Vector and Bitmap Graphics

Vector vs Bitmap Images

Bitmaps, also known as raster images, are made up of pixels; a bunch of tiny dots or squares each having a specific color value. A bitmap containing few pixels, (such as an icon on your computer screen) is considered a low-quality or low-resolution image. A bitmap with tens of thousands of pixels, (such as a photo downloaded from your digital camera) is considered a high-resolution image.

Vector images are made up of lines, strokes, simple or complex geometric shapes, fills, gradients, etc, and are designed by graphic artists using professional software.

The various elements in a vector image are recorded by their mathematical properties and are reconstructed each time the image is opened for viewing. Image resolution has essentially no meaning for a vector image—it looks perfect at whatever size it is displayed.

The Graphic Design Industry

A bitmap can easily be scaled to a lower resolution, but when scaling to a larger size, quality can become an issue—sometimes there just isn't enough detail in the original image.

Vector graphics are perfect for logos, which usually have clean lines and which need to be re-scalable for use in various media. Another advantage of vector images is that their file size is typically smaller then the file size of bitmaps.

See Logo Design for some examples of graphics created with vector software.

A vector image can be made complex enough to look almost like a real photo. However, at this point the file size becomes much larger, and it may be more practical to work with the image as a bitmap instead.

Graphic Design Software

Professional design software can easily convert vector graphics to bitmaps. Such software can also do a surprisingly good job of converting bitmaps to vector images, although a graphic artist will usually need to clean up and improve the resulting vector image.

When editing a bitmap, the more changes that are made to it the more "information-loss" occurs. The quality of a bitmap can actually be diminished by over-editing. It is important to keep a copy of the original unedited bitmap to revert to when necessary.

A vector image can be edited again and again without loss of information.

With professional design software, both bitmaps and vectors can be used within a single graphic or layout. The integration of bitmaps and vectors is extremely useful in designing for websites, brochures, and any other type of media.

Most of the examples in the Advertising & Marketing section were created using a combination of bitmaps and vector graphics.

3D Graphic Design

It is interesting to note that the 3D computer animation used in so many movies these days, (and in other industries) is created using 3D vector graphics.

Several 3D examples may be viewed in the 3D Presentation section.



If you need a graphic design service, check out the Graphic Design & Marketing section, then call or email to request a price quote.