Obtaining Graphics
Obtaining Graphics
Converting Originals to an
appropriate format
Scanning
Using Windows Capture or Snapshot
Using a Paint/Draw Program
Converting Graphics
All Graphics must be in GIF, TIFF,
JPEG, RGB, or HDF format
Many graphics viewers have converters
built in (just use the "Save As..." feature)
In UNIX, XV works the best.
In Windows, try
Graphics Work Shop.
Others in MS-Windows include:
L-View
Win-Gif
PhotoStyler
Graphics should be resized to fit the screen
XV can be used to set a standard size for all GIFs
Be sure Graphics are not too large.
Limit the number of colors in Graphics.
Make sure all text is legible
Label Graphics (if desired)
This
Site has everything you want to know about transparent and interlaced images.
Limit use of Color and Grey-scale. Use only when necessary
Use High Contrast
Beware of "Ghost" Images from back of page
Scan using high resolution black and white if possible
Save image as GIF, PCX, BMP, or TIFF
Pay close attention to file sizes. Scanned images at high resolution and/or many colors or shades can easily take up very large blocks of memory.
Very easy and quick way to acquire graphics.
Windows Capture -> Alt-PrintScrn
Unix -> Snapshot
Convert and resize images immediately after capture
Paint Programs
Photo-Styler and Paint-Brush work well
Save as PCX, BMP, or TIFF if GIF is not available.
Convert to GIFs and then view to ensure smooth conversion
Beware of huge file sizes.
Keep in Mind:
Limit the use of colors and grey-scale. Use black and white or, at most, 16 colors
Scan with high contrast and ensure that all images are correctly digitized
Resize all images so they are useful and readable. Perhaps create one uniform size for all similar images.
TIPS:
Create a sub-Directory for all your Document Drawings. Reference them all from this sub-directory
Create a sub-Directory for all your Icons. Reference them all from this sub-directory
Use XV for resizing and converting
Use XV to color-map your GIFs and create uniform back-grounds
Consider "transparent" backgrounds
Not all TIFFs are the same. There are
many different versions of TIFFs and GIFs and not all viewers will
display all types.
After the first time you do any graphics
conversion, you should check the resulting image to be sure the
conversion worked properly.
