6 The Graphical Object

The graphical object is the central concept of the Bifrost imaging model. The graphical object is central for two reasons. The first reason is that the graphical object is the smallest unit that can be drawn. The second reason is that the graphical object contains all necessary information to draw itself. The information necessary to draw a graphical object, is contained in the description of the shape and the paint, presented in the previous chapters. Notice, that in traditional systems the smallest unit that can be drawn does not always contain all necessary information needed to draw itself. The next section elaborates on the concept of local graphic context.

Figure 14: A graphical object is a composition of a shape and a paint