Raster graphics editor



A rasterized graphics editor or rasterized image editor is a application that allows the user to create and edit images of rasterized graphics interactively and store them on the computer in a graphic file format, such as JPEG, PNG, GIF and Tiff.

To view images, it is generally preferable to use a image viewer rather than a raster graphics editor.

Some editors are specifically designed for editing photorealistic images, such as the popular Adobe Photoshop, while others are more oriented towards artistic illustrations, such as Adobe Fireworks.

Raster graphics editors vs Vector graphics editors
Vector graphics editors and rasterized graphics editors often contrast, and their characteristics complement each other. Vector graphics editors are better for graphic design, layout design, typography, logos, artistic illustrations, technical illustrations, diagramming and flowcharts. Rasterized graphics editors are best suited for photo manipulation, photorealistic illustrations, "collage", and hand-drawn illustrations using a digitizer tablet.

Many illustrators today use Corel Photo-Paint and Adobe Photoshop to create all kinds of illustrations. Recent versions of raster graphics editors such as GIMP and Photoshop support vector-like tools, and vector graphics editors such as CorelDRAW, Adobe Illustrator, Xara Xtreme, Adobe Fireworks, Inkscape or SK1 are gradually adopting tools and techniques that were once unique to raster graphics editors (such as "blurring").

Common features

 * Select regions to edit.
 * Draw lines with brushes of different colors, sizes, shapes and pressure.
 * Fill a region with a color solor, color gradient, or texture.
 * Select a color using different color models (e.g. RGB color model, HSV color model), or using a color picker.
 * Write text in different styles of font.
 * Remove all kinds of imperfections in photographs, such as wrinkles, scratches and dirt.
 * Combine layers, each with a different job.
 * Edit and convert between different color models.
 * Apply filters to achieve varied effects.
 * Convert between different file formats.