Digital Graphics are an important component for multimedia projects. You would probably agree that a “picture is worth a thousand words” and most of us find that reading a lot of text online is pretty boring!
Before we get into the actual graphics projects, let’s take a quick look at some of the theory behind the digitization storage, and manipulation of digital images.
Here is an introduction to the process of digitization. It is a shortened version of a lecture I used to deliver to digital media students in a series of 2hr class sessions:
Next, is a similar lecture on storing/processing images:
The last lecture covers manipulating images and the differences between raster and vector graphics:
Paint is an good open source program for PC's. Its functionality has evolved nicely over recent years.
Paint is also a standalone freebie product offered on all Windows PCs.
Remember, at the end of the term you are going to be making a final project using ONE of the multimedia programs we cover. Keep that in mind when you select the graphics program to download. If you think you are going to submit a graphics project, then any 30 day trials might expire prior to your submitting your project.
This intent of doing overlay (where you insert one image over the top of another, like what is being asked for in the tee shorts/bulletin boards) is to make certain portions of the top image(s) transparent so the bottom image(s) show through. This is not as difficult as it once was. One way, of course is to make the top image smaller than the bottom. You may also get lucky and find am image that has already been altered with a transparency. But chances are you will have to create your own.
There are various ways to make this happen:
- With most office products, you can insert one image on a slide over the top of another and easily make and white space on the top image transparent, then save/export the slide to a .jpg file.
- Clipping Magic is a free online tool to remove a background from an image.
- Luna Pic is another online service.
- Perhaps my favorite is Photoscissors by Wondershare ($19.99). Inexpensive (ad you control it because resides on your computer).