Although General-Purpose applications are widely used in almost all businesses, specialized applications are widely used in certain businesses. These programs include graphics programs and web authoring programs.
Graphics
Graphics are widely used by professionals in the graphic arts business. They use desktop publishing programs, image editing programs, illustration programs, and video editors.
- Desktop publishing programs or page layout programs allow you to mix text and graphics to create professional quality publications. While word processors focus on creating text and have the ability to combine text and graphics, desktop publishers focus on page design and layout and offer more flexibility. Professional graphic artists use desktop publishing programs to create documents such as brochures, newsletters, newspapers and textbooks. Popular desktop publishing programs include Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher, and Graphic Artists.
- Image editors, also known as photo editors, are specialized graphics programs for editing and improving digital photographs. They are often used to remove grazing and other defects in photographs. Photographs are made up of thousands of dots or pixels that create images and are referred to as bitmaps or raster images. However, one limitation of bit-map images is when they expand Images can be pixelated or jagged at the edges as they go. For example, when the letter A extended, the edges of that letter jag as shown by the expanded view. Popular image editors include Adobe Photoshop, Coral Paintshop, Pro, GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), and Windows Photo Gallery.
- Drawings program, also known as Illustration programs, are used to create and edit vector images. While bitmap images use pixels to represent images, vector images use geometric shapes and elements, also known as vector illustrations, to avoid pixelated or torn edges created by bitmap images. Since these elements are described by mathematical equations, they can be resized quickly and easily, they can be painted. They can be textured and handled skillfully. An image is a mixture of many elements. Illustration programs are often used to create graphic designs, page layouts, and sharp artistic images. Popular illustration programs include Adobe Illustrator, Coreldraw, and Inkspace.
- Video editors are used to enhance the quality and format of the video. Video editors who were once used only by professionals in Hollywood are now used to edit high quality videos captured using smartphones and other devices. Special effects, music tracks, titles and on-screen graphics can be easily added. Just a few years ago, video editors were used only by professionals, even with specialized hardware and software. Now, many free or low cost editors are designed to help the novice videographer. The three most popular video editors are Windows Live Movie Maker, Apple iMovie, and YouTube Video Editor.
Video Game Design Software
Have you ever considered video game designing? Creating 30 worlds like the confusing Skyrim or Bioshock may seem unrealistic at first, but with some experimentation you can create impressive games yourself with the right software. The first step is to consider the length of the game and the plot before the game. The second step is to choose the right video game design software.
video game design software will help you organize your thoughts and guide you in the game design process along with character development and environmental design. There are many options ranging from free software to very expensive software designed for professional game designers. Some popular free or inexpensive video game design software are Yoyo Gamemaker, Stencil, Flixel and Unity.
