B

Bezier curve

A bezier is a mathematical method of calculating a curve. In vector drawing programs, such as Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw or Freehand, it is used to draw precise curves and circles in diagrams.

See also: Vector graphics

Bitmaps

extend. bitmap image, pixel-based image, resolution dependent images
A bitmap image is a graphics file that is made up of pixels. It's quality and usable size are defined by the number of pixels per square inch (PPI). In direct contrast to a vector graphic image, bitmap images will lose quality if they are enlarged and gain quality if they are reduced in size. As such, they are resolution dependent.

Photographic images are bitmaps. Many of the most common file formats used professionally by graphic designers, pre-press and web designers are bitmaps. For example, TIFF, JPEG, GIF and native Photoshop PSD files (although these can now combine vector and bitmap information). Some graphics file formats are capable of being either vector or bitmap, for example EPS – Encapsulated Postscript and WMF - Windows Meta Files.

See also: Vector graphics

Bitmapping

A printed image that has bitmapped, is an image that has been output at too low a resolution and so it appears to be jagged or aliased.

See also: Low resolution

Blender

Blender is a free open source tool for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, post-production. Available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux operating systems

BMP

extend. Bitmap file format
In the sense that graphic designers use bitmap images, this has little to do with the Bitmap (.BMP) file format. The .BMP file format is simply the name of an early bitmap type of graphics format. For quality reasons, it is never used in design for print and extremely rarely in web design.

Burn

extend. Photoshop Burn tool
In the graphics World, to burn an image is to darken it selectively. Although, it comes from a technique used in traditional photography, to control exposure on a specific part of a photographic print, this technique is nowadays usually performed using a digital image editor such as Photoshop.

The Burn tool is part of the same set of tools in Photoshop as the Dodge tool and the Sponge Tool.

See also: Dodge tool, Sponge tool