> Raster or Vector?

published by: Christopher Gaines

published date: July 16, 2022, 6:22 p.m.

What is vector? In my over 20 years as a graphic designer this is the question the heads of those who are not graphic designers. However, this is an important concept to know for the graphic designer where this can make a difference in how an image file is executed.

The example showed before you may not be the best example as one looks clearly as a photograph, which it is, and the other is a form of line art. The photograph is an example of a raster image. A raster image is made up of pixels. The more you zoom into the image on a computer screen the more you get to see those pixels which are squares of color that make up the whole image. Vector is different. If opened in vector software like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw just to name a few, you may keep zooming in and never find the pixels. Vector art is generally flat colors, but can also use gradients in such ways to add dimension. In some cases vector art can incorporate much detail to the point of realism that may appear like a photograph. This would generally create for a larger file size.

When printing, raster images as long as they are 300dpi and a large enough print size will come out crisp, while vector images printed with never lose resolution. Raster images are resolution dependtant while vector is resolution independant.