Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Contents Chapter
Title
Page
01
Project Brief
3
02
Introduction to Design
13
03
Information Research
15
04
Brainstorming
24
05
Design Elements: Line
46
06
Design Elements: Shape
51
07
Design Elements: Value or Tone
56
08
Design Elements: Texture
59
09
Design Elements: Colour
62
10
Design Elements: Space
64
11
Thumbnail Sketches
67
12
Design Principles: Emphasis
70
13
Design Principles: Balance
74
14
Design Principles: Unity
79
15
Design Principles: Rhythm, Contrast, Size
86
16
Introduction to Colours
91
17
Additive and Subtractive Colours
98
18
The Colour wheel
102
19
Colour Terminology
107
20
Colour Harmony
113
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21
Colour behaviours & relationship
116
22
Web safe colours on a monitor
121
23
Colour Standardization
124
24
Compression formats - PNG
126
25
Web safe tools
128
26
Cross Media: Features and Differences
131
27
Photoshop
136
28
Illustrator
171
29
Changing colour mode and making colour correction
181
30
Digital Text
187
31
Digital Graphics
194
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Chapter 1 What is a Project Brief? 1.1
Overview
Before we can be a good ―Project Manager‖ and applying good ―Project Management‖, we must ensure that the work we are undertaking of is a PROJECT. That is because there are multiples kinds of work – for instance, support, operations, management, project and others.
Support work includes maintaining current solutions that are already in place. For IT development people, support work consists of answering questions, going to regularly scheduled meetings, fixing problems in the production systems, etc. For sales people, this could be making daily sales calls, moving contracts through an approval process, updating call logs, etc.
Operation work consists of the routine work required to run the business processes. For an accounts receivable clerk this could be checking reports, balancing accounts, posting journal entries, closing out the system, etc.
Management work is required to manage and lead people and business processes.
The key aspect is these types of works are ongoing and they are routine parts of our jobs. These are the works we do today, tomorrow and a month from now.
On the other hand, projects are not routine. The biggest difference in these categories of work is that projects, by their definition, have a defined start and end-date. This is the key determinant of whether a piece of work is a project. They are other characteristics of a project which include a defined scope, finite budget, specific end results (or deliverables) and assigned resources. Another characteristic of a project is that the work has to be unique. Even if a project is similar to another one, it is not exactly the same because circumstances change and because things are always different when you are dealing with people.
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1.2 Definition of Project A project is a one-time endeavor that ends with a specific accomplishment, such as the development of a unique product or service. It originates when something unique is to be accomplished. The five fundamental criteria to recognize work to be called ―Project‖ are as follows:
The work delivers specific requirements of the customer.
The work consists of related activities.
A team of people complete the work.
The work has a start and end point.
The work is a one-off, not a repetitive or undertaking.
Examples of projects:
Building a home;
Developing a new product;
Starting up a business;
Moving a company or department to another building;
Deploying a new computer system;
Running a publicity campaign;
Putting on an event;
Carrying out final year project; and
Organizing a Student Orientation Program
These are unique accomplishments or tasks that have a prescribed time span to complete. Project consists of many tasks that must be done to achieve the desired final results.
Initiate a project. Set the project‘s goals, scope, limitations, and assumptions. Make sure that the goals are measurable, and describe a definite end to the project. In other word, to define the project, we have to initiate the project.
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Create a project plan. List all the tasks required to achieve the project goals, put those tasks in a logical sequence, and establish start and finish relationships between tasks. You will also need to set a start date and assign resources to tasks.
Refine the project plan. The first draft of your plan might contain all the pieces, but then it is time to reorganize them, maybe delete or add a few. Remove unneeded tasks, make sure no resource is overworked, and check that the project can realistically finish on time and within budget.
Track project progress. Understand the current status of your project and know how and when tasks are scheduled. Compare actual project data to your original estimates. Make adjustments to the schedules that are necessary to keep on track. Remember to keep tasks, resources, time and money in balance.
Close the project. Analyze the project and apply what you have learned to the next project.
According to the definition of a project, as much as 90% of what gets done in an organization can be thought of as projects. For this reason, the ability to manage project is a core and competence that almost everyone should have. Do note that although almost everyone may manage projects, not everyone is a project manager. Unless we are managing the work of other people, we are practicing self-management only.
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1.3
Definition of Project Management Project Management is the defining, planning, scheduling, and controlling of the tasks that must be completed to achieve your project goals.
Defining and planning are the most important stages so that we know what we will do.
Scheduling is necessary so that we know when you will do it.
Controlling is important because things never work out exactly as planned, so that continual monitoring and adjustment are required.
To meet our project goals, it is important that we must track and reschedule as the project progresses. We are successful when we satisfy the requirements of our client or management and when we meet our project goals on schedule and within our budget.
1.4
Five Phases of Project Management The following statements briefly describe a set of guiding principles for Project Management Process™ and are reflected in all the subsequent content.
A project management process must be flexible and scalable, based on the size of 1. the underlying project. Scalability refers to the level of complexity of the project management processes, as well as the time and focus applied to them.
2.
Projects must be managed proactively regardless of the size. Project managers that wait for things to happen most often get into trouble. A successful project normally requires a partnership between the project team and
3. the client. The project is at higher risk of failure without active participation from the client. Project management processes must be established up-front, and understood by the 4. project team and the client. Most processes require the involvement of multiple members of the client and project team.
5.
Project managers must have a sufficient level of authority to be successful. If the project manager is responsible for the delivery of the project, yet they cannot make
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key decisions needed to manage the project, they will not be successful.
Hence, the management of a project generally involves five phases (shown in Figure 1.1):
A.
Initiation This is to launch the job; this includes goal setting, defining the project scope, and team organization.
B.
Planning This is to determine how mission will be
achieved;
which
includes
developing strategy and tactics, and handling logistics. This may relates to resources like people, money and supplies to specific activities that related to each other.
C.
Executing This is to carry out the works.
D.
Controlling Here the firm monitors progress, resources, costs, quality and budgets. It revises or changes plan and shifts resources to meet time and cost demands.
E.
Closure Ending of the project; may require conducting lessons-learned reviews.
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Figure 1.1
Project Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling and Enclosure
Project Initiating: 1. Setting goals. 2. Defining the project goal 3. Organizing the team.
Brainstorming; Desire result to be achieved; Expectation of stakeholders
Project Planning: 1. Identifying tasks. 2. Tying needs into timed project scope activities. 3. Tying resources to specific activities
Time/cost estimates; Budgets; WBS Charts; Gantt Charts; People in-charged;
Project Executing: 1. Start the actual project. 2. Relate activities to each other. 3. Updating and revising on a regular basis.
Project Controlling: 1. Monitoring resources, costs, quality, and budgets. 2. Revising and changing plans. 3. Shifting resources to meet demands.
Project Enclosure: 1. Final Presentation 2. Conducting lessonlearned reviews
Test plan; Documenting the progression;
Reports - budgets; - delayed activities; - slack activities
Reviews - Improvement
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1.5
Designing a Flowchart A flowchart is one of many different process mapping tools used for tracking steps involved in a process. It looks not only at "whom", but also "what", "why" and "how" an activity or process is accomplished. The production of flowchart is a visual representation of the sequence of the content of your product. It shows what comes first, second, third, etc. as well as what our audience will do and what will happen when they've done it. A completed flowchart organizes our topics, strategies, treatments, and options into a plan from which we can work out the details of what each screen, page, frame, or shot will look like. Flowcharting, as a tool for clarifying situations and thus improving knowledge and understanding, is particularly useful when used by a group or team. This is because by drawing a flowchart together, the team, 
develops a common understanding of the situation

contributes a larger pool of knowledge than an individual can (assuming team members are well chosen for their knowledge and experience)

can agree a common approach to solving problems, resolving ambiguities and making improvements
Team leaders will find that drawing a flowchart progressively on a whiteboard or flipchart, as team members contribute their information, opinions and ideas, will not only identify problems and areas of confusion, but will automatically build consensus and commitment by focusing the team's attention on a single shared view of their task. Be warned, however, that while flowcharting looks easy to do, it takes practice to use effectively. It forces users to identify process steps so that they are clear and logical, which is of course its principal purpose. Examples are shown in Figures 1.1 and 1.2. Essentially, it is a working map of our final product. It will probably change as we work through all of the details of our final product.
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1.5.1
Flowchart Symbol The symbols used to represent each event may take any form. They may be boxes, circles, diamonds or other shapes, or events may simply be described in words. Connections between events are always represented by lines; usually with arrowheads to show the direction or order in which they occur. These lines represent the flow of activity in the process being described; hence the name of the technique. (See the example in the `How to use it' section of this document.) Below shown some symbols commonly used in flowcharts.
Start and End This symbol is used to indicate both the beginning and the end of your program.
Graphic/Text This symbol indicates individual content for screens, pages, or frames.
Decision This symbol is used when there is interactivity between your audience and the program. It is usually in the form of a yes/no question, with branching flow lines depending upon the answer.
Place Marker This is a place marker. If you have to go to another line or page with your flowchart, this symbol is numbered and put at the end of the line or page. It is then used at the beginning of the next line or page with the same number so a reader of the chart can follow the path.
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1.5.2 How to draw a flowchart There are no hard and fast rules for constructing flowcharts, but there are guidelines which are useful to bear in mind. Here are six steps which can be used as a guide for completing flowcharts.
1. describe the process to be charted (this is a one-line statement such as, "How to fill the car's petrol tank") 2. start with a 'trigger' event 3. note each successive action concisely and clearly 4. go with the main flow (put extra detail in other charts) 5. make cross references to supporting information 6. follow the process through to a useful conclusion (end at a 'target' point) The best way to illustrate the use of these guidelines is to look at a simple example (Figure 1.4) and follow how each step has been applied.
1. The first step is to identify the process to be flowcharted and to give the chart a title. In this case, it is `How to fill the car's petrol tank'. 2. Begin to draw the chart by first describing the event which initiates the process (the 'trigger'). In the example this is `Low petrol warning light comes on'. 3. Then note down each successive action taken. Actions should be described in as few words as possible, but make sure the description is not ambiguous or unclear. 4. When you reach a point at which the flowchart branches into a number of alternatives, and the resulting complexity threatens to overwhelm the exercise, choose the most important alternative to continue flowcharting with. The others can simply be terminated and dealt with in separate flowcharts. Such a point is illustrated in the example where a decision is required on how much petrol is to be put in the tank. 5. Often you may need to make cross-references to important supporting information (in this example cross references may be made to, say, a table of preferred brands of petrol, or to a list of cars able to use unleaded petrol). 6. Continue describing each event, action or decision as it occurs in sequence, until the process is concluded. In the example, this point is reached when the petrol is paid for, the tank is recharged, and you are ready to drive off.
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Flowcharts help to identify all the key tasks involved and the finished chart can be used,
as a springboard for further discussion of the process
to connect with other flowcharts explaining related activities
to identify points where data can be usefully collected and analysed
to isolate possible problem areas to communicate the process to those unfamiliar with it
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Chapter 2 Introduction to Design 2.1 What is a design? In general, a design is a creative effort to solve a problem. The end result of a design process is a solution. Design is all around us; our furniture, clothes, buildings etc. A good design means that the design functions well, i.e. it is able to solve a problem effectively.
A graphic design is therefore a visual solution to a problem. For example, a poster advertisement is considered to be a design solution for the ―problem‖ of communicating a desired message to potential consumers. The message does not refer to only the raw information (such as the brand name, or place to buy etc), but also includes the emotions, or feelings that it wants the consumer to sense. Therefore, if the poster advertisement is for a new watch targeted at the tech-savvy consumer, its message may include a certain sense of being hi-tech and futuristic.
Similarly, other types of visual design such as an animation, a video clip, or a web page are various types of visual communication solutions.
2.2 The Art of Visual Design When most people think of the word ―Art‖, they will usually think of the word ―Creative‖. Being creative would mean that a problem is not fixed by only one correct solution. Often, it has been said: ―There are no rules in art‖. This is true in the sense that there is no list of strict dos and don‘ts to follow when solving problems visually. But having ―no rules‖ does not mean that all visual solutions are equally successful. Practises and criteria have been developed from successful works over time, and these have become guidelines (not rules) to assist the artist in the creation of a successful work. These guidelines certainly do not mean the artist is limited to any specific solution. To be a successful designer, it is therefore important to understand the established guidelines in the field of visual arts.
When creating a visual artwork, there are two aspects to consider: content and form. Content refers to the subject matter, story, or information that the artwork seeks to communicate to the viewer. Form is purely the visual aspect, the way various elements are arranged using principles of design. Thus content is what the artists want to say, and form is how they say it. Art can
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contain either only form (without content), or both form with content. When only form alone exist, it is considered pure art (i.e. merely for visual satisfaction). When both form and content are present, it becomes a means of visual communication and can become a design as well (i.e. to provide a solution for communicating a message to the viewer).
The portrait of Mona Lisa on the left is not a design because it lacks the aspect of content (is there a clear message for you?). Whereas the portrait on the right is used as a design, and so the whole piece contains both form and content to provide a solution for communicating a message to the viewer.
The building blocks in every artwork consist of what we call design elements: Line, Shape, Texture, Value, Colour and Space. The way to arrange and present these elements in an effective manner requires the consideration of design principles: Emphasis, Balance, Unity, Rhythm, Contrast and Size. These are the established guidelines in the field of visual arts that you will learn in subsequent chapters.
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Chapter 3 Information Research 3.1Information Search Today we live in what is called the information age. Advancements in information technology and communications have made way for storing and retrieving information using the internet. This chapter explains the basic methods and techniques to be adopted to search and retrieve information from the internet, effectively.
3.1.2 Internet Browsers
A browser is a computer program that resides on your computer enabling you to use the computer to view WWW documents and access the Internet taking advantage of text formatting, hypertext links, images, sounds, motion, and other features. Netscape and Internet Explorer are currently the leading "graphical browsers" in the world (meaning they facilitate the viewing of graphics such as images and video and more). There are other browsers (e.g., Macweb, Opera). Most offer many of the same features and can be successfully used to retrieve documents and activate many kinds of programs. Browsers all rely on "plug-ins‖ to handle the fancier files you find on the Web. Plug-ins are subprograms stored within a browser or elsewhere in your computer especially to support special types of files you may click on. If you click on a link, and your computer does not currently have the plug-in needed for the file you clicked on, you are usually prompted with an opportunity to get the plug-in. Most plug-in are free and easy and safe to install on your computer; follow the instructions you are given. The main way in which browsers differ is in the convenience features they offer for navigating and managing the Web and all the URLs you may want to keep track of. Netscape and Internet Explorer both offer the ability to e-mail documents, download them to diskette, print them, and keep track of where you've been and site you want to "bookmark‖.
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3.1.3 Search Engines There are millions of sites on the Internet and more being added every day. This often makes it difficult to find the information you need, and to find it without having to search for a bazillion hours. There are two types of tools that will help you find what you need: directories and search engines. They're both useful for different types of searches, so knowing how each works can help you decide which one to use. Directories
"Yellow Pages" Created by people Follow subject links/good for browsing
Examples of Directories
Yahoo! http://www.yahoo.com Yahooligans http://www.yahooligans.com Multnomah County Library Electronic Resources http://www.multcolib.org/ref/ Multnomah County Library Homework Center http://www.multcolib.org/homework/ KidsClick! http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/KidsClick!/ Awesome Library http://www.awesomelibrary.org/student.html Surf Monkey http://www.surfmonkey.com/coolsites/default.asp
Search Engines
Keyword searching Created by software "spiders" Good for specific, detailed searching
Examples of Search Engines
HotBot http://www.hotbot.com Alta Vista http://www.altavista.com Google http://www.google.com/
(It is important to remember that each of these search tools works differently, so you will probably find that you get different results from each one using the exact same search.) Keywords
Pit Bulls hounds canines
(If you're using a directory for your search, you don't have to use keywords--you may simply follow the subject links provided by the directory. However, most directories allow you to input keywords at any point along your search path.)
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3.1.4 Search Strategies General Tips for Conducting Your Search 1. Brainstorm and write down words and phrases that describe your topic before you hop on the Web. 2. Use a directory if you're searching a broad subject area or haven't quite decided what part of a particular topic to cover. 3. Use a search engine if you know exactly what your topic is and have some knowledge of the words typically used to describe it. 4. If you're using a search engine rather than a directory, start with specific keywords and if you get too few hits or none at all, broaden your search (e.g., search "sharks" instead of "porbeagle"). 5. Try more than one search tool. 6. Evaluate the sites you find as much as possible for reliability. (Search engines often return tons of "hits," many of which have absolutely nothing to do with your topic. It's always a good idea to scroll through the first 20 or 30 hits, even if the list is over 100,000 hits. Then alter your search strategy, using what you learned from your gargantuan search, and try again.) Search Strategies
Boolean Searches Using Boolean expressions (AND, OR and NOT) to find information on the Internet. Example: 1. Prince AND Charles This statement when typed in a search engine, will return all information containing the word ‗Prince‘ and ‗Charles‘ together in a same sentence, paragraph or document. 2. Prince OR Charles This statement when typed in a search engine will return all information containing the word ‗Prince‘ or ‗Charles‘. The results may get Prince (tennis racquet brand), Ray Charles (American R&B performer), Charles Darwin (evolutionist) or Prince Philip (Prince Charles‘s brother). 3. Prince NOT Charles. This statement when typed in a search engine will return all information containing the word ‗Prince‘ but not ‗Charles‘.
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Phrasal Searches Phrasal searches are one of the most powerful search strategies on the Internet yet one of the simplest. When you do a phrasal search, you simply type in a statement that you want and enclose in opening and closing quotation marks. Example: ―What is an Oxymoron?‖ Phrasal searches will find the EXACT phrase that you typed in the search engine.
Proximity Searches Proximity searches are not widely used in search engines, but rather in most large text documents or databases. Proximity means ―closeness to‖. When doing proximity searches, you type in the expression xP; where x is a number and P is an indicator of proximity. It will only find information in the order that you typed them Example: Singapore 1P Airlines Will only retrieve documents with Singapore within a word of Airlines
Nearness Searches Nearness searches, like proximity searches are not that used in general search engines. Its basic difference with the proximity search is the expression can be searched either forward or backwards. When doing nearness searches, you type in the expression xN; where x is a number and N is an indicator of nearness. Example: Singapore 2N Airlines This will retrieve documents that may contain the word Singapore and Airlines within 2 words of each other: 1. The official Airlines of Singapore. 2. Singapore‘s main Airlines Company is SIA.
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3.1.5 Topical Search Engines To be able to conduct efficient and effective searches, one must be aware of the various tools available to them. Many just simply log on to Google, type in their query and hope that whatever is retrieved is the one that they want. Google, like other search engines cover a lot of topics. It is therefore wise to narrow down the field for which you will conduct your search. You may use special tools to do this. One tool is called a topical search engine. Topical search engines focus on a specific topic or field. If it only on Astronomy, Music, image libraries, audio libraries or a collection of video clips, topical search engines offer a better alternative to general search engines. Examples of these are:
Ditto.com – a resource for photographs and images Newslink.org – links all major news sites Gist.com – online TV listings
3.2 Client’s design brief The Design Brief is a document created by the client in order to set out clearly their objectives, how they need to work, what they need to get from the process and when they need to get it. The design brief can help answer any questions the designer might need to ask the client, both before and during the process. But it may also help the client create for the designer a sharp (and easily consultable) definition of why the client is entering this process and what they would like to achieve by the end. It is not uncommon for the designer to ask a number of questions that are aimed at eliciting a precise brief from their clients. These documents will have been constructed with reference to the design firm's own design process. Remember the client must ensure that the brief they finally submit to the designer communicates their objectives precisely. Having said that, some in the design world believe that "keep it brief" is a reasonable rule of thumb in a brief. The design brief the client eventually hands over should be one that gives the client a sense of security, a sense that they have expressed as clearly as possible what they are looking for from the design firm. Achieving this usually means that there are some areas that simply must be covered. 3.2.1 Client’s introduction The client might feel that their company is a household name, but designers still need to hear the client‘s version of their story. There is a need for the client to provide the designer with enough information about their organization to understand where they have come from, and where they are trying to go. Extend this background information to a synopsis of the market in which the client operates, explain who their competitors are and how their company and its products or services differs from the competition. Explain their organization's brand personality. 3.2.2
Objectives of the project
Explain the need for this particular project. If the design brief offers a clear statement of the clients objectives, and the priorities they place on them, it will be doing a large part of the job it needs to do.
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3.2.3
Vision of the project
From there, the client adds details which will help to express more clearly what their company is about and how this project will affect the way their business will be perceived by the market. Part of this process should involve an effort to define the work's audiences. 3.2.4
Design Criteria
Outline the materials, medium or media in which the design will be realized, the design cycles, the distribution, the design parameters in general, and the client should say as much as they can about how and where they see the design being used. The client will also need to detail any constraints on the project or its delivery. The client's design brief will need to tell the design firm some things that the clients would like their design to say about them, adding if possible some examples of work that they think scores highly in this direction. If the client is truly determined to have their company seen, for example, as one that is facing with zest the challenges of the 21st Century, the client will need the design to do the same. 3.2.5
Success criteria
The client must clearly define how they will judge the success of the project. The design brief should also define budgets and set out required timeframes, alongside which it might cover the internal process which will be involved in approving work at stages along the timeline, as well as defining the contact within the client organization for this. How exactly these aspects will be treated in the design brief will depend largely on the type of work the client is commissioning. The goal of the design brief is to outline the client's needs and expectations, as well as describe the markets that must be targeted with precision. It has to state clearly the challenges to be met, but will still expect the designer to provide a creative solution. The design brief is not intended to tell the designers how to design, simply to give them the best possibly chance of delivering the work the client needs.
3.3 Intellectual Property Rights Intellectual property or IP refers to a legal entitlement which sometimes attaches to the expressed form of an idea, or to some other intangible subject matter. This legal entitlement generally enables its holder to exercise exclusive rights of use in relation to the subject matter of the IP. The term intellectual property reflects the idea that this subject matter is the product of the mind or the intellect, and that IP rights may be protected at law in the same way as any other form of property. Intellectual property laws are territorial such that the registration or enforcement of IP rights must be pursued separately in each jurisdiction of interest. However, these laws are becoming increasingly harmonized through the effects of international treaties such as the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, while other treaties may facilitate registration in more than one jurisdiction at a time. Intellectual property laws confer a bundle of exclusive rights in relation to the particular form or manner in which ideas or information are expressed or manifested, and not in relation to the ideas or concepts themselves. It is therefore important to note that the term "intellectual property"
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denotes the specific legal rights which authors, inventors and other IP holders may hold and exercise, and not the intellectual work itself. Patents, trademarks and designs fall into a particular subset of intellectual property known as industrial property. Like other forms of property, intellectual property (or rather the exclusive rights which subsist in the IP) can be transferred (with or without consideration) or licensed to third parties. In some jurisdictions it may also be possible to use intellectual property as security for a loan.
3.4 Copyright Copyright is designed to protect the copyright holder by preventing unauthorized copying. The copyright holder may issue rights to the item which will determine how you may use it, for how long, in what way etc. All the different parts of a multimedia production may be protected by copyrights. You should assume that unless a right has been specifically granted, you do not have it, and not assume that a work is in the public domain. With text based works ‗fair use‘ was often cited as a defence for using work without permission, but in the multimedia environment, this may be harder to define. Moral rights must also be considered. Moral rights refer to the right to object to changes that could harm the author‘s reputation or ‗derogatory treatment‘.
Software The copyright for software is generally handled by a single company, but it is possible that several copyrights exist. A license granting you permission to use a piece of software does not mean you can distribute it, or necessarily the runtime programs to read the applications you have produce with it.
When buying an authoring system for example, you should always check these rights. Some companies allowed unlimited distribution of runtimes; other may require you to pay a separate license fee for each runtime that is distributed.
Photographs Photographs may involve several layers of copyright, for example, the subject of the photograph and the photograph itself.
Scanning a photograph may also be a breach of copyright. There are many sources of photographs, including commercial photo libraries and public domain sources.
Video Clips Like photographs, these may have several copyrights associated with them. For a clip from a motion picture, for example, this may include rights held by the author, actors, Production Company and rights associated with the music.
Licenses tend to be granted in unit lengths of 30 to 60 seconds, so you should bear in mind when deciding how long your clip will be.
Music It is often difficult to get clearance on many commercial recordings at all. However, there are libraries of music produced specifically for this kind of use which have clearly defined rates. For example, film footage; this is normally licensed in unit length of 30 seconds.
Beware using sampled sound.
Getting Clearance When seeking clearance, you should clearly define what you intend to use the work for, and what rights you are seeking. Getting to narrow a clearance may mean having to pay extra later, whereas to wide means you may be paying for extra rights that you do not need.
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You should also make clear any changes you intend to make, in case, there are any objections.
Payment may be a one off fee, which is easy to administer, royalties based on sales income, or ‗pay per use‘.
In many cases, the method will be determined by the copyright holder. However, where copyright holders have no policy about granting rights, you may do well to write to them, stating exactly how you intend to use their work and what you think is a reasonable payment.
3.4.1 The Copyright Policy Guidelines for Various Materials – Web Catalogue, CDs, Print Image Catalogues and Video Still Images General Guidelines
Users may use portions of lawfully acquired copyrighted works in their academic multimedia projects, with proper credit and citations. They may retain them in personal portfolios as examples of their academic work.
Users must include on the opening screen of their programs and on any printed materials that their presentation has been prepared under fair use exemption of the Copyright Law and are restricted from further use.
Users may claim fair use for their own productions providing these productions are: - For face-to-face curriculum-based instruction - Demonstrations of how to create multimedia productions - Presented at conferences (but you may not share copies of the actual production) - For remote instruction as long as the distribution signal is limited - Kept for only 2 years
Fair use ends when the multimedia creator loses control of his product's use, such as when it is accessed by others over the Internet.
Users need not write for permission if their presentation falls within the specific multimedia fair use guidelines; however, "users are advised to note that if there is a possibility that their own educational multimedia project incorporating copyrighted works under fair use could later result in broader dissemination, whether or not as commercial product, it is strongly recommended that they take steps to obtain permissions during the development process for all copyrighted portions rather than waiting until after completion of the project‖.
Web Catalogue Internet resources often combine both copyrighted and public domain sites; therefore care should be used in downloading any sites for use in multimedia presentations.
Until further clarification, educators and students are advised to write for permission to use Internet resources and to be mindful of the copyright ramifications of including embedded additional links to that particular site.
CDs Up to 10% of a copyrighted musical composition, but no more than 30 seconds.
Up to 10% of a body of sound recording, but no more than 30 seconds.
Any alterations cannot change the basic melody or the fundamental character of the work.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Print Image Catalogues A photograph or illustration may be used in its entirety.
No more than 5 images of an artist's or photographer's work.
When using a collection, no more than 10% or no more than 15 images, whichever is less
Video Still Images Up to 10% of a copyrighted work or 3 minutes, whichever is less
Clip cannot be altered in any way.
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Chapter 4 Brainstorming 4.1 Brainstorming Brainstorming is an idea generating technique. Its main goals are (1) to break us out of our habitbound thinking and (2) to produce a set of ideas from which we can choose. (No one wants to have a choice of only one product when buying detergent or cars, so why have a choice of only one solution when working on a problem?) Basic Guidelines for Brainstorming Brainstorming is useful for attacking specific (rather than general) problems and where a collection of good, fresh, new ideas (rather than judgment or decision analysis) are needed. Brainstorming can take place either individually or in a group of two to ten, with four to seven being ideal. (Alex Osborn, brainstorming inventor, recommends an ideal group size of twelve, though this has proven to be a bit unwieldy.) The best results are obtained when the following guidelines are observed: 1. Suspend judgment. This is the most important rule. When ideas are brought forth, no critical comments are allowed. All ideas are written down. Evaluation is to be reserved for later. We have been trained to be so instantly analytic, practical, and convergent in our thinking that this step is very difficult to observe, but it is crucial. To create and criticize at the same time is like watering and pouring weed killer onto seedlings at the same time. 2. Think freely. Freewheeling, wild thoughts are fine. Impossible and unthinkable ideas are fine. In fact, in every session, there should be several ideas so bizarre that they make the group laugh. Remember that practical ideas very often come from silly, impractical, impossible ones. By permitting yourself to think outside the boundaries of ordinary, normal thought, brilliant new solutions can arise. Some "wild" ideas turn out to be practical, too. 3. Tag on. Improve, modify, and build on the ideas of others. What's good about the idea just suggested? How can it be made to work? What changes would make it better or even wilder? This is sometimes called piggybacking, hitchhiking, or ping pong. Use another's idea as
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
stimulation for your own improvement or variation. As we noted earlier, changing just one aspect of an unworkable solution can sometimes make it a great solution. 4. Quantity of ideas is important. Concentrate on generating a large stock of ideas so that later on they can be sifted through. There are two reasons for desiring a large quantity. First, the obvious, usual, stale, unworkable ideas seem to come to mind first, so that the first, say, 20 or 25 ideas are probably not going to be fresh and creative. Secondly, the larger your lists of possibilities the more you will have to choose from, adapt, or combine. Some brainstormers aim for a fixed number, like 50 or 100 ideas before quitting the session. 4.1.2 Idea
Generating Questions
Asking questions to stimulate curiosity and creativity has proven helpful for all kinds of endeavours, whether problem solving, product development, inventing, or communication. A written list of mind-stimulating questions is useful because it reminds us of approaches and possibilities that we otherwise would not have in mind. Yes, it is sometimes possible to be creative in a thorough and even orderly way.
The Journalistic Six These are the six key questions that journalism students are taught to answer somewhere in their news articles to make sure that they have covered the whole story. For creative thinkers, these questions stimulate thinking about the idea in question and allow approaches to it from various angles. 1. Who? (Actor or Agent) Who is involved? What are the people aspects of the problem? Who did it, will do it? Who uses it, wants it? Who will benefit, will be injured, will be included, and will be excluded? 2. What? (Act) What should happen? What is it? What was done, ought to be done, and was not done? What will be done if X happens? What went or could go wrong? What resulted in success? 3. When? (Time or Timing) When will, did, should this occur or be performed? Can it be hurried or delayed? Is a sooner or later time being preferable? When should the time be if X happens? 4. Where? (Scene or Source) Where did, will, should this occur or be performed? Where else is a possibility? Where else did the same thing happen, should the same thing happen? Are other places affected, endangered, protected, and aided by this location? Effect of this location on actors, actions...
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5. Why? (Purpose) Why was or is this done, avoided, permitted? Why should it be done, avoided, permitted? Why did or should actor do it? Why is it different for another actor, act, time, and place? Why that particular action, rule, idea, solution, problem, disaster, and not another? Why that actor, time, location, and not another? 6. How? (Agency or Method) How was it, could it be, should it be done, prevented, destroyed, made, improved, altered? How can it be described, understood? How did beginning lead to conclusion? Historical Examination These questions are especially useful for generating ideas for improving something (the evolutionary approach), but they also help to break thinking out of the evolutionary mode and put it into the revolutionary mode by returning the thinker to the origin and purpose of the idea or solution. By returning to the roots of the problem, a new vision can be created. 1. Essence. What is it? Object, concept? What is it made of? What is its real, elementary nature? What are its parts? What is it like, unlike? (Similes and metaphors help in understanding abstractions). What is it related to? What are its various kinds, facets, shades? What is it a part of? Which part of it is unusual or outstanding? In what forms does it appear? Is it typical or atypical of its kind? What is it not? What is it opposed to? How is it different? What makes it different? 2. Origin. Where did it come from? How was it made or conceived or developed? What caused it? If an idea, how did it arise? Are its origins meaningful now? What makes it spread or multiply or gain adherents? What was the reason behind it? Is the reason still valid or useful? Why? Why not? Is it still needed? What influences it? Does it change? Can it, should it be changed, strengthened, eliminated? What could have prevented, delayed, encouraged it? 3. Purpose. What does it do? How does it work? What is its purpose? Is the purpose fulfilled? Better than by its predecessor? Can it, should it be improved? Is it helpful or harmful in intent? What are its implications; what does it lead to? Does it have obvious or hidden consequences? Does it have more than one purpose? What are its immediate effects and its long-term effects? Is its actual function the same as the original purpose intended by its originator? Can it be put to other uses? 4. Import. What is its overall significance? What is its significance to man, environment, civilization, happiness, virtue, safety, comfort, etc.? How is it important? Is it a key element in life, civilization, local area, one man's existence? Is it necessary? Is it desirable?
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5. Reputation. What do you think about it? What are your underlying assumptions? What do others think about it? Do you find consensus, division? Is it good, bad, helpful, and harmful in fact or in the opinion of others? Can you resolve any differences between truth and opinion, intent, and actuality, pro and con members? What weaknesses are commonly identified? Are there obvious areas of desired change or improvement or elimination? 4.1.3
Blocking and Block Busting
Many people complain of not being creative when in fact their creativity has merely been blocked. Once the blocks are removed, nearly everyone can exercise a high degree of creativity. Several techniques exist which will help remove the usual blocks to creativity, but before we discuss these, we should say a few words about the blocks themselves. Sources of Blocking 1. Functional Fixation. As we mentioned earlier, functional fixation arises when someone is unable to see beyond the historical or accepted use for an item, often identified by its name or label. Thus, for example, a screwdriver is a tool for tightening or loosening screws, just as its name says. A person suffering from functional fixation would be unable to see any other uses for the item. But, of course, a screwdriver can also be used as a paint can opener, an ice pick, a plumb bob, a paper weight, and so on. Similarly, to see a length of water pipe and to think only of water pipe may block your thinking if you are need of pry bar, a blow gun, a plant prop, a flag pole, a fishing rod, a measuring stick, or something else that the pipe might serve for. Block Busting Techniques 1. Uses For. This is a simple technique that can be used for mental stimulation or practical application, depending on what you have in mind at the time. It is an excellent tool for breaking you out of a functionally fixated mindset. To use this technique, think of an item or object, usually a common one like a brick, toothpick, pencil, or bucket, and set the task of thinking of all the possible uses for that object, without regard to what the object is normally used for, what it is named, or how it is usually thought of. Sometimes a time limit, like three to five minutes, is given. Other times a quantity limit, like 25 to 100 is given. All the techniques of idea generation are used, from checklist to attribute analysis to random stimulation.
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4.1.4 Checklists A checklist is a standard collection of items (things, verbs, questions, approaches, attributes) used to remind the creative thinker of possible ways to approach a problem or shape a solution. When running through a typical checklist, the creative thinker might ask, "Have I taken this into account? How might I change or use this aspect? What effect will this attribute have on my problem or solution or idea?" Here are a few checklists, which you should supplement with your own customized ones, developed for your particular problem, or the kind of work you do. You might also locate or develop some additional general lists like these: I. The Five Senses 1. Touch. Feeling, texture, pressure, temperature, vibration 2. Taste. Flavour, sweet/salt/bitter 3. Smell. Aroma, odour 4. Sound. Hearing, speech, noise, music 5. Sight. Vision, brightness, colour, movement, symbol II. Human Needs 1. Physical Comfort. Food, clothing, shelter, warmth, health. 2. Emotional Comfort. Safety, security, freedom from fear, love. 3. Social Comfort. Fellowship, friendship, group activity. 4. Psychological Comfort. Self-esteem, praise, recognition, power, self-determination, life control. 5. Spiritual
Comfort.
Belief
structure,
cosmic
organizing
principle.
(Note: some needs cross boundaries. These include: pleasure, recreation, activity.) III. Physical Attributes 1. Shape. 2. Colour. 3. Texture. 4. Material. 5. Weight.
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6. Hardness/Softness. 7. Flexibility. 8. Stability. (Rolls, evaporates, decomposes, discolours, etc.) 9. Usefulness. (Edible, tool, aesthetic, etc.) 10. State. (Powdered, melted, carved, painted, etc.) IV. Aristotle's Categories 1. Substance or essence. What is it and what makes it unique or individual? 2. Quantity or magnitude. How many, how much, what degree? 3. Relation. Rank, comparison, derivation 4. Quality. Value, attributes, shape, habits. 5. Action. What is it doing or does it do? 6. Affection. Reputation, attitudes toward 7. Place. Where is it? 8. Time. When? (Now, historical, future) 9. Position. Sitting, standing, displayed, hidden 10. State. Planned, broken, untried, changing V. General Comments Customized checklists should be developed for individual problems or ideas when several factors must be considered. Listing each condition to be met or part to be covered will assure that none are overlooked. The mind can attend to only about seven items at one time; more than that will have to be recalled from memory, either by force of will or through a checklist. Checklists help enormously in keeping the idea maker or problem solver alert to multiple aspects of the issue at hand. A checklist of available tools used in your ordinary work can also be helpful. These lists might be called availability reminders. An electrician might have a list (or even a board with samples) of the various kinds of wires and fasteners available. A student might have a list of common reference tools, outlining styles, and information storage methods (like writing, drawing, typing, voice and video recording, model building, memorizing, and so forth). These checklists simply save the mental effort required to bring up what's available when that list gets longer than six or seven.
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4.1.5 The
Triune Brain model
Do you ever find yourself acting "weird" in a crowded elevator? Wanting to establish YOUR corner? Does hearing a certain song make you just about weep with very emotional memories? Do you love the challenge of a really hard brain teaser? Know
why?
Our
brain
is
actually
a
triune
brain.
That's
three
brains
in
one!
The Triune Brain Model has been around since 1952, although it is not widely known or utilized by trainers or curriculum designers.
The model was developed by Dr. Paul MacLean, chief of the Laboratory of Brain Evolution and Behavior at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
The word triune alludes to MacLean's breakthrough understanding that the human brain has evolved through three primary stages. MacLean compares his work to that of an archeologist, searching back in time through layers of the brain's evolutionary development.
He suggests we think of the present human brain as composed of three brains, of very different ages.
His tri-leveled model of the brain begins at its core with the smallest and oldest brain, the reptilian brain. Next is the limbic brain, which is common to all mammals and developed after most reptiles of the dinosaur-age, perished. The neocortex surrounds both the reptilian and limbic brains and represents the youngest of the three.
4.1.6 Left/Right
Side Brain model
Right brain or creative thinkers gather information by feelings and intuition. This information is retained by using images and patterns and we are able to visualize the whole idea as we gather our research. The thought processes appear illogical and meandering because they are emotional, intuitive, abstract and laterally connected. Analysis of this information or problem-solving often involves free association and, while the solutions may be quite innovative, the route traveled to reach this conclusion would be impossible for a more rational left brain thinker to follow. Visual thinkers do not use a step-by-step process to gather information -- rather it is visually gathered all at once which makes organization of this information and verbalizing the accumulated data, either in written or verbal form, difficult. Right brain thinkers are best able to express themselves using art, music or dance.
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Left Brain or Critical Thinkers collect information using logic and sense. This information is retained using words, numbers and symbols. Unlike right brain thinkers who see the whole concept, left brain thinkers see only parts of the whole idea that guides them in their logical, stepby-step gathering of information. Their brain processes are deductive, rational, concrete and analytically connected. Left brain thinkers express themselves with concise words, numerical and written formulas and technological systems.
Modern scientists know that your left brain is your verbal and rational brain while your right brain is you nonverbal and intuitive brain. We require special functions from both sides of our brains to accomplish most tasks in our daily lives. There are some nonverbal tasks -- such as drawing, painting, dancing and music, in which our right brain excels and you'd be best to shelve your left brain functions to prevent interference by your rational side.
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How do you know if you are a right-sided or left-sided brain person? Take this simple test;
Right/Left Brain Dominance Test Which Side Are You On? Circle either ―A‖ or ―B‖ that most accurately describes you. 1. A. At home, my room has organized drawer and closets. I even try to organize other things around the house. B. At home, I like the "lived-in" look. I clean as I see a need and when I have the time. 2. A. My desk is usually clean and has everything in place. B. I leave my work out on my desk so I can work as I am inspired by ideas. 3. A. I like using the "tried and true" method. B. I like creating new methods. 4. A. I follow directions carefully when I build a model, make a craft, etc. B. I like to build a model my way, making my own creation. 5. A. I complete one project at a time. B. I like to start many different projects, but do not like to finish them. 6. When I am asked to write a report on a subject, I........ A. research information, then outline and organize my writing. B. work in my own self-inspired direction 7. When I had to do a project in class, I..... A. used my parents' ideas, a book's illustrated project or modeled another student's project who received an "A+" from my teacher. B. loved the challenge, and like a "mad scientist," I produced a unique project.
8. When I am in charge of a big job with many people working, I usually... A. organize, give everyone their responsibilities, make lists, and make sure everyone finishes their part on time. B. work at my own pace let others work on the job as they want. I want to take care of Needs/ problems as they arise. 9. Which of these activities would you like to do the most? A. planning the details for a trip/project B. creating an original art form 10. I hate it when other people..... A. are indecisive about what activities to do when I am with them. B. plan activities in step-by-step detail when I am with them
Scoring the Left/Right Brain Test Add the number of "A" responses. Write the sum here.______ Add the number of "B" responses. Write the sum here.______
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If you have more "A" responses than "B" responses, then you are left-brain dominated. This means you........ • are very rational • analyze people and situations • Usually favor the subjects of math/science • are methodical • are a sequential thinker • use logical reasoning • like to work with things that can be seen or touched
If you have more "B" responses than "A" responses, you are right-brain dominated. This means you....... • are very creative • are usually emotional • like to be different from others • handle situations easily • like to think abstractly • enjoy the arts (music, art, drama) • are a divergent thinker
FUN FACTS ABOUT YOUR "SIDES" • The right side of your body is controlled by the left side of your brain. • The left side of your body is controlled by the right side of your brain. • Most people are left-brain dominate, even people who are left-handed writers. • The left side of your brain controls speech, reading, writing, and math. • The right side deals with spatial relationships, abstractions, and your feelings.
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4.1.7 Four
Quadrant Brain model
Ned Herrmann combined the Triune Brain model of Paul McLean with the Left/Right Brain hemisphere theory of Roger Sperry to form a model of the human brain with two paired structures, the two halves of the cerebral system and the two halves of the limbic system. (The basal or reptilian brain being not included in this model, or else include along with the Limbic). This adds to the cerebral cognitive/intellectual polarity of left-right a limbic visceral, structured and emotional polarity of left-right. The four-sided model of thinking styles is metaphorically attributed to four regions of the brain. These four quadrants (A, B, C, D) may be characterized as: A-logical, B-organized, C-interpersonal, and D-imaginative. Creativity, Ned discovered, is a process involving all four quadrants. Also incorporated is the theory of dominance. Wherever there is two of anything in the body, one is naturally dominant over the other, hence right or left handed, brained, etc.
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4.1.8 Wallis’
model
Researcher Graham Wallis, many years ago, set down a description of what happens as people approach problems with the objective of coming up with creative solutions. He described his fourstage process as follows:
Preparation
Incubation
Illumination
Verification
1. In the preparation stage, we define the problem, need, or desire, and gather any information the solution or response needs to account for, and set up criteria for verifying the solution's acceptability. 2. In the incubation stage, we step back from the problem and let our minds contemplate and work it through. Like preparation, incubation can last minutes, weeks, even years. 3. In the illumination stage, ideas arise from the mind to provide the basis of a creative response. These ideas can be pieces of the whole or the whole itself, i.e. seeing the entire concept or entity all at once. Unlike the other stages, illumination is often very brief, involving a tremendous rush of insights within a few minutes or hours. 4. In verification, the final stage, one carries out activities to demonstrate whether or not what emerged in illumination satisfies the need and the criteria defined in the preparation stage. 4.1.9 The
Problem Solving Process
Higgins describes eight basic stages in the creative problem solving process: 1. Analysing the environment 2. Recognising a problem 3. Identifying the problem 4. Making assumptions 5. Generating alternatives 6. Choosing among alternatives 7. Implementing the Chosen Solution 8. Control
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1 - Analysing the environment You need to be constantly searching for problems including opportunities. Being able to recognise problems and opportunities as they arise are essential for success. This phase involves gathering information on the organisation, market, competition, economy, customers, personnel,
processes,
assumptions,
weak
signals,
internal
and
external
organisation
environments. What is happening that might lead to problems or opportunities? 2 - Recognising a problem Using the information gathered in the first step an awareness of problems or opportunities is formed. 3 - Identifying the problem This stage involves ensuring that efforts are directed to solving the real problem rather than merely eliminating symptoms, and establishing the objectives of the problem-solving process. What will constitute evidence that the problem has been solved? The outcome of this stage is a set of decision criteria for evaluating various options. Rational and Intuitive thinking will be used at this stage. 4 - Making assumptions It is necessary to make assumptions about the condition of future factors in the problem situation, e.g. state of the economy. Assumptions can be a major constraint on the potential success of a solution, or overestimating the potential of an alternative. 5 - Generating alternatives Generating alternatives involves cataloguing the known options (a rational act) and generating additional options (a rational and intuitive act. It is at this stage where most of the creativity processes are found. It is important to generate many alternatives for the next stage of choosing among alternatives. Techniques can be grouped into individual techniques and group techniques. 6 - Choosing among alternatives This stage should be based on a systematic evaluation of the alternatives against the criteria established in the third stage. A rational part of this exercise is determining the possible outcomes of the various alternatives. 7 - Implementing the Chosen Solution Once you have a clear idea of what you want to do and a plan for accomplishing it, you can take action. Set goals, target dates, gain support from others and map out the detailed steps. Implementation is a series of problems and opportunities. 8 - Control Evaluating results is the final and often over-looked state in the creative – processing process. The purpose of this stage is to determine how well the actions you took have solved the problem, and can feed directly back into the environmental analysis stage, beginning a new cycle of creative problem solving. It is important to recognise deficiencies in your own solutions if
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necessary. There are no specific techniques. Refer back to the first technique of Analysing the Environment.
4.1.10
Mind Mapping
A Mind Map is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner. In so doing, it gives you the freedom to roam the infinite expanses of your brain. The Mind Map can be applied to every aspect of life where improved learning and clearer thinking will enhance human performance. Originated in the late 1960s by Tony Buzan, Mind Maps are now used by millions of people around the world – from the very young to the very old – whenever they wish to use their minds more effectively.
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Similarly to a road map, a Mind Map will:
Give you an overview of a large subject/area.
Enable you to plan routes/make choices and let you know where you are going and where you have been.
Gather and hold large amounts of data for you.
Encourage problem solving by showing you new creative pathways.
Enable you to be extremely efficient.
Be enjoyable to look at, read, muse over and remember.
Attract and hold your eye/brain.
Let you see the whole picture and the details at the same time.
Assist YOU!
How to mind-map
These
are
the
brain-reflecting
foundation
structures
of
a
Mind
Map.
The more of them you follow, the more effective your Mind Map.
Start in the centre with an image of the topic, using at least 3 colours.
Use
images,
symbols,
codes
and
dimensions
throughout
your
Mind Map.
Select key words and print using upper or lower case letters.
Each word/image must be alone and sitting on its own line.
The lines must be connected, starting from the central image. The central lines are thicker, organic and flowing, becoming thinner as they radiate out from the centre.
Make the lines the same length as the word/image.
Use colours – your own code – throughout the Mind Map.
Develop your own personal style of Mind Mapping.
Use emphasis and show associations in your Mind Map.
Keep the Mind Map clear by using Radiant hierarchy, numerical order or outlines to embrace your branches.
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Creating a Mind Map 1.
Turn a large A4 (11.7" x 8.3") or preferably A3 (16.7" x 11.7"), white sheet of paper on its side (landscape), or use a Mind Map pad.
2. Gather a selection of colored pens, ranging from fine nib to medium and highlighters. 3. Select the topic, problem or subject to be Mind Mapped. 4. Gather any materials or research or additional information. 5. Start in the centre with an unframed image – approximately 6cm high and wide for an A4 and 10cm for an A3. 6. Use dimension, expression and at least three colours in the central image in order to attract attention and aid memory. 7. Make the branches closest to the centre thicker, attached to the image and ‗wavy‘ (organic). Place the Basic Ordering Ideas (BOIs) or the 'chapter heading' equivalents on the branches. 8. Branch thinner lines off the end of the appropriate BOIs to hold supporting data (most important closest). 9. Use images wherever possible. 10. The image or word should always sit on a line of the same length. 11. Use colours as your own special code to show people, topics, themes or dates and to make the Mind Map more beautiful. 12. Capture all ideas (yours own or others‘), then edit, re-organize, make more beautiful, elaborate or clarify as a second stage of thinking.
xamples
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4.1.11 Storyboarding
A storyboard is a graphic, sequential depiction of a narrative. Planners map major events of the story, and then illustrate the events in graphical format.
The things that are usually found in a storyboard are;
Title of the production
A short description of the scene
Rough diagram of the story placed in each rectangular box
Timing of each scene
other remarks
By tradition, storyboards are manually drawn, your skill for drawing may not be as good as other people, but even if you draw stick figures to represent people, as long as it can roughly visualize the scene, then it is good enough. If you can manage to draw using a PC, then better. With the advent of computer technology, many of today‘s industry level storyboards are animated.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Advantages of using storyboards Storyboarding need not take the considerable time that some think it does, depending on how one goes about it. And there are significant advantages to be considered.
It helps catalyse feelings about the feasibility of the program idea. If the storyboard looks wrong, the program will too.
Omissions may be spotted as a result of producing the storyboard.
There is a document which everyone can point to as a common point of reference, enabling the design team (which includes the client) to say, ‗Yes that is what I meant', or 'No, we've a problem here'.
The storyboard helps focus on the total content of the program, both from the point of view of the overall size of the program, and in discussing user interaction times.
Problems may be spotted from the storyboard which may have proven more costly to correct at a later stage.
A detailed storyboard can save time in writing project documentation, e.g., in the production of the product specification document.
Advanced planning can result in templates for the content-writer to work with. This speeds up the content-writing process and makes the production of the storyboard itself so much faster.
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4.1.12 Storyboarding
Types
Simple Storyboard
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Comics-style Storyboard
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Widescreen Storyboard
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Chapter 5 Design Elements: Line 5.1 What is a line? A line is a mark made by a tool as it is drawn across a surface. Sometimes a line is defined as a moving dot or point. In this sense, moving the point of a pencil across a page creates a line. Of all design elements, line is the most familiar to us. Lines are everywhere, they can be straight (a ruler), curve (the neck of a swan), or squiggly (snake wiggling through the grass). Lines can also be thick, thin, dotted or even invisible! Since lines can exist in so many forms with so many different characteristics, it would be useful to describe lines using common vocabulary so that artist and designers can discuss the aspects of lines intelligently.
There are three ways to describe a line: Line attribute (or line type), line direction and line quality.
There are also three kinds of lines that we can use in design: Real lines, implied lines and psychic lines
5.2 Ways to describe a line Line attributes (or line type) A line‘s attribute or type refers to the way it moves from its beginning to the end. Lines may be straight, curving, or angular. This is a basic difference that is used to distinguish lines.
Line direction The direction of a line describes a line‘s relationship to the page. Horizontal lines move across a page, east to west or west to east. Vertical lines move up and down on the page, north to south or south to north. Diagonal lines look slanted on comparison to the edges of a page.
Line quality Line quality refers to how a line a drawn. The words we use to describe the qualities of lines are the same as those we might use to describe music or voice. Lines may have various qualities such as being bold, smooth, broken, thick, thin, regular, or changing etc.
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5.3 Kinds of lines Real lines Real lines are those that have physical form. They are basic tools for artists in drawing. Lines that are drawn, lines that define the edges of shapes or objects, and lines that have measurable physical qualities such as thickness and length are all considered real lines.
Implied lines An implied line is a line that is visually suggested by the arrangement of forms, lights and darks, or other elements in a work of art. Positioning a series of points or objects so that the eye tends to automatically connect them creates an implied line. The dotted line is an example of implied line that we are familiar with. Other examples of implied lines are: -
a waiting line formed by people in a queue,
-
the arrangement of domino tiles in sequence
-
a series of lights along the runway for aircrafts creates a line to guide the pilot
Psychic lines As the name implies, a psychic line is not a real line, not even formed by intermittent points. Yet when a person looks a design with a psychic line, he can feel that an invisible line exists. Two objects that hold a known relationship with each other will lead our mind to connect them together through an imaginary line. This is how a psychic line is formed. The concept of psychic lines may be abstract and difficult to apply, but if used well, can be a very powerful tool for designers.
A simple example of how a psychic line is formed.
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5.4 Uses of lines As a contour One of the basic uses for lines is to provide a contour for defining shapes and objects.
To organise When used appropriately, line is a powerful element that can be employed not only for communication, but also for organization. Lines can be used on a page either to join related elements or to divide unrelated ones. You can see many such examples in the magazines that you read. Borders – which are nothing more than lines organized around shapes – are also good examples of using lines to organise information. Line is the best friend of a grid. Grids are created on the format to give the designer a reserved position for type, shapes, textures or other lines. Often, type is placed in organized columns on the page to cue the reader to the flow of the text. To strengthen this grid, actual gird lines are sometimes drawn to define the columns. You can see many examples of grids used in newspapers, magazines and web pages.
A typical web page makes good use of lines to organise information visually.
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To suggest direction or movement Lines can establish a sense of direction or movement within the given space. Lines can also be visually interpreted as being static, active, or dynamic depending on position and orientation.
Lines are invaluable tools for projecting movement and dynamic action, especially in manga.
To create illusion of depth or perspective Techniques such as varying line thickness, relative spacing, direction and implied overlap can be used to create a feeling of depth and distance.
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To form texture Just like our hair is a collection of many fine strands of lines, many lines that are arranged in a certain manner can form the look of textures.
The play of lines creates the texture of the wolf‘s coat (drawing by Claudia Nice).
To create moods Horizontal lines typically communicate a restful feeling or stability while vertical lines convey a sense of organized activity. Angular lines can add tension and action to a design, and curve lines will seem to suggest a kind of flowing feeling. Depending on how curves are presented, they can also evoke other moods such as elegance, grace, boldness, happiness or even sadness.
Horizontal lines
Angular lines
Curve lines
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Chapter 6 Design Elements: Shape 6.1 How shapes are formed A shape is a visual area that is defines by either an enclosing line or, through a change in colour, value, texture or any other difference that creates a visual boundary.
Shapes created by lines
Shapes created by differences in colour or value
Shape is usually considered a two-dimensional element, and in three-dimensional shapes, the words volume and mass are often used to describe them.
6.2 Basic types of shapes There are many different kinds of shapes, but all shapes can be divided into two general categories: mechanical and organic.
Mechanical shapes Mechanical shapes are those made with straight lines, circles and/or parts of circles -- the shapes you can make with a ruler and a compass. These are man-made shapes and are also called geometric shapes.
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Polygon is a general name for mechanical shapes that have three or more sides. Most of us are already familiar with the common ones like square, rectangle and triangle. Polygons with more than four sides are named according to their number of sides. For example, a five-sided polygon is called pentagon (where penta- in Greek means five). Other common types of polygons are shown below:
Pentagon
Hexagon
Octagon
Parallelogram
Trapezoid
When polygons are used to form 3-D shapes, they become known as polyhedral. They are named in a similar manner, such as tetrahedron (4 faces), pentrahedron (5 faces) and hexahedron (6 faces) and so on.
Organic shapes Organic shapes are shapes found in nature -- the shapes you draw freehand. They are generally complex and have a natural, spontaneous feel to them. They are also known as natural shapes.
When an organic shape is altered, simplified, or changed in some manner but still recognizable in form, the process is call abstraction. Details are usually ignored in designing with abstraction. Since no artist, no matter how skilled, can reproduce every detail of a natural subject, any illustrated work can be called an abstraction. But the term ―abstraction‖ usually refer to works in which the simplification of the organic shapes is quite obvious and important to the final design. The degree of abstraction can vary between types of work.
Examples of abstraction of organic shapes.
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6.3 Non-objective shapes When shapes are created to become not recognizable, they are called non-objective shapes – shapes with no object reference and make no suggestion to any subject. There is no object or symbol for the viewer to identify with. They can be used in art to convey an artistic principle or element without distraction from a subject matter. Non-objective shapes if created appropriately can also be useful for creating background graphics, or to fill empty spaces in a design.
Examples of non-objective shapes.
6.4 Figure & Ground (Positive & Negative shapes) When we place an object into an empty space, its shape is becomes a figure, while the empty space around it becomes the ground. Figure is also called positive shape and ground is also called negative shape. Knowing which part of your design is to be the figure and which part is to be the ground is an important design consideration.
Figure (Positive shapes) In a simple composition there may be only one figure. In a complex composition there will be several things to notice. As we look from one to another they each become figure in turn.
Recognizable objects are easy to see as figure. In compositions without recognizable subject matter what we see as figure will depend on the abstract relationship between the visual elements. The most interesting part to view at any moment is the figure.
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Ground (Negative shapes) Everything that is not figure is ground. As attention shifts from figure to figure the ground also shifts so that an object can go from figure to ground and back. Ground is sometimes thought of as background but this is not always true. In a flat composition there is nothing behind the figure (if there was there would be the illusion of depth). The shapes are side by side.
Figure
Ground
When the figure is surrounded by space in the composition the ground looks like a shape (the format) with a hole in it having the shape of the figure (see the ‗S‘ on the right). In such a case, the figure and ground are both visible even though the ground (dark colour) is all that is shown.
The classic face/vase illusion forces the viewer to shift from one figure to the other but not to see both as figure at the same time. When you see the faces as figure, the vase is the ground. When you see the vase as figure, the faces are the ground.
The figure always defines the ground and the ground defines the figure. They are inseparable -you cannot have one without the other. If you draw the figure in a composition, you are drawing the ground at the same time. The edges of one are the edges of the other. The figure/ground relationship is so important that a designer must consider all of the composition when designing. It is a mistake to only plan the figure. The entire area of the format must be given careful consideration or the image will be only partially designed.
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6.5 Uses of Shapes There are many ways of using shapes. Some of the more basic uses are:
Symbolize an idea – e.g. Use heart shape to symbolise love.
Add interest – e.g. Shapes in the form of photographs can add relief from being monotony in a page layout with many texts.
To organise information – e.g. Putting solid shapes behind text or objects serve to organise the layout.
As a conceptual tool – e.g. Transforming shapes convey a concept by leading the eye through a series of shape being transformed from one idea into another.
A safety campaign poster makes use of the transformation of the shapes of letters to convey the message that practising safety helps to achieve success at the workplace.
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Chapter 7 Design Elements: Value or Tone 7.1 Value (Tone) defined Value (also known as tone) is the term we use to describe the range of lightness or darkness of a visual element. When you look at a black and white photograph, it is the element value or tone differences that convey the depth & dimension of the objects in it. Value also applies in colour (though it may be easier to understand the meaning of value by thinking of the shades of grey). It is through the changes of light and dark that we can see things.
The diagram above illustrates the importance of changes in value for discerning objects. All the circles are in the same shade of grey while the squares have different values. Without the black outline in the centre circle, it would seem that no circle exists in the centre square as no difference in value exists. It is also interesting to note that although all the circles have the same value, visually they seem to be changing in value from one end to the other. It is hard to believe that the extreme left & extreme right circles actually have the same value. The reason for this disbelief is that our eyes judge a value by comparing with the area immediately nearby, thus the value of the square has a huge influence on our judgement of the value of the circle.
7.2 Value contrast The diagram shown in 4.1 also illustrates the term value-contrast. Value-contrast refers to the relationship between areas of dark and light. White and black placed side-by-side gives the highest contrast. Other values may give medium contrast and even closer values to each other will give low contrast. We need to be aware of how to use value-contrast as it plays an important role in design; one of the most important is in the creation of three-dimensional effect (commonly applied through ―shading‖ or ―gradient‖).
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7.3 Uses of Value Some of the common uses for changes in value (i.e. value-contrast) are:
Perception of distance Photographs of trees taken in the haze provide the best examples of how value changes help to convey the perception of distance. Trees furthest away have the lightest tone and increases (becomes darker) when they are nearer to the front.
Invoke emotions Limiting an image to lighter values, help to create a sense of calm, softness, joy, or nostalgic feel.
Baby photos are more often successful when composed in lighter values, to enhance the image of softness and joy.
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Whereas the use of mostly darker values can be used effectively to convey feelings of drama, conflict, anxiety or even fear.
Darkness is usually associated with ―Doom‖ and ―Gloom‖.
Illusion of volume By introducing gradual changes in value over an area, the illusion of a three-dimensional surface can be achieved. Such a method is basically attempting to simulate the effect of light and shadow as seen in objects in the actual world.
Emphasis Making the important element to have very strong value-contrast against the other parts of an image will result in making the element stand out well.
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Chapter 8 Design Elements: Texture 8.1 What is texture? Texture refers to the surface quality. It is the surface characteristics and appearance of objects. Texture appeals to our sense of touch. All objects are considered to have some surface quality, even if it is totally smooth and flat. Usually we describe texture by the way it feels to our skin, using words such as ―rough‖ or ―smooth‖. Sometimes, we need not physically touch an object to know how its surface quality feels like. By looking at the texture, our memory provides a sensory reaction or sensation of touch.
None of us have never actually felt the clouds, but we often think of it as being ―soft and fluffy‖ if we were to touch it because we associate it with something visually familiar: the cotton wool.
There are two kinds of texture: Tactile texture and visual texture.
8.2 Tactile texture Tactile means can be felt. Therefore, tactile texture refers to texture characteristics that can actually be felt by our skin. A tactile texture‘s visual appearance may vary slightly when light strikes on it from different angles or intensity. This is because texture is seen due to the formation of small areas of bright reflections and dark shadows caused by light.
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A close-up surface of cork when viewed under
The same cork surface when viewed with
direct lighting.
strong side lighting.
A rough texture appears rough because its surface is more uneven than a smooth texture, causing patches of reflection & shadows to be seen more easily. We will need to zoom in closer to a smooth surface (may even need a microscope!) than a rough surface in order to see the uneven surface that makes the texture.
In art, tactile texture can appear in oil paintings or collages created with real materials. Creating a design by pasting down bits and pieces of coloured and textured papers, cloth or other materials is called collage. This artistic technique has been popular for centuries. In our modern computer age times however, the term collage is sometimes used to refer to cutting and pasting pieces of computer images to create a work that is not longer tactile in nature. Such collages contain only visual textures.
8.3 Visual textures Visual texture is a reproduction of a tactile texture without is actual surface quality. A photograph or a sketch of a tactile texture is a visual texture. The impression of texture is purely visual; it cannot be felt or enjoyed by touch. The texture characteristic is only suggested to our eyes.
How can a visual texture be successful in deceiving our minds to convey the actual feel of the texture? Remember that when we look at a tactile texture, we are only looking at the way the surface reflect light and form tiny shadows caused by its unevenness. Visual texture can look almost real if it can accurately portray the exact light reflections and shadows of the tactile surface in the same lighting condition that it is being viewed at. However since a visual texture does not carry the actual surface of the tactile texture, when a piece of visual texture is rotated, or the light angle shining on it is changed, the visual texture can mimic the visual changes of the tactile texture – and so this is one way of telling if a texture is visual or tactile without touching it.
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All graphic designs created on the computer will have only visual texture. However, it is important to understand the characteristics of tactile texture in order to create realistic visual texture, especially in the field of 3D graphics. For example, in the 3D animation of animals moving, the toughest object to mimic realistically is usually the texture of the animals‘ fur.
8.4 Texture and pattern Texture and pattern are closely related and it is difficult to draw a strict line between them. Pattern can be defined as a repetitive design, with the same motif appearing again and again. Texture, too, often repeats, but its variation usually is not as perfect or regular. The main difference is in whether the surface arouses our sense of touch or merely provides designs appealing to the eye. In other words, every texture makes a sort of pattern, but not every pattern can be considered to be a texture.
8.5 Uses of texture in design Texture in design is usually used as a secondary element to reinforce an idea rather than as the primary element to communicate a concept. Some examples of texture used in design are:
Create interest by contrast Putting textures of opposite feel side by side can help to create contrast for an interesting feel. For example a close-up photograph of blades of grass beside a photograph of chrome plating can create an odd but intriguing look.
Create feeling of richness and depth Visual textures can be added to wide areas of space in a design such as the background to enhance its dimensional feel. Take care however that doing so does not destroy your main elements in your design: e.g. a high contrast visual texture used as a background for thin text may cause problems in the readability of the text.
Enhance emotions Just like the way the look of the clouds invokes a feeling of lightness & softness, creating visual textures of tactile textures, help to convey the same feeling that the tactile texture actually creates, ex., using silk texture in a design that has an overall theme related to smoothness.
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Chapter 9 Design Elements: Colour 9.1 Colour in design Colour is a product of light. Most of us are already familiar with the 7 colours of the rainbow and have learnt that they are the basis of white light. When mixed together in varying quantities, there are millions of colours for the designer to choose, making choosing of colours one of the most difficult task in design. There are also many terms and categorisation in colours that are used to help in the selection of colours. The study of colour can be quite extensive. It is covered more indepth in other following subjects in this course. This chapter will only highlight some key points in colour theory and their use.
9.2 Describing colour These three terms are commonly used in design for describing a colour:
Hue Hue is the name of a colour that is red, green, blue or orange etc, and is often used interchangeably with the word 'colour'. Since there can be many names used to refer to one colour (e.g. some call purple as violet), the 12 hues colour wheel has become a common standard of reference.
Value Value is the range of lightness and darkness within a hue. Shade and tone are different aspects of value.
Saturation This refers to the brightness or dullness of colour, that is bright red or dull red. Chroma and intensity are synonyms for saturation.
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9.3 Colour psychology The choice of colours is often based on how we feel towards certain colours. Our reactions to colours are related to our biological bond with the natural environment. In nature, we see fire as red and the sea as blue and have thus linked our emotional responses towards these natural elements with the colours we see in them. This is the basis for describing a colour as either warm or cool, and also for the grouping of colours as complementary or analogous. Understanding colour psychology is important to the designer for choosing and combining appropriate colours.
9.4 Using colours Some common uses of colours in design are:
Setting the mood Select warm or cool colours accordingly to support your message.
Dramatic effect Use a combination of striking colours for contrast to achieve a dramatic effect. Use the colour wheel to decide which complementary colours are appropriate.
Attract attention The focal point of your design will be easily seen if it has a colour that is in sharp contrast with the rest of the objects in the design.
Create consistency Using analogous colours or shades of colours from a single hue can hold the objects in the design together as one unit.
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Chapter 10 Design Elements: Space 10.1 Defining space Technically, space is not an element, but it is so essential to understanding the concept of design in relation to the other elements that space can be thought of as part of the whole.
When there is nothing on a page, it is empty. That emptiness is called white space (also known as negative space).
On a piece of paper, there is width and height, providing the designer with a two-dimensional space to work with. Actual objects have a third dimension of depth and therefore exist in a threedimensional space. In order to create an illusion of depth in two-dimensional media (such as paper or computer screen), the third dimension would have to be visually simulated. The three dimensional axes (x, y, z) is a standard way of referring to the positions in three-dimensional space.
Y-axis (up & down)
X-axis (left & right) Z-axis (front & back)
The work of a visual designer is always created on two-dimensional spaces, with the third dimension (if used), being created by means of illusion.
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10.2 Format The orientation of the space to hold the design is referred to as the format. There are two common types of format classification:
Horizontal format (or landscape) In this format the width (x-axis) is longer than the height (y-axis). This format is standard in TV and film media. It is in line with our natural vision‘s ability of viewing more things horizontally than vertically.
Vertical format (or portrait) By rotating a horizontal format by 90 degrees, the vertical format is obtained. That is, the height (y-axis) of the vertical format if longer than its width (x-axis). This format is commonly used for projecting the image of a person because a human‘s proportion is taller than wide, thus the name ‗portrait‘ is synonymous with this format. This format is useful whenever there is a need to show objects that have height taller than its width.
Vertical format (portrait) Horizontal format (landscape)
The square format is only occasionally encountered in visual design mainly because most visual communication has a need to show things flowing in a direction. Using a square format makes it difficult for the viewer to choose how to move his vision across the information (left to right, or up to down).
10.3 Space consideration in design Two-dimensional layout When designing a two dimensional layout, you will need to consider where to place each element, where each element will be relative to another, and the space between objects. Where and how much space to use will require such considerations as:
The need to rest the viewer‘s eye as they move from element to element, or to make text more legible
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Space to serve as a boundary to separate different types of information
Provide focal point to certain objects with more space around it (see the Chapter – Emphasis – creating emphasis by isolation)
Create tension between two elements or group them, by reducing the space between them
The amount of visual balance needed requires appropriate spacing between objects.
Equal spacing will create consistency while unequal spacing throughout makes the layout more dynamic.
Three-dimensional layout Most design will include a certain amount of illusion in the third dimension. There are many methods of creating the perception of depth (z-axis) through the arrangement of elements in the two-dimensional space, and usually two or more methods can be applied together:
Arrangement of sizes – repeating the similar shapes in a sequence of diminishing sizes
Overlapping – Objects shown partially hidden by another object will appear to be behind, or further back in depth.
Vertical location – Even without changing the size in a scene, objects near to the top of the format are automatically perceived to be farther away than those near the bottom of the layout.
Perspective – The most effective method, but also the most extensive in the techniques involved. Examples include one-point perspective, two-point perspective, aerial perspective, etc (refer to Drawing techniques course notes)
Arrangement of sizes
Overlapping
Vertical location
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Chapter 11 Thumbnail Sketches 11.1 The importance of thumbnail sketches Thumbnail Sketches are Shorthand Notes for Artists: Thumbnail sketches are drawing quick, abbreviated drawings. Usually, they are done very rapidly and with no corrections - you can use any medium, though pen or pencil is the most common. Thumbnails sketches are usually very small, often only an inch or two high. Thumbnails are Memory Aids and Planning Tools: Thumbnail sketches can serve as a memory aid to help you remember important features of a subject, when making notes for a painting or drawing. They are also useful when visiting a gallery, to help you remember important pieces. Ofen artists use thumbnail sketches to plan pictures. You can quickly experiment with format and composition, placing just the major features - such as the horizon and any large objects, and indicating movement and balance. How to Draw a Thumbnail Sketch: Imagine your subject or picture stripped of all details, through squinted eyes, or in poor light. All you see are big rough shapes and some lines. Thats all you need for a thumbnail. First, sketch a rough box, smaller but in the same proportions as the finished picture might be. Then sketch in the horizon line, hills, or any major verticals or horizontals. The outline any key shapes, and quickly hatch in any strong dark areas. There are no right or wrong ways - that's my approach, and it might work for you. Thumbnails can be Colored: Thumbnail sketches are a great way to plan color schemes. Use textas, colored pencil or watercolor to put in major areas of color in your picture. Small but intense colors can also be noted, as these can attract the eye, but don't get bogged down with detail. Making Notes and Working Drawings: Once you've done your thumbnail sketch, you might want to make some notes alongside it. If at a gallery, you can record the artist's name and the title, along with your thoughts about the painting. If sketching outdoors, you might record notes about the position of the sun, the particular colors, or make additional sketches to show small details. If you are planning a painting, you might want
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to do a working drawing. A working drawing is usually fairly large, sometimes as big as the finished piece, and carefully composed. The subject is sketched in, and potential problem areas might be done in more detail. This is where you can fine-tune your drawing before embarking on the finished piece.
11.2 The making of a Thumbnail Sketch You will need some simple supplies: some scratch paper and something to draw with. An ink pen, a charcoal pencil, vine charcoal, graphite pencil, or the like will do. Add an eraser to correct the mistakes as you go along. Since you are not concerned about details or textures, a sharp tip on the pencil is not necessary. 1. Draw a small box that resembles the format you are going to use for your drawing or painting. Either a small rectangular shape, a square, or whatever shape you have in mind. You can even use sketches to decide which format works best for your composition. Make it really small: less than 3 inches across since (it is called a 'thumbnail' sketch, after all) 2. Now place an abstract or rough version of whatever makes up your desired center of interest in that small box. Remember to place it slightly off-center. Forget about the details; identify the largest shapes, the longest lines, and go from there. Only add what is necessary to suggest the essential characteristics of the object.
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3. Next add the supportive or ―subordinate‖ masses--the shapes or lines around the focal point. Keep them fluid and loose. 4. Move these elements around your miniature ―canvas‖ until the whole piece looks right to you. Keep the composition rules in mind as you do this. 5. In addition to line drawings, you can start to shade the masses and plan the overall tonal relationships. Use just three tones: light, middle, and dark. You can even plan rough color placement at this stage, if you have not already done so. You may also find it helpful to make additional thumbnail sketches of the same subject in different boxes. This way, you can explore how the format influences the overall spatial relationships within the painting. You also can just redraw the borders of your small box until you come up with the optimum format.
You can also use thumbnail sketches to explore the effect of adding and subtracting elements from your painting. Should you add another bunch of grapes to that still life? Or is it better without it?
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Chapter 12 Design Principles: Emphasis 12.1 Why EMPHASIS? We are constantly bombarded by visual information. Every poster, magazine cover, brochure tries to capture our attention with its contents. How does the reader absorb the information, and how does he know what information is more important? Most people are passive in this process (i.e. people don‘t want to spend time and effort to sort out the visual information carefully). It is the job of the designer to direct his audience to the important parts of his message. Because of this need, knowing how to achieve emphasis in design is important to the designer.
To have emphasis means that there is a focal point in the design. A designer not only needs to know what part of his content should be the focal point, but more importantly, how to create that focal point. A focal point, if successfully designed, will usually be the first thing that the viewer notices, and will make him want to explore the rest of the design further.
Without emphasis, a person looking at the design will quickly move in and out of it, and the message of the design will not be communicated at all. Therefore, all designs should have emphasis, without which, it will most likely be an unsuccessful design (or merely art – since art need not necessarily be communicating any message to the viewer). Still, as mentioned earlier, this is only a commonly established guideline for design, and there have been extreme cases when the rule is intentionally broken with the design still succeeding.
12.2 Creating emphasis by contrast Emphasis can be created through the principle of contrast. When many objects in a design have similar characteristics, creating a single object that has a totally opposite characteristic will make it the focal point in the design. This method of emphasis by contrast works only if there is an ―odd one out‖ in the design. The contrast can be in the form of colour difference, shape difference, size difference, direction difference, value difference, or any other state that makes the object of the focal point stand out from the crowd.
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Emphasis by contrast.
12.3 Creating emphasis by isolation Isolating an object means to move it away from the main group. This means also having a large amount of space separating the object from the rest. Our eyes will be automatically drawn to the object that has been separated from the others.
Emphasis by isolation. An important point to note in this method is that, placing the isolated object too close to the edge of the format will have a tendency to pull the viewer‘s eye right out of the design, resulting in the other parts of the design not being noticed at all. For this method to work well, the other objects that are away from the isolated focal point also need to be sizeable as compared to the isolated object.
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12.4 Creating emphasis by placement Items placed in relation to the format and to each other can affect emphasis.
If many elements point to one item, our attention is directed there, and that becomes the focal point. A radial design is a perfect example of such a method. In the illustration below, all objects have similar characteristics, but their placement emphasises only one rectangle.
The study of visual psychology has also revealed that objects place at certain positions in a format tend to be noticed more that in other positions (all other things being equal).
F T S The most important place in the format, by far, is the centre (F). That is where the viewer looks first and so anything that is there is likely to be noticed first. The further from the centre, the less noticeable an item becomes.
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Objects that overlap the edge of format call more attention to themselves (S). They seem to be going out or coming in to the composition. This works well if it is not overdone and the format shape is simple and clear. These objects can seem to be in front of the format.
As items contact the outside edges they become slightly more noticeable (T). That is because they relate to the format, which is always a dominant shape in any composition.
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Chapter 13 Design Principles: Balance 13.1 Need for balance A sense of balance is an instinctive feeling. Since birth, at all times, our body has been constantly striving to stay in balance. We strive to maintain our balance when we move around, when we carry heavy objects, or when we are climbing up heights etc. Even our possessions, we try to put them in a balanced position, and we avoid going near structures that are leaning dangerously out of balance. Without proper balance, we would fall, things would topple over, and the end result would be pain, loss, and suffering. Therefore, we tend to feel uncomfortable whenever we see things unbalanced. This sense of discomfort also applies in design. A design that looks unbalanced will somehow make us feel uneasy when we look at it.
13.2 Visual balance Balance refers to the equal distribution of weight. Balance is usually a desirable characteristic of a composition. There are times, however, when it is desirable to deliberately throw the balance off in order to create more attention to some aspects of an image.
Visual design is usually affected by two main characteristics of the elements in the design: weight and arrangement.
Weight Although elements in design have no physical weight, it has visual weight, which is somehow linked to actual weight. For example a thick line is judged to be heavier than a thin line. This judgement comes from our real world sense of perceiving things with thicker dimensions tending to be heavier than thinner ones. Subconsciously, our mind puts a relative judgement on how heavy each object is in a design, relative to the others. Heavier visual weight tends to be assigned to objects that are darker or bigger.
Arrangement Arrangement of objects in a design affects our perception of balance in the same way as the arrangement of real objects on a seesaw. Both an object‘s visual weight and its position in
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relation to other objects contribute to the overall judgement of balance. Consider these examples of balancing actual objects on a seesaw:
When the pivot is at the centre of the seesaw, two boxes of the same weight can remain balanced on each side. This is our basic understanding of physical balance. There can also be other ways of balancing the seesaw. For example, we can use two smaller boxes equal in weight to one large box. Or if the pivot is moved towards one side, it can only be balanced by a smaller box on the other side. We have built-in these common sense understanding of balance (from real life physical experience) and they are being used by our minds to interpret balance in visual compositions as well.
Based on the two factors of weight and arrangement, two kinds of visual balance have been identified: symmetrical balance and asymmetrical balance. Both are analogous to the cases of seesaw balance shown above.
13.3 Symmetrical balance Symmetry means a mirror image -- one side is the mirror image of the other. Symmetrical balance therefore means achieving balance by repeating similar objects in the same positions on either side of a vertical axis (same as the first see-saw example shown above). It is also called formal balance because a form (formula) is used -- a mirror image about an axis. The results look formal, organized and orderly.
Symmetrical balance guarantees left to right balance, which is the most important aspect of balance. Top to bottom balance is also important, but most images seem more stable if the bottom seems slightly heavier. If the top seems too heavy the composition can look unstable. Symmetrical balance can communicate strength, dignity, formality, and stability. It‘s especially appropriate for a traditional and conservative design.
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Symmetrical balance is often used in design of traditional buildings, and is used commonly to project the sense of being majestic.
Sometimes symmetrical balance is presented with objects on both sides arranged in opposite directions without affecting the visual balance. These are called inverted symmetry.
13.4 Asymmetrical balance In asymmetrical balance, the space may be divided in unequal parts with the axis of balance not at the centre of the layout (similar to 3
rd
see-saw example). Alternatively, with the axis at the
centre, the objects on both sides can be different (e.g. different shape, size or value) but yet have same visual weight (similar to 2
nd
see-saw example). The visual balance is equal but not identical.
To achieve asymmetrical balance, the position, visual weight, value, colour, shape and texture of an item on the layout must be considered and weighed against every other item in the layout.
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There is no simple formula for achieving balance in asymmetrical balance (hence it is also known as informal balance). The designer must sense whether or not the composition is balanced. This is where the designer‘s sense of balance really comes into play.
A simple way to determine if asymmetrical balance is obtained is to ask where the visual attention goes to when you look at the image. If it seems to wander around more or less evenly, there is probably balance. If it seems to always come back to the same area, which is not the centre of the composition, then the balance may not be achieved.
Examples of asymmetrical balance in design (the approximate position of the line of balance in each design is shown with a dotted line).
Many designs fall into the category of asymmetrical balance because unlike symmetrical balance, it can allow for contrast, variety, movement, surprise and informality. It is especially appropriate for designs that must entertain as well as inform, such as travel brochures.
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13.5 Radial balance This is a special type of balance that is sometimes used in design by having elements around a circle to make them seem like moving outwards from a single point. Visual weight is evenly distributed around the point, creating a feeling of equilibrium around it.
Radial balance is not totally different from symmetrical or asymmetrical balance, but merely a refinement of one or the other.
What are the type(s) of balance that you can find in this poster?
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Chapter 14 Design Principles: Unity 14.1 Concept of unity Unity means that harmony or agreement exists among the elements in a design so that they look as though they belong together. In our daily life, we often encounter the concept of unity: for example, in fashion, though we wear different pieces of clothing and carry various accessories, we try to match them to create a single style. This is attempting to achieve unity.
Similarly, unity is one of the goals in design. If a design has no unity, the elements in it will appear unrelated. Unity is important in design because it allows the viewer to see individual elements as part of an integrated whole, and this helps to convey the message of the design more effectively. The expression ―The whole is greater than the sum of its parts‖ is very true in design.
There are many ways to achieve unity in design, and very many of them are based on how our eyes & mind tend to see a group of individual objects as a whole. The German word ‗gestalt‘ refers to this visual psychology, and the ‗gestalt‘ theory can be used to help the designer in creating unity. There are five concepts in gestalt theory commonly used to achieve unity in design: Closure, Continuance, Similarity, Proximity, and Alignment. One or more concepts of ‗gestalt‘ can be used to get the desired results for unity.
14.2 Closure The concept of closure is based on the finding that our mind tends to supply the missing pieces in a composition. A simple example of this can be seen with this series of circles. As more and more of each are removed, the circle still remains identifiable until there is more missing than present. This is called closure because the mind "closes" the image by supplying the missing parts.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
This works with a simple geometric shape because you need only a few clues to remind you of the shape. More complex objects require more careful consideration as to what can and cannot be removed. Some information is critical and must be included; some information is unessential and can (and perhaps should) be eliminated.
14.3 Continuance Continuance describes a method for directing the viewer's attention when looking at a composition. It is based on the idea that once you start looking in a particular direction you will continue looking in that direction until you see something significant. All elements that contribute to leading the eye to move in the direction will seem like a unified whole.
It is difficult to establish any relationship among shapes on the left, whereas on the right, it is clear that the four shapes seem to be joined in a continuous direction and our mind tends to unify them as a group.
There are many ways to designing pointing towards a direction, and many of these are not as obvious as a pointing finger or arrow:
Eye direction: If the subject of a composition is looking in a particular direction, you will look to see what they are looking at. It is an old trick to look up into the sky and see how many other will look with you.
Paths: Rivers, roads, railroad tracks and rows of trees or telephone poles are just a few of the devices that artists have used to lead viewers to particular places in their compositions.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Perspective: Lines of perspective, like paths, can be used to direct attention to a focal point in a composition.
A subtle form of continuance is used in this photo (by Jan Groover). One object leads to another, resulting in a fluid eye movement around the picture.
14.4 Similarity Similarity is a powerful grouping concept that is very effective for achieving unity. The more alike the items are, the more they will appear to form groups. By the same token, if items are dissimilar, they will resist grouping and tend to show more variety. It is important to understand that all of the gestalt concepts can be used both ways -- to group and to ungroup.
There are three major similarity types -- ways items can look alike (or look different):
Size: Notice in the example below that the squares and circles are presented in two different sizes. Do you first notice them grouping because of their shape or their size? The difference between the sizes is probably greater here than the difference in the shapes. If they had been only slightly larger, the shape difference might have been noticed first. The potential, however, for size variation is greater than the differences possible in shape, so size is usually a more dominant similarity type.
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Value/Colour: Another powerful similarity type is value/colour. In the example below, the two are grouped together because of value.
Again notice that the dominant grouping concept is value not shape. Value or colour makes items easy to identify and hence makes a good grouping tool. Value can work as easily as colour, and in fact sometimes is a stronger design element.
Shape: Shape, and shape like elements such as direction and texture, can also form groups. When all other things are equal it performs quite well in this function. The squares and circles used below are simple geometric shapes. It is possible to make shapes that are more distinct and therefore more noticeable. Complex shapes may stand out more but there is attractiveness to simpler shapes that makes them more powerful visual elements in most cases. They appeal to our sense of order.
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These and other similarity types are used extensively in design to create order and to organize information into specific groups in order to make the material presented more understandable. Many a times when creating a series of designs, such web pages, magazine pages etc, similarity is an important method for holding the separate pages together so that they are all recognised as a whole content. For example, many designers use a common header design for all related pages, or a similar set of colour scheme, or a similar layout of shapes consistently through the pages of a topic.
14.5 Proximity Where items are placed in relation to each other is another important gestalt consideration. How close objects are to each other a more important factor for unity than how similar they look. The strongest effect is achieved if both similarity and proximity are used together.
There are four specific types of proximity relationships that will be studied in this lesson: close edge, touch, overlap and combining.
Close edge: The general concept for proximity states that the closer items are to one another, the more likely they are to be seen as a group.
Touch: When items get close enough they touch. They are still two different items but they seem to be attached together. This makes for a stronger unity than close edge.
Overlap: The strongest gestalt between two items happens when they overlap. When the two items are the same colour they seem to form a new, more complex shape. The new shape seems flat. When the items are different colours, the overlap produces the illusion of a shallow space. The overlapped items form a strong group regardless of colour.
Combine: It is possible to group various items together by using an external element to combine the items no matter what other gestalt concepts are being used. Underlining of text is a typical example of such a method. Notice that it groups the phrase "Underlining of text" and sets it apart from the rest of the sentence.
An important aspect of combining is that it both groups the items and sets them apart from the rest of the information around them. This "highlighting" (another method) is the most significant aspect of this concept. It is used with information that the designer wants to call attention to. The quotation marks and brackets in this paragraph serve the same purpose.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
There are many ways to combine items. Underlining items, putting boxes around them and putting items against a background (such as a colour or a picture) are the most common examples.
14.6 Alignment Alignment is an extension of proximity. It has to do with placing items so that they line up. Alignment is a concept that produces both grouping and organizes information to create order.
Alignment is used extensively to organize all graphic arts. Objects that are aligned to each other will look like they belong to a common group compared to other objects that are not aligned with them. Almost all text design uses alignment to organize lines of type. Alignment works best with items that have straight edges, especially rectangles.
There are two major types of alignment: edge and centre.
Edge alignment: Aligning different objects so that one side of their edge lines up with those of other objects is edge alignment.
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Centre alignment: When objects are placed so that each object‘s centre is in line with those of other objects.
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Chapter 15 Design Principles:Rhythm, Contrast, Size 15.1 Rhythm We often associate rhythm with music and dance. Pop music is usually fast and lively in rhythm while classical music usually has a slow flowing rhythm. We also associate rhythm with the movements we see in dance. In design, there is also visual rhythm.
Visual rhythm is a design principle based on repetition and variation. It can be defined as a pattern created by repeating elements that are varied. Repetition is the repeating of similar elements in a consistent manner, and variation is the change in form, size, or position of elements.
In layout, rhythm can be used to communicate a feeling or mood. Placing elements at regular intervals creates a calm relaxing mood. To communicate an exciting mood, create abrupt changes in the size and spacing of elements. There are two typical types of rhythm commonly used: Alternating rhythm and progressive rhythm.
Alternating rhythm: When successive patterns in which the same elements reappear in a regular order occurs, there is alternating rhythm. Such kinds of rhythm are not easy to identify most of the time.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Progressive rhythm: This occurs by a repetition of a shape that changes in a regular manner. There is a feeling of sequential pattern. We are all very familiar with progressive rhythm; we see it daily when we look at from an angle. The perspective changes the horizontal and vertical lines of the buildings into a converging pattern, creating a sequence of shapes gradually diminishing in size.
The close-up of this flower (an
artichoke)
shows
the
petals forming a progressive rhythm.
15.2 Contrast Contrast in design refers to the effect of having a strong opposite characteristic between two elements. The principle of contrast is one of the easiest and quickest to apply in design. As soon as you add any object to a blank page, you‘ve used contrast. Because creating contrast it is so automatic, the proper use of it is often neglected.
The principle of contrast in design can be applied in many ways. Contrast can occur through form using opposite characteristics of design elements (line, shape, value, colour, texture). Some examples are thick line vs. thin line, big shape vs. small shape, dark value vs. light value, warm colour vs. cool colour, smooth texture vs. rough texture etc. Or, contrast can appear in terms of having opposite ideas/contents, For example, full vs. empty, heavy vs. light, rich vs. poor, and natural vs. artificial. Usually contrast by form is used together with contrast by content to get maximum impact.
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Commons uses of contrast include:
Strengthen message/ idea
The contrasts of colour (golden fish vs. blue background) and idea
(one
fish
in
opposite
direction from others) are used to strengthen the message of the poster; ―Success - To live a creative and successful life, we must lose our fears of being wrong.‖
The contrast of idea (male vs. female) in the design is further strengthened by the intentional design of contrast by value (white vs. black). Can you think of a suitable theme that this design may be used for?
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
For emphasis You have learnt that contrast is one key method of creating emphasis. The principle of contrast is often used hand in hand with the principle of emphasis.
The
contrast
in
value
(dark
silhouette vs. bright sky & white snow) is used to emphasise the human figure in the picture.
Note:
Certainly
other
elements
besides contrast are working. E.g. the edges of the mountain and the lining up the clouds all point to the figure to help draw the eye to it.
Organise information Contrast is a typical method used to unify (see Chapter 10) or separate elements so that information is organised into groups. Some examples are: -
putting related information within a black rectangle against a white background,
-
creating larger fonts for title text in contrast with smaller fonts for body texts,
15.3 Size Size refers to how big or small something is. It is more of a tool for the other principles of design, rather than being a principle by itself. Size can be used effectively for achieving:-
Emphasis by contrast: An object that is presented much larger than others will appear more important.
Sense of proportion Putting the same type of objects at relative size can be used to create an illusion of depth.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Sometimes it may be important to let your audience know the actual size of an object in reality. It will then be necessary to present the image of that object in comparison to another object whose actual size is familiar to most people.
Use relative proportions to show the actual size of an object.
Intentionally illustrating the wrong proportions and exaggerating it can be used effectively to create interest, or attract attention to the design.
Attention-grabbing designs can be created by purposely exaggerating the proportion of things.
Balance by affecting visual weight The larger the size of an object, the heavier it will appear to be. Larger objects therefore, tend to have more visual weight, and controlling the size of elements is one of the ways to control the balance in design.
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Chapter 16 Introduction to colours 16.1 Discovery of colour Our understanding of light and colour begins with Isaac Newton (1642-1726) with a series of experiments that he published in 1672.
Isaac Newton (1666) passed a beam of sunlight through a prism and produced a band of colours just like the rainbow. He then passed each of these colours through other prisms and found they did not change. When Newton passed the whole band of coloured lights through a prism in reverse order, the coloured band became white sunlight again.
Newton concluded that white light is really a mixture of coloured lights and each colour bends by a different amount when passing through the prism. The refraction of light, such as that taking place through a prism, can be observed in the rainbow or simply with a CD. The band of coloured lights discovered by Newton is called a spectrum. The rainbow is actually a spectrum formed by sunlight passing through raindrops.
What is a spectrum? Spectrum is the spread of colours seen when the light is passed through a prism. They are red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet respectively.
16.2 Diffusion of white light The entire electromagnetic spectrum is made up of ultraviolet, visible light, and infrared. The human eye can only see the light sector of the spectrum known as visible lights.
Colour originated in light. We perceive sunlight as colourless (white). In reality sunlight is made of a combination of several colours.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Most people can see the colours in the visible light spectrum that range from red to violet. These are the colours of the rainbow. Starting with red, each one gradually blends into the next colour.
One way to see the colours of light is by using a prism. A prism bends a ray of light and separates it into its different wavelengths forming a spectrum.
The spectrum consists of lights of different wavelength. They are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, blue, Blue, Indigo, Violet respectively. Red light bend the least while violent ray bends the most. Scientists measure the wavelengths of light in this spectrum in nanometres or billionths of a meter. Red has the longest wavelength, and violet has the shortest.
Fig 1a - Diffusion of white light.
Bends least Longest wavelength
Violet
Red
Exercise: Colour the following boxes correctly.
Bends most Shortest wavelength
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
16.3 How man perceive light Light plays an important role in our daily life. The world will be in total darkness without light. We receive colour through reflection of light. The reason something appears to be the colour is because the object is absorbing all the other colours of light except the ones we see, which are reflected back to our eyes.
If something absorbs all the colours, it appears black, if it reflects everything, it appears white. So, what colour we see depends on the wavelength of the light we absorb into our eyes.
Eye
White paper
Fig. 1b - How eyes see white paper
1. Sunlight (white light) shines onto the paper. 2. The surface of the paper did not absorb any coloured light rays. 3. All the colours in the colour spectrum are reflected into the eye. 4. The eye receives the reflected rays of coloured lights (combines to be white light) and sends a message to the brain.
In fig. 1b illustrates how man see white colour. When white light (consists of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet) shines on paper, none of the light is absorbed. All the colour lights are reflected into human eye. Hence we see the paper as white.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Eye
Blue pencils All colour lights except blue are absorbed Fig. 1c - How eyes see blue pencils
1. Sunlight (white light) shines onto the pencils. 2. The surface of the pencils did not absorb all the coloured light rays, except for those corresponding to blue. 3. Blue light rays are reflected into the eye. 4. The eye receives the reflected rays of blue lights and sends a message to the brain. In fig 1c, all the lights (red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet) are absorbed. Blue which is not absorbed reflects into the eye. That is how we see the pencils as blue. Man sees colour through reflection of colours.
Eye
Black box All colour lights are absorbed Fig. 1d - How eyes see black box
1. Sunlight (white light) shines onto the box. 2. The surfaces of the box absorb all the coloured light rays. 3. No light rays are reflected into the eye. 4. Since no light rays are reflected, man sees the box as black.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
When all the coloured light rays are absorbed, man will see the object as black. On contrary, when all the coloured lights are reflected back into the eyes, we will see the object as white.
Exercise: Colour the apples and explain how our eyes perceive the colour of the apples.
Eye
Explanation: ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________ ________________
Eye
Explanation: ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________ ________________
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16.4 Invisible lights We had learned about visible lights in the previous section. In this session we will cover beyond visible lights.
Spectrum of visible light is only a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The entire electromagnetic spectrum is made up of ultraviolet, visible light, and infrared. In other words, there are invisible lights. The human eye can only see the light sector of the spectrum. That is Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet. These are also the colours you see in a rainbow.
Relationship of colour and temperature
The ultraviolet and infrared are wave energy that cannot be seen by our eyes. William Herschel began down the road to discovering the electromagnetic spectrum in 1799. He wanted to find out how light and heat was connected. He used a prism to break up white light and used a thermometer to measure the temperature of each of the different colours. Each colour, he found, did not have the same temperature. Red had the highest reading of all of the colours, while violet gave the lowest.
Increase in Temperature
INFRARED
Decrease in Temperature
SPECTURM OF VISIBLE LIGHTS
ULTRAVIOLET
Electromagnetic Spectrum
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Infrared
However, past the red that we are able to see, that was even hotter than red colour itself. This end of the electromagnetic spectrum he called infrared. Infrared can be felt, but it can not be seen by the naked eye. The wavelengths of infrared light are very slow. The amount of infrared light that an object emits depends on its temperature. A human gives off much more infrared light than an ice cube would. No matter what time of day it is, the same amount of infrared light is given off. Because of this, movement can be detected in the dark with infrared detectors. Some animals, like snakes of the pit viper family, are able to pick up on infrared waves to detect their prey.
Ultraviolet
At the other end of the spectrum, past violet, is ultraviolet. Ultraviolet light is often given off by the sun. Most are reflected by the ozone layer, but some do get into our atmosphere. These rays damage unprotected skin and have been known to cause skin cancer. This is the light that gives you sunburn and this is the light that sunscreen protects us from.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Chapter 17 Additive and Subtractive colours 17.1 Additive colour theory Additive colour mixing (involved light colours) is the mixing of projected beams of coloured light to form other colours. Additive colour theory had been developed to explain and describe how coloured light is formed.
INFRARED
SPECTURM OF VISIBLE LIGHTS
ULTRAVIOLET
Fig 2a
Looking at the spectrum of visible lights, it is possible to see that red, green and blue are represented much more strongly than the other colours. Red, green and blue has been recognized that all other colours can be blended from these 3 colours by projecting them on top of each other and white light can be produced again. Thus red, green and blue are termed as Primary colours. (Primary = Original)
Green
Blue
White
Red
Fig 2b – Additive Theory (Red, green and blue lights combined to give white light)
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
17.2 Additive colour mixing Additive colour mixing refers to the mixing of different coloured lights and can be easily demonstrated by the superposition of lights on a white projection screen.
Green C Blue
Y M
Red
Fig. 2c
Additive theory applies to transmitted light and relates to adding red, green, and blue (RGB) together which forms white. The absence of colour is black.
Red (R) + Blue (B) + Green (G) = White Blue (B) + Red (R) + Green (G) = White Green (G) + Red (R) + Blue (B) = White When green and blue light are superimposed, it forms Cyan.
Green (G) + Blue (B) = Cyan (C) When blue and red light are overlapped, it forms Magenta.
Red (R) + Blue (B) = Magenta (M) When green and red light are overlapped, it forms Yellow.
Green (G) + Red (R) = Yellow (Y) This system is called ―additive‖ because all three primaries ―add up‖ to form white light. Examples where additive colour theory is used are a) Overhead projector b) Television c) Computer monitor screen
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
17.3 Subtractive colour theory There are two ways of producing a colour, the additive process and the subtractive one. Subtractive colour theory uses paints, dyes, inks, and natural colorants to create colour by absorbing some wavelengths of light and reflecting or transmitting others.
Since white light is made up of red, green and blue light, the inks subtract out that particular portion or colour of light. Whatever light that is left is recognized by the eye as a particular hue.
Cyan ------------- which is white minus red; when white light (RGB light rays) hits onto an object, red light is absorbed reflecting green and blue light. Green and blue light combines to give cyan.
White light (RGB) – Red (R) = Cyan (C)
Magenta -------- which is white minus green, and
White light (RGB) – Green (G) = Magenta (M)
Yellow ----------- which is white minus blue.
White light (RGB) – Blue (B) = Yellow (Y) Primary Colour absorbed
Primary Colour unaffected
Combined colour achieved
Red
Blue and Green
Cyan
Green
Blue and Red
Magenta
Blue
Red and Green
Yellow
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Exercise:
What will be the colour we will see when cyan is absorbed? _________________
What will be the colour we will see when red and green are absorbed? _________________
How can we see an orange object?
_____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________
In the subtraction process, RGB is subtracted to obtain Cyan, Magenta and Yellow (CMY). Black (dark grey) is produced when body colour lights combine.
Yellow Green
B Cyan
Red
Blue
Magenta All colours that are not light colours are counted as body colours. Common applications that use subtractive colour theory are;
1) Inkjet colour printing 2) Colour photocopying
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Chapter 18 The colour wheel 18.1 Primary colour in colour mixing theory (traditional colour theory) Mixing colour hues and mixing colour lights are different. In this unit, we will learn more about colour mixing theory.
In traditional colour theory, there are 3 pigment colours that cannot be mixed or formed by any combination of other colours. All other colours can be derived from these 3 hues. They are called the Primary Colours.
Red Primary colours:
Blue
Yellow
Red Yellow Blue
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
18.2 Secondary colours When two of the primary colours are combined the result is called a secondary colour.
Red
Orange
Violet Blue
Secondary colours:
Yellow
Orange ( Yellow + Red) Green (Blue + Yellow) Violet (Red + Blue)
Green
18.3 Tertiary Colours When a primary colour is combined with the secondary colour next to it, tertiary colour is formed. The primary colour is always named first followed by the secondary colour. For example, the colour between yellow and green should be named yellow-green, not green-yellow.
Red
Red-orange
Red-violet
Orange
Yellow-orange
Violet
Yellow
Blue-violet
Yellow-green
Blue Blue-green
Tertiary colours:
Red –Orange Yellow-orange Yellow-green Blue-green Blue-violet Red-violet
Green
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
18.4 Colour wheel The 12-part Colour Wheel describes the relationships between colours. The relative positions of colours are an indication of how they will work together. The simplified wheel opposite consists of the primary, secondary and tertiary colours.
Between each of the primary colours are the secondary colours, which result from mixing the two primary colours. The tertiary colours are obtained from mixing the primaries with their respective secondary colours. As the colours progress around the wheel in any direction, each one is a gradual change from its adjacent colour.
Exercise: Complete the colour wheel
Y
R
B
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
18.5 Cool and warm colours Imagine that the colour wheel is split into half. One side containing colour that ranges from red to yellow, while the other ranges from green to violet. It forms the 2 main groups of colour. They are the warm and the cool colours.
Warm Colours Red
Orange
Violet Blue
Yellow Green
Cool Colours Warm colours
Warm colours ranges from red to orange to yellow. You can use a small amount of a warm colour to warm the temperature of a cool colour. The warm colours tend to come towards you, or feel closer to you, and come forward in a painting.
For example: o
A guest entering a house painted in orange or yellow will feel warmer and cosier.
o
A lady in red blouse will look more approachable as compared to the lady in green.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Cool colours
Cool colours ranges from green to blue to violet. As with the warm colours, you can use a cool colour to change the temperature of a warm colour. The cool colours tend to go away from you, or feel distant to you, and recede in a painting. Cool colours can be used to keep a person calmer and more relax.
For example: o
A room painted in blue will make the guest feel colder as compared to a room painted in red.
o
An examination hall painted in light blue will have a physiological effect of making the students calmer and think better.
In other words, warm colours can be used to balance the cool colour and via versa.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Chapter 19 Colour Terminology 19.1 What is hue? The term 'hue' means colour, any colour. It means the name of a colour and can be used interchangeably with the word 'colour'. Each hue in the spectrum has its own characteristic. Some are bright, some are dull; some are dark, some light, some are strong, some weak.
19.2 Colour saturation (Chroma or intensity) Saturation refers to how weak (pale) or strong (pure) a colour is.
Legend:
Decrease Intensity
Decrease Intensity
Concentrated paint Water
(A)
(B)
Saturated blue
Adding water
(C) Adding more water
Fig 4a
In Fig 4a illustrate how adding water can affects the intensity of colour. When concentrated blue paint is added into the saucer, it is at its purest (100%). When water is added, water weakens the blue paint and hence the colour is lighter. The saturation of blue colour decreases.
When a hue mixed with black or white, or with black and white (grey) or with other conflicting hues, they lose their saturation.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Exercise: Number the saucer in ascending saturation order.
____
____
____
____
____
19.3 Colour values Value describes the overall intensity or strength of the light. Values are described in terms of light and dark. Determining value of a colour means comparing to our value scale from white to black.
Converting colours to their grayscale equivalent, as seen on black & white printers or film, is the easiest way to grasp the concept of value.
As value increases, the colours move from dark (near black) to light (near white).
Measurement of values
X
Increase Value Most white No black
Decrease Value Most black No white
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
19.4 Tint Tint is a colour that is mixed with white. The tinted range of a colour can run from the pure colour to white.
Example
Saturated Red
Add white Darkest Pink Add white Darker Pink Add white Dark Pink Add white
Tinted Red
Pink Add white Add white Add white White
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
19.5 Shade A shade describes a hue or colour that has been darkened by adding black. In the process of adding more black into a colour, the colour gets darker and darker and gradually gets to black.
Example
Saturated Blue
Add white Dark blue Add black Darker blue Add black Darkest blue Add black Add black
Shaded Blue
Add black Black
Exercise: Fill in the blanks using the following helping words. Helping words: Tinted red
Shaded green
dark green
Maroon (dark red)
1. Red + (white) = _______________ = pink
2. Red + (black) = shaded red = ________________.
3. Green + (black) = _________________ = _________________.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
19.6 Tones Tones refer to the adding of grey to a colour. When grey is added to a pure colour, the colour will appear dull.
19.7 Luminance Luminance refers to the brightness in colours.
For example, when we see yellow and blue (of same value and saturation), yellow seems brighter than blue. Meaning, the colour with more yellow is brighter to the eyes than the colour with more blue. We are referring to the luminance of the colour.
Yellow
Blue
Higher luminance
Lower luminance
Red +Yellow
Red + Blue
Sensitivity of the human eyes sees green-yellow colours as brighter and blue-violet as duller (less luminance). One way to study the luminance of a colour is by converting the colours to greyscale.
Black
Combat blue
Cyan
Yellow
Green
Violet
Red
White
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
19.8 Achromatic, monochromatic and polychromatic colours Achromatic refers to white, black and grey. (No colour) Monochromatic meant ―based on the use of a single hue‖, variations being achieve by the additions of white or black to the colour.
Polychromatic refers to having 2 or more colours (many colours).
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Chapter 20 Colour Harmony 20.1 Analogous colours Analogous colours are any three colours that are adjacent (means: side by side) to each other in the colour wheel, for example, Orange and orange-red, green and yellow-green, blue and bluegreen.
R-V
R
R-O
O
R-V
R
R-O
O
V
Y-O
V
Y-O
B-V
Y
B-V
Y
B
B
Y-G B-G
G
Analogous colours: Red, red-orange and orange
Y-G B-G
G
Analogous colours: Yellow, yellow-green and green
Analogous colour can be found on objects that we get to contact in real life. Take a look at the photographs below. It is a green leafy plant which uses analogous colour scheme.
R-V
R
R-O
O
V
Y-O
Y
B-V
B
Y-G B-G
Colours found in this flowering plant are yellow, yellow-green and green. They are colours which are side by side on the colour wheel.
G
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20.2 Complementary colours Complementary colours are colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel, for example, violet and yellow, blue and orange, red and green.
These colours offer the greatest contrast, so the effect can be bold and dramatic. Complimentary colours when mixed together produce a neutral or grey colour.
R-V
R
R-O
O
R-V
R
R-O
O
R-V
R
R-O
O
V
Y-O
V
Y-O
V
Y-O
B-V
Y
B-V
Y
B-V
Y
B
Y-G B-G
G
B
B
Y-G B-G
G
Y-G B-G
G
One example of real object is as below.
R-V
R
R-O
O
V
Y-O
Y
B-V
B
Y-G B-G
G
Colours found in the above picture are red and green (red tulip with green leaves and stem). Red and green are complementary colours.
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20.3 Nature colours Nature can be a good example to show colour harmony.
For example,
White clouds in blue sky and,
Mangoes on the tree with lots of green leaves
These examples show colour harmony using nature colours.
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Chapter 21 Colour Behaviours & Relationship 21.1 Colour on another colour Colour the rectangles according to the colour stated below the rectangles. Colour the all the circles red.
White
Black
Orange
Blue
After colouring, take a good look at the four boxes above. Notice that the red circle against the black background appears to be brighter as compared to the red circle in the white background.
Red circle against the orange background appear to be dull as the contrast of the colours is not obvious.
On the other hand, red circle on the blue background appear to be brighter and livelier. Notice that the red circle appears larger on black than on the other background colours.
Have a good look at the 2 vases above. The white vase seems to be bigger then the black one. In actual fact, both the vases are of the same size. Colour behaves differently when placed on a different background.
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21.2 Colour physiology Colours can affect our moods, our thinking, and even our appetite. Colour can have a positive or negative impact on us.
Take for instance, when a person see red colour. There may be a few things that will come in mind. Red can be associated with danger, fire, blood, anger. On the other hand red can be seen as cheerful, active, warm, and approachable. It sometimes depends on the application of the colour.
Consideration in using the colour
We have to be careful using colours as it may convey a different message to different people. Hence there are some pointers we should consider before using a colour.
For example: Why are we using the colour? When are we using the colour? What do we want the viewer to see or feel?
Colour RED ORANGE YELLOW GREEN BLUE PURPLE WHITE BLACK
Means
Too much of
energy, power, strong, sweet
Increases anger, stress
Lively, close, dry, warm
Increases anger
sour, cheering, clear, free, very light
Causes exhaustion, too much mental activity
Balance, jealous, relax, balanced, Creates negative energy passive peaceful, harmony, loyal, sincere, far, Depressing and sorrowful young Gloomy, unhappy
Negative thoughts
purity, innocent
empty
silence, elegant, powerful, dark
Dull, boring
Table 6a Brief the meaning and properties of each colour
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Personal attraction to a certain colour may signal areas where you are imbalanced. Some psychiatrists use colours to understand and treat the patients. They study and understand how certain colours affect us favourably while others bring about negative feelings.
21.3 Colour proportion As we had covered previously, all other colours can be derived by mixing the 3 primary colours. The output colour depends on the proportion of colours used in the mixing process. For instance, when I mix yellow with red, we achieve orange. But is it red-orange, yellow-orange, light orange or dull orange? It all depends on the amount of red and yellow we used. We are referring to colour proportion.
When we add equal amount of yellow to blue, we get green. If we add double the amount of yellow to blue, we will get yellow-green. If we add more yellow to yellow-green, we will get yellowyellow-green (i.e. 90% yellow, 10% blue). However if we add more blue than yellow, we will get blue-green. Both blue-green and yellow-green falls in the ―green‖ family, but they have different properties. Blue-green is a cool colour while yellow-green is a warm colour. Blue-green is often used to portray worries, doubts, uncertainty, and passive while yellow-green is often seen as a bright, cheerful, encouraging colour. These colours represent different characteristics just by varying the amount of yellow. Different proportion of colours will give the output colour a different characteristic and property.
Similarly for tone and shades, adding different amount of white and black will have a significant effect on the characteristics of colour. Compare a saturated yellow with a shaded yellow. Shaded yellow appears to be less appealing to you as it is duller. Compare a girl who is wearing tinted red (pink) dress to her twin sister who is wearing shaded red (maroon) dress. The girl in pink will look more cheerful, bubbly and younger than the other.
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21.4 Colour contrast and dominance When everything is equal in value and intensity, nothing stands out. Everything is fighting for our attention. When nothing stands out, our eyes don't know where to look at, because each area of the painting demands equal attention.
Fig 6a is made of several light grey blocks. All the blocks share a similar value. Every block demands equal attention. Hence our eyes are unable to focus on a particular spot in Fig 6a.
Fig 6a
Similarly for Fig 6b, all the rectangular block are made up of similar values. Despite they are made up of a lower value, they are still unable to catch the viewer‘s attention to a particular spot.
Fig 6b
Unlike Fig 6a ad Fig 6b, Fig 6c (left) has a majority of low value blocks with a smaller area of high value blocks. It creates a contrasting effect and it captures the attention of the viewers to look at the lighter block first, followed by the rest. The lighter area is more dominating in Fig 6c. Fig 6c
Varying the contrast, values and saturation can help in capturing the viewer‘s attention to a particular spot in an area. This approach is often found in painting and advertisement posters where they want the audience to focus on the product or subject they are selling. We called the area that stands out from the rest as a focal point. Fig 6d
Similarly for Fig 6d, our eyes tend to focus on the darker area first. The darker area becomes the focal point while the rest acts as a background.
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Exercise: Locate the focal point in each image.
Image 1:
Image 2:
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Chapter 22 Web-safe colours on a monitor 22.1 Why web-safe colours? Years ago most computers were only capable of displaying a maximum of 256 colours at one time. There were many reasons for these colour limitations, the high cost of video RAM being the foremost. Most early video/graphics cards can only display 16 to 256 colours. Even though computers are very advance and are capable of displaying 24 bit to 32 bit of colours now, there are still users all over the world using the lower-end computers. Not all people owns a high-end computer, however a lot of people, especially designers choose to use 24 bit (or higher) graphics due to the wide colour range. There are a few factors to consider before deciding whether to use web-safe colours.
You have to decide who your audience is and the purpose of the design. If you are designing for the mass market, including persons with low-end computer systems and 56k modems, then better to be Web Safe colours.
On the other hand, if you are targeting to the computer savvy people who have more modern displays and faster modems or higher internet connection, then you may be able to use more colours.
It is important to choose the colour correctly as it may affect the delivery of the content and to prevent the audience to receive errors viewing the graphic files. For example, if you, as a webpage designer choose colours which are not supported by all home computers then the colours you see are not the same colours that others may see.
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22.2 Gamma What is gamma? Gamma affects the accuracy of colours of an image on the monitor screen. Images which are not properly corrected can look either bleached or too dark. The gamma measurement we are really concerned about is the overall output. This gamma may need to be sufficiently corrected for the best display of images. By sufficiently correcting gamma, we achieve desirable images on our monitor. Different systems will have different gamma measurements. An effective gamma rating will deliver true colours and a good range of light, middle, and dark tones. Some computers come equipped with sufficient gamma correction. Others will require more gamma correction to achieve effective viewing conditions for images. Personal computers (PC) will require correction. Macintosh and Silicon Graphics workstations will not require correction. Macintosh comes equipped with a graphic card that automatically corrects the gamma. The Silicon Graphics workstation's hardware performs the same correction. How gamma affects display colours? When a gamma is not set properly, we tend to either see a very dark images or faded images. Gamma does not only affect a particular image but the entire monitor display. Since gamma affects the accuracy of colours on an overall on the monitor, it is important to make sure that our monitor is adjusted to the correct gamma. What happens if the gamma is not accurate? Can you image doing a poster with light yellow background on your monitor but when printed, it is in dark, dull yellow? Often we will face this problem when we have inaccurate gamma.
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Chapter 23 Colour standardization 23.1 Importance of colour standardization Some colours can be seen very alike to each other (using naked eyes), and sometimes we misunderstood one colour for the other. These colours are normally monochromatic colours that are just next to each in the colour scale. As the technology world advances, designers, architects, engineers use computers extensively. Even though the colours seem to be the same in our eyes, it may be different for computers. This especially applies to the print industries; therefore there is a need for colour standardization. The importance of standardization is to ensure that different individuals interacting together could understand which colour the other party is referring to. Thus this reduces the confusion and increases better communications.
23.2 Instruments for measuring colour Measuring devices can be divided into three main categories: densitometers, colorimeters and spectrophotometers. Densitometers Densitometers are the simplest type of colour-measurement device, but they only report density. They are unable to calculate CIELAB.
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Colorimeters An optical measurement instrument that responds to colour in a manner similar to the human eye, by filtering reflected light into its dominant regions of red, green and blue.. They are light, compact, reliable and inexpensive. In the graphic arts, colorimeters are most commonly used to measure computer monitors. Spectrophotometers The
most
sophisticated
colour-measurement
instrument
is
a
spectrophotometer.
A
spectrophotometer measures the spectrum of a sample, reporting the reflectance or transmittance at regular intervals. The spectrum is the most complete description of a colour, and it can be used to calculate all other metrics, including density and CIELAB. Because a spectrophotometer
can
do
the
job
of
a
densitometer,
some
devices
are
called
spectrodensitometers.
Today, neither the price nor the size and ease of use are a significant differentiator between a colorimeter and a spectrophotometer, so in most instances a spectrophotometer is the logical choice. You may want to invest in some visualization software along with your hardware purchase.
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Chapter 24 Compression formats (PNG) 24.1 Introduction to web graphics formats PNG, GIF, JPEG are the most commonly used graphics file formats for putting graphics on the World Wide Web.
JPEG means Joint Photographic Experts Group (the name of the committee that wrote the standard). JPEG is a lossy compression technique that is designed to compress colour and grayscale images with complex blends (graduation of colours). JPEG works best for photographs and complex graphics. Using JPEG compression, the creator can decide how much loss to introduce and make a trade-off between file size and image quality.
What is lossy compression? Lossy compression reduces file size by permanently taking out certain information, especially redundant information, only a part of the original information remains.
GIF, short for Graphics Interchange Format, is one of the graphics formats supported by the Web, GIF format uses lossless compression technique and it supports only 256 colours. GIF is better use for images with only few distinct and solid colours (no blending) such as line drawings, black and white images and small solid colour texts. GIF images can be put together for animated image. GIF supports transparency.
PNG refers to Portable Network Graphic format. PNG was developed as a patent-free answer to the GIF format but is also an improvement on the GIF technique. PNG uses lossless compression, therefore image is kept at a good quality (provided the original source is of good quality). PNG builds on the idea of transparency in GIF. In addition, it allows the control of the degree of transparency (opacity). However, PNG does not support animation unlike GIF.
What is lossless compression? With lossless compression, every single bit of data that was originally in the file remains after the file is uncompressed. Restoring and re-saving an image will not degrade its quality.
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24.2 Difference between PNG, JPEG and GIF
PNG
GIF
JPEG
24 bit colour
8 bit colour
24 bit colour
Supports transparency
Supports transparency
No alpha channel
Allows variable transparency
-
-
Good for both pictures with
Best for images with large
Best
complex blends and solid
portion of solid colour.
images with complex blends
Does not support animation
Supports animation
Does not support animation
Lossless compression
Lossless compression
Lossy compression
for
photographs
or
colour images
24.3 Advantages of PNG compression The Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format was designed to replace the older and simpler GIF format. PNG really has few main advantages over GIF
a) Patent free b) Variable transparency c) Gamma correction (cross-platform control of image brightness) d) Two-dimensional interlacing (a method of progressive display) e) Better compression
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Chapter 25 Web-safe tools 25.1 Web safe colours There are only 216 colours that are common to all computers and all web browsers. Most web browsers are able to see 256 colours, but only 216 of them are common too all web browsers. We consider these 216 colours as web safe colours.
When a browser receives an image with a colour that it does not support, it has two ways to deal with the problem.
1. Display the next closest colour 2. Dither the colour
Dithering mean that the computer will try to achieve the unknown colour by combining two colours it does support.
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25.2 HTML colour codes HTML colour codes refer to hexadecimal values for each colour. There is a different code for each of the colour being standardized. Colours are defined using a hexadecimal notation for the combination of Red, Green, and Blue colour values (RGB). The lowest value that can be given to one light source is 0 (hex #00). The highest value is 255 (hex #FF). For example, primary red = #FF0000, primary green = #00FF00 and primary blue = #0000FF.
For primary red,
Green
#FF0000 Red
Blue
For primary green,
Green
#00FF00 Red
Blue
Colour
Colour HEX
Colour RGB
Black
#000000
rgb(0,0,0)
Red
#FF0000
rgb(255,0,0)
Green
#00FF00
rgb(0,255,0)
Blue
#0000FF
rgb(0,0,255)
Yellow
#FFFF00
rgb(255,255,0)
Cyan
#00FFFF
rgb(0,255,255)
Magenta
#FF00FF
rgb(255,0,255)
White
#FFFFFF
rgb(255,255,255)
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How does the browser display the colour?
All Web pages contain instructions for display
The browser displays the page by reading these instructions.
The most common display instructions are called HTML tags.
HTML tags look like this <bgcolour=”#0000FF” >
Therefore, this webpage will have a blue background colour.
25.3 Window and Macintosh web-safe palette This 216 web safe colour palette is able to display all colours correctly when running a 256 colour palette on both Windows and Macintosh. In other words, web-safe palette is cross platform.
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Chapter 26 Cross Media: Features and Differences 26.1 Cross Media Publishing Though each media stands for itself with its own unique features, the information age has brought in the need for cross media delivery where the same information needs to be adapted for each media and made to reach the users in all possible ways. The solution to this problem was first expressed as ―Create Once, Publish Many,‖, which means that there should be some technology that lets publishers push a button and have the content magically come out in all the right formats, all automatically. Though this was a nice vision, it can‘t work practically. Different distribution channels call for different versions of content, and those versions can‘t be created without editorial intervention. This engenders two important concepts: Create Once, Produce Many, and the idea of the Content Master. The idea of the Content Master is well known in the music and film industries. In pop music, a band creates a master of a song, and then uses that to create various versions, such as the dance club version (drums and bass mixed louder, more echo), the AM radio version (cut down and with more audio compression), etc. In the film industry, there might be a director‘s cut, a theatrical release, and versions for videocassette (different aspect ratio) and airplanes (R-rated scenes edited out). Each of these versions requires manual production work. The industry is slowly realizing that it should adopt the same ideas in order to serve a growing number of distribution venues. There are many reasons to create content masters. Most importantly, content masters can be archived in a content management system for later production and distribution. A content master can also serve as the ―content of record,‖ for purposes of capturing editorial intent and dealing with legal liability issues. Each media needs content that suits its technical considerations as well as the purpose. Therefore, it is a good idea to create a content master as the base with all required information and material. The specific content for each media can be edited and created separately by accessing the data from the content master. This will not only speed up the process and make it easy, but will help in maintaining a consistency in spite of the different designs used. To create content specific for a media from a general content master, we need to know the basic differences and features of each media.
26.2 Differences between various media Every media has its unique features as well as limitations. Anything that is a great print design is likely to be a lousy web design, or broadcast design and vice versa. The differences are mainly in the way the users or audience of each media use the medium and read the message. Other than that, technical considerations for each media give the differences. There are so many differences between the various media that it is necessary to take different design approaches to utilize the strengths of each medium and minimize its weaknesses.
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26.2.1 Dimensionality Print design is 2-dimensional. Therefore, much attention is paid to layout. In case of magazines or Newspapers, it is possible for the reader to turn the page, but a new page contains an entirely different set of images and text. Typically, each view is a design unit created for a fixed size canvas, whether big or small. In contrast, Web design is simultaneously 1-dimensional and N-dimensional. A web page is fundamentally a scrolling experience for the user as opposed to a canvas experience. A small amount of 2-dimensional layout is possible, but not to the extent of creating a pre-planned experience with a fixed spatial relationship between elements. Users often begin scrolling before all elements have been rendered, and different users will scroll the page in different ways throughout their reading experience. Precise placement of elements on a web page goes against the nature of HTML and can only be achieved to an approximation for pages that are able to adjust to different window sizes. Thus, 2-dimensional relationships between page elements are less important than 1-dimensional relationships (which information comes early, which comes later). Film, Video and television are also 2-dimensional, as the screen has a fixed size. In fact, the layout and dimensions cannot be changed in these media as in print, where layouts can be landscape or portrait with different dimensions as per requirement. But film and television have the greatest advantage of the third dimension called TIME. The contents of the screen can change over time and show more and more contents along the way. Thus the design process must consider the frames as a whole sequence and not as individual frames as in print. Transitions between frames can provide very beautiful looks as well as deeper meaning. 26.2.2 Navigation The N-dimensional aspect of web design follows from the hypertext navigation that is the essence of the Web. Moving around is what the Web is all about. When analyzing the "look-and-feel" of a website, the feel completely dominates the user experience. But still, doing is more memorable and makes a stronger emotional impact than seeing. Designing for the web involves Interface design as well as interaction design. Interaction design is unique to the web medium, as interactivity is the unique selling proposition of the web. In print, navigation mainly consists of page turning: an ultra-simple user interface which is one of the printed medium's great benefits. Because page turning is so limited, it is often not even thought of as a design element. In contrast, hypertext navigation is a major component of web design, requiring decisions like
appearance of links how to explain where users can go and where each link will lead visualization of the user's current location information architecture
Most sites have a page called the ‗Sitemap‘ which explains the links between the pages for easy navigation. Film and TV viewers don‘t have much to do about navigation other than changing channels. Though Interactive TV is under progression, most of the navigation in these media is totally controlled by the content creators. They decide the flow of information and edit the contents accordingly, and the viewer watches it as per their plan. Thus, film and TV are linear in terms of output.
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In general,
Print design is based on letting the eyes walk over the information, selectively looking at information objects and using spatial juxtaposition to make page elements enhance and explain each other. Web design functions by letting the hands move the information (by scrolling or clicking); information relationships are expressed temporally as part of an interaction and user movement. Broadcast design is based on letting the eyes view the screen on a whole. Composition plays a major role in framing each frame of a moving sequence. Emphasis, Juxtaposing, and all other effects of design can be shown in arranging different frames in a sequence, rather than in a single frame.
26.2.3 Response Time and frame size Print is immensely superior to the Web in terms of speed, type and image quality, and the size of the visible space. These differences are not fundamental. There will eventually be:
bandwidth fast enough to download a Web page as fast as one can turn the page in a newspaper screen resolution sharp enough to render type so crisply that reading speed from screens reaches that of paper Huge screens the size of a newspaper spread for the web (Even larger screen sizes are now available in home televisions).
The differences will remain and will dictate restrictions on web design in some areas: less graphics, smaller graphics, shorter text (since it is unpleasant to read online), less fancy typography (since you don't know what fonts the user has installed), and less ambitious layouts. On the other hand, web graphics and animation have improved a lot and they surpass print in this area by having the dimension of ‗time‘. Though technology keeps on improving, it will continue to be necessary to limit the word count since users are more impatient online and are motivated to move on. It will also be necessary to design web information for small-canvas layouts since portable devices like mobiles and PDA‘s retain small screens even as we get huge screens in the desktop and laptops. The canvas size for print is not fixed. Printed material are displayed in giant sizes as posters and cut outs in the open space, which is not yet possible with other medium. Though television sets differ in screen size, the image doesn‘t alter much with the exception of widescreen TV. The major consideration in broadcast design is the ‗Safe area‘. There are two safe areas namely ‗Action safe area‘, and ‗Title safe area‘. The actual dimension of the frame will be larger than these areas. The elements of the frame must be framed well within the action safe area so that they are not clipped away in the television monitor. Titles and text must appear within the title safe area. So, it is always a better idea to frame all objects within the safe range and leave the outer area as background, without any important element in them. Frame sizes for motion pictures keep on increasing on one side, and decreasing on the other. When Television makers bring innovative technology along with bigger screen sizes, motion pictures are now broadcasted in the internet and in mobile phones with much smaller screen sizes. Web casting is getting popular all around the world. Some series of shows can be downloaded in the mobile today. Most of the films have their own websites and provide trailers, sample clips, production dairies and other promotional material in their sites.
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Many short films and television programs as well as trailers can be viewed in the internet in sites like www.atomfilms.com, www.ifilm.com etc 26.2.4 Multimedia capabilities Print can stun the reader with high-impact visualization, but the online medium ultimately wins because of the user engagement that is made possible by non-static design elements. The Web can show moving images under user control and it can allow the user to manipulate interactive widgets. Basic web technology easily allows an interactive map of Singapore where the user can click on a city or region to go to a specialized page with more in-depth information. An even greater amount of engagement follows from a more closely integrated interactive visualization where pointing to objects results in explanations or expansions in context, possibly using pop-ups, overlays, or voice-over. Web pages were once online showcases to just show what is actually created beforehand. Nowadays, web pages have grown to be dynamic so that they change spontaneously according to user inputs. Thus, online users (who were once called viewers) can now interact with the interface and the underlying technology behind it. The latest Interactive TV technology allows the viewer to view information interactively in real time, and uses pop-ups, roll-overs and interactive menus. Anything that is a great print design is likely to be a lousy web design, or broadcast design and vice versa. There are so many differences between the various media that it is necessary to take different design approaches to utilize the strengths of each medium and minimize its weaknesses. 26.2.5 Colours Every media has its own set of colours that are best suited for them. Though there doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t seem to be any big difference for the viewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s eye, technically they are different. CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow Black) is the standard colour used for printing. Broadcast industry uses the RGB (Red Blue Green) standard which is the colour scheme used in television and computer monitors. Web pages do not support all the colours that are created using RGB or CMYK modes. Therefore, they have a set of standard colours called the web safe colours. Detailed descriptions and explanation about the colour standards and their specifications are given in the previous chapters about colour theory. In broadcast, red is often not used as backgrounds and as the primary colour for texts as red creates an effect called colour bleed during broadcast. When using red as background, it is safe to have a thin border or drop shadow for the text in that frame so that the colour bleed can be minimized and the text can be clearly read. Digital broadcast of the modern era doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t have this problem anymore. 26.2.6 Resolution and Scale An image for print should have a very high resolution, whereas the same image should have a lower resolution for its web presence. As download time plays a role in the overall efficiency of a website, unless critical, it is better to have low resolution images. When creating models in 3D animation, resolution takes a different approach. Games require real time rendering. Therefore, all models are created using polygonal modelling techniques. Film and
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television animations, as well as those for video works, require realism. Nurbs are the best method for modelling such smooth surfaces. Films and games do not necessarily follow the scale and proportions of each model in the background. As long as the images are appealing to the frame, they are approved. But in fields like scientific visualisation and architectural visualisation, the scale and proportions must exactly match the real world. More details about the different modelling approaches and animation techniques will be dealt in specific modules in the following semesters.
Characters in a game
Characters in a movie
3D models for architectural visualisation
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Chapter 27 Photoshop 27.1 Overview Photoshop is an image-editing application with a wealth of tools and commands for working on digital images or bitmaps. There are utilities for retouching, colour correcting, compositing and more. There are also over 90 functional and creative filters that can be applied to entire images, or selected areas within images.
27.2 The Characteristics of raster image There are two fundamentally different methods in which software constructs images. Vector graphics consist of objects constructed by mathematically defined points and curves. Because of this, they are resolution-independent â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you can scale vector drawings up or down and they will still print smoothly.
Although Photoshop uses vector-based graphics in a few of its operations, it is primarily used to edit raster images. Raster images are sometimes called bitmaps. They consist of a grid of little squares called pixels. The pixels in a digital image are usually so small that, when seen, the colours blend into what appears to be a continuous-tone image.
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27.3 Bitmapped Images Photoshop lets you open, create, edit and save bitmapped images. Every bitmapped graphic has three basic characteristics: dimension, bit depth, and colour model (or known as image mode).
Dimension Bitmapped images are always big rectangle grids. The dimensions of the bitmap grid refer to the number of pixels wide and tall it is. The grid of pixels that makes up your computer screen might be 1200 by 1600. A bitmapped image can be any dimension you like, limited only by the capabilities of your capture device, the amount of storage space you have available- the more pixels in the image, the more space it takes up, the longer it takes to do anything with it.
Bit Depth An important factor when the digital data for an image is captured, typically at the scanning stage, is its bit-depth. Bit-depth refers to the amount of digital storage space used to record information about the colour of a pixel. The more bits you use, the more colour information you can store to describe the colour of a pixel â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but also, the larger the file size you end up with. Each pixel in a bitmapped image is represented by a particular number of zeros and ones, known as bit depth. A 1-bit image can only contain black and white. If you have two bits of information describing a pixel, there are four possible combinations (00, 01, 10 and 11), hence four possible values (22), and four possible colours or grey levels. Eight bits of information give you 256 possible values (28); 24 bits of information result in over 16 million possible colours. (With 24-bit RGB image, each sample actually has three 8-bit values)
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Image modes are fundamental to working in Photoshop. When you open an image the mode is indicated in the title bar of the image window. Use modes as appropriate to your working requirements. Then, depending on output or printing requirement, convert to a different mode.
RGB mode Images are typically scanned or captured in RGB mode. When you start work with a colour image it is usually best to work with RGB mode, as this is faster than CMYK mode and allows you to use all of the Photoshop‘s commands and features, providing greatest flexibility. The disadvantages of working in RGB mode (for print), is that RGB allows a greater gamut of colours than what you can print. At some stage, some of the brightest, most vibrant colours may loss their brilliance when the image is brought within the CMYK gamut.
CMYK mode Convert to CMYK when the image is to be printed and you have finished making changes. To place a colour image in a page layout application from where it will be colour separated, you need to convert from RGB to CMYK, Photoshop adjusts any colours in the RGB image that fall outside the CMYK gamut to their nearest printable colour.
Indexed Colour mode This mode reduces your image to 256 colours or less. That‘s not a lot of colours, when you compare it to the 16.7 million different colours you can get in RGB. But the relatively tiny files make indexed-colour images useful for Web graphics. There are a few limitations with Indexed Colour mode. You can‘t use any filters or tools that require anti-aliasing because Photoshop can‘t anti-alias in this mode. Therefore, you should always do your image editing in RGB mode and then convert to Indexed Colour mode at a last step. Another issue with indexed colour stems from a problem with the colour lookup tables. If the table changes when you move the picture from one programme to another, so do all the colours in the image. Pixel number 123 might still have a value of 81, but ―colour number 81‖ may have changed from red to blue in the process. You can‘t save indexed-colour images in Photoshop, GIF, PNG, PICT, Amiga IFF, or BMP formats.
Grayscale mode When you are not printing an image in colour you can convert to Grayscale mode to make working faster and file size smaller.
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Lab mode This mode uses the CIE Lab model which has one channel for luminosity, an ―a‖ channel representing colours blue to yellow and a ―b‖ channel for magenta to green. A significant advantage to this mode is that its gamut encompasses that of both CMYK and RGB modes.
Bitmap mode This mode reduces everything to black or white pixels. The image becomes a 1-bit image. You can‘t use any filters, and because there‘s no such thing as anti-aliasing in 1-bit images, you just cannot use tools that require this, such as the Smudge tool, the Blur tool etc. Bitmaps are the most generic of images, so you can save them in almost any file format.
Multichannel mode Multichannel mode uses 256 levels of grays in each channel. When you convert RGB or CMYK image to Multichannel mode, the original channels in the image are converted to spot colour channels. You can use it to store extra channels for transparency masks or selections in other images. Multichannel mode is an advanced option. Use it only if you have a detailed understanding of the printing process. Your only options for saving multichannel images are the Photoshop, Raw, Large Document Format, and DCS formats.
Duotone Mode Duotone is a very popular effect used to give added tonal depth to a grayscale image by printing with black and another colour. The key is that the extra colours aren‘t typically used to simulate colours in the image; rather, they‘re used to enhance the underlying grayscale image.
1. To
create
a
duotone,
Image>Mode>Duotone.
choose Choose
from the Type pop-up whether you want to create a duotone (two inks), a tritone (three inks) or a quadtone (four inks).
2. To choose a second colour for the duotone, click the ―ink 2‖ colour box. This takes you into Custom Colours dialog box. Choose a colour. Click the Picker button if
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
you want to use the Colour Picker. OK the dialog box.
3. To specify the ink coverage for both colours, click first on the Ink 1 Curve box, then the Ink 2 box. In the Duotone Curve dialog box, drag the curve to the desired position.
27.4 Import and manipulate different image file format
Scanning into Photoshop You can scan into Photoshop either using the TWAIN interface, or using a scanner plug-in designed for use with Photoshop. If your scanner does not have a plug-in for Photoshop, you can use the scanner software to scan, save the image in TIFF, PICT or BMP format, then open file in Photoshop.
1. To create a scan from within Photoshop, choose File>Import, then select the appropriate device from the sub-menu, or; 2. Choose File>Import>Twain_32. This takes you into your scanner software. 3. Choose settings for scan mode (grayscale, colour, line art etc.), resolution, scale, contrast, brightness and gamma settings. 4. Click the Scan button. Wait and save the image.
Resolution People use resolution when they talk about scanners and printers, images and screens etc. The resolution of a bitmapped image is the number of pixels in each unit of measurement. If we‘re talking in inches, then we talk about the number of pixels per inch (ppi), which is what most people mean when they say ―dot per inch‖ (dpi).
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If you know the size of an image and its resolution, you can figure out its dimensions. When you scan a picture that is three inches on each side at 100 pixels per inch, you know that the bitmapped image has 300 pixels per inch, the dimensions shoot up to 900 pixels on each side. Saving Files in different file format The basic principles of saving files in Photoshop- using ―Save‖ and ―Save As‖- are the same as in other Macintosh or Windows applications. Save regularly as you make changes to an image so that you do not lose changes you have made should a system crash occur. You should use Save As to save a new file in the first instance, to make copies of a file, to save a file to a new location and when you need to save an image in a different file format. Photoshop format Use this format as you work on your image. Applications such as QuarkXPress will not import images in Photoshop format, but all of Photoshop‘s options, in particular layers, remain available to you in this format.
TIFF Format TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), is a standard file format for scanned images of desktop publishing. It is usable in most paint, image-editing and page layout applications.
1. Choose File>Save As. Specify where you want to save the image and enter a name in the name entry box. Use the Format pop-up menu to choose TIFF, and then click OK. 2. The TIFF Options dialog box will appear. Select Byte Order options and LZW Compression as required, and then OK the dialog box.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Byte Order Use this option to specify whether you want the TIFF file to be used on a Mac or PC.
LZW Compression (Lempel-Zif-Welch)
is
a
compression
format that looks for repeated elements in the computer code that describe the image and replace these with shorter sequences. It is a ―lossless‖ compression scheme- none of the image‘s details is lost.
Zip Zip is a lossless compression format and achieves greatest compression in images that contain areas of solid colour. Zip compression is supported by PDF and TIFF file formats.
JPEG JPEG is a ―lossy‖ compression format. JPEG compression is most suitable for photographic type image with variations in highlight and shadow detail throughout the image.
Save Image Pyramid Although Photoshop itself cannot work with multiple resolutions in the same file, you can select the Save Image Pyramid option to preserve multiple resolutions already in a file. Some applications (Adobe InDesign) provide support for opening multi resolution files.
Save Transparency For images that contain transparent areas you can select Save Transparency. Transparent areas are saved in an additional Alpha channel when the file is opened in a different application. Transparency is always retained when a file is opened in Photoshop.
Layer Compression
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Photoshop can read layer information saved in TIFF file format, although most other applications cannot. Files saved with layers are larger than image file that have been flattened into a single layer. Choose Layer Compression options to specify how pixel data in layers is compressed. RLE (Run Length Encoding) is a lossless compression format supported by many Windows file formats. Select Discard Layers and Save a Copy if you do not want to preserve layers in the image.
JPEG Format The JPEG compression routine is a ―lossy‖ procedure. To make the file size of the image smaller, image data is discarded, resulting in reduced image quality. 1. Follow the procedure for saving in TIFF format, but choose JPEG from the Format pop-up menu. OK the Save As dialog box. 2. Use the Quality pop-up to specify the amount of compression, or drag the slider. Maximum gives best image quality, retaining most of the detail in an image, but results in the least compression. Low gives lowest image quality, but maximum compression.
3. In the Format Options area, select Baseline Optimized to optimize the colour quality of the image. 4. Select Progressive and enter a value for Scans if you‘ll use the image on the World Wide Web and want the image to download in a series of passes adding detail progressively. 5. The compressed file size is indicated in the Size area. Choose a modem speed from the Size pop-up to see an estimated download time for the image at the specified modem speed.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Photoshop EPS EPS is generally more reliable for PostScript printing than the TIFF file format, but generates file sizes which can be three to four times greater than TIFFs with LZW compression. To save in EPS format, do the following:
1. Follow the procedure for saving TIFFS, but choose Photoshop EPS from the Format pop-up menu. Click OK. The EPS Options dialog box will appear. Specify your settings, and then click OK.
Preview This option specifies the quality of the low-resolution screen preview you see when you import the image into other applications such as QuarkXPress etc. Use TIFF if you want to use the image in Windows.
Encoding Use binary encoding if you want to export the image for use with Adobe Illustrator. Some applications do not recognized binary encoding; in this case you have to use ASCII.
27.5 Document and Scratch Sizes Document Sizes With Document Sizes selected, you will see two numbers separated by a slash. The first number is the size of the image when all layers are flattened. The second may be larger and represents the file storage size whilst the image contains additional layers and/or alpha channels that may have set up.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Scratch Sizes The Scratch disk is an underlying technical detail that you should be aware of when using Photoshop. The Scratch disk is a designated hard disk that Photoshop utilizes as ―virtual‖ memory if it runs out of memory (RAM) whilst working on one or more images. With Scratch Sizes selected in the Sizes Bar you again see two numbers separated by a slash. The first represents the amount of memory (RAM) Photoshop needs to handle all currently open pictures. The second represents the actual amount of memory available to Photoshop. When the first number is greater than the second, Photoshop is using the Scratch disk as virtual memory.
27.6 Using the Painting tools to apply filters & effects Using Layers It‘s almost impossible not to use multiple layers in a Photoshop document. Layers opens up new features that are related to selections: layer masks and using layers as a mask. Masks are just channels, which are 8-bit (or 16-bit) grayscale images.
Creating and editing layer masks Layer masks enable you to select/crop a certain portion in an image to be edited. You can apply a layer mask to a layer by selecting Add Layer Mask from the Layer menu. When a layer has a mask, it can have only one- the Layers palette displays a thumbnail of the mask.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
At first, it‘s difficult to tell whether you‘re editing the layer or the layer mask. But there are three differences: The layer mask thumbnail has a dark border around it, the second column of the Layers palette changes to a mask icon. Once you have a layer mask, you can edit it by clicking on its icon in the Layers palette. Editing a mask is as simple as painting with grays. Painting with black is like adding masking tape; it covers up part of the adjoining layer (making those pixels transparent). Painting with white takes away the tape and uncovers the layer‘s image. Gray, of course, partially covers the image.
TIP: Faster Layers Masks. Go to Add Layer Mask icon in the Layers palette. If you Option/Alt-click on the Add Layer Mask icon, Photoshop inverts the layer mask (so that it automatically hides everything on the layer). Note that you can make a selection before clicking on the icon. In this case, the program ―paints in‖ the non-selected areas with the black for you. This is usually much easier than adding a layer mask, then using the paint tools to paint away areas. (Option-clicking on the icon with a selection paints the selected areas with black, so that whatever was selected ―disappear.‖) TIP: Getting Rid of the Mask. As soon as you start editing layer masks, you‘re going to find that you want to turn the mask on and off, so you can get before-and-after views of your work. Make the mask disappear temporarily by selecting Disable Layer Mask from the Layer menu. Or: Shift-click on the Layer Mask icon. If you want to delete it forever- select Remove Layer Mask from the Layer menu or drag the Layer mask to the trash icon.
Layers as Masks
Layers not only have masks, but they can act as masks for the other layers. The trick is to use clipping groups. For instance, it you place a circle on a layer with a transparent background,
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
then make a new layer and fill it entirely with some bizarre fractal design, the strange texture totally obliterates the circle. However, if you group the two layers together, the lower one acts as a mask for the higher one and the fractal design only appears within the circle. You can group layers together in one of the two ways.
Select Create Clipping Mask from the Layer menu (or press Command-G)
Option-click between their tiles in the Layers palette (the layers have to be next to one another in any of these case)
You can group together as many as you want, though the bottommost layer acts as the mask for the entire group. You can‘t group a layer with a layer set - only individual layers.
The Brush Pop-up Palette 1. To select a brush, click on the Brush tool to select it, and then click the brush pop-up triangle icon in the Options bar. 2. To select a brush, click on the Brush tool to select it, and then click the brush pop-up triangle icon in the Options bar.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
3. To select a brush, click on the Brush tool to select it, and then click the brush popup triangle icon in the Options bar.
4. Click on a brush you want to use in the scroll box. A thumbnail of the stroke appears to the right. The number beneath the brush icon indicates the diameter of the brush in pixels.
5. Click on a brush you want to use in the scroll box. A thumbnail of the stroke appears to the right. The number beneath the brush icon indicates the diameter of the brush in pixels.
6. Create settings for Mode, Opacity and Flow in the Options bar and choose the Airbrush option if required.
7. Position your cursor in the image window, then press and drag to apply the foreground colour using the current brush characteristics and the brush settings in the Options bar.
The Brushes Palette 1. To create custom brushes characteristics, select a painting tool. By default, the Brushes palette is docked in the Palette Well (on the right-hand side of the Options bar). Click on the Brushes tab to display the Brushes palette.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
2. Make sure the Brush Presets option is selected. Click on a preset brush in the scroll list. Depending on the brush preset you click on, the various customized settings already applied to the brush, visible in the left
hand
column,
change
accordingly.
3.
To customize the preset brush by adding your own brush settings, removing existing settings, click the Check boxes to the left of the brush characteristic labels. View from the preview pane below.
4. Drag the Diameter slider to change the size of the brush or enter a value in pixels in the Size Entry box. 5. Click on the Brush Tip Shape button to change settings such as Angle, Roundness Hardness and Spacing if required. 6. Click the brush characteristic label to excess a range of controls for the option. 7. Create settings for Mode, Opacity and Flow in the Options bar. 8. If you click on a different brush in the scroll list, any custom settings for the previously selected brush are lost. 9.
Position your cursor in the image window, then click and drag to create the required paint stroke.
Custom Brush Settings Preset brushes can be customized using the style options on the left side of the Brushes palette together with the settings which control the Brush Tip Shape.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
1. To create custom settings for a brush effect, click the effect label- not the check box. The controls available for each brush effect appear on the right of the dialog box. 2. Experiment with the settings available.
The Pencil Tool
1. To draw a line, first select the Pencil tool. Set a brush size using the Brush Pop-up palette. Or use the Brushes palette to create custom brush settings for the tool.
2. Use the Pencil Options bar to specify: Blending Mode, Opacity and Auto Erase options.
3. Click and drag to create a freeform pencil stroke. Hold down Shift, then drag to constrain the pencil stroke vertically or horizontally. 4. Click, move the cursor to a new position, hold down Shift, then click again to create a straight pencil stroke between two points.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
The
Gradient
Tool
1. To create a gradient fill, select the Gradient tool. Choose a gradient type from the Options bar.
2. Select a Blending mode and set Opacity. Use the Gradient pop-up to choose one of the preset gradients. 3. Position your cursor where you want the gradient to start, then click and drag. The angle and distance you drag the cursor defines the angle and distance of a linear gradient, or the radius of a radial gradient. 4. For basic gradient fills leave the Transparency and Dither options selected. Choose the Reverse option to reverse the order of the colours in the gradient.
The
Paint
Bucket
Tool
You can use the Paint Bucket tool to colour pixels with the foreground colour, based on a tolerance setting. It works in a similar way to the Magic Wand tool, but in this case filling adjoining pixels that fall within a selection or on the entire image.
1. To fill foreground colour, select Paint Bucket tool. Enter a value from 0-255 in the Tolerance box. The higher you set the value, the greater the pixel range the Paint Bucket will fill.
2. Set Opacity, Blending mode, Anti-aliased and All Layers options as required. Position your cursor then click on the image.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
3. You can use the Paint Bucket to fill with a pattern previously saved into the pattern buffer. Use the Fill pop-up to choose Pattern, and then use the Pattern pop-up palette to choose an available pattern. 4. Deselect the Contiguous option to allow the
Paint
Bucket
to
colour
pixels
anywhere in the image, provided that they fall within the Tolerance setting.
Creating Brush Preset Tools Create a Brush tool preset when you have created custom brush setting that you want to be able to reuse, without having to first recreate the custom settings.
1. To create a Brush tool preset, select the Brush tools, and then use the Brush palette to create custom settings for the brush.
2. Choose Window>Tool Preset, to show the Tool Presets palette if it is not already showing. 3. Choose New Tool Preset from the palette menu. Enter a name for the tool preset in the dialog box.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
4. To access the new tool preset, make sure you have the Brush tool selected, then click the Brush tool presets triangle in the Options bar. Click on the tool preset in the drop-down list.
27.7 The Editing Tools The editing tools- Blur and Sharpen, Smudge, Clone and Pattern Stamp, Dodge, Burn, Sponge, Eraser, Healing Brush, Patch and Colour Replacement- let you edit or change pixels in a variety of ways.
The Blur Tool The Blur tool works by reducing contrast between pixels and can be useful for disguising unwanted, jagged edges and softening edges between shapes.
1. To blur areas of your image, select the Blur tool. If the Blur Options bar is not showing, you can double-click the Blur tool to show it.
2. Set the Blend mode, Strength and Use All Layers options, position your cursor on the image, then click and drag to blur the pixels. Release the mouse then drag across the pixels again to intensify the effect.
The Sharpen Tool The Sharpen tool works by increasing the contrast between pixels.
1. To sharpen areas of an image, select the Sharpen tool. Use Options bar to create the setting you want.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
2. Click and drag to sharpen the pixels. Repeat this procedure to intensify the sharpening effect. You will produce a coarse, grainy effect if you overuse the Sharpen tool. Use a low Strength setting and build up the effect gradually.
The Smudge Tool The Smudge tool is use to create an effect similar to dragging your finger through wet paint. The Smudge tool picks up colour from where you start to drag and smears it into adjacent colours.
1. Select the Smudge tool. Set the Strength, and then start to drag across image to smudge the colours. The higher the Strength setting, the more pronounced the effect. 2. Select Finger Painting option if you want to begin the smudge with the current foreground colour. 3. Select the Use All Layers option if you want to smudge colours from other layers in the image onto the layer you are working on. Leave this option deselected if you want the smudge to pick up colour from pixels on the active layer only.
The
Clone
Stamp
Tool
Use Clone Stamp tool to retouch an image by cloning or duplicating areas of it. This is very useful when you want to remove blemishes and scratches.
1. To clone an area of your image, select the Clone Stamp tool. Set an appropriate brush size using the Brush Pop-up palette in the Options bar. Make sure the Aligned option is selected.
2. Hold down Alt/option and click on the part of the image you want to Clone. 3. Release Alt/option. Move the cursor to a different image part then click and drag. The pixels in the image where you first clicked. A crosshair at the point where you first clicked indicates the pixels that are being cloned- the source point.
The Dodge, Burn and Sponge Tools
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
These tools are sometimes referred to as the â&#x20AC;&#x2022;toningâ&#x20AC;&#x2013; tools. The Dodge and Burn tools are based on the traditional photographic technique of decreasing the amount of exposure given to a specific area on a print to lighten it (dodging), or increasing the exposure to darken areas (burning-in).
The Dodge Tool 1. To lighten areas of an image, select the Dodge tool. Remember to choose an appropriate brush size. A soft-edged brush usually creates the smoothest result. If the Options bar is not showing, double-click the Dodge tool to show it.
2. Set the Range pop-up menu to Midtones, Shadow or Highlights to limit changes to the middle range of grays, the dark or light areas of the image respectively and also set Exposure to control the intensity of the tool. 3. Click ad drag to lighten the pixels. Release the mouse then drag across the pixels again to intensify the effect.
The Burn Tool 1. To darken areas of an image, select the Burn tool. Choose an appropriate brush size. A soft-edged brush usually creates the smoothest result.
2. Set the Range pop-up to Midtones, Shadows or Highlights to limit changes to the middle range of grays, the dark or light areas of the image respectively and also set Exposure. 3. Click and drag to darken the pixels. Release the mouse then drag across the pixels again to intensify the effect.
The Sponge Tool 1. To saturate/desaturate areas of an image, select the Sponge tool. Remember to select an appropriate brush size.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
2. Set the Mode pop-up to Saturate or Desaturate and apply a Flow setting. 3. Click and drag to alter the saturation.
The
Eraser
Tool
Use the Eraser tool to erase portions of your image. The Eraser rubs to the background colour when you are working on the Background layer. It erases to transparency when you are working on any other layer, provided that the Transparency Lock option is not selected in the Layer palette. 1. To erase areas of your image, select the Eraser tool (E) to show Eraser options in the Options bar. Specify brush size, Mode, Opacity, Flow, Airbrush and Erase to History options.
2. Click and drag on your image to erase to the background colour or transparency, depending on the layer on which you are working.
The
Magic
Eraser
Use the Magic Eraser tool to erase pixels on a layer to transparency. The Magic Eraser works best when you want to remove the background pixels around a hard-edged object. The Magic Eraser tool erases pixels based on a tolerance level, similar to the way in which the Magic Wand works.
1. Select the layer you want to work. Select the Magic Eraser tool to show the Magic Eraser options in the Options bar. Enter a Tolerance value.
2. Set an Opacity value of 100% to erase pixels completely. Set a lower Opacity value to create a partially transparent effect. Select the Anti-aliased option to create a smoother edge when pixels are erased.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
3. Select Contiguous to erase only pixels that fall within the Tolerance value specified, and that are adjacent to each other. This option erases continuous areas of pixels. Deselect Contiguous if you want to erase all pixels that fall within the Tolerance value anywhere in the image. 4. Click to erase pixels that fall within the Tolerance value.
The
Background
Eraser
The Sharpen tool works by increasing the contrast between pixels.
1. Set an Opacity value of 100% to erase pixels completely. Set a lower Opacity value to create a partially transparent effect. Select the Anti-aliased option to create a smoother edge when pixels are erased.
2. Choose Contiguous from the Limits pop-up menu to remove adjacent pixels that fall within the tolerance setting. 3. Enter a Tolerance value, or drag the Tolerance slider. Set a low Tolerance value to limit the effect to pixels that are very similar in colour value to pixels at the ―hotspot‖. Set a high Tolerance value to erase a broader range of similar colours. 4. Choose a Sampling option. Select Continuous to erase all colours that you drag across. Select once to erase pixels that are the same colour as the pixel on which you first click. Select Background Swatch to erase areas containing the current background colour. 5. Click or drag to erase pixels on the layer to transparency, based on the settings you have chosen.
The
Healing
Brush
Tool
The Healing Brush is similar to the Clone Stamp tool in the way it works, but it also matches the texture, luminosity and shading of the sampled pixels to the pixels in the area you want to ―heal‖. This usually produces a more seamless result than the Clone Stamp tool.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
1. Use the Brush pop-up palette to choose a brush size. Select a blending mode if required. Use Replace mode to preserve the texture, noise and any film grain at the edges of the brush strokes. Leave the Source option set to Sampled to use pixels from within the image.
2. Select Aligned in the Options bar. 3. Position your cursor on an area of the image that you want to sample from to repair the imperfection. Hold down Alt/option, and then click the left mouse button. This sets the sample area of pixels. 4. Release the Alt/option key. Move your cursor over the area you want to repair. Click, or press and drag to repair the area. When you click or drag the mouse, the (+) indicates the area of the image you are sampling pixels from.
The Patch Tool
The Patch tool allows you to disguise problems and flaws in an image by cloning or copying pixels from another, similar part of the image. The Patch tool attempts to match the texture and shading of the pixels that are copied or sampled to the source pixels- the pixels you are patching over.
1. Select the Patch tool. Select Source in the Options bar. Drag in the image to select the area of pixels you want to patch over.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
2. Position cursor inside the Patch selection, and then drag the selection area onto the area of the image from which you want to copy pixels. 3. Release the mouse button. The original patch selection is required with pixels sampled from the area you released on. 4. Alternately, select Destination in the Options Bar to reverse the way in which the tool works. Use the Patch tool to select the area of pixels you want to use to make the repair. Release the mouse to copy the initial selection area over the flaw.
Colour
Replacement
Use the Colour Replacement tool to paint over specific colour in an image. Example, you can use it to remove ―red eye‖ in an image.
1. To print over a colour, select the Colour Replacement tool. Select a foreground colour. Create settings such as Diameter using the Brush Pop-up palette in the Options bar. Leave Mode set to Colour.
2. For Sampling, choose Continuous to sample and replace colours continuously as you drag. Choose once to replace only the target colour you first click on. Choose Background Swatch to limit colour changes to pixels that are the same colour as the Background colour. 3. From the Limits drop down menu choose Contiguous to colour pixels immediately adjacent to the pixels you drag across and that fall within the Tolerance setting. Choose Discontiguous to colour pixels anywhere within the brush diameter, even if the pixels are not immediately adjacent to the pixels you drag across. Choose Find Edges to help preserve sharpness along edge detail as you replace colour. 4. Position your cursor on the pixels you want to change. The Colour Replacement tool displays a crosshair at the centre of the brush cursor. This indicates the tool‘s ―hotspot‖- the point at which the tool‘s settings have the greatest effect. Click and drag to paint over the pixels.
Paths You can use the Pen tool to create paths. When you start to create a path it appears as a ―work path‖ in the Paths palette. A work path is only a temporary path.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
The Pan tool creates anchor points which are connected by straight lines or curved segments. You can use the other tools in the Paths tool group to modify a path by adding, deleting or moving anchor points, and by changing the nature of the points. You can also edit curved segments by dragging the Bezier direction points.
1. Select Pen tool in the Toolbox. Make sure the Create Path icon is selected. You can select the Rubber Band option from the drop down triangle in the Options bar to see a preview of the line segments as you draw.
2. Position your cursor where you want to start drawing the path, then click, release the button, move the mouse and click again to create a straight line segment. Continue moving your cursor and clicking to create further straight line segments. 3. Alternately, you can click and drag to set an anchor point and create direction lines for a curve segment. Then, release the button and move the cursor, and again click and drag to create the next anchor point with direction lines. Continue in this way to create the path you want. Position the Pen tool cursor at the start point. Notice the cursor now has a small circle attached to it. Click to create closed path. The path will appear in the Paths palette with the default title of Work Path. 4. To create an open path, follow the technique outlined in steps 1-3 but instead of clicking back at the start point click on the Pen tool in the Toolbox to finish the path. This is now an open path to which you could, for example, apply a stroke.
Exporting Clipping Paths Create a clipping path when you want to create transparent areas in an image you intend to use in an application. A clipping path makes areas of the image outside the path transparent, allowing you to see past the outline of the image to the background on which the image is placed.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
1. After you have path the object that you want, create a saved path. If you have more than one path in the Paths palette, make sure you select the appropriate path. Use the Path palette menu to select Clipping Path.
2. Use the Path pop-up to specify a different path to make into a clipping path if necessary. Enter a Flatness value. 3. When you have saved a clipping path, you need to save the film in EPS file for output. Choose File>Save As. In the Save As dialog box, give the file a name and specify where you want to save it. 4. Choose Photoshop EPS from the Format pop-up. Click Save. Clipping Paths saved with the image are automatically exported with the file when you save in Photoshop EPS file format
The History Palette Every time you modify your image this is recorded in the History palette as a history state. The History palette records the last 20 states of the image. Use the History palette to return to a previous state of the image within the current work session. The most recent state of the image appears at the bottom of the list in the palette. Each state indicates the name of the tool or command used on the image.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
1. To return to a previous state of the image, make sure that the History palette is showing. 2. Click on a state in the History palette. The image reverts to that stage of the work session. States after the state you click on are dimmed. These subsequent states will be discarded if you continue to work from the selected state. 3. Alternatively, drag the state slider up or down to indicate the state you wish to move to. You can also use the keyboard shortcuts Command/Ctrl+Shift+Z to move to
the
next
state.
Use
Command/Ctrl+Alt/option+Z to move to the previous state.
27.8 Working with Type To edit type you must go into Text Editing mode. To make changes to the character/paragraph formatting of text you must first highlight the text on which you want to work. You can then make changes.
Editing text
1. Select the Horizontal Type tool. Click directly into the text you want to change. This takes Photoshop into Text Editing mode. Make changes. Click the Commit button in the Options bar to accept the changes or click Cancel button if you do not want to keep the changes.
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Selecting text 1. Make sure you are in Text Editing mode, then click and drag across the text to highlight a specific range of characters, from a single character to a word to all visible text. Double-click on a word to highlight one word. Triple-click to highlight a line of text. Click four times to select a paragraph. 2. In the text Editing mode, use Command/Ctrl+A to select all text on the layer, or choose Select>All. 3. With the appropriate range of text highlighted you can then make changes to the settings. The changes you make apply to the highlighted text only. Note: If you enter more type than you can fit in, an overflow symbol appears in the bottom right corner of the bounding box:
Make the type smaller, or the box bigger to see all the type.
Character Setting You can use options in the Options bar when the Type tool is selected, or in the Character palette to change the settings for selected text.
Leading
Leading controls the distance from one baseline of type to the next. Enter a leading value in points in the Leading entry box. Photoshop applies a default leading value of 120% of the type size you have selected if you leave the leading set to Auto.
Kerning
and
tracking
1. To kern character pairs, click between the characters in the text to place the text insertion bar. You can enter a value in the kerning entry box or use the pop-up to choose a preset value. Negative values move character closer. Positive values move them apart. Press Enter/Return to accept the changes made in the dialog. 2. For Tracking, highlight a range of text. Enter a value in the Tracking entry box.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Baseline
Shift
The Baseline Shift control allows you to move highlighted character above or below their original baseline to create a variety of effects. 1. Highlight the character you want to shift. 2. Enter a positive value to shift upwards, negative value to shift downward.
Masked
Type
The Masked Type option creates a complex selection- a selection in the shape of type.
1. Select the Type Mask tool. Position your cursor on the image where you want the type to start. Click. This sets the text insertion point. A translucent colour mask appears across the image.
2. Enter text. As you type the coloured mask becomes transparent in the letterforms to indicate the type mask selection. Click the Commit button in the Options bar to create the selection. 3. A type selection appears in the image window. Notice that the Type Mask tool does not create a new layer. 4. Drag the selection to a new image window, create a new layer from the selection or use any commands that you would typically use on a selection.
Type on a path
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You can create type that follows a path created using the Pen tool or a Shape tool.
1. Select the Horizontal or Vertical Type tool. Position your cursor on the path. It is important to place the baseline indicator on the path. Click on the path. A text insertion point appears where you click. Begin typing. Click the Commit/Cancel button in the Options bar to accept/discard changes. When you commit type on a path, the type appears on a new layer.
2. To reposition the type along the path, select the Path Selection tool, or the Direct Selection tool. Position your cursor at the beginning of the type. When the cursor changes to the I-beam with arrow, click and drag to move the type along the path.
Wrap Type 1. To wrap type, select a type layer in the Layers palette. Click the Wrap Type button in the Options bar. Choose a wrap preset effect from the Style pop-up menu. Use the Bend, Horizontal and Vertical Distortion slider to control the effect. Wrap type remains editable. Choose â&#x20AC;&#x2014;Noneâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; from the Style pop-up menu to remove warping from a type layer.
27.9 Making Selections You can use the Lasso tool to make freedom selections by clicking and dragging.
The
Lasso
Tools
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1. Select the Lasso tool. Set Feather and Anti-aliased options. Position your cursor on the image. The cursor changes to the Lasso cursor. Click and drag around the part of the image you want to select. Make sure your cursor comes back to the start point. If you release before reaching the start point, Photoshop completes the selection with a straight line. A dotted marquee defines the selection area.
Polygon Lasso tool The Polygon Lasso tool creates a freedom selection with straight line segments. 1. Select the Polygon Lasso tool. Position cursor on the image, then click; move the cursor, then click…and so on, until you have defined the area you want to select. Click back at the start point to complete the selection.
The
Magnetic
Lasso
tool
This tool is most useful when you want to select an object or an area of the image which contrasts strongly with the area surrounding it. 1. Select the Magnetic Lasso tool. Click on the edge of the object you want to select to place the first fastening point. Either move the cursor along the edge of the object, or click and drag the edge to draw a freehand segment. 2. To close the selection border, position cursor on the start point, then click. Alternatively, double-click, or press the Enter/Return key. Photoshop creates a segment from the point you have reached to the start point of the selection border. To close the selection border with a straight line segment, hold down Alt/option and double-click.
Feathering Selections
Feather option is used to control the degree to which the edge of a selection is softened or faded. Feathering a selection creates a transition boundary between the selection and the surrounding pixels, which can cause a loss of detail.
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1. Select one of the Lasso tools. The Options bar updates according to the tool you select. 2. In the Options bar, set a Feather value, e.g. 10. You can set a value from 1 to 250 pixels. Use higher values on high resolution image. 3. Create a selection using either the Marquee or Lasso tool. When you move the selection you will see the feathered edge around the selection.
27.10 Different techniques of colour correction to an image Colour correction involves making changes to the overall brightness and contrast in an image and also balance to compensate for any tonal deficiencies and colour casts in the original image.
Brightness/Contrast and Colour Balance The Brightness/Contrast command provides the least complicated controls for changing overall image. It does not change individual colour channels; it makes the same adjustment to all pixels across the full tonal range of the image.
1. To change brightness and contrast for an entire image, or for a selection, choose Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast. Drag the slider. OK the dialog box. 2. Choose Auto Contrast to automatically adjust the contrast. Auto Contrast does not adjust individual channels in an image. It makes highlights appear lighter and shadows darker by mapping the lightest and darkest pixels in the image to white and black respectively.
Colour Balance works on the principal of complementary colours. If there is too much cyan in an image, you drag the Cyan-Red slider towards red to remove the cyan colour cast; for too much magenta, drag the Magenta-Green slider towards green etc.
1. To adjust the colour Balance of an image, choose Image>Adjust>Colour Balance. Click the shadows, Midtones
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or Highlights radio button to specify the tonal range to which you want to make changes. Drag the amount of a colour in
the
Luminosity
image. to
Select prevent
Preserve brightness
values from changing as you change colour levels. This helps maintain the overall colour balance in the image.
Auto Levels and Auto Colour Auto Levels allows you to adjust brightness and contrast automatically. Auto Levels examines each colour channel independently and changes the darkest pixels to black and the lightest pixels to white, then redistributes the remaining shades of gray between these two points.
Auto Levels works best on images that have a reasonably even distribution of tonal values throughout the image, as it redistributes pixels based on white and black points, with a tendency to increase contrast.
Auto Colour removes unwanted colour casts in an image without adjusting the contrast in an image.
The Levels Dialog Box Use the Levels dialog box to adjust the tonal balance for colour and grayscale images. You can adjust highlight, shadow and midtones ranges for a selection or an entire image, or you can make changes to individual channels only. Input Levels The Input Levels sliders allow you to improve the contrast in a â&#x20AC;&#x2022;flatâ&#x20AC;&#x2013; image. 1. Use the Channel menu to select a channel. If you do not select an individual channel, you can work on the composite image and affect all channels. 2. To darken an image, drag the solid black slider to the right. Alternately, enter an appropriate value in the leftmost Input Levels entry box. This maps pixels to black. The result is a darker image.
3. To lighten an image, drag the hollow, white Input Levels slider to the left. Alternatively, enter an appropriate value in the rightmost Input Levels
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entry box. The result is to map pixels to white. The result is a lighter image.
Gamma The grey triangle and the middle Input Levels entry box control the Gamma value in the image. The Gamma value is the brightness level of mid-grey pixels in the image.
1. To lighten midtones, drag the gray slider to the left, or increase the Gamma value in the Input Levels entry box above the default of 1.00. 2. To darken midtones, drag the gray slider to the right, or decrease the Gamma value in the Input Levels entry box.
Output Levels Use Output Levels slider to decrease the amount of contrast in an image. 1. Drag the output level slider to the right to lighten the image and reduce the contrast.
2. Drag the white Output Levels slider to the left to darken the image and reduce the contrast.
The Curve Dialog Box (Image>Adjustments>Curves) The horizontal axis of the graph represents the original or input values; the vertical axis represents the output or adjusted values. By adjusting the brightness curve, you are remapping the brightness values of pixels in the image.
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1. Click on the curve. (max. 15 points.) Drag the points around to edit the curve. 2. To delete a point, click on a point to select it, and then press the Delete/Backspace key. You can also drag it outside the Brightness graph. 3. To lighten an image, select the Point tool, position your cursor near the midpoint of the graph. Click and drag this point upwards. 4. To darken an image, select the Point tool, position your cursor near the midpoint of the graph, then click to place a point. Drag the point downwards.
5. To increase the contrast in an image, place a point at roughly the Âź tone part of the graph and drag this upwards to lighten the highlights. Next, place a point at graph. Drag this downward to darken the shadow areas. The result is to increase the contrast by lightening the highlights and darkening the shadow, whilst leaving the midtones more or less untouched. 6. Reverse the setting in step 5 to decrease the contrast in an image.
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Chapter 28 Illustrator 28.1 Overview Illustrator is a vector-based imaging program. Unlike PhotoShop, which deals in pixels (raster images), this one deals in lines and algorithms for various shapes. It functions by generating curved paths connected by modifiable anchor points. These anchors, with their handles, are ultimately editable and never "leave" the structure of the file.
What are vector graphics?
Computer graphics fall into two main categories -- vector graphics and bitmap images. Understanding the difference between the two helps you create, edit, and import artwork.
In Illustrator, the type of graphic image can have important effects on your workflow. For example, some file formats only support bitmap images and others only vector graphics. Graphic image types are particularly important when importing or exporting graphic images to and from Illustrator. For example, linked bitmap images cannot be edited in Illustrator. Graphic formats also affect how commands and filters can be applied to images; some filters in Illustrator will only work with bitmap images.
Adobe Illustrator creates vector graphics made of lines and curves defined by mathematical objects called vectors. Vectors describe graphics according to their geometric characteristics. For example, a bicycle tire in a vector graphic is made up of a mathematical definition of a circle drawn with a certain radius, set at a specific location, and filled with a specific color. You can move, resize, or change the color of the tire without losing the quality of the graphic.
A vector graphic is resolution-independent -- that is, it can be scaled to any size and printed on any output device at any resolution without losing its detail or clarity. As a result, vector graphics are the best choice for type (especially small type) and bold graphics that must retain crisp lines when scaled to various sizes -- for example, logos.
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28.2 Interface Overview If you are coming from Photoshop to Illustrator, you‘ll find familiar faces in the Tool bar and floating palettes. Whether you‘re new to the Photoshop/Illustrator interface or just need to acclimate to Illustrator‘s set of features, it‘s worth taking some time to get familiar with the interface.
Palettes: Illustrator features are found both in the ―Window‖ menu or the floating sets of tools called palettes. In many cases, the function that you find on the menu structure can overlap the palettes. You can access a feature by clicking ―Windows‖ from the menu bar. As you select a palette, it appears on the screen.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
By clicking the different tabs on the palettes, you can access the different features of function.
Tool Bar
The illustrator Tool bar includes selection tools, editing tools, drawing and painting tools, viewing tools, etc. We will learn how to use different tools later in this tutorial. ď&#x201A;ˇ
Click the Tool Bar to select a tool.
ď&#x201A;ˇ
By clicking and holding down the mouse button on the toolbox with a triangle at the bottom right corner, you can find the additional hidden tools.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
28.3 Understanding Paths and Anchor Points Each version of Adobe Illustrator has new tools, effects, and techniques for manipulating curves and fills. The tools can be pretty overwhelming for beginners to understand. But one thing we need to keep in mind is that all the tools in Illustrator essentially manipulate paths, anchor points, and fills. Paths are lines, which can be straight or curved. Closed paths are objects such as circles or stars, in which the start and end of the path are the same point. Open path objects do not have the same start and end points. Anchor points are the points that control the direction and curvature of that path as well as the start and end points.
28.4 Creating Curved Paths 1. Before we get started, choose File->New to create a new 800*600 px sized document in Adobe Illustrator, leaving settings at the page defaults. We will use this as scratch paper to practice the curve lines.
2. Using the Control palette, click on the Fill box and choose the None swatch. Then click on the Stroke box and choose the Black swatch. Click on the Stroke Weight dropdown menu in the Control palette and change the stroke
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
weight to 1 pt.
3. Click on the Pen Tool first and then click and release the mouse anywhere on the page to create the initial anchor point. Next click in another location on the page (donâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t release the mouse), and drag, creating a curved path.
4. As you change the angle and length of the direction handles, the shape and size of the curve change at the same time. By clicking Select->Deselect, you can deselect the curves. Choosing the Direct Selection Tool and selecting a segment of the curve displays the direction handles again.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
28.5 Making Text Around the Picture In this section, we will learn how to put text around a picture. You can also make the text around the shapes of any graphics. 1. Open a file from the folder that you want to put the text around. Click on File->Open, then choose the directory and pick the picture.
2. Click on Open and the file will show up in Adobe Illustrator.
3. Click on the Pen Tool on the Tool bar first, and then make sure the selection in Fill and Stroke are both None.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
4. Click on point A, and then click on point B. Make a curve AB.
5. Next, click on point C, and make a curve BC. When you finish the curve, click on point C again.
6. Now, go to the Tool bar and click on the Type Tool and hold until you can select the Path Tool.
7. Click on the blue curve. When the cursor keeps blinking, you are ready to type.
8. Before you type the words, select the font that you like.
9. When you finish typing, click on the Selection Tool and Direct Selection to adjust the words to make sure the words match well with the graphic.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
10. Now, you are done!
11. You can also draw any curves that you like with Adobe Illustrator. Then make the text go along with the curves.
12. The way to save your project is by clicking File->Save.
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13. Saving the file as an â&#x20AC;&#x2022;.aiâ&#x20AC;&#x2013; file means that you can continue making changes on your project in the future.
14. When you are done with your project, click on File->Export.
15. Then name your file and select the format you desire. In our example, save the file as JPEG format.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
16. Then click on ―OK‖. Now go to see what you have made!
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Chapter 29 Changing Colour Mode & Making Colour Correction 29.1 Overview When you talk about Colour Mode, it involves bitmap, grayscale, duotone, indexed colour, RGB, CMYK, and Lab Colour etc. Making Colour correction involves things like Levels, Colour Balance, Brightness and Contrast, Hue/ Saturation, Selective Colour etc.
Colour correction involves making changes to the overall brightness and contrast in an image and also the colour balance to compensate for any tonal deficiencies and colour casts in the original image. Bear in mind that although colour corrections can improve the overall appearance of an image, some colour values may be lost- certain pixels in the original scan that were different colours can end up remapped to the same colour.
29.2 Limitations during the process of changing the colour mode of a 8 bits/ channel and a 16 bits/ channel image. Bit depth has an important relationship to the quality of an image. Changing to a different colour mode throws away information faster than almost anything else. With 16-bit-perchannel files, you have so much data that the losses are entirely affordable, but with 8-bit-perchannel files, every bit counts.
Mode changes lose considerable amounts of information, no matter which colour space youâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;re going to or from. Mode changes between RGB and Lab, Lab and CMYK, and RGB and CMYK all discard image information to a great extent than most people realize. Conversions between different colour spaces in the same mode- RGB-to-RGB or CMYK-to-CMYK- also throw away information, particularly when they have different gammas or dot gains.
In fact, when we consider that, though we can display a maximum of 16.7 million possible colours on our monitors, we can see perhaps seven or eight million discrete colours at best, and we can print at most a few tens of thousands of colours on the best printing processes available, the question becomes, what do 16-bit channels offers except massive overkill?
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Why captured many more colours than we print or even see? The simple answer is that the larger number of bits gives us much more editing flexibility. When you start out with only 256 shades per channel, each edit you make has the inevitable result of reducing that number. If you start out with 16-bit-per-channel image, you‘ll be able to edit your image with much less risk of losing detail or introducing posterization than you would with an 8-bit-per-channel image.
Dithering and Data Loss Dithering will help you avoid posterization, but it‘s important to realize that it doesn‘t eliminate data loss; it only masks it by adding back some noise after the data has already gone into the bit bucket. Dithering may help you avoid obvious posterization, but it doesn‘t preserve detailremember, difference is detail- because the noise is random.
Colour Channels When an image is scanned, the colour information the scanner ―sees‖ is separated into red, green, and blue components. Photoshop configures this information into three colour channels plus a composite RGB channel, which display the entire image in full colour. Think of each colour channel as a separate, transparent colour overlay consisting of red, green, or blue pixels. The combination of the three colour values, when superimposed over each other, produces full colour. When an image is scanned, each channel can potentially contain a total of 256 possible shades each of red, green, or blue, because each pixel on the channel contains eight bits of tonal information. The computer processes the information in each channel as an independent grayscale image. Each pixel is assigned a specific numerical gray value, where black equal 0 and white equals 255. By default, individual colour channels are displayed in grayscale, because it is easier to see the subtle variations in contrast when looking at the channel in black and white. You can, however, see the independent components of an RGB image in colour. Follow the steps:
Choose Window > Show Channels. 29.3 Colour modes for Publishing Colour models describe colours numerically. There are different methods of describing colours numerically, and a colour mode determines which method or set of numbers to use to display and print an image. Photoshop bases its colour modes on the colour models that are useful for images used in publishing. You can choose from RGB (red, green, blue); CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black); Lab Colour (based on CIE L*a*b*), and Grayscale. Photoshop also includes modes for specialized colour output such as Indexed Colour and Duotone.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
In Photoshop's CMYK mode, each pixel is assigned a percentage value for each of the process inks. The lightest (highlight) colours are assigned small percentages of process ink colours, the darker (shadow) colours higher percentages. Use the CMYK mode when preparing an image to be printed using process colours. Converting an RGB image into CMYK creates a colour separation. If you start with an RGB image, it's best to edit first in RGB and then convert to CMYK at the end of your process. In RGB mode, you can use the Proof Setup commands to simulate the effects of a CMYK conversion without changing the actual image data. Although CMYK is a standard colour model, the exact range of colours represented can vary, depending on the press and printing conditions. Photoshop's CMYK Colour mode varies according to the working space setting that you have specified in the Colour Settings dialog box.
29.4 Colour modes for Web Balancing file format and image quality is a primary concern when creating images for Web and multimedia use. Generally, the smaller the file size, the quicker the image will load and display on screen. An image resolution of 72 ppi is usually satisfactory for images intended for screen-based presentation. GIF images and many other graphics designed for games and multimedia are stored in Indexed Colour mode.
Indexed Colour Mode is an important factor in the preparation of images use on the World Wide Web and in multimedia applications. It provides an efficient method for reducing the size of a colour image. When you work on RGB colour images in Photoshop, these are typically 24-bit images, capable of displaying over 16 million colours. Indexed Colour Mode converts images to single channel, 8-bit images, capable of displaying a maximum of 256 colours.
Use the Palette pop-up to specify a colour palette which controls and limits the colours that will be used in the image. Choose an option from the Forced pop-up to force the inclusion of certain colours in the colour table. Select Transparency to preserve any transparent areas in the image.
Deselect
Transparency
to
fill
transparent areas with the Matte colour. Set dithering options.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
29.5 Colour Correction Techniques
Colour Balance To adjust the Colour Balance of an image, choose Image > Adjust > Colour Balance. Click Shadow, Midtones or Highlights radio button to specify the tonal range to which you want to make changes. Drag the colour slider to reduce/increase the amount of a colour in the image. Select Preserve Luminosity to prevent brightness value from changing as you change colour levels. This helps maintain the overall balance in the image.
Hue/ Saturation This command lets you adjust the hue, saturation, and brightness of a specific colour component in an image or simultaneously adjust all the colours in an image. In Photoshop, this command is especially good for tweaking specific colours in a CMYK image so they are within the gamut of an output device.
Hue is the colour reflected from or transmitted through an object. It is measured as a location on the standard colour wheel, expressed as a degree between 0° and 360°. In common use, hue is identified by the name of the colour such as red, orange, or green.
Saturation, sometimes called chroma, is the strength or purity of the colour. Saturation represents the amount of gray in proportion to the hue, measured as a
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
percentage from 0% (gray) to 100% (fully saturated). On the standard colour wheel, saturation increases from the centre to the edge.
Desaturate command The Desaturate command converts a colour image to a grayscale image in the same colour mode. For example, it assigns equal red, green, and blue values to each pixel in an RGB image to make it appear grayscale. The lightness value of each pixel does not change. Choose Image > Adjustments > Desaturate Replace Colour command The Replace Colour command lets you create a mask to select specific colours in an image and then replace those colours. You can set the hue, saturation, and lightness of the selected areas. Or, you can use the Colour Picker to select the replacement colour. The mask created by the Replace Colour command is temporary. 1. Choose
Image
>
Adjustments
>
Replace Colour. 2. Select a display option: -Selection to display the mask in the preview box. Masked areas are black, and
unmasked
areas
are
white.
Partially masked areas appear as varying levels of gray according to their opacity. -Image to display the image in the preview box. This option is useful when you are working with a magnified image or have limited screen space.
3. To select the areas exposed by the mask, do one of the following: -Use the Eyedropper tool
to click in the image or in the preview box to select the
areas exposed by the mask. -Shift-click or use the Add to Sample Eyedropper tool
to add areas; Alt-click
(Windows), Option-click (Mac OS), or use the Subtract from Sample Eyedropper tool
to remove areas.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
-Double-click the Selection swatch. Use the Colour Picker to target a colour to be replaced.
As you select a colour in the Colour Picker, the mask in the preview box
gets updated. 4. Adjust the tolerance of the mask by dragging the Fuzziness slider or entering a value. This controls the degree to which related colours are included in the selection. 5. To change the colour of the selected areas, do one of the following: -Drag the Hue, Saturation, and Lightness sliders (or enter values in the text boxes). -Double-click the Result swatch and use the Colour Picker to select the replacement colour.
Selective Colour command Selective colour correction is a technique used by high-end scanners and separation programs to increase and decrease the amount of process colours in each of the additive and subtractive primary colour components in an image. Even though Selective Colour uses CMYK colours to correct an image, you can use it on RGB images as well as on images that will be printed.
Selective colour correction is based on a table that shows the amount of each process ink used to create each primary colour. By increasing and decreasing the amount of a process ink in relation to the other process inks, you can modify the amount of a process colour in any primary colour selectively--without affecting the other primary colours. For example, you can use selective colour correction to dramatically decrease the cyan in the green component of an image while leaving the cyan in the blue component unaltered.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
Chapter 30 Digital Text 30.1 Digital Text Formats The majority of digital information is stored textually, so naturally, there are many different text formats.
The ASCII Character Set (.txt) The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is the 7-bit character coding system most commonly used by computer systems in the United States and abroad. ASCII assigns a number or value to 128 characters, including both lower and uppercase letters, punctuation marks, Arabic numbers and math symbols. Also included are 32 control characters used for devise control messages, such as carriage return and tab. ASCII code numbers always represent a letter or symbol of the English alphabet, so that a computer or printer can work with the number that represents the letter. To a computer working with the ASCII character set, the number 65, for example, always represents an uppercase letter A. Later, when displayed on a monitor or printed, the number is turned into the letter.
Rich Text Format (.rtf) Rich Text Format (RTF) is a file format that lets you exchange text files between different word processors in different operating systems. For example, you can create a file using Microsoft Word in Windows 98, save it as an RTF file (it will have a ".rtf" file name suffix), and send it to someone who uses WordPerfect 6.0 on Windows 3.1 and they will be able to open the file and read it. 窶標hen saving a file in the Rich Text Format, the file is processed by an RTF writer that converts the word processor's markup to the RTF language. Rich Text Format is a standard formalized by Microsoft Corporation for specifying formatting of documents. RTF files are actually ASCII files with special commands to indicate formatting information, such as fonts and margins. Rtf documents can be viewed in a number of programs including Microsoft Word and Notepad and can be interpreted across platforms.
Microsoft Word Document (.doc) Microsoftﾂｮ Word document files can be used for downloading information from the Internet. They can be opened by saving the file locally on the computer and opening it using Microsoftﾂｮ Word. Microsoftﾂｮ Word documents may contain a combination of text, formatting and graphics.
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Design Principles (VSC & IMD)
It also has great flexibility in designing the look of a document from varying margins and indentations to tables and bullets. Word also allows you to import and save to a number of other different text formats including HTML, RTF, and TXT.
Portable Document Format (.pdf) PDF (Portable Document Format) is a system invented by the Adobe ® Corporation. Unlike HTML files, which are partially formatted according to the particularities of the user's computer or terminal, a PDF document should show up on all computers in exactly the same way as was originally intended. Many files on this site which contain music notation or images, or which include unusual fonts, have been converted to PDF so that: [i] page numbering and page layout will be the same on every user's equipment; [ii] music examples, diagrams, graphics etc. can be created and read with ease; [iii] documents requiring decent layout, music examples, diagrams, graphics, etc. will occupy less space and load more quickly. To read and print PDF files you need to have installed Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 3.01 or higher) on your computer.
Hypertext Markup Language (.html) The World Wide Web started in 1989. It was designed to link documents located on computer anywhere within the Internet. The standard document format used for pages on the Web is called Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). In a HTML document you can specify typefaces, sizes, colours, and other properties. The ―Markup Language‖ part of the name means that tags are used to do such things as format text and embed media. The tags are enclosed by angled brackets: <>. This is an example for bolded text: <strong>This text is bolded</strong>
HTML allows a great deal of control over the look and layout of a document, including animations (dynamic HTML) and interactivity. All browsers support HTML, though the advanced features are implemented differently in each. A HTML document could contain hyperlinks that brought the user from one document to another. Users can surf from document to document across the Web with HTML as the underlying framework.
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30.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of text file formats Format ASCII
Support
Uses
Advantages
Disadvantages
Any text editor or
Common format
Extremely small file
Limited
word
for text files in
sizes.
formatting
processor
will open it, even
computers
and
capabilities
the most simple,
on
the
net.
(basically
Notepad.
Document
can
spaces,
be
written
in
tabs
and returns)
ASCII but saved as
another
format. DOC
Microsoft but
Word,
can
opened
Word Processing
Great
flexibility
in
be
designing the look of
included,
by
a
are embedded
document
from
WordPerfect and
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189
the
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30.3 Digital Fonts PostScript Fonts PostScript is a Page Description Language (PDL) that was developed by Adobe. PostScript differs from other PDLs because it treats items on a page as geometric objects. When you print to a PostScript printer, PostScript commands are sent from your system in the form of text commands. This text contains exacting information about what is on the page. The text is received, understood and translated by a PostScript interpreter in your printer. PostScript fonts require two computer files to work properly. The outline file and the screen file. The screen file gives a computer system the information to properly display the font onscreen. The outline file supplies the information that a printer (laser, inkjet, or a professional printer's image setter) needs. Adobe, now known for their graphics software like Photoshop and Illustrator, fixed this problem with the creation of something called PostScript. When one wants to print a document, PostScript technology takes the information and sends it to a printer in the form of simple text commands. A printer with a PostScript interpreter can then translate the text information into images and text. The output is consistent with what is seen on-screen and with any number of other printers. A designer could be sure that the output from their personal printer would be consistent with the output from a professional printer's image setter. It was also this technology that allowed fonts to be output at a great variety of sizes without any decrease in quality. This is because a font's outline file contains vector outlines of the font characters which, like any vector art, can be sized from the size of a postage stamp to the size of a house without any loss in quality.
True Type Fonts TrueType fonts are the most common font format available today. Several years ago, as the computer design revolution was catching on, Adobe created something called PostScript that revolutionized the electronic design industry. PostScript technology allowed fonts and images to be printed consistently on a wide range of printers that used PostScript. What you see is what you print â&#x20AC;&#x201D; every time. A pretty simple concept today but, back then, it was a Godsend that revolutionized the industry. This Godsend came from the folks at Adobe. Adobe, however, was not too quick to share this technology. The folks at Apple & Microsoft (joint effort) wanted to get in on the font industry so, they developed their own font format called TrueType fonts. Today, True Type fonts ship with the Windows and Macintosh computers.
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Many people like TrueType fonts because there is only one file per font whereas PostScript fonts require both screen and a printer font files to work correctly. TrueType fonts work just fine for word-processing that will only be printed on personal printers. The format, however, does not provide consistent output on different printers and systems and will often clog up an image setter.
True Type Fonts vs. PostScript Fonts TrueType fonts have proven to print inconsistently on different systems. The spacing can be inconsistent between letters, words and paragraphs and, as a result, columns of text can reflow in page-layout program documents. When columns of text reflow, it can push some text into a border or off a page entirely and mess up carefully prepared type alignment. PostScript fonts, conversely, give a designer consistent control over their text and layouts every time. What one sees on-screen is what will appear on the page. What prints on my PostScript-enabled laser printer will print on yours every time. That's the wonderful thing about PostScript that TrueType can't offer. Still, TrueType fonts are popular. Part of the reason is that they're cheap and are often given away. The other reason is that they're easier to manage. A TrueType font comes with one file while a PostScript font comes with at least two. TrueType fonts also work well with inexpensive inkjet printers and in word-processing documents where precision letterspacing is not an option. As far as professional design is concerned, however, PostScript fonts are the only way to go.
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30.4 Mapping text across platforms If you build your multimedia project on a Windows platform and play it back on a Macintosh platform (or vice versa), there will be subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences. Fonts must be mapped to the other machine. If a specific font doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t exist on the target machine, a substitute must be provided that does exist on the target. This is font substitution. Windows and Macintosh provide default fonts for this substitution. In many cross platform savvy applications, you can specifically define the mapping of your fonts. To solve font and character uncertainties when working across platforms, many multimedia developers convert the text of their projects into bitmaps. These bitmaps may also be converted to 1-bit images that do not require great memory for storage in a project. Once converted to a bitmap, text cannot be edited or reworked without editing the bitmap in an image-editing program or creating a new bitmap.
Lossy and Lossless Compression Lossless and lossy compression are terms that describe whether or not, in the compression of a file, all original data can be recovered when the file is uncompressed. With lossless compression, every single bit of data that was originally in the file remains after the file is uncompressed. All of the information is completely restored. This is generally the technique of choice for text or spreadsheet files, where losing words or financial data could pose a problem. On the other hand, lossy compression reduces a file by permanently eliminating certain information, especially redundant information. When the file is uncompressed, only a part of the original information is still there (although the user may not notice it). Lossy compression is generally used for video and sound, where most users will not detect a certain amount of information loss.
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The Jaggies True Type and PostScript outline fonts allow text to be drawn at any size on your computer screen without jaggies:
The jaggies are avoided by anti-aliasing the edges of the text characters, making them seem smoother to the eye. Note the improved look of the anti-aliased letters in the bottom row of letters in Figure 1. Pasting an image that was anti-aliased against a dark background may be problematic: the blending of pixels along the edges will show as a halo and may have to be edited one by one.
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Chapter 31 Digital Graphics 31.1 Digital images Still images are generated by the computer in two ways: as bitmaps (or paint graphics) and as vector-drawn (or just plan ―drawn‖) graphics. The kind you use determines the tools you choose. Bitmaps are used for photo-realistic images and complex drawings requiring fine detail. Vector-drawn objects are used for lines, boxes, circles, polygons, and other graphic shapes that can be mathematically expressed in angles, coordinates, and distances. A drawn object can be filled with colour and patterns. The appearance of both types of images depends on the display resolution and capabilities of your computer‘s graphic hardware and monitor. Both types of images are stored in various file formats and can be translated from one application to another or from one computer platform to another. Typically, image files are compressed to save memory and disk space; many bitmap image file formats already use compression within the file itself – for example, GIF, JPEG, PNG.
Bitmaps A bit is the simplest element in the digital world, an electronic thing that is either one or off, black or white, or true (1) or false (0). This is referred to as binary, since only two digits are used. A map is a two-dimensional matrix of these bits. A bitmap is then a simple matrix of the tiny dots that form an image and are displayed on a computer screen or printed. A one-dimensional matrix (1 bit-depth) is used to display monochrome images – a bitmap where each bit is most commonly set to black or white. Depending upon your software, any two colours that represent the on and off (1 or 0) states may be used. More information is required to describe shades of gray or the more than 16 million colours that each picture element can have in a colour image. These picture elements (known as pixels), can either be on or off, as in the 1-bit bitmap, or they can represent varying shades of colour (4-bit, 16 colours; 8-bit, 256 colours; 15-bit, 32,768 colours; 16-bit, 65,536 colours; 24-bit, 16,772,216 colours). Thus, with 2-bits for example, the available zeros and ones can be combined in only four possible ways and can therefore only describe four possible colours.
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A bitmap is a data matrix that describes the characteristics of all the pixels making up an image. Here each cube represents the data required to display a 4x4-pixel image (the face of the cube) at various colour depths (with each cube extending behind the face indicating the number of bits- 0‘s or 1‘s- used to represent the colour for that pixel)
Together, the state of all pixels on a computer screen make up the image seen by the viewer, whether in combinations of black and white or coloured pixels in a photograph. Digital photographs are stored as bitmaps—a series of individually addressable pixels. Over the years, a number of different bitmap image formats have been developed. Each has its own unique characteristics, which determine when and where you might choose it over the others. However, whatever format you choose, there are programs that will convert it to any of the other formats. Various Colour Depths and Compressions Image 1 is dithered to 4 bits (any 16 colours); Image 2 is dithered to 4-bit gray scale (16 shades of gray); and Image 3 is dithered to 1 bit (two colours- in this case, black and white)
Note that images 1 and 2 require the same memory (same file size), but the gray-scale image is superior. Because file size (download time) is important for images that are displayed on the Web, designers often dither GIF bitmap files to the lowest colour depth that will still provide an acceptable image.
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Vector Graphics Vector drawn objects are described and drawn to the computer screen using a fraction of the memory space required to describe and store the same object in bitmap form. Because of this file size advantage, web pages that use vector graphics download faster than pages displaying a bitmap of that same image. It is only when you draw many hundreds of objects on your screen that you may experience a slowdown while you wait for the screen to be refreshed-the size, location and other properties for each object must be computed. Thus, a single vector image made up of 500 individual line and rectangle objects. For example may take longer for the computer to process and place on the screen than an image consisting of just a few drawn circle objects. A vector drawn object is created â&#x20AC;&#x2022;on the flyâ&#x20AC;&#x2013;, that is, the computer draws the image from the instructions it has been given, rather than displaying a pre-created image. This means that vector objects are easily scaleable without loss of resolution or image quality. A large drawn image can be shrunk to the size of a postage stamp, and while it may not look good on the computer monitor at 72dpi, it may look great when printed out at 300dpi. Resizing a bitmapped image requires either duplicating pixels (creating a blocky, jagged look) or throwing pixels away (eliminating details). Because vector images are drawn from instructions on the fly, a rescaled image retains the quality of the original.
31.2 Colour Models RGB RGB stands for the colours Red, Green and Blue. While CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) are the colours used for full-colour printing, RGB are the colours that monitors and televisions use to show colours. The mechanisms in monitors and televisions project beams of light to fill every pixel on your screen. RGB is an additive system, which means that when you add the three colours together, you get white. When none of the colours are present, you get black (or the absence of light). Images that you find on the Internet are in RGB mode or a variation of it called indexed colour. Frequently you'll find that scans are created in RGB mode and that photos are transported in this mode as well. The reason for this is that RGB photo files divide the data between three "channels" (one for each colour) while CMYK photo files divide the colour between four "channels." Therefore, CMYK images are bigger files and take up more space on transport media or a hard drive. For best colour accuracy though, images should be scanned in the colour mode of its final use (CMYK for colour printing and RGB for on-screen viewing).
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CMYK CMYK refers to the printing inks used in four-colour process printing. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black are the colours used to produce full-colour photographs and designs. These colours can be combined and printed to emulate a wide number of other colours. If you look carefully at a printed colour photograph in any magazine or book, you'll see that it's made up of rows of tiny dots called a halftone screen. The dots work together, at different angles, to fool your eye into seeing a full spectrum of colours. For a graphics file to be printed in CMYK, it must be converted or created in that colour mode.
Index Colour Mode Index colour is a product of the Internet revolution and is kind of a strange animal. If a graphic image has been saved in this colour mode then it can contain up to 256 colours and has 8-bit depth. That may sound like a lot but, when you consider that an RGB image has 16 million colours, 256 doesn't sound like much.
The objective in web graphics is to reduce file size as much as possible while not abandoning image quality. One wants smaller images so they will download to a browser quickly. Index colour images are created from RGB images. RGB images can contain up to 16-million colours. When an image is converted to index colour, the 16-million colours are converted to 256. This colour reduction can create some image distortions as well as some banding (lessthan-smooth gradations). Index colour makes use of something called dithering. Dithering is the process of using a few colours to create the illusion of more colours (not unlike the dot patterns used in CMYK printing).
The attractive thing about index colour mode is that 256 colours is the maximum the colour mode can contain. It can contain less (between two and 256). With care, a designer can subtract colours from a graphic file so that it looks like a full-colour image while containing far fewer colours with little quality loss.
When dealing with index colour, it's important for a designer to keep in mind that, once an image's colours are reduced, those colours are gone for good. If a 16-colour, index colour image is converted back to full-colour, RGB mode, the image file size will increase but the quality won't improve.
Grayscale Grayscale is a colour mode made up of 256 shades of gray. These 256 colours include absolute black, absolute white and 254 shades of gray in-between. Images in grayscale mode have 8-bits of information in them.
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Black and white photographic images are the most common examples of the grayscale colour mode. We call them black and white photographs but the photo is actually made up of lots of different shades of gray. (It probably doesn't help that when a photo is printed from a computer, it is converted to a halftone image, which is made up of purely black or white dots.) Sometimes people refer to black and white line drawings and logos as grayscale images. For the most part, this is inaccurate. Don't be fooled. There is a difference. If a logo or drawing is made up of shades of gray, like a charcoal or pencil drawing, then it is a grayscale (8-bit) image. If a logo or drawing is made up of either black or white lines, then it is a bitmap (1-bit) image. Why is this important? Well, if a designer were to scan a grayscale image as a bitmap, he/she would note that they had lost all detail, which was not either black or white. Conversely, if they were to scan a bitmap image as grayscale, they would notice that the black and white edges are not sharp and would have soft bits of gray around them. This might look better on-screen but, once printed, they'd see that the image was blurry and made up of dots.
31.3 Digital Graphic Editing
Pixels Pixel, named after a pix (like "pic" from picture) element, is the smallest unit on a display screen or monitor. Pictures are displayed on monitors by dividing the monitor up into rows and columns of pixels. The more pixels that are squeezed into a monitor's surface, the smoother an image will appear on screen. Pixels are so close together that it appears that they are connected to your eye. A monitor with more pixels per inch (PPI) will be more expensive than a cheaper monitor.
Resolution Resolution is one of the most important things to know about electronic graphic design. This one subject can mean the difference between an image printing correctly and printing as a blurry mess. Resolution refers to how an image is "resolved." The smoother or more clear that an image appears; the more resolved it is to our eyes. The higher an image's resolution, the better it will appear.
Screen image resolution is measured by something called PPI (pixels per inch). Printed image resolution is measured by something called DPI (dots per inch). DPI is the more common term and is often used interchangeably with PPI when referring to on-screen images. As with halftone screens, the more information that's packed into an image, the smoother its appearance. An image that has 72dpi contains less information than one that is 300dpi. There are two different levels of resolution that a designer might use; screen resolution and printing resolution.
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Screen resolution How an image appears on-screen is actually dependent on a couple of factors. The quality of the monitor being used plays an important role as does the actual image's quality. If an image is a 24-bit, RGB image with 16+ million colours, but a monitor is only able to display 16 colours, the image won't look too good no matter what. The common resolution for on-screen images (for electronic presentations and Web pages) is 72dpi. This is because 72dpi is what monitors can display. A higher-resolution image won't look any better on-screen but, you can be sure, the file size will be larger.
Printing resolution This refers to how clearly an image will print on a printer or in professional printing uses. Laser printers, inkjet printers and image setters used to output film for professional printing require more information than is available in a 72dpi file to produce a smooth and clear image. Generally for professional printing, the designer would need to ensure at least 300dpi resolution. Vector images, because they are created using PostScript principles, are resolution independent. Like PostScript fonts, their files are mathematical in nature and are treated as objects. A big plus for vector images
31.4 Digital Image Formats Windows Bitmap Format (BMP) BMP is the native bitmap file format of the Microsoft Windows environment. It efficiently stores RGB graphics data with pixels 1-, 4-, 8-, or 24-bits in size. BMP is an ideal choice for a simple bitmap format which supports a wide range of RGB image data. Windows Bitmap Files (BMP) convert well to other formats and is cross-platform compatible. The only downside to a BMP file is that very little is compressed leaving very large file sizes. (I.e. BMP is a lossless graphic format)
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) images, like GIFs, are graphic image files that Web browsers like Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer can read and display. But, while GIFs are limited to use on-screen because of their 8-bit, 256-colour maximum, index colour mode, JPEGs can be used for a whole lot more.
JPEGs are bitmap images and can be edited/created by image-editing software. They're used primarily for photographic images because of their 24-bit colour range. You can save a JPEG in either RGB or CMYK colour mode at whatever resolution is needed. JPEGs have an image compression option, which can prove helpful for transporting them over a network or via transport media like CD-ROMs and Zip disks.
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Image compression, unlike file compression however, doesn't come without its sacrifices. JPEG compression is a "lossy" form of compression, which means that, when it is used, a certain amount of data contained in the image file is discarded. Once it's gone you can't get it back; it's gone for good. The upside to the compression is that a designer can decide, when saving the image, how much compression one would like to use. With a great amount of compression, one gets smaller file size but will lose quite a bit of data from the image. With small amounts of compression, one will have a larger sized file but very little data will be lost from the image. The key, when working with JPEG image compression, is to find the acceptable balance for a particular image and its intended uses.
Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) TIFF was designed to be a universal bitmapped image format (which means that they are made up of tiny pixels) and is also used extensively in desktop publishing packages. It is supported by many applications but cannot be embedded into a webpage. It is also one of the most acceptable formats for professional graphic printing because it has lossless compression. Unlike other formats, a designer isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t limited to one colour mode and can save a TIFF in bitmap, index colour, grayscale, RGB or CMYK colour mode.
The TIFF format was actually created for the purpose of scanning which explains why the format is so versatile. TIFFâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s makes an ideal format to choose for that purpose. One can save TIFF files for both Macintosh and Windows systems, though a "byte order" (which is platformspecific) needs to be chosen when the image file is saved.
Graphic Interchange File (GIF) GIF images are bitmapped graphic files. GIF compresses drawings and cartoons that have only a few colours in them .It includes data compression, supports transparency and allows for animation (Animated GIF). Because GIF files are small and can be easily displayed on different computer platforms, the use of GIFs has become very popular on the Web. GIFs can display between two and 256 (8-bit, index colour) colours and a designer can rework a GIF's colour palette to use as few as possible, thus reducing the image's file size. Browsers like Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer can display two graphic image formatted images. GIF is one of them and JPEG is the other. GIFs, however, are of little use in the world of professional printing. A GIF can be downloaded from a web page and can be printed on a laser or inkjet printer. The image's print will be blurry and full of dithered pixels. The image will look even worse in a professionally printed document. The file will probably be in 72dpi resolution which is sufficient for on-screen viewing but not for printing. If the GIF file were in higher resolution, a designer still wouldn't want to use it because GIFs, by definition, are in index colour mode.
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The bottom line is that if a designer needs to use an image for professional printing and for the Web, then have it scanned as a high resolution image (a 300dpi, TIFF CMYK file, for example) and then make a copy of the file to reformat to a low resolution (72dpi, GIF index colour or JPEG RGB file) for the Web. Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) An EPS file can contain any combination of text, graphics and images (both bitmaps and vector-drawn objects). Since it is actually a PostScript file, it is the most versatile file format that is available. EPS files can be generated by all drawing applications as well as most layout applications. It is widely compatible with a variety of desktop publishing applications. Image manipulation programs like Adobe PhotoShop can also save bitmap images as EPSfiles. EPS vector artwork provides high quality output on PostScript printers. EPS images will work on both Macintosh and Windows platforms.
Macintosh PICT PICT is an abbreviation for Picture. PICT files are the Macintosh native picture format. In a PICT file, both bitmaps and vector-drawn objects can live side by side. PICT file can contain Black & White, 4bit, 8bit, 16bit and 24bit colour bitmap objects. Unfortunately, this format is not engineered nearly as well as the PostScript-based EPS file format.
But because EPS
files won't output well on inkjet printers that aren't PostScript enabled, one can use a vectordrawing program, like Freehand, to translate an EPS vector file to a PICT one which will print much more clearly.
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