Graphics are an essential ingredient of any good magazine. Reach-out-and-grab-the-reader illustrations, high-impact photographs of what--or who-- is currently capturing public interest, and slick charts of at-a-glance statistics all enhance a publication's editorial make-up. Visuals bring a vital surge of life to text. And just as computerized tools have revolutionized the process of producing the printed word for publication, new electronic systems are springing up that allow artists more freedom and creativity in image processing.
Facing the computer graphics frontier isn't always easy for artists and illustrators, many of whom confront new technologies with more than just a little trepidation. Like their editorial compatriots who ventured bravely into a new world of word-processing machines and computer systems in the mid-seventies to bring home to newspapers and magazines the tools of technology, artists are often afraid to trade in tried-and-true methods for automation.
But they are changing. As artists and illustrators conquer their fear of computerization, questions such as "Will I learn the system easily?' and "Will I be forced to sacrifice artistic freedom?' are being replaced by sighs of satisfaction as the ease with which artists can streamline the picture production process becomes apparent. Like editorial people who now fondly reminisce about their beat-up old manual typewriters, seeing them as battered remnants of the past, artists are proceeding to pack up their brushes and T-squares for posterity.
Computer graphics companies are constantly expanding to meet the needs of a market that's gearing up for the future. Systems are being created that stress both image and text processing as equally important.
These systems handle image processing in one of two ways: as raster-based image processing or vector-based image processing. In order to convert a photograph into symbols that can be processed by an electronic computer system, the color value, or gray scale, for each individual dot or picture element (pixel) that makes up the photo is converted to a number. One line of pixels is a raster, and the combination of pixels that makes an image is called the raster image.
Business-oriented, or presentation graphics--such as bar charts that incorporate text--are created by recording the start and end points of the lines or vectors as x and y coordinates.
In the production of digitized typography, it is possible to describe each pixel with a single bit because each pixel can only be black or white (1 or 0 in binary computer terms). But to display a color graphic on a computer screen, each pixel needs several bits to allow for the mix of red, green and blue phosphor that exists.
Although computerized picture handling isn't new--computer-aided design and drafting (CADD) systems have been common in engineering applications for over 20 years--problems existed that prevented the use of these products in print.
Two major issues pose problems for those interested in pursuing a future in computer graphics: image resolution and cost. The resolution of an image is the number of pixels used to make a picture. Graphic arts typography requires at least 1,000 pixels per inch, and until recently, digital imaging systems were limited to slide and video resolution--526 lines on the screen.
The second problem with introducing computerization to print is cost. Multimillion dollar color-separation and image-assembly systems manufactured by companies such as Scitex, Hell and Crosfield, in addition to half-million dollar designer workstations, and $50,000 add-on modules to new wave text pagination systems such as Xyvision, exist. But artists and illustrators simply can't afford to pay such high prices for the increase in productivity and creative freedom that computerization allows.
However, a new crop of software that runs on desk-top equipment at a relatively low cost has been spawned by the computer revolution. Based on slide-making systems, these personal computer workstations allow artists to revise and edit images and airbrush in minutes as opposed to hours--with a minimal amount of training.
Controversy still abounds over the resolution issue. There are two basic kinds of systems to consider in the evaluation of computer graphics for print: paint systems, which store and manipulate a fixed number of pixels per image; and draw, or vector-based systems, which are resolution independent and allow you to create images that eliminate "the jaggies.'
In paint systems, what you see is what you get--the resolution of the output is identical to that on the screen. Vector-based systems translate the start and end points of the line into the resolution of the output device, allowing for a finer end product.
Output resolution is currently limited by the capability of the film recorder used to put an image to paper. Computer-driven slide cameras generally create 35mm slides suitable for print production. But many computer graphics companies are now working with color separation systems (such as Scitex) toward the ultimate goal of an electronic link-up that would forever eliminate the traditional separation.
There are several things to look for in a computer graphics system. For example, the issue of user interface is vital in computer graphics. Artists who have little or no experience with computers must feel comfortable with a system in order to create. It's also important to note whether or not a system allows for free-hand art--the ability to draw on the screen with a wide variety of pens and brushes. Free-hand art is featured for those computer graphics systems that are designed with creative applications in mind.
Other smart features offered by computer graphics systems include the ability to use "graphic primitives,' shapes such as rectangles, arcs, ellipses and polygons. The shapes can be colored, stretched or shrunk by using the stylus.
Most systems offer a library of type fonts for labeling and titling. Type can be modified and edited. In addition, it's possible to create attention-grabbing presentation slides by combining an image with a bar chart. (For example, bars can be made of dollar signs, and soda cans can be stretched to demonstrate yearly sales.)
Images should be pliable under the artist's touch. The artist should be able to size, scale, collage and rotate them on the screen.
Sizing is simple--a box is placed around the object to be modified. A new blinking box marks the targeted size--and in most systems, the height and width of an image can be changed independently. Images can be rotated-- although full X, Y and Z, or 3-D rotation, is an option available on systems that sport video animation capabilities and allow designers to specify depth on an image, as well as width and height. More frequently, systems boast what's called 2 1/2D, which allows for perspective. It gives the illusion of 3D, but doesn't let you see all sides of an object.
Collaging is a capability that allows for images to be stored and then retrieved any number of times on a page and combined with other images.
Scanners allow an artist to take a photograph--or, for that matter, anything that can be viewed through a video camera--and view it on the designer workstation. The image can then be edited, and a zoom function lets illustrators modify an aspect as small as a pixel. Again, though, resolution is a problem because output resolution is limited by the capability of the film recorder.
Each of the computer graphics systems that we reviewed approaches this new industry from a different angle. Paint systems are vying for creative users, while companies that produce slick presentation slide systems are after buyers who remain undaunted by data-driven graphics. But although there are tradeoffs in the graphics-handling capabilities of each type of system, all are powerful artistic tools that widen the realm of creative opportunity for illustrators and artists, and decrease significantly the time and expense involved in producing graphics for print.
Autographix
Autographix is a Massachusetts-based company that specializes in presentation and business graphics. The Autographix 200A Presentation System targets the commercial slide producer market. Users have the option of either producing images on site (with the $30,000 Matrix QCR slide camera) or sending them to a network of imaging centers scattered around the country.
Based on the IBM AT, the system features "Guidelines' software that creates a uniform series of slides from keyed-in data. A new "art works' software package allows the artist to design logos, flow diagrams and charts from interactive menus on the digitizing tablet. Up to 10 different color palettes can be created, using any 64 colors out of 4,096. Screen resolution is 512 720 lines, with the output image resolution on the Matrix D 2/4 film recorder being 1366 2048. Autographix supports output to a laser printer, and employs an Epson printer as a proofing device.
The three-product line offered by Autographix also includes the 150 model, which is XT-based and, with fewer capabilities than the top-of-the-line Model 200, sells for $14,900. A software package, like the other products, features networking capabilities, but doesn't allow for free-hand art.
Priced at $40,000 without a camera, the Autographix system is designed so that anyone--from a sales rep to a secretary--can key in codes and create slick, state-of-the-art slides. Illustrators and designers, though, may find the system's guidelines too restrictive. Autographix does plan to introduce a scanner in 1986, but the company is primarily dedicated to the production of quality presentation graphics at an affordable price.
Artronics
Artronics, on the other hand, is a computer graphics company with an orientation toward video animation and the broadcast world. Artronics/3M Studio Computer systems are available in three specialized versions designed to meet the needs of broadcasters, video producers and print artists and designers. Each of the three systems is capable of generating 16.8 million colors and supports both paint and resolution independent vector software.
512 512 8 is an eight-bitplane, 512-line resolution system that generates 256 colors per image. Priced at $29,000, the system runs Animagic, Artronic's animation software.
512 512 24 is a 24-bitplane, 512-line resolution system that generates approximately one-quarter million colors per image. Priced at $41,000, the system optionally lets the artist paint with transparent or watercolor-like effects.
1024 1024 8 is the graphic industry's first PC-based 1024 1024 pixel system, and features four times the resolution of 512-line systems. Generating 256 colors per image, the system sells for $41,000.
Artronics/3M also offers two major resolution-independent vector software packages that allow you to generate vector-based charts and create vector-based art by drawing with the stylus on the bitpad. And because it is resolution-independent, the art produced is noticeably free of the jagged edges often associated with computerized graphics.
Artronics is unique in that it is the only PC-based computer graphics system to merge paint with vector images, with resulting images that combine clarity with rich colors.
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Because it supports both paint and vector functions, Artronics/3M is a company that allows for features like airbrushing, shading, gradations, cropping, sizing, anamorphic scaling, pixel editing and zoming, as well as vector-oriented features such as high output resolution of up to 40,000 lines.
Established in 1939, the company grew out of one that produced art instruments. It prides itself on user friendliness and versatility--their product line ranges from inexpensive business graphic packages all the way up to pricey broadcast systems.
Artronics plans to announce additions to its already extensive product line, including a video graphics animator that's a high resolution 3D vector imager, and a video paint library with storage options up to 1,200 images.
Dicomed
With its Dicomed Imaginator, the Minneapolis-based company offers the top of the line in computer graphics equipment. With an 8,000-line resolution capability, Dicomed sports a roster of clients that includes Kodak, Ralph Lauren and major Fortune 500 firms. A vendor of both hardware and software, Dicomed does not yet include a color scanning feature with the product. That's because a photograph can be scanned in right now at only 1,000 lines, and the company refuses to add color scanning until the quality of the monitor screen can be brought past 2,000 lines.
An icon-driven system, the Imaginator isn't difficult to learn--training takes about three days. Illustrators are likely to feel at ease using the system, which was designed by engineers who worked hand-in-hand with artists.
The system has no true paint capability yet; it is object based. This means that an unlimited number of objects can be created and placed one on top of another. And it is also possible to stop and go back when creating an image without having to recreate the entire process.
The Imaginator has three palettes with 16.7 M colors available. It's possible to perform functions such as shading and 360-degree rotations of both text and graphic primitives. Output devices include Honeywell Hard Copy and Imagen, Apple and Hewlett Packard laser printers. Output format options to film include 35mm comic, 4 5, 8 10, 16mm and 70mm.
A library of 1,630 images is included with the system, which also features complete networking capabilities. Sizing, zoom and scaling functions are available to the creative artist, as well as a function called interpolation, which, when given the first and last steps, creates all the individual frames in between, as in animation.
Although some artists might be put off by the Imaginator's $159,000 price tag, there's a product called the Dicomed D38 series that sells for $40,000 and has virtually all of the same features--except that it handles only 64 colors. And Dicomed markets Presenter PC presentation graphics software for IBM and Compaq personal computers for $1,000.
Genigraphics Corporation
What is perhaps Genigraphic's greatest strength lies in its film recorder, which is produced in-house and allows for slides to be developed in as little as two-and-a-half minutes. The company supports a product line that ranges from an $11,000 PC-based business graphics package to a $97,500 console that allows an artist to create, manipulate and store high quality presentation graphics, using 256 colors per visual and 12 fonts.
The Genigraphics PS-2000 High Resolution film recorder records slides at 2,048 line by 4.096 element display.
New systems are sold with fonts that existed on machines 10 years ago; Genigraphics feels that continuity is essential in a product line.
Currently in development is a paint system that will offer all the options, such as a variety of brush strokes. And it is capable of supporting a professional quality scanner that will also feature broadcast quality.
Although the system can be learned in a week, it generally takes about two months of training for an artist to understand the multitude of options available to him or her. This isn't always a problem, though--there are hundreds of freelance artists who were trained on the system. Also, Genigraphics has users working in processing centers and labs across the country, which means a full network of product support is available to users.
A productive slide system that prides itself on creativity, flexibility and productivity, Genigraphics is preparing for an inevitable future in print with its paint package. In business since 1974, Genigraphics feels ready to face the future with a product line that remembers the importance of continuity.
Images II
Originally created by the New York Institute of Technology, the Images II product is now marketed by a company called Computer Graphic Laboratories, Inc. Manufactured are business graphics software and an interpolation package that opens the door to an array of animated effects. A paint system with video animation capabilities, the Images II is a DEC-based operation that supports software such as Big 'n Fast, which gives the artist the ability to create high resolution painting of up to 4096 pixels square. Video resolution output is 512 486, and film output is 2048 2048. The Images II foundation sells for $49,500. The system is ideal for anyone who wants to create business graphics, use a paint system, and experiment with animation.
Lightspeed
Lightspeed Qolor Media and Design System is the ultimate design tool. Because the company was founded by designers, the Qolor system uses a language familiar to artists. One of Qolor's most powerful features is the ability to incorporate anything you can scan into your work on the system, instantly and in full color. Although it is possible to generate business graphics, the focus of the system is on creativity. Information is input through a puck and a video camera. A multipass camera allows red, green and blue to be imaged in separately.
Paint functions such as zooming, airbrushing, scaling and blending are featured in the system. Rotations of type are possible, and up to 400,000 of 16.8 million colors can be displayed at once. A high resolution film recorder outputs to 35mm, 4 5, 8 10, or instant film; and an ink-jet thermal printer produces black-and-white or full-color paper proofs
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