This unit covers the basics of digital images, image capture devices and adapters, features of digital images such as bit depth, pixels, measures of image resolution and how they vary based on their purpose whether display or printing.
At the end of this unit you will be able to:
Introduction
An important aspect of any project aimed at developing digital resources is the production and management of image files. Images, video clips, Flash images and animations can be used as a fundamental learning object[1]or as part of more complex Learning Objects[2]. There are various image- capture devices and image-capture capabilities are changing rapidly.
It is important to appreciate the issues surrounding image quality and file formats. These will vary from collection to collection, and will change constantly due to rapid technological developments and emerging standards. In this unit we will look at the features of digital images which will impact file size and resolution. These are important considerations in the generation and dissemination of learning objects that we create.
Digital images are composed of very small picture elements—called pixels—lined up in rows and columns. The size, color and brightness of each pixel determine how the image appears on the computer monitor or printer. Because pixels are the smallest picture elements, the pixel size determines how much detail will appear in the image: the smaller the pixels, the more pixels can appear in a given area, which results in higher resolution.
Therefore, the greater the resolution, the more the number of pixels, and the larger the image file has to be. When the resolution is very low, it results in loss of image information and inaccurate representation of the original image. On the other hand, too high a resolution increases the file size and may not necessarily provide valuable information to the viewer. Large files are also more difficult to maneuver because they take longer to be transmitted or load onto a web page.
Resolution refers to the dots of ink or electronic pixels that make up a picture when it is printed on paper or displayed on-screen.
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/resolution/a/resolutiondots.htm
Pixel resolution image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_resolution
Standard high resolution monitors display 1,024 X 780 pixels. The spatial resolution of computer monitors is generally 72 to 100 lines per inch, corresponding to pixel resolutions of 72 to 100 pixels per inch (PPI).
PPI (pixels per inch) A digital image is composed of samples that the screen displays in pixels. The PPI is display resolution. How an image looks on screen is determined by the resolution of the monitor. A high-resolution setting displays more pixels per inch.
DPI (dots per inch) is a measure of the resolution of a printer referring to how many dots of ink or toner a printer can place within an inch (or centimeter). DPI is printer resolution.
A printer’s dot is over 300 to 1000% smaller that a pixel on a monitor. This is why images made for the web are not suitable for printing. A high resolution image can always be downsized/compressed for the web. But a magnified image never looks good when printed. Although we can print images with a higher resolution than that displayed on most monitors, the screen resolution represents the “useful” resolution. Computer monitors typically display images at 72 or 96 PPI. Much less sampling (SPI) is needed for on-screen display and the information in images beyond 96 SPI is wasted, will not enhance the display, and unnecessarily increases the file size and download time.
1. Scan a 1" x 1" photograph at 300 SPI
2. Using any photo editing tool, compress the 300 SPI image to 100 SPI at 1" x 1"
3. Now increase the 300 SPI image size to 3" x 3" (300px X 300px)
What is the difference you see with file sizes on the screen after the change in resolution?
We have addressed four parameters that are important to understand the difference between how a digital image displays on a computer monitor and how it displays when printed on paper.
We have also seen that tinkering with these parameters would effect changes to file size and resolution. Experimenting with these parameters will help the content author to create images suitable for web or print display.
Footnotes