Digital Design Vocabulary Study Guide
Illustrator CS6
Shortcuts:
Control Z – undo last operation (unlimited)
Control-shift Z- redo last operation
Control A- select all
Control shift A- deselect all
Control N- new document
Alt-click- zoom out
Tab- to hide all dialog boxes and tool box
Vocabulary for Illustrator CS6
Path- (or object) Any individual shape that is created in Illustrator. The path can
be open or closed.
Anchor Point - A point that joins two segments of a path.
Select- Only selected objects can be modified. When a whole object is selected,
its anchor points are solid(not hollow).
Selection tool- Selects the whole object.
Direct -Selection tool- selects only a certain anchor point or parts of a path.
Stroke- The color that is applied to the edge of the path of an object.
Fill- A color, pattern or gradient that is applied to the inside of an object.
CMYK- cyan, magenta, yellow and black are process colors used for print.
RGB, Red, Green, Blue used for graphics and web-safe colors. Filters can only
be used in this format or color mode.
Art board-A printable space where your artwork is created.
Swatch- These are named color, tints, gradients and patterns.
Gradient fill- A gradient blend between two or more colors. Can be radial or
linear.
Layers- This allows you to work, edit, and organize your artwork. (a lot of units
stacked)
Convert tool- causes corner points to be curved.
Reshape tool- Changes the path. Example paintbrush
Twirl tool- causes paths to mix and swirl.
Clipping Mask- An object that trims away part of other objects while in the mask
affect.
Unite command- using pathfinder, this command combines two or objects.
Pen tool- creates precise curved and straight segments connected by anchor
points. The curved lines are known as bezier curve. To convert the pen hold
down option key, this changes the direction of the curve with the handle.
Text wrap- when text can wrap around an Illustrator path.
Filters- Special effects used in RGB format.
Blending- blend between 2 open paths or objects to create a smooth color
transition.
Blend Modes- located in the transparency pallet, allows you to change the
transparency between paths and objects
Saving:
ai.- Is Illustrator’s standard format. Photoshop also recognizes this file.
jpeg- most common format and smallest file. Saving in this format will flatten
your image and you will lose all your layers.
psd.- Is a Photoshop Standard Format. Illustrator also recognizes this file.
pdf- Portable Document Format is a good choice when preparing an Illustrator
file for display on the web.
tiff is the largest file format
PHOTOSHOP CS6
Shortcuts
Show/hide all palettes, including toolbox
Undo
Selecting all
Deselect all
Cut to clipboard
Copy to clipboard
Paste to clipboard
New Document
Adjusting levels
Curves
Quick Mask
Tab
Ctrl Z
Ctrl A
Ctrl D
Ctrl X
Ctrl C
Ctrl V
Ctrl N
Ctrl L
Ctrl M
Q
Palettes
Channels palette- the channel palette is used to display one or more of the channels that
make up an image. It is also used for creating and displaying alpha channels, which are
used for saving selections, and spot color channels, which are used for creating spot color
plates.
Options palette- The options palette is used to define attributes for a tool, such as its
opacity, fade distance, or blending mode. Options are set for each tool individually, and
remain in effect until they’re changed. You can restore the currently selected tool or all
tools to their default settings via the options palette command menu.
Layers palette- When you create a new image, it will have an opaque background. Using
the Layers palette, you can add, delete, hide/show, duplicate, group, link, and re-stack
layers on top the background. Each layer can be assigned its own blending mode and
opacity and can be edited separately without changing the other layers. You can also
attach a mask to a layer.
History palette- The History palette is used to selectively undo one or more previous
steps in the image-editing process. Each brushstroke, filter application, or other
operation is listed as a separate state on the palette, with the bottommost state being the
most recent. Clicking on a prior state restores the document to that stage of the editing
process. What happens to the document when you do so depends on whether the palette
is in linear on non-linear mode.
Vocabulary
Cropping an image-(using the crop tool) will resize a portion of the photo you want to
use, cutting out parts of the photograph will make a better image.
Selection- An area of an image that is isolated so it can be modified while the rest of the
image is protected. A moving marquee marks the boundary of a selection. If you move a
selection, the cutout area that’s left behind is filled automatically with the current
background color if the selection is on the background, or with transparency if the
selection is on a layer. A selection can be created using a selection tool (lasso, magic
wand) or a selection command (color range).
Resolution- Image resolution is the number of pixels an image contains, and it is
measured in pixels per inch. The monitor’s resolution is also measured in pixels per inch.
Dimensions- The width and height of an image.
Brightness- the lightness (luminance) of a color.
Hue- The wavelength of light that gives a color its name.
Saturation- The purity of a color. More gray a color contains, the lower its saturation.
Levels-controls the photograph’s contrast.
Histogram shows the tones of a photograph black (shadows), white,(highlights) and gray
(mid-tones) or known as gamma. A good histogram show peaks in the middle and
gradual slope on either end. Never use auto correction.
Curves- used for adjusting for exposure, retouching and correcting color. We do the same
technique in a wet darkroom.
Alpha channel- saving a complex selection to a special grayscale, which can be loaded
and reused on any image whenever you like.
Filters- can be used for special effects. Most filters are not available in CMYK, all
filters are available in RGB mode.
Action- is a recorded sequence of menu commands, tool operations, or other image
editing functions that can be played back on a single file of on a group of files. Actions
are especially useful for producing consistent editing results on multiple images.
Layers- are editable units, New files are generally created with background layer, which
contains color or an image. All new layers are a transparent background. The background
layer is always italicized and locked. To unlock you must drag to new layer to create a
copy.
Questions and Answers about Copyright
What is an infringement? Infringement is unauthorized use of someone else’s work.
The test for infringement is whether an ordinary observer would believe one work was
copied from another.
Is it infringement if I scan an old image into Photoshop and change it? If the image
was created in the United States and is more than 75 years old, it is in the public domain
and can be freely copied by you or anyone else. You will have copyright in the new
elements of the image that you create.
What does “fair use” mean in terms of copyright? A fair use is a use of someone else’s
work that is allowed under the copyright law. For example, newsworthy or educational
uses are likely to be fair uses. The factors for whether a use is a fair use or an
infringement are: (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether or not it is
for profit. (2) the character of the copyrighted work (3) how much of the total work is
used. (4) what effect the use will have on the market for or value of the work being
copied.
Can I use a recognizable part of a photograph if the entire photograph is not
recognizable? You would have to apply the fair use factors. Obviously, factor (3) in the
previous answer relating to how much of the total work is used would be in your favor,
but if the use is to make a profit and will damage the market for the source photograph it
might be considered an infringement.
What are the damages for infringement? The damages are the actual losses of the
person infringed plus any profits of the infringer. In some cases (especially if the work
was registered before the infringement), the court can simply award between $500 and
$20,000 for each work infringed. If the infringement is willful, the court can award as
much as $100,000.
Do I need to use copyright notice to obtain or protect my copyright? It is always wise to
place copyright notice on your work, because it is a visible symbol of your rights as
copyright owner. Prior to 1989 the absence of copyright notice when the images were
published or publicly distributed could, in certain circumstances, cause the loss of the
copyright. Since March 1, 1989, the absence of copyright notice cannot cause the loss of
the copyright but may give infringers a loophole to try and lessen their damages.
Copyright notice has three elements: (1) “copyright” “Copr” (3) Symbol c
Studio 9 Plus
Vocabulary
Analog- non-digital format of video or audio.
Capture- Using function within the software to capture video or stills.
Clip- any media type that goes on the movie window, storyboard or timeline, including
video images, trimmed video scenes, images or audio files
Dissolve-A transitional effect in which the video is faded from one scene to the next.
DV-Digital videotape format for recording digital audio and video on ¼” metal tape.
Digital Video-Digital video stores information bit by bit in a file.
Edit-cutting video or audio excluding clips.
Fade to/from Black-A digital effect that fades up from black at the beginning of a clip or
down to black at the end.
Fire wire-Apple’s trademarked name for the IEEE-1394 data port
Frame- A single image in a video or animation sequence.
Frame Rate-defines how many frames of video sequence are played in one second.
NTSC video is 30 frames per second. PAL video is 25 frames per second.
Green screen- Used as a key color so the image can be keyed over another scene or
background.
IEEE-1394 (AKA Fire wire) is a serial data transmission protocol with rates up to 400
Mbits/sec.
Key color- A color whose display is suppressed so that a background image can show
through this is known as key.
MJPEG- a video for windows format, Microsoft, for encoding video sequence. JPEG
compression is used to compress each frame individually.
MPEG- Motion Picture Experts Group, and the standard developed by them for the
compression of moving images. Compared to MJPEG, it offers 75 to 80 % data reduction
with the same visual quality.
NTSC – National Television Standard Committee, and the color TV standard created by
them in 1953. It is used by North and Central America, Japan and other countries. (This
video has 525lines per frame and 60 image fields per second.)
PAL- Phase Alternation Line, a color TV developed in Germany and used throughout most
of Europe and China. (PAL video has 625 lines per frame and 50 images per second.)
SECAM- “Sequentiel Couleur a Memorie” a color transmission system used in France and
Eastern Europe. This video is the same as PAL.
Still Video- Still images or “freeze frames” extracted from video.
S-Video with s-video signals, the brightness and the color information are transferred
separately using multiple wires, meaning better picture.
Time code-identifies the position of each frame in a video sequence with respect to
starting point. The usual format is H:M:S:F(hours, minutes, seconds, frames)
Transition- The visual connection between adjacent video clips, ranging from a simple
“cut” to a showy animated effect. The common transitions like cuts, fades, dissolves, wipes
and slides are part of the visual language of film and video.
WAV – File extension for a popular file format for digitized audio signals.
Digital Imaging
In the late 1990’s digital cameras produced low-quality images that looked all
righton a computer monitor, but nowhere else. Now, most professional
photographers use digital cameras almost exclusively. With digital imaging
photographers now have as much control over color photography as they have over
the traditional black and white darkroom. They can adjust for lighting conditions
without using filters, fine-tune contrast, and control color saturation and sharpness.
There are 2 Types of digital cameras
1. SLRs
a. Imaging Sensors is a light sensitive device that records images,
taking the place of film in a digital camera.(this silicon-based chip
is also used in scanners and copiers.
2. Point-and-shoots
a. Main advantages are their small size, light weight, and moderate
cost. Its not uncommon to find on with 10x zoom (28-280 zoom
lens) with a maximum f-stop of f/2. Known for casual shooting.
History of Digital Photography
Digital photography is a byproduct of computers. A combination of a computer and camera.
Two inventions made the miniaturization of computers a reality: Transistors in 1947 and
integrated circuits in 1959. These advances paved the way for computers to become smaller.
The next piece was the invention of the imaging chip itself. The first CCD(Charge-Coupled
Device) was developed in 1970 by George Smith and Willard Boyle at Bell Laboratories.
They were trying to invent a solid-state camera phone. Their invention became the basis for
all video camera and eventually digital cameras, copiers, fax machines, and scanners. The
first electronic film less cameras were video cameras that captured still images. Sony (1981
with the Mavica) and Canon(in 1984 with the RC-701) both produced still video cameras. It
wasn’t until 1990, the same year that Photoshop was released, that Logitech came out with
Dycam Model 1. This was a black and white only camera with a small, one-tenth megapixel
(MP) sensor. The first consumer-oriented digital camera was the Apple Quick Take 100 in
1994. It could record up eight color images (640 x 480 pixels) in its internal memory. Digital
SLRs took a little longer. Kodak adapted some Nikon cameras with their own digital backs
as early as 1991 (the Kodak DSC100 was based on a Nikon F3), but Nikon came out with
the first totally original digital SLR, the D! in 1999. The D1 was a professional camera with a
sensor size of 2.6 MP. Canon followed in 2000 with the first consumer-oriented digital SLR,
the ESO D30, with a 3.1 MP senor. In 2002, Canon introduced the EOS 1Ds, the first
digital SLR with a full-frame 11 MP imaging sensor. Innovations continue to happen.
Vocabulary
Image noise- created by increasing a digital camera’s ISO setting, it is Characterized by red,
blue, and green specks in an image that result in decreased detail, lower resolution and less
saturated colors.
Pixel- short for picture element, it is the smallest imaging unit in an imaging sensor or digital
image, and it is usually square in shape.
Megapixel- One mega pixel equals one million pixels.
Resolution- The sharpness and fine detail in an image. In digital images this is measured in
pixels per inch (ppi) In film it is measured in lines per inch (lpi). The higher the number, the
higher the resolution.
Memory Cards- stores images. The difference between cards are the capacity ( how many
images a card can store) and bandwith (how fast it can record images).
Capacity of memory is measured in MB (1 megabyte=1000 bytes of information)
The most common types of memory cards are Compact Flash and Secure Digital (SD) cards.
Interpolation- Using software programs to add pixels to an image in order to increase its
resolution. Do not use interpolated sizes of scanned pieces. Most scanner software doesn’t
do a very good job at interpolation.
Posterized- refers to when the colors in digital image are broken up into distinct solid area
of color, instead of continuous shades of color.
TIFFs- (Tagged Image File Format) format of saving scans and pictures. When saving
images this format preserves the maximum amount of detail and will make the best prints.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) A universal image-file format, the file extension
.jpg, this compresses an image by getting rid of “useless” data so the image takes up less
room on a memory card, hard drive or attachment for email.
RAW- Only some cameras can produce RAW images. This means the images are “raw”, as
in untouched and unprocessed. They are uncompress, like TIFFs, but are a bit smaller than
TIFF files. It’s the closest thing to a pure digital negative. RAW images are very high quality,
but not all images editing programs can open or use them.