Graphics Terminology

Dithering: to reduce color images to black and white by replacing colors with dots, dashes, and x's that, at a distance give approximately the same impression as the original image.

Filters: alter an image or selection to achieve a particular effect. Filters alter each pixel's color based on its current color and the colors of any neighboring pixels.

Grayscale: Depending on the display there may be between 4 and 64 different shades of gray that may be substituted for the colors in an image.

Orientation: If an image is taller than it is wide, the orientation is referred to as portrait. Otherwise the orientation is called landscape.

File Formats: There are almost as many ways to store a graphic image on disk as there are producers of these images. Here are a few of the more common file name extensions for such graphics files.

ART: PFS, First Publisher

BMP: Windows

EPS: Adobe PostScript

GEM/IMG: Ventura Publisher

GIF: CompuServe Graphic Image File

HGL: HP Graphics Language

JPG: Joint Photographers Graphics

MAC: MacPaint

PCX: PC Paintbrush

PIC: Lotus Graphic File

RLE: Older Windows

TGA: Truevision Targa

TIF: Many scanners

WPG: WordPerfect Graphic

WMF: Windows Meta File