Computer Graphics with Photoshop - Re: Question from a Photoshop beginner

Author

Re: Question from a Photoshop beginner

Charley

2007-01-31, 6:14 pm

The first thing that you should know is that Photoshop is a photo editing
program and NOT a graphics program. If you want to do graphics you should be
using the correct program. Adobe Illustrator is meant for doing graphics.
Now, if you have a photograph of a lonesome geek with a leaking fountain pen
you could remove the fountain pen and the ink stain from the picture with
photoshop. I should point out that you are also in the Photoshop Elements
newsgroup and not the Photoshop newsgroup.

--
Charley

"Sathyaish" <sathyaish@XXXXXXXXXX> wrote in message
news:1160059567.745719.186730@e3g2000cwe.googlegroups.com...
> Hello,
>
> I am a programmer and have only a nodding acquantaince with Adobe
> Photoshop. I currently have a v6.0 installation on my computer. I want
> to learn to use this tool dexterously. From now on, you may expect me
> to pester this forum with a question or two at regular intervals. I am
> groping around the Web to lay my hands on every brief tutorial I can
> find about Photoshop.
>
> I have a basic question for now. When you guys have an image in mind
> that you want to draw using Photoshop, where do you get the basic
> elements of the image from? For instance, if you had in mind that you
> wished to draw a shabbily dressed, lonesome geek carrying a grim look
> on his face scarred with the ink from his leaking fountain pen (suppose
> it was inferred and there was not to be a fountain pen in the picture),
> his face partly obscured and his unkept torso in clear disproportion
> with his gigantic spectacles, what would your starting point be?
>
> I hope I have made my question clear.
>

Tony Cooper

2007-01-31, 6:14 pm

On Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:57:31 -0500, "Charley" <clent@carolina.rr.com>
wrote:

>The first thing that you should know is that Photoshop is a photo editing
>program and NOT a graphics program. If you want to do graphics you should be
>using the correct program. Adobe Illustrator is meant for doing graphics.
>Now, if you have a photograph of a lonesome geek with a leaking fountain pen
>you could remove the fountain pen and the ink stain from the picture with
>photoshop. I should point out that you are also in the Photoshop Elements
>newsgroup and not the Photoshop newsgroup.

The post is cross-posted to:

adobe.photoshop.windows

comp.graphics.apps.photoshop

alt.graphics.photoshop

adobe.photoshop.elements

If you think that Photoshop is limited to photo editing, you are
mistaken. Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based program, but Photoshop
is also a "graphics" program.

--

Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL

Fat Sam

2007-02-02, 6:14 pm

Charley wrote:
> The first thing that you should know is that Photoshop is a photo
> editing program and NOT a graphics program. If you want to do
> graphics you should be using the correct program. Adobe Illustrator
> is meant for doing graphics. Now, if you have a photograph of a
> lonesome geek with a leaking fountain pen you could remove the
> fountain pen and the ink stain from the picture with photoshop. I
> should point out that you are also in the Photoshop Elements
> newsgroup and not the Photoshop newsgroup.

Does a digital photograph not qualify as *computer graphics* these days?

I think you ned to read up on what the words "computer graphics" actually
means, and learn a bit about the various formats available.

Whatever way you look at it, Photoshop is still a graphics package.
It's predominantly a raster graphics application whereas Illustrator is a
vector graphics application.
This definition simply refers to how the computer draws and records the
images on-screen.

A raster image, is one which is made up of a grid of pixels. Each pixel has
its own information attached containing the following.
X coordinate
Y coordinate
colour
brightness
This makes for quite a large file size which doesn't scale up beyond 100%
very well, but the trade-off is that you end up with a photorealistic image.
Common raster formats include BMP, JPG, and GIF.

A vecotor image is one which is made up of geometric shapes, lines, fills
and coordinates.
Instead of mapping the entire image into a pixel by pixel grid and storing
data on every single pixel, the image is instead broken up into a grid
system, like graph paper and lines are drawn on it with X/Y coordinates
describing the start and end points only.
This results in a much smaller file size which scales up and down very well,
but the trade-off is that you tend not to get a very photorealistic image.
Common vector formats include CDR, WMF, and AI.

Both of these are perfectly valid graphics formats, and therefore any
application which can handle either format can justifiably be called a
graphics application.
Photoshop however, is doubly justified in being called a graphics
application, as it can handle both raster and vector formats within the same
image.

Of course, there is a hybrid type of graphics application which utilises
both vector and raster images, side my side in a much more powerfull way
than Photoshop could ever hope to.
These are 3D rendering applications like Lightwave or 3D Studio Max.
These use special 3 dimensional versions of vector graphics called
"wireframes" to construct a model of an object, then a rasterised image is
draped over it like the fabric on a tent frame. This can at times create a
very realistic 3D version of an image. A technique used in the special
effects industry, and regularly seen in Sci-Fi and SFX movies and
advertisements.
Scenes which utilise this technology are regularly referred to by industry
professionals as Computer Graphics Sequences.

So if those sort of applications get referred to as graphics applications, I
think it's safe to say that Photoshop is also a graphics application.

John McWilliams

2007-02-02, 6:14 pm

Fat Sam wrote:
> Charley wrote:

<< Snipped bits out >>[color=darkred]
>
> So if those sort of applications get referred to as graphics applications, I
> think it's safe to say that Photoshop is also a graphics application.

An awful lot of words to make a somewhat pedantic point. Charley is right.

--
John McWilliams

Fat Sam

2007-02-02, 6:14 pm

John McWilliams wrote:
> Fat Sam wrote:
>
> << Snipped bits out >>
>
> An awful lot of words to make a somewhat pedantic point. Charley is
> right.

No he's not. You have spectacularly missed the point.

Charley said "Adobe Illustrator is meant for doing graphics."
Not correct.
Adobe illustrator is meant for doing VECTOR graphics

Charley also said "Photoshop is a photo editing program and NOT a graphics
program"
Not correct.
Photoshop is a RASTER graphics application.

They are both valid forms of computer graphics.
To label Photoshop simply as a photo-editing tool is to do it an injustice.
It is so much more than just a photo-editing tool. It's applications and
uses are wide ranging across a selection of industries. Not just the world
of photography.

J. Clarke

2007-03-31, 7:14 pm