Computer illustration or digital illustration is the use of digital tools to produce images, under the direct manipulation of the artist, usually through a pointing device such as a tablet or a mouse. It is distinguished from computer-generated art, which is produced by a computer using mathematical models created by the artist. Digital/computer illustration is also distinct in that its primary design is an original construction - a drawing/design from scratch - and not a digital photograph or a scan digitally manipulated. Elements from the latter may find its way into a work, but is not the primary basis or source for the illustration. A graphics tablet (or digitizing tablet) is a computer peripheral device that allows for a relatively simple method of inputing hand-drawn graphics or art into a computer in real time. ... Operating a mechanical 1: Pulling the mouse turns the ball. ...

There are two main types of tools used for digital illustration: bitmapped and vector. Popular examples of the former include Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Corel Painter, and the GIMP. Popular examples of the latter include Freehand, Illustrator, CorelDRAW, and Inkscape. Suppose the smiley face in the top left corner is an RGB bitmap image. ... Vector graphics or geometric modeling describes the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and polygons to represent images in computer graphics. ... Adobe Photoshop is a bitmap graphics editor (with some text and vector graphics capabilities) developed and published by Adobe Systems. ... Paint Shop Pro 7. ... Painter is the name of a software package used to create natural-looking artistic images using a computer. ... Often, the name GIMP is used erroneously for the Gimp-Print printer driver set. ... Macromedia FreeHand is a computer application for modifying 2D and 3D vector graphics, oriented to the professional desktop publishing market. ... Adobe Illustrator 10 Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based drawing program developed and marketed by Adobe Systems. ... CorelDRAW is a vector-based drawing application developed and marketed by Corel Corporation of Ottawa, Canada. ... The Inkscape logo Inkscape is an open source vector graphics editor. ...