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As a visual communicator, you must produce the best, most skillfully crafted materials to deliver the correct message to the correct audience. To communicate effectively, you must have a solid understanding of various file types and delivery systems. You must know when and how to employ raster pictures and vector graphics for each type of design project because they serve distinct objectives.
What is Raster Graphics?
Raster pictures use bitmaps to store information. This suggests a huge bitmap is required for a large file. The image file will require more storage space the larger the image. For instance, although a 3072 × 2048 image (from a 6.3 Mp digital camera) needs to store information for an enormous 6,291,456 pixels, a 640 x 480 image only needs to store information for 307,200 pixels. To help minimise these file sizes, we employ methods that compress photos. JPEG and GIF are examples of popular compressed picture formats. These images are simple to resize; however, bitmaps become pixelated or blurry when enlarged. As a result, vector graphics are used whenever an image needs to be scaled to a different size.
Advantages:
- Each cell’s position in the cell matrix suggests where it is in the world. As a result, only an origin point, such as the bottom left corner, is stored in terms of geographic coordinates.
- Data analysis is typically simple to programme and rapid to complete due to the nature of the data storage technique.
- Raster maps, such as one attribute maps, are well suited for mathematical modelling and quantification because of their intrinsic properties.
What is Vector Graphics?
Vector graphics use sequential commands, mathematical formulas, or algorithms that arrange lines or forms in a 2-D or 3-D scene. Since vector drawings are made up of mathematical curves, printing works best with them. Vector drawings, therefore, print even when they are magnified. A vector has both a magnitude and a direction in physics. Vector graphics produce and save the file as a series of vector statements. Instead of creating a bit in the file for every line segment, we use instructions that provide a list of points that need to be connected.
Advantages:
- Without generalisation, data can be represented in its original resolution and shape.
- The aesthetic quality of graphic output is typically higher (conventional cartographic representation);
- Data is kept in an accurate geographic location.
- Enables effective topology encoding, resulting in more effective topological operations, such as network analysis and proximity.
When ought a vector or a raster to be used?
You can enlarge the image to the desired size with vector graphics without sacrificing quality. As long as their machine can handle it, users can increase the sizes as much as they like. Vector graphics easily defeat raster images due to the basic difference. However, there are some reasons why employing raster graphics may be the preferable choice. The use of images is one such instance. Raster images are what all images are. The image can be converted to a vector; however, doing so may be difficult and result in a loss of finer features. Raster pictures are, therefore, the most suitable for use in photography.
Raster Graphics vs Vector Graphics
| Raster Graphics | Vector Graphics |
| Pixels are used to create raster graphics. | Lines, curves, and fills are used to generate vector images. |
| Graphics formats like GIF, JPEG, PNG, and PCX are preferred by raster. | Graphical formats used by vectors include EPS, WMF, TrueType, PICT, etc. |
| Raster cannot be scaled very well. | Any size can be achieved with a vector. |
| When it comes to photo editing, they perform well. | They function best when used in logos, graphics, and drawings. |
| In GIMP, Photoshop, and paint programmes, we can use rasters. | CorelDraw, Illustrator, and Inkscape all support the use of vectors. |
| A raster file must be converted into a vector image, which is a difficult and time-consuming process. | A vector image can be readily transformed into a raster image. |
| Raster graphics are difficult to print when the number of spot colours is constrained. | Vector pictures are simple to print since the number of colours can be changed at any point while printing. |
| Any file format can be converted from a raster file. | The vector files cannot be modified. |
