most digital devices and platforms support MP4, rendering it the most universal video format around.
MOV – Developed by Apple, MOV is the video format specifically designed for QuickTime Player. But since there’s a version of QuickTimePlayer for Windows, MOV is also compatible with Windows.
FLV – Flash video formats was specifically designed for Adobe Flash Video Players, FLV is one of the most versatile and popular video formats around — each web browser and each video platform supports this type of video format.
WMV – Windows Media Viewer was developed by Microsoft, so your audience can play these types of videos on Windows Media Player.
AVI – Audio Video Interleave is one of the oldest video formats out there, AVI was developed by Microsoft in 1992. Since it’s been around for so long, the AVI video format is one of the most versatile video formats, compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux and supported by most web browsers.
MKV – Developed in Russia, ‘Matroska’ format is free and open source. It supports nearly every codec, but it is not itself supported by many programmes.
Colour Modes
Colour is a visual sensation that occurs in our eyes. In media colour is used in many ways and formats in order to present the artists’ works to the viewers/audience. Different colour styles can also present meaning such as the above mentioned colour psychology.
- Grayscale – Is made up of 256 shades and levels of grey made up of all shades between Black and White
- Bitmap or Black and White – This is the simplest colour mode, which unlike Grayscale, is not made of different shades, but only black or white. This is used for linear images, text, and outline images
- Indexed Colour – This colour style is made up of 256 different shades & colours. 256 shades are not near the colour capacity that human beings can visualize, and therefore this colour mode is only used for simple illustrations, such as GIF format files, simple digital art, etc.
- RGB – RGB stands for Red, Green, and Blue. This colour mode is made up of 256 shades of each colour respectively. The whole colours pace is made up of all the in-betweens of these shades of colours combined, capable of producing millions of colours, and possibly representing each and every colour in the real world.
- CMYK – cyan, magenta, yellow and black. This colour mode is made up of 100 shades of each of the four channels. This gives the possibility of a large colour space. Although this mode is used for printing mostly, RGB is far more expressive in colours, and images are generally more vibrant and vivid in RGB
Figure 4- Representation screen rendition and CMYK
Vector/Raster
Raster – A compilation of pixels making forming an image. The pixels are static and square in shape, therefore when enlarging the image, the pixels may be visible and the image gets pixelated.
Vector – A vector is a format of illustrated art, made up of straight and curved paths, forming the image. The paths are dynamic and can be modified at any time in the correct software. This allows vector images to be enlarged whilst keeping the image with the same visual properties as the original.
Figure 5- Vector vs Raster
File Management
File Management is the process of creating and maintaining an organized file structure in which a user may store and retrieve informational efficiently.
Files may be managed efficiently by following a few simple steps;
- Make use of a simple and effective naming structure ex. 2020/10/10_PhotosOfSunset_Valletta. Date is in YYYY/MM/DD format to easily sort chronologically. Capitals are used instead of spaces for users to easily find what they are looking for.
- Make use of folders and subfolders effectively. A balance between too many and too little folders.
- Content that is well outdated may be stored in a separate location to avoid clutter.
Editing Software
Various photo and video software is available nowadays, including freeware such as Gimp for photo editing, Davinci Resolve for video amongst others. Below is a mindmap of the capabilities of Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro and Davinci Resolve.
References:
Exposure Guide. Understanding Resolution. [Online} Available at https://www.exposureguide.com/resolution/ [Accessed 14/11/2021]
Comparium, 2021. Most Common screen resolution. [Online] Available at https://comparium.app/blog/common-screen-resolutions/ [Accessed 14/11/2021]
TechTerms, 2019. Resolution. [Online] Available at https://techterms.com/definition/resolution. [Accessed 14/11/2021]
Sony, 2019. What is the difference between Dots Per Inch (DPI) and Pixels Per Inch (PPI)? [Online] Available at https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00027623 [Accessed 14/11/2021]
OpenCourseWare, 2020. Color Modes. [Online] Available at https://ocw.unican.es/mod/page/view.php?id=1588 [Accessed 14/11/2021]