What is an Image?

An image is a rectangular grid of pixels. It has a definite height and a definite width counted in
pixels. Each pixel is square and has a fixed size on a given display. however different computer
monitors may use different sized pixels.
Each pixel has a color. The color is a 32-bit integer. The first eight bits determine the redness of
the pixel, the next eight bits the greenness, the next eight bits the blueness, and the remaining
eight bits the transparency of the pixel.
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Transparency

Red

Green

Blue

Each of these values can be interpreted as an unsigned byte between 0 and 255. Within the color
higher numbers are brighter. Thus a red of 0 is no red at all while a red of 255 is a very bright
red.
Currently Java only supports two levels of transparency: Completely opaque (255) and
completely transparent (0). Values of 1 through 254 are treated as completely transparent.
Different colors are made by mixing different levels of the three primary colors. For example,
medium gray is 127 red, 127 green, and 127 blue.
Medium Grey
255

127

127

127

Pure white is 255 red, 255 green, 255 blue.

Bright White
255

255

255

255

Pure red is 255 red, 0 green, 0 blue.

Pure Red
255

255

A light cream is 255 red, 231 green, and 187 blue.

Light Cream
255

255

231

187