For Confused Minds: What Are Vector Graphics?

Hello Everybody

It has been a long time since i discussed about various graphic design components. Below i have discussed(in brief) about "What Vector Graphics Are?, Their Specifications and Other Related Information." I'm sure the information provided will help the newbies and moderates in acquiring and refreshing their design knowledge and expertise.

Vector graphics are based on mathematical definitions. These graphics are built of various small points which combine to make curves and lines. There are a few points known as Bezier curves which connect the control points. Designers generally prefer to use this program because it gives the best and crisp graphics.

Some of the features of Vector graphics are as follows:

1. Small Size (because they contain only the data that makes Bezier curves and points)
2. Stored in EPS-file format
3. Scale without loss of Quality (can be scaled up-to 20%)

The Programs and Applications which handle Vector Graphics:

1. Adobe Illustrator
2. Corel Draw
3. Macromedia Freehand

Vector Graphics vs Bitmap Graphics

1. Vector Gs are more flexible than Bitmap Gs
2. Quality is awesome as Vector Gs are high resolution centric
3. Best print quality
4. Vector Gs are made up of Paths while Bitmaps are made up pf Pixels
5. Bitmap Gs are used for Photography while Vector Gs for Illustrations

I hope this preliminary info would add some power to your knowledge base. Any thoughts are most welcome!

Thank you

 

Jonathan Hue,

What a neat and nice post for all the confused minds (including me in the count ) out there.

It was a pleasure to read. However, I am not an expert in the field, so I'll stay aside from giving any further comments.

Thanks for your share again,

Turbulence

 

There's a few amendments to your info, vector graphics are not resolution dependent, they only become resolution dependent when they're rasterized to become bitmap graphics. They can be increased in size almost infinitely. They also contain the colour information/pattern of the file. To confuse the argument however vector graphics can be found within bitmap images and bitmap images can be embedded within vector application files. Examples of this are bit map images with clipping paths, and logos with photographic elements.

I wrote a simple explanation for bitmap and vector graphics a few years ago, perhaps some will find it helpful:

We refer to image file types by 2 categories:-
Bitmap – images defined by small blocks of colour (pixels) which are often referred to as digital images. As the image is increased in size the pixels become more apparent so that a high resolution (HiRes) image moves towards a lower resolution. Therefore the physical size of the image relates to the resolution.
There are various colour ranges within bitmap images referred to as depth of colour: 2bit – black/white; 8bit – 256 colours; 16bit – thousands of colours; and 24bit – millions of colours.
Examples of bitmap images are: photographs and logos which may be saved in various formats: .bmp, .gif, .pict, .png, .tiff, .jpg, .psd, .eps, and .dcs.

Vector – images defined by areas of colour within a path. Vector images are not restricted by resolution, therefore they can be magnified without deterioration to the image quality.
Examples of vector images are: maps, logos, diagrams, charts, fonts, which are usually saved as .eps or .swf, but also Illustrator (.ai) and Freehand file formats (.fh#).

Colour modes:
RGB – Red/Green/Blue – the colour spectrum of light
CMYK – the colour spectrum of print
SPOT – a special colour(s) in addition to standard inks
INDEX – a reduced colour spectrum for web images, often used by gif and jpg formats

BMP: A PC colour file which usually signifies a low quality image and a low range of colours, often used for small icons.
GIF: Used for websites, low quality, very small file size but has the advantage of transparent background.
JPG: Compressed file ranging from low to high quality, usually RGB format which is converted for print purposes.
PNG: Highly compressed file that supports excellent transparency, often used for the web but suffers from slight colour variation.

 

One other point, the huge benefit vector graphics have over bitmap images is the size difference. A vector file makes approx 1mb file (its quite easy to reduce this by removing info that's not relative to the particular file) whereas a print quality bitmap image at A4 size will be approx 40mb and subsequently larger for larger sizes.

 

Good and useful info here. Thanks.

 

thanks for the info... i love vector grphx...

 

Thank you Poxicator!

My point was to give brief and concise info about Vector Gs as you often come across multitude of Qs asking for elaborations by fellow members, new or old both. You shared extremely detailed and helpful info about Vector Gs which Must and Would help our members.

Below are various Jargons we come across usually, without knowing what they actually stand for:

BMP: Bitmap
JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group
GIF: Graphic Interchange Format
PNG: Portable Network Graphics
DIP: Device-Independent Bitmap
TIFF: Tagged Image File Format
PSD: PhotoShop Document
TARGA: Truevision Advanced Raster Graphics Adapter


Thank you

 

very useful information .. thanks for sharing !

 

You should add these to that list:
EPS: Encapsulated PostScript
RAW: bitmap image from digital camera with very high compression and camera detail eg. model, aperature, f-stop etc. Supports higher bit depth than the normal 8bit bitmap images.
SVG: Scaleable Vector Graphic, vector graphic for the web.
SWF: Small Web Format, vector graphic created by Adobe Flash.
DCS: Desktop colour seperation - a bitmap image consisting of more than 4 colour plates, often used in print to define a specific pantone colour(s) in addition to cmyk.

Recently Microsoft introduced a new image type which has changed it name a number of times but is now known as HD Photo or WDP. This format is similar to TIFF but supports higher bit depth (8, 16, 24 & 32bit).

 

A nice thread with helpful notes for ppl entering the graphic design field. Keep up the good work guys. Reps added to the author of the thread.

 

Hey Thanks alot poxi, i was compiling some more information so as to add it with this post. Your reply has almost half of it Thanks again..

Slowly we i would jump into more details as well...

Thank you

 

vector is getting popular, you see it in commercials now along with advertisements on the web.