Using a Computer for Graphic Design
Students should familiarize themselves with some theories before starting the Planar Portrait assignment which will make use of both hand rendered media and computer generated images (both bitmap and vector).
| C.I.E. | The International Commission on Illumination was established in 1931. Established the first scientific system of colour and indicated that Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow were the correct primaries in a Subtractive Colour space. |
| Colour Space | A defined colour environment which has distinct colour characteristics and limitations. |
| Gamut | A term referring to the achievable range of colours in a colour space when compared to the full range of visible colours as seen by the human eye. |
| Grayscale | A colour space for an electronic or printed image that has the potential for all tones ranging from black to white. |
| H.L.S. | A method of describing colours based on three criteria, Hue, Lightness and Saturation. |
| Indexed Colour | A compression method used for electronic images that reduce the colours variations to a maximum of 256 colours or a custom palate using only a sampling of colours. This format is used to reduce the files size of images used on the web. |
| GIF | Graphic Interchange Format or GIF is the file format used when saving images made using Indexed Colour. |
| JPEG | A compression format developed by the Joint Photographers Experts Group. This format allows for small file sizes at relatively high image quality by discarding some colour information and interpolates the image with the remaining data. |
| Lab Colour | Developed by C.I.E. as a reference colour space that all other colour spaces are based off of. Lab colour encompasses all colours theoretically possible which could be discernible to the human eye. |
| Lossee Compression | A method of saving an electronic file which reduces file space by discarding data and then uses mathematical deduction to interpolate the missing data. |
| Lossless Compression | A method of reducing file size without discarding relevant information in the binary code of the document. |
| R.G.B. | An additive colour space, which uses the primary colours of light Red, Green and Blue. This digital colour space is typically the most accurate colour space to edit files in. |
| Web-Safe Colours | A system of 216 colours that are common on both Windows and Macintosh operating systems, allowing for colours to display identically on various computer systems and equipment. |