Visual Extraction

Visual extraction is a type of puzzle extraction method, usually involving creating, removing, or altering images or symbols. Occasionally, visual extraction may also deal heavily with written text, but when it does it will also involve covering or overlaying with something, or use the text as a way to present something in a non-text-based fashion (such as drawing a picture by connecting letters).

Visual extraction is often paired with Image Answers, as these extraction methods can easily produce images that can either clue text answers or be taken whole-cloth as an image answer.

Elements

 * Bitmaps - An array of bits (binary) that can be used for multiple visual extraction purposes. They can be arranged to form images by was of ASCII art, or have bits (or bit clusters) assigned to particular colors, allowing for full color pictures to be painted.
 * Charades - A game in which people act out words or phrases without talking, often by imitating parts of the words. Not to be confused with the cryptic definition of charades.
 * Connect-The-Dots - Given a series of numbered dots, solvers draw lines between sequential numbers in order to draw a large picture.
 * Obscuring The Unnecessary - By covering up information not important for extraction, solvers are left with exactly what they need.
 * Overlaying - Similar to Obscuring, but overlaying manages to preserve information from both layers. This often results in a new image entirely, but sometimes it's about what stays the same instead.
 * Paint-By-X - Assigning colors to different items in a set allows for painting of pictures on maps, in spreadsheets, or in the aforementioned bitmaps.