Dtpfaq's Blog

Vector Graphics

Vector graphics are made with the use of geometrical elements and are based on mathematical equations. Points, lines, curves and other geometrical shapes are used to create vector graphics. Vector graphics files store the lines, shapes and colors that make up an image as mathematical formula. A vector graphics program uses these mathematical formulas to construct the screen image, building the best quality image possible, given the screen resolution. These graphics are scalable to any size and detail.

There are several drawing vector graphic softwares where you can create and edit vectors. The great advantage is that you can save the vectors in bitmap format at any resolution. The vector files are very small but the saved bitmap will have a different size, it will be bigger. This depends on the size and resolution you choose to save. After saving as bitmap image this will became raster and it will lose the advantage of scalability and will lose resolution when resizing . Also you wont be able to edit the bitmap, the changes can be made only in the creation software.

Vector graphics are preferred to raster graphics for many reasons. Vectors files are smaller than raster images and image quality is not lost, you can easily edit vectors points and colors without losing the scalability. They are great for printing. You can print a vector graphic on a magazine at a small size and then use the same graphic on a huge banner, it will print sharp in both cases.

The World Wide Web Consortium standard for vector graphics is SVG – Scalable Vector Graphic. Many web browsers have some support for rendering AVG data but full implementations of the standard are still rare.