Hardware and software required to work with graphic images

What each of the following items does in a computer system used to manipulate digital graphics

Mouse - Screen - Graphics tablet - Digital camera - Scanner - Flash cards - USB storage devices

Mouse

A mouse allows you to interact with the image, apart from the keyboard its one of the only methods to interact with the actual image. The mouse is used to move, create things on the image. Without a mouse things will take much longer so it is the key method of graphic interface.

Screen
The only effect a screen has is if the image wont be as easy to see and therefore manipulate if the screen size isn’t a high resolution. In order to get the most from any graphics programme a high def monitor is required.

Graphics tablet

Graphic tablets are for more artistic purposes, sometimes graphic designers need computers to be as good as they are, where as artists can use a graphics tablet in the same way as they’d write on paper, this will be faster for people familiar with graphics tablets but wont be as precise as using a mouse.

Digital camera

Digital cameras are purely used to get the image onto the computer ready to be manipulated. The camera its self is never used to edit graphics, although some cameras do have the ability to edit images but are often terrible.

Scanner

A scanner is similar to a digital camera in the fact that it is only used to get the image onto the computer, they are usually used to scan a picture that is taken on a digital camera.

USB storage devices

All USB storage devices are used for is to hold and transfer data, in this case images.

Graphic Differences

The differences between bitmap editing paint and photoshop are what options you have to edit the image, and the fact that photoshop has layers. Photoshop is a photo manipulating programme, meaning you can do alot of things to enhance the image rather than just making minor chanes to it which is what paint is for. Bitmap images are bigger file sizes because every pixel has to be indevidually saved.

Vector images aren't made up of seperate pixels making their file sizes much smaller. Vector programmes such as Visio are used when the image may need to be resized without losing any quality, this cant be done with paint or photoshop.