Digital media denotes information stored in electronic form. This is the opposite of analogue media. For example, analog media includes information on paper or other physical media, while digital media is any information which is viewable via computer. Digital media is stored as binary data, which is then interpreted by software on your computer and presented to you as viewable text or images and audible sound.

Digital media is now ubiquitous; now that most of us use computers on a daily basis, we are constantly exposed to digital media whether we think about it or not. The internet itself is simply a large and complex collection of digital media. One of the types of digital media which is common is the E card. These digital media pieces may include text, images and audio. Some E cards include 2D or even 3D animations – there are also E cards which are video-based.

Most E cards begin with an image of some sort. These images may be created by the user using Adobe Illustrator or similar software, taken from clip art libraries or scanned from a photograph. Digital photographs, just like printed ones are made up of pixels. In digital media, these pixels are each represented by a bit of data. The more pixels there are in a picture, the more information it contains. For the user, this means a larger (and usually higher resolution) image displayed in the screen.

2D and 3D animations are moving pictures. These animations are composed of a group of images put into a sequence using a scripting language. These animations are larger than a static (non-moving) image. The same kinds of scripts can be used to make moving text on an E card. Audio files can also be added to the E card for effect.

All together, these images text and audio files (or animations and video, if using) comprise the contents of an E card. E cards are far easier to send to your recipient than a regular card – all you need is their email address. They can’t get lost in the post and you don’t even need a stamp! There are thousands of different E cards out there to choose from; the most popular style are funny E cards. You can send E cards for any occasion – birthdays, holidays and more!