WHY SHOULD I USE GRAPHICS IN MY COURSE?

When you think of graphics, you do not necessarily think of education. So how do graphics fit into education? We all know that people respond to images. Images can evoke different emotions. Images can be funny, sad, meaningful, or capture a certain feeling. When you graphically present a concept or lesson, students understand it better because it enhances your written content. It also helps students find course content easily and might even help them to remember the information. Using images for your content in a significant way will help create an excellent online course and content.

Types of Computer Graphics

There are two types of graphics that you can use for images. You can use:

• Raster (also known as bitmap images)– uses dots called pixels (short for picture element) to represent pictures. The dots are squared-shaped, and each pixel is assigned a set of coordinates. Raster images when made larger will lose their smooth appearance and appear jagged.

Vector – the computer works with the relationship between the pixels rather than the location of the pixels themselves. It uses a mathematical algorithm to connect the various point and paths of an image. This helps the image remain smooth at any size or resolution.

Resolution

Images are described as high or low-resolution images. Resolution is the measurement of the output quality of an image.

PPI (pixels per inch) – refers to screen resolution
PPI is the number of pixels displayed in an image. The images you see on your computer screen are displayed in pixels. The PPI is how your image is displayed. The higher the resolution, the bigger the image and the better it is displayed on your screen.

DPI (dots per inch) – refers to print resolution
DPI measures the resolution for your printer. It refers to the dots of ink or tuner used by your printing device to print your text and graphics. The more dots, the better and sharper your image will print.

File formats

Your file format is how your computer “reads” the document. Whenever you save a document, it always saves it in the format of the computer program you are using. If you want to save an image or document to be recognized by other programs, you need to save your file as cross-platform compatible. Cross-platform compatible means it is supported by many of the most commonly used image editing/graphic softwares.

Most common types of Raster formats:

• BMP – developed by Microsoft and is the format used on Windows operating system.

• PSD (Photoshop Document) – Adobe Photoshop native format.

• TIFF (Tagged Image File Format ) – Cross Platform, best used for high quality printing. This type of format uses lossless compression. Lossless compression means this type of file writes a large file that loses no data. Best use for high-resolution printing of images. Not recommend for the internet.

• JPG/JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Groups)- Cross Platform, best used for web and photography prints. Most commonly used for photography on the web, although it reduces the size by about 50%. This is considered lossy compression since some of the quality is lost.

• GIF (Graphics Interchange Format )- Cross Platform, best used for web especially animated images. Not to be used for photographs.

• PNG (Portable Network Graphics) – Cross Platform, best used for web. Superior lossless compression. It is an improved replacement for GIF.

Most common Vector format:

• EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)- can be used in many illustration softwares such as Adobe Illustrator. 

• AI (Adobe Illustrator Artwork ) – Adobe Illustrator native format.

What kind of image formats should I use for my course?

For the most part, the types of formats you should be using are:

JPG/JPEG – If you teach a course that uses a lot of photography. It will be a good idea to use JPG format since this format uses a wide range of colors and the file size is not so big that you will have a hard time uploading to your course and your students will be able to download easily. 

GIF – are used mainly for simple images, symbols, icons, and animations. GIF is a low-resolution file and only supports 256 colors.

PNG – supports both small and big image sizes and supports transparency and lossless. PNG can be used for digital art, logos, icons or symbols. It has a lot of versatility. 

I hope this information helps you understand the types of image formats available to you when designing your course. How are you using images in your course? If you have any suggestions or comments, please leave a comment below!