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Graphic editors for working with raster images. What is a graphic editor? Raster and vector graphic editors and their tools

There are a large number of free programs for working with drawings and images. They allow you to create new files with graphics, as well as edit, change, manage, and optimize existing files and collections.

Graphic editor- one of the most common graphics programs. These are computer programs that allow their users to create images and edit them on a computer and then save them in popular formats, such as JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF.

Some graphic editors specialize in creating and processing photorealistic images, while others are more focused on creating and editing ordinary drawings.

The most common tools in graphic editors:

    You can select an area of ​​the image for editing.

    You can draw different lines with brushes with different colors, shapes, sizes, pressure, and even auto-fill patterns.

    You can “fill” the desired regions with the selected color or texture.

    Different color models are supported (YUV, RGB, HSV), and in addition to them, the color can be selected using, say, a tool - the color eyedropper.

    It is possible to add text to pictures.

    There are filters that can remove red eye, scratches, wrinkles, dirt, and many other blemishes/imperfections in images.

    Images can have multiple layers.

    Images can be converted to various formats.

    There are various filters that give every imaginable effect to image files.

Comparison of vector and raster editors

Vector editors are often contrasted with raster editors. In fact, their capabilities often complement each other:

    Vector editors are generally more suitable for creating page layouts, typography, logos, sharp-edged artistic illustrations (eg, animation, clip art, complex geometric patterns), technical illustrations, diagramming, and flowcharting.

    Raster editors are more suitable for processing and retouching photographs, creating photorealistic illustrations, collages, and creating freehand drawings using a graphics tablet.

The latest versions of raster editors (such as GIMP or Photoshop) provide the user with vector tools (for example, variable curves), and vector editors (CorelDRAW, Adobe Illustrator, Xara Xtreme, Adobe Fireworks, Inkscape, SKI and others) also implement raster effects ( for example, fill), although sometimes somewhat limited compared to raster editors.

Raster graphics editor - a specialized program designed for creating and processing raster images.

Raster image- an image that is a grid of pixels or colored dots on a computer monitor, paper and other display devices and materials.

Raster graphics editors allow the user to draw and edit images on the computer screen, as well as save them in various raster formats, such as JPEG and TIFF, which allow storing raster graphics with a slight reduction in quality due to the use of lossy compression algorithms, PNG and GIF , which support good lossless compression, and BMP, which also supports compression (RLE), but in general represents an uncompressed “per-pixel” description of the image.

In contrast to vector editors, raster editors use a matrix of colored dots (bit map) to represent images. However, most modern raster editors contain vector editing tools as auxiliary tools.

There are two main categories of images: raster (bitmap) and vector (vector).
Raster images consist of many dots - pixels. Each pixel has its own color and a specified position in the image structure. When you edit an image, it is essentially these same pixels that change. When a raster image is enlarged, the pixels become deformed and the image can become an enlarged caricature of the original.
Programs that work with raster images, including Photoshop, are sometimes called (not entirely accurately) painting programs.
Vector images form objects. They are essentially made up of lines and curves that can be calculated mathematically. For this reason, vector images can be enlarged or reduced to arbitrary sizes, while they always remain proportional copies of the original image, with the original clarity preserved.
Programs that work with vector graphics are sometimes called drawing programs.
Photoshop includes tools for working with both types of graphics. You can use programs designed for specific image types, such as Adobe Illustrator and Macromedia's Freehand, to work with vector graphics. Macromedia Flash also contains a set of tools for working with vector graphics. For those new to Web design, Photoshop provides basic tools for creating and editing both types of images.


Flat raster graphics:


1)Adobe Photoshop– the program is a leader in the field of graphics programs of this kind, but it also requires appropriate resources from your computer. We can consider that Photoshop is the most advanced professional raster graphics editor and the most popular. His area of ​​expertise is the processing of finished images, such as scanned photographs. The latest versions have already been supplemented with a component for working with web graphics. Together with other Adobe programs, it can form an integrated design software package that can satisfy the most demanding needs.
2)Microsoft Photo Editor– this editor is designed mainly for working with photographs. It often comes with the Microsoft Office suite, so it is quite widespread.
3)Microsoft Image Composer– the most advanced graphics processing tool of all Microsoft programs. It seems that according to the developers' plans, it should compete with the Adobe Photoshop editor in terms of developing graphics for the Internet. The main advantage of Microsoft products is the simplicity and convenience of the interface. This editor takes up little disk space and loads very quickly. However, it is practically unsuitable for images that will be used in printing.
4)Microsoft Paint- the simplest graphic editor supplied with the Windows operating system deserves mention, although it has a minimum of capabilities and can hardly be used to solve any serious problem. Due to its venerable age and wide distribution, this editor can be called the most famous graphic editor.
5)Pixia– a graphic editor that has all the basic functions of programs of this type. This program provides the ability to expand the functions of editing graphic files by connecting filters from Photoshop and other graphics processing programs.
6)Corel Painter- A very interesting and powerful raster tool for artistic image processing. This is one of the few editors that includes fractal graphics tools.
7)Paint Shop Pro– one of the best shareware programs, which, moreover, supports filters from Adobe PhotoShop and works very quickly with large (>20MB or MB) photographs. Can import and export images in 40 – 50 different formats.
8)GIMP is a freely distributed open source program. Initially it became widespread among fans of the Linux OS. Now available for Windows. It is as close as possible to Adobe Photoshop. Offers exceptional scalability and expandability.
Above is a small list of the most famous and common raster editors. According to some estimates, the Photoshop program is installed on computers, the total number of which in Russia is about 10 million.


Flat vector graphics:


Almost all modern graphics programs are largely vector in nature in their internal structure. For example, even the most primitive program - the raster editor MS Paint - has in its arsenal vector tools, such as “Rectangular Selection”. On the other hand, any “most vector” program produces the final product in the form of a raster image displayed on a screen or printer.
We list the most popular “pure vector” programs:
1)M5 Office Art– a graphical subroutine designed to create geometric shapes, flowcharts, etc. It has very weak capabilities, but due to the fact that it is built into all Microsoft Office applications, it is perhaps the most widespread vector editor in the world. This is not an ordinary program. Because they are embedded in other applications, programs like Office Art are called applets.
Despite the primitiveness of Office Art, with its help you can very quickly create a fairly complex and attractive picture.
2)Corel Draw– the most powerful and complex “flat” vector editor. The range of tasks to be solved is unusually wide.
3)Corel Kara– a simplified or “lite” version of the Corel Draw program. It is less demanding on computer resources, as it is not overloaded with capabilities.
4)Adobe Illustrator is the main competitor of Corel Draw in the market of powerful two-dimensional vector editors.
5)Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash) is the most famous, good and widespread editor for animated graphics in the world. The main scope of application is pictures for the Internet, advertising banners and computer games.
6)AutoCad– the world flagship of 3D vector graphics. Belongs to the class of CAD (Computer-Aided Design) programs.
7)Curious Labs Poser– an interesting program for 3D animation.
8)ABBYY FineReader– the most famous and widely used text recognition system. The author of the chapter confidently placed this program in the category of vector editors, since its main purpose is to convert raster images into text characters (vector nature). Only after recognition can scanned texts be edited using the keyboard in conventional text editors.
9)RX Spotlight– one of the most famous vectorizers. Unlike a text recognition system, the main purpose of vectorizers is to convert raster images into geometric shapes for their further processing in flat or three-dimensional vector editors.


"PROGRAMS & APPLICATIONS."

Graphics editor is a program designed to create and modify a graphic image on a computer screen, as well as save it as a graphic file.

A graphic editor with additional intellectual tools is called GPU. Such programs allow you to process images using a variety of graphic effects, convert format, palette, scale, work with multi-layer images, receive images from a scanner and other digital equipment, etc. Any graphic editor includes text editor and allows you to type texts.

Graphic editors with a wide range of functions are called graphics packages. Depending on the construction methods and scope of application, the following groups of programs are distinguished:

  • Illustration graphics packages are designed primarily for creating and editing drawings. These include, for example, Adobe Photoshop And CorelDRAW- packages for creating two-dimensional images, 3ds Max- to create three-dimensional images, Adobe Flash for creating animated films;
  • Scientific graphics tools are used to solve scientific and industrial problems. Modern scientific computer graphics makes it possible to conduct computational experiments with a visual representation of their results;
  • Business graphics tools are designed to visually represent business activity. Typically, such software is included in spreadsheets and powerful office suites;
  • Engineering and design graphics packages are used mainly to create various graphs, diagrams, drawings, for example, AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, Grapher, GraphPlus ;
  • Computer animation programs create moving images on a monitor screen. These programs perform motion calculations based on their mathematical description and depict all intermediate states between the initial and final positions of moving objects.

Depending on the methods of processing and saving images, there are raster And vector graphic editor. Many graphics programs can handle only vector or only raster images, but there are programs that can handle both types of files.

Raster graphics editor

A raster graphic image is a collection of data about the color of individual image elements - pixels that form rows and columns (a matrix of points). Such images are of high quality, but require large amounts of memory due to the need to store information about each point in the image. In addition, raster images are difficult to scale (reduce or increase in size) and other transformations.

Raster graphic editors that work with raster images are widely used in the work of illustrators, when preparing images for printing in a typographical way or on photographic paper, and publishing on the Internet. Many modern raster editors also contain vector editing tools as auxiliary ones. Raster editors include Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paint Shop Pro, Microsoft Paint, Microsoft Office Picture Manager, Paint.NET and etc.

Vector graphic editor

Vector images consist of geometric primitives such as points, lines (straight lines, curves, circular arcs) and polygons. These images are stored in the computer memory in the form of a set of parameters of mathematical formulas that describe primitives, thickness and color of lines, fill color of solid areas, etc. Such images are easily scaled, and the image characteristics are recalculated using formulas for the new size. Vector images take up a small amount of memory, but do not have such a rich palette as raster ones.

Vector graphic editors, which allow you to create and edit vector images, are widely used for the design and creation of printed materials: scientific illustrations, brochures, booklets, business cards, labels. The most popular vector editors are: CorelDRAW, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Flash, Macromedia FreeHand, OpenOffice.org Draw .

3D editors

Programs for working with three-dimensional graphics (3D editors) and animation can use both vector and raster images. They operate on objects in three-dimensional space (which are a collection of surfaces or particles), but the results usually look like a flat picture, a projection. Three-dimensional computer graphics are widely used in cinema, computer games, architectural visualization, printed materials, as well as in science and industry. The Maya graphics editor has become the standard for 3D graphics in film and television; in other areas, the 3ds Max graphics software package is widely used.

04.11.15 8K

Every day, people are confronted with many different images: a picture, a photograph, or a scanned drawing that was used in an advertisement or on a product label. All these images were created from scratch by a person who used graphics programs for this (editors):

What is a graphics editor?

Program " graphics editor" is a software that provides the user with three main functions:

  • Creation;
  • editing;
  • viewing graphic files.

Digital images are divided into three types:

  • raster;
  • vector;
  • three-dimensional.

Editors are also divided into groups depending on what type of graphics they are designed to process:

  • raster graphics editors;
  • vector graphic editors;
  • hybrid graphic editors.

Hybrid graphic editors, as you might guess, allow you to work with raster and vector images.

The difference between raster graphics and vector graphics is that a raster image is a set of pixels of different colors and shades, which forms a graphic image. A vector image is a set of objects that have appearance characteristics: shape, size, color, line thickness, fill color.

Popular graphic editors

There are a large number of programs for working with images, two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphics, drawings, both for professionals and for ordinary users. Below are the most popular ones.

  • The first graphic drawing program was Microsoft Paint. This is the simplest, but at the same time multifunctional software product for editing raster images, which is part of the Windows operating system:


The main disadvantages of this editor are the lack of layers and transparency support; you cannot set the size when creating an image; no gradient fill. This software product is not intended for solving complex problems in graphics processing.

It is suitable in cases where you need to quickly crop an image or combine one of several, or draw a simple picture.

  • The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). This package is more functional than standard Paint and is an alternative to Adobe Photoshop:


The program has many functions that help solve problems from processing photos and creating collages to developing designs for web pages. But, of course, there are more powerful and specialized graphic design programs.
  • Adobe Photoshop is the most popular raster graphics editor, which has several tools for working with vector images:


Most users use the program as a photo editor, unaware of its “3D” capabilities. At the moment, the extended version of Photoshop can be used for web design and video creation.
  • Autodesk 3ds Max is a professional program that is focused on working with three-dimensional graphics, namely creating 3D objects of various shapes and complexity, and giving them a realistic look. Having mastered the tools of this editor well, you can create images that are difficult to distinguish from photographs. Also in the package you can work with animation, create game and cartoon characters, and simulate movements. This program is an excellent tool for interior designers. Below is an interior designed using 3ds Max:

  • MyPaint is a program for artists who are beginning to get acquainted with the craft of drawing pictures and creating any other graphics on the computer. This package has a simple and convenient interface that is not cluttered with functionality such as selection, filters, scaling. That is, there is a set just for drawing:


The big advantage is the unlimited canvas size and a huge set of brushes, with the ability to customize them. MyPaint supports graphics tablet mode.
  • Corel Painter is very popular among artists. Of course, this program can work with a graphics tablet, since it is designed for creating digital painting and has over 200 different tools for this. The editor also implements functionality for working with layers and masks. A huge advantage of this product is the ability to create your own tools.

Drawing programs

When discussing the topic of graphic editors, one cannot fail to mention drawing programs.

  • Autodesk AutoCAD is a popular graphics program for drawings. This editor supports two and three-dimensional design, has a large number of professional tools, supports working with cloud storage, Excel spreadsheets, and has the possibility of collective design. The program is suitable for a wide range of users, as it has many add-ons and a user-friendly interface necessary to solve the assigned tasks. The big disadvantage of this product is the high cost, which is justified by the quality. Therefore, AutoCAD is an indispensable tool in the design field:

  • KOMPAS is another well-known program for creating drawings that uses a three-dimensional model of an object as a basis, and when it changes, the two-dimensional drawing dynamically changes. The editor is an excellent competitor in terms of quality and set of tools for AutoCAD, but has the same drawback - high price. Also, both of these packages can “stress” the computer due to high performance requirements.

Graphics programs for Mac OS

All of the editors listed above, with the exception of Paint, 3ds Max and Compass, have versions compatible with the Mac OS operating system. This is not a problem, since it will not take much time to find similar graphics programs for Mac that are not inferior in functionality to versions for Windows.

  • Paint Pad. Many users who decide to get acquainted with Mac OS are faced with the fact that after installing the operating system they do not find any graphics editor in its composition. There is a solution, and it's called Paint Pad - it's the same raster editor as Paint.
  • Cinema 4D is a program similar in functionality to 3ds Max. It is worth clarifying that Cinema 4D also has a version for Windows. The program works with three-dimensional graphics and animation:

A graphics editor is a program or set of programs that are used to create or edit an image in a two-dimensional coordinate axis. The use of a graphic editor is possible on a computer.

All existing types of graphic editors are aimed at creating an image using stamps, lines, curves, dots, etc., as well as regenerating the original image. The graphic editor allows you to expand, move images, delete, copy some elements. The resulting new image can be immediately sent to print and saved.

Classification of graphic editors

There are three main types of graphic editing programs:

  • raster;
  • vector;
  • hybrid.

Briefly about each type of program

Raster graphics editors are designed to create and process images in the form of dots or a grid of pixels (matrix) on display devices. Such programs are widely used in creating images that are sent to printing and publications on the Internet.

Using this type of editor allows you to create a drawing on a computer monitor and save it in JPEG and TIFE formats. When saving such graphics, due to the compression algorithm, the image quality decreases. When using PNG and GIF formats, which support good lossless compression, the image quality does not deteriorate.

A typical example of a raster graphics editor is the program Adobe Photoshop.

Vector graphic editor makes it possible to create or edit an object consisting of geometric elements (points, lines, polygons) directly on the screen and save in vector editors (CDR, AI, EPS).

Vector graphics are the opposite of raster graphics.

Hybrid graphic editors designed for working with scanned documents. This type of graphic editor includes part of raster and vector programs. A striking example of a hybrid program can be considered AutoCAD, RasterDesk.

The possibilities offered by graphic editors are unlimited.