Today's graphic artist has more options and more tools at his disposal to be more creative than in previous times. Once the tools are learned, the only boundary is the artist's own imagination, and of course, technical skill. Many graphic designers find that they function not only as artists within the industry, but also as consultants, public relations specialists, copywriters, set designers, animators, web page designers, customer service representatives and much more. To limit one's scope strictly to designing aspects alone would limit one's career advancement as well.
Processes have also changes with the times. The days of movable lead type and wax paste up are almost extinct. Today, the computer is a necessary and REQUIRED tool for EVERY graphic designer. As artists, we sometimes get a little techno-phobic when it comes to computers, but this must be overcome, and quickly, for technology does not stand still. The graphic designer who cannot change with it will soon find himself looking for other employment.
In this class, we will examine the various printing processes (older and current) as well as computer software as a design medium. We will examine not only print media, but digital media, outdoor signage, logo creation, copywriting, campaign organization, corporate identity and web page design as well.
If you don't own your own computer now, I would highly recommend purchasing one in the near future. You will find it an indispensable too for your education as well as for honing your skills as a designer
Equipment...
The industry standard for computers has been, for about the last 20 years, an Apple computer. Apple made their computers with the graphic artist in mind. The interface isn't some hard-to-remember DOS code, it's little pictures that you click on to get what you want. That's the environment that graphic artists prefer -- it's easier to comprehend because of the way we're wire. And not just graphic artists--that's why Microsoft's Windows® interface looks so much like Apple's - they knew that people don't like to have to think--they like to DO!
So today, most advertising agenceies, printers, production houses, and just about any company housing a graphic artist, has an Apple computer. Apple introduced the Macintosh about 12 years ago, and they havebeen getting better ever since. That's why we want to emphasize Macintosh skills, terminology and interface in this class - it's what everyone uses!
Mhz - stands for 'megahertz' which is the speed that the computer's processor can perform number crunching calculations. The higher the number, the faster the computer operates. 700 mhz is sooooo much better than 25 mhz.
Hard drive - It's not what you might think. Hard drive doesn't refer to the CPU (central processing unit) but to the storage space available inside your computer. It used to be measured in kb (kilobytes). Some of the earlier computers had hard drives that were 68k in size -- hardly enough for a single text document by today's standards. Then we moved up to mb (megabytes, or megs) which is equal to 1000 kb. From there, to gigabytes, or gigs, which equal 1000 mb each. Most of today's computers come with a 4 gig hard drive or better and run at least at 400 mhz.
Removable media - For reasons of practicality, it became necessary to be able to transfer information from machine to machine in situations where the machines were not physically connected by a cable. So, they came up with a floppy disk, which could be removed and inserted from hard drive to hard drive as necessary. They began with 5 1/2" wide floppy disks which held about 400k. There were one-sided and two sided. Then came the 3.5" floppy, which held 1.3 mb each.
From there came an array of other media, such as zip disks at 100mb and 250mb each, CD-ROMs which hold around 700mb each. Tape drives, Nomai drives, SeaQuest drives, Superfloppies and more are now available to hold even some of the largest files. Most people just burn CD-ROMs of their work today - they're cheap and easy to manage.
Mouse, trackball, tablet, trackpad - ways to move your curser (little arrow) around where you want it. A mouse you know...a trackball is like an upside-down mouse and you move the ball with your finger. Wascom tablets allow you to sigitally "draw" whatever you need with an electronic pen. And trackpads operate the same way - just move your finger where you want the mouse to go - no moving parts.
Scanners - There are basically three types of scanners: hand-held, drum and flatbed. We're going to disregard the hand-held because they're not very good. The drum scanner is used mainly for scanning color transparencies (color images printed on a clear plastic sheet). The transparency is applied to a rotating drum which shines light through the image. Advantages: Higher resolution, clearer image, wider range of tones between colors. Disadvantage: Expensive, rare and can only scan transparencies. The flatbed scanner is much more common, less expensive and can scan just about anything. It's called a flatbed because you have a glass scanning surface where your image will be laid, face down (like a copy machine) and scanned by a moving camera lens. Downside: well, there really isn't one.
Computer Images...
There are really two main types of computer graphic images: vectorized and rasterized, or vector and raster. Vector images, like those created in Freehand and Illustrator are made up of mathematically defined lines and curves called vectors. For example, in a vector-based program, you draw a blue circle with a radius of one inch in a specific location on the page. You can then move, resize, distort or change the color of the circle; the program always references the shape itself. Vector-based programs are best for type (especially small type) and bold graphics, such as logos, that require clear, crisp lines, no matter to what size they are scaled.
Raster images, like those created in PhotoShop, consist of a grid, or raster, of small squares known as pixels. For example, a one-inch blue ball in the upper right corner of the page is made up of a collection of pixels in that location, colorized, to give the appearance of a ball. The program references the pixels within a specific grid. When working with raster images, you are working with groups of pixels rather than shapes or objects. Raster images are best when used for continuous tone images, like photographs.
Image Resolution...
Several types of resolution are important when creating digital images. We will examine two types: image resolution and output resolution. Image resolution refers to the spacing of pixels per square inch (ppi) within an image. If an image has a resolution of 72ppi, then it has 5184 (72 x 72) pixels within a square inch of space.
Example: 3" x 3" image at 72 ppi = 46,656 pixels
Example: 3" x 3" image at 300 ppi = 810,000 pixels.
The higher the number of pixels, the higher the resolution. A higher resolution allows for more detail and more subtle changes in the tonal values of color. They are also larger files and take up more room on your hard drive and/or you removable media. The resolution you designate for you image also determines the quality at which it can be printed or output by a device.
Do not confuse image resolution with monitor resolution. Monitor resolution has to do with how that particular monitor can display an image, not the actual quality of the image.
Output resolution refers to the number of dots per inch (dpi) that a device such as a laser printer or inkjet printer, can produce. Laser printers usually have a dpi of a minimum of 300 and as high as 1200 dpi. The minimum resolution for an output image required by most printers is 300 dpi.
Resolution and Image Size...
Image size refers to the physical dimensions of an image. Because the number of pixels in an image is fixed, increasing the size of an image without changing the ppi will decrease the resolution. Likewise, if you decrease the size of an image, its resolution will increase. A 2" x 2" square image at 100 ppi is equal to a 4" x 4" at 50 ppi. If you try to increase the ppi without changing the size of the image, this requires Photoshop to "create" pixels where none existed, often producing a poorer quality image than the original, more often than not. Remember too that the higher the resolution, the larger the file will be. Always take this into account. How sad it is to create that perfect brochure cover that results in a 246 mb file, and all you've got to take it to the printer is a 100 mb zip disk!
It's best to scan in an image at a high resolution, and then get rid of what you don't need later, rather than trying to increase resolution from within PhotoShop. It can be done, but the results are not always successful.
Images from the internet used for web purposes are typically at a low resolution. It is next to impossible to add detail to such an image or create detail where none exists. You will always be limited to how you can use an image by its resolution. When you ask your client for a clean copy of his logo so you can create some animation for his TV commercial and he says "Uhhh, yeah, just pull it off my website!" You will be able to explain why this is not a feasible thing to do.
File Types...
There are a few main types of digital image file types that can be created in Photoshop. They are Bitmaps (BMP) GIF, TIFF, CGS, JPEG and EPS. Impress your friends at parties by knowing these great terms!
BMP - Windows bitmap file format built into Windows and Microsoft Paint for DOS, OS/2 Windows and bitmap graphics
GIF - (Graphic Interchange Format) An 8-bit format used for Macintosh and PC raster images on the Internet. Its small file size makes for an efficient transmission, but limited color quality makes it unsuitable for most publishing applications.
TIFF - (Tagged Image File Format) - Enables high-resolution, bitmapped graphics to be displayed, edited and output by software applications and most operating systems
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a "lossy" compression format. It identifies and discards extra data that the eye cannot see. Image quality is sacrificed to conserve disk space. The more it is compressed, the more sharpness and detail are lost. The amount of data loss however, can be controlled. JPEG files automatically decompress when opened.
EPS (Encapsulated Postcript File) is supported by most illustration and layout programs. EPS graphics can be placed, cropped, rotated, scaled and printed from within different applications without altering the file's integrity. As a consequence, these files are usually larger than most others.
So the question presents itself -- Is one file type better than another? Answer: it all depends on what you're using it for. Example: a GIF file would not be a good thing to save your company newsletter as. Likewise, a tiny logo at the top of your cool tattoo web page would be quite as efficient as an EPS file. Just remember the context of the project, and you'll do fine.