September/October Holidays 2006 Art Gallery

I thought I should probably start doing rather than talking! So here are some pieces done over my TAFE holidays. I haven't really used Adobe Photoshop before but now a whole new world has opened upto me and things I have only seen in dreams now sit upon a page!




Devils' Nightmare

The Dark Angel Sleeps
and dreams of Ganesh
while the Buddha spies on Yin and Yang.

Awaken beautiful children
For when you Sleep
The Dark Angel will rise again.

DSPR12B - PRINT FUNDAMENTALS - TASK - B4

Task B4 required using text to bite away section of the type using the Pathfinder palette.

DSPR13B - PRINT FUNDAMENTALS - CUVDSP01A

This tasks requires using the web to research advances in technology and their effects on current work practices in the Graphic Design Industry.

New and dynamic advancements in the field of Graphic Design, photographic imaging, and computer applications have led to the creation of exciting career opportunities in the wide field of visual communications. The advancements in computer hardware and software technologies help gain new insights theoretically and practically into developing superior portfolios and to produce professional products in such areas as advertising, editorial, and corporate design, information design, multimedia design, creative typography, magazine and book illustration, corporate marketing materials, and web design.

DSPR12B - PRINT FUNDAMENTALS - TASK 5: CUVCRS05A

For Task five I will discuss, in relation to Adobe Illustrator CS the following:

• Adobe Type Engine
• Legacy Type
• Open Type
• Post Script Type 1
• True Type Fonts

The Adobe Type engine is new to CS and can easily move files between MACs and PCs without character encoding errors. It's the exact same text engine that appears in Photoshop CS and in After Effects 6.0. The text engine brings full OpenType support to Illustrator CS. Other features are made possible with the new Adobe Text Engine including Kerning, Margin Alignment, Roman Hanging Punctuation, Tab Leaders, real Rows and Columns the Adobe Everyline Composer, better hyphenation, spell check, new Type on Path functionality, the ability to rotate text characters individually new text threading options similar to InDesign AND even the ability to thread text across multiple type on path objects. The new text in Illustrator CS isn't just an enhancement it's a brand new feature. The advancement in technology of the new text engine in Illustrator CS, text isn't compatible with previous versions of Illustrator.

Legacy Type

This is a new type engine in Adobe Illustrator CS. It gives the designer the ability to export type into other older versions of Illustrator and keep the integrity of the original document as it treats the document object as a graphic. However for the new file to behave the designer must update the type for editing purposes.

OpenType is a new cross-platform font file format developed jointly by Adobe and Microsoft. Adobe now offers hundreds of fonts in the OpenType format. The two main benefits of the OpenType format are its cross-platform compatibility the same font file works on Macintosh and Windows computers and its ability to support widely expanded character sets and layout features, with advanced typographic control.

Adobe Post Script Type 1

Before Adobe Post Script 1 font can be used, it must be rendered into dots in a bitmap, either by the PostScript interpreter, or by a specialized rendering engine, such as Adobe Type Manager.
The Type 1 outline files do not contain sufficient information for typesetting with the font, because they have only limited metric data, and no readable information about position adjustments of particular adjacent characters. This missing information is supplied in additional files, called .afm (Adobe Font Metric) files. These are ASCII files with a well-defined easy-to-parse structure. Some font vendors, such as Adobe, allow them to be freely distributed; others, such as Bitstream, consider them to be restricted by a font license which must be purchased.

TrueType is an outline font standard originally developed by Apple to compete with Adobe Type 1 and used also in PostScript. The primary strength of TrueType was originally that it offered font developers a high degree of control over precisely how the font character is viewed.

DSPR12B - PRINT FUNDAMENTALS - TASK 4: CUVDES01A

Task 4 requires a Description of the following File Formats:

• AI
• PDF
• EPS
• SVG
• PSD
• TIFF
• JPEG
• GIF
• PNG

An AI File Format is an Adobe Illustrator File Format and is a Vector object format.

A PDF File Format is a page description language (loosely based on Postscript, but not a programming language), which allows for files containing multiple pages and links. Works with
Adobe Reader or Adobe eBook Reader, or third-party compatible software.

An EPS File Format is a PostScript file that describes a small vector graphic, as opposed to a whole page or set of pages.

An SVG File Format is an XML based vector graphics format, as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium for use in web browsers.

A PSD File Format is a Default format for Adobe Photoshop and has many extra features such as image layering. Also supported by some other image editing programs than Adobe Photoshop.

A Tiff File Format is used extensively for traditional print graphics. Lossy and lossless compression available, but many programs only support a subset of available options.

Web pages require JPG or GIF or PNG image types, because that is all that browsers can show. On the web, JPG is the best choice smallest file for photo images, and GIF is most common for graphic images. The PNG was designed to replace the GIF format and the TIFF format being non patented and slightly better compression than GIF.

A PNG File Format is a Portable Network Graphic that was developed to rival the GIF format as a patent-free, bitmap imaging file employing lossless data compression for the storage of raster images. Although the PNG format is not supported by all Browsers it is however supported by and used quite extensively by the World Wide Web. PNG's two-dimensional interlacing system is more complex to implement than GIF's line-wise interlacing and also costs a little more in file size but yields an initial image eight times faster than GIF.

PNG'S capabilities are as follows:

· palette-based support (1, 2, 4, 8-bit), like GIF
· grayscale support (1, 2, 4, 8, 16-bit)
· truecolor support (24, 48-bit), like TIFF or (sort of) JPEG
· binary transparency, like GIF (except including grayscale and RGB modes, not just
palette-based)
· alpha transparency (256 or 65536 levels of partial transparency), like TIFF
· alpha-palette transparency (that is, palette has RGBA entries, not just RGB), unlike
almost anything else on the planet except Targa/TGA
· direct support for gamma correction and color correction
· lossless, unpatented compression
· 2D interlacing, somewhat like progressive JPEG
· no animation (but a closely related format called MNG)
http://www.libpng.org/pub/mng/
http://www.wikipedia.com


GIF: A GIF is a Graphics interchange Format that employs the lossless data compression technique and transparency just like the PNG, but it only supports 256 colours which can make the images coarse and grain-like. GIF'S are raster graphic format developed to exchange image files across multiple platforms. They are preferred file format for web graphics because they have small file sizes. Another trick that is used to limit the file size is dithering. This technique is used to create the illusion of greater colour depth by blending a smaller number of coloured "dots" together. When fewer colours are able to be displayed than are present in the original image, then patterns of adjacent pixels are used to simulate the appearance of the underrepresented colours. Dithering is not really a feature of GIF, it is simply a technique that is often used within GIF images. Dithering adds noise to the image and it reduces sharpness. So they more effectively used for scanned images such as illustrations rather than color photos. GIF is a file format that is not really suitable for prepress, and it s main application is for web design or to exchange images via e-mail or by newsgroups.

Application:

· Drawings (technical or line-drawings)
· Diagrams
· Sketches
· Logos
· Icons
· Thumbnails
Restricted application:
· Photos, photo-realistic graphics
· Files, which require a strong compression and/or reduction of the data volume
· Generally data with a large number of colours
· Pictures with homogeneous colour changes
· Open source or freeware projects (licenses are required; it is not well-known, when patents expire in ALL countries)
http://www.libpng.org/pub/mng/
http://www.wikipedia.com


JPEG: Pronounced jay-peg and is short for Joint Photographic Experts Group. JPEG is a lossy compression technique designed to compress color and gray scale continuous-tone images. Although it can reduce files sizes to about 5% of their normal size, some detail is lost in the compression. The information that is discarded in the compression is information that the human eye cannot detect. JPEG images support 16 million colors and are best suited for photographs and complex graphics. The user typically has to compromise on either the quality of the image or the size of the file. The JPEG does not work well on line drawings, lettering or simple graphics because there is not a lot of the image that can be thrown out in the lossy process, so the image loses clarity and sharpness.

The JPEG probably won't displace GIF entirely; for some types of
images, GIF is superior in image quality, file size, or both. JPEG
files are superior to GIF for storing full-color or gray-scale images
of "realistic" scenes; that means scanned photographs,
continuous-tone artwork, and similar material. Any smooth variation
in color, such as occurs in highlighted or shaded areas, will keep
better integrity and in less space by JPEG than by GIF.

GIF does significantly better on images with only a few distinct
colors, such as line drawings and simple cartoons. Not only is
GIF lossless for such images, but it often compresses them more
than JPEG can. The more complex and subtly rendered the image,
the more likely that JPEG will do well on it. The same goes for semi-
realistic artwork (fantasy drawings and such). But icons that use only
a few colors are handled better by GIF.

http://webopedia.com
http://www.scantips.com/

COOL TIP: To locate the definitions and characteristics of the above file formats I found the quickest and easiest way was to go straight to a search engine like Google, Web Crawler or NineMSN. Type your question into the search browser, for example “What is a GIF file format?” and voila!

DSPR12B - PRINT FUNDAMENTALS - TASK 3: CUVDES01A

For this task I will describe the following Colour Models:

• CMYK
• RGB
• HSB
• GRAYSCALE
• LAB

Colour Models

A color model is an orderly system for creating a whole range of colors from a small set of primary colors. There are two types of color models, those that are subtractive and those that are additive. Additive color models use light to display color while subtractive models use printing inks. Colours perceived in additive models are the result of transmitted light. Colors perceived in subtractive models are the result of reflected light. There are several established color models used in computer graphics, but the two most common are the RGB model (Red-Green-Blue) for computer display and the CMYK model (Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-black) for printing.


CMYK Color Model

• Subtractive color model
• For printed material
• Uses ink to display color
• Colors result from reflected light
• Cyan+Magenta+Yellow=Black

CMYK is a subtractive colour model used in the 4-colour print process. The mixture of ideal CMY colours is subtractive (cyan, magenta, and yellow printed together on white result in black). CMYK works through light absorption The colours that are seen are from the part of light that is not absorbed. In CMYK mode, magenta plus yellow produces red, magenta plus cyan makes blue and cyan plus yellow creates green.





RGB Colour Model

• Additive color model

• For computer displays

• Uses light to display color

• Colors result from transmitted light

• Red+Green+Blue=White

RGB COLOUR MODEL

The RGB color model is an additive colour model in which R-red, G-green and B-blue are combined in various ways to create other colours. These three colors should not be confused with the traditional pigment colours of red, blue & yellow.

HSB Colour Model

HSB = Hue, Saturation & Brightness and defines a color space in terms of three following components:

• Hue is the color type such as red, blue, or yellow: Ranges from 0-360 but is normalized to 0-100% in some applications

• Saturation, or the vibrancy of the color: Ranges from 0-100%
  

• Value is the brightness of the color: Ranges from 0-100%

Artists and Graphic Designers in many instances prefer to use the HSB color model over alternative models such as RGB or CMYK as humans tend to perceive color simarlily to this model.

Grayscale Colour Model

As designers we can convert images to grayscale although not in all formats. We are able to create a new image in grayscale mode and then it can at a later stage in the process be colorised by changing the saved image to RGB. If you change from grayscale to RGB mode, your image will have an RGB structure with three color channels, but of course, it will still be gray. Grayscale image files (8-bit) are smaller than RGB files. You can also transform an RGB image to grayscale by desaturating it, using the HSB option.



GRAYSCALE & COLOURISED IMAGES
www.t-tutorials.com/.../colorize03.jpg


LAB Colour Model

This Colour Model encompasses all of the colours available in CMYK & RGB and is based on
two different colour spaces. The best known is CIELAB and the other is Hunter Lab.
Humans have eye receptors for short (S), middle (M), and long (L) wavelengths, also known as blue, green, and red receptors. So we basically need three parameters to describe colour sensations of objects in everyday life. A specific method for associating the tristimulus values or the amounts of the three primary colours with each colour is called a colour space of which the CIE XYZ colour space is such space. The CIE XYZ colour space as in the below example is unique as it is based on direct colour depth perception made by the human eyeand is the basis from which many other colour spaces are defined.













http://www.couleur.org/index.php?page=transformations



http://www.poynton.com/PDFs/ColorFAQ.pdf

http://www.colourware.co.uk/cpfaq.htm

http://www.sketchpad.net/basics4.htm