ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with all aspects of digital imaging. Digital images are at their mostfundamental sets of numbers rather than physical entities. One of the key differencesbetween working with traditional silver halide photography and working digitally is the vast range of options that you have at your fingertips, before, during and after image capture. Of
course the problem with this is that things can get very complicated. You need an understanding
of all aspects of the digital imaging chain to ensure that you get the optimum results that you
require. Digital image manipulation involves playing with numbers and what is more, this can be
done in a non-destructive way. Image manipulation is not, however, confined to the use of image
processing applications such as Photoshop. The image is changed at every stage in the imaging
chain, leading to unexpected results and makes the control of colour a complicated process. The
path through the imaging chain requires decisions to be made about image resolution, colour
space and file format, for example. Each of these will have an impact on the quality of the final
product. To understand these processes, this chapter covers five main areas: digital image
workflow, the digital image file, file formats and compression, image processing and colour
management.