Illustrator

Art Production Tool

http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/main.html

Overview

• Produces vector artwork for print publishing as well as multimedia.

Linked Software:

PhotoShop

• All Illustrator vector graphics will be converted into bitmap images when imported into PhotoShop.
• PhotoShop has limited text manipulation tools. Use Illustrator to create logos and main heading titles.
• Use PhotoShop to render outline artwork created in Illustrator.

Flash
Flash has an inbuilt vector drawing program with limited capabilities. Use Illustrator's extended vector drawing capabilities and import into Flash.

Technical Terms

Vector Graphics:
Are made of lines and curves defined by mathematical objects called vectors. Vectors describe graphics according to their geometric characteristics.

A vector graphic is resolution-independent - that is it can be scaled to any size without losing its detail or clarity.

Bitmap Graphics:
Also called raster images. These images use a grid of small squares, known as pixels, to represent graphics. Each pixel in a bitmap image has a specific location and colour value assigned to it. Bitmap images are not resolution independent.

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