Bitmap, Raster, Vector, how can I tell them apart?!
Graphics formats can sometimes be confusing. With so many types, many clients or small businesses don’t understand which to use for the web, which to use for print, or why the logo they have on the letterhead won’t blow up to fit a larger canvas.
Well fear no more! In this article I will go over the main styles of images, Vector and Bitmap/Raster, along with what formats belong in these categories, and how they are put to use.
Bitmap / Raster
- This style is created with pixels. Each pixel is assigned a location & color
- Photos & on-screen imagery are the main uses for this style of image
- Unfortunately, raster images can lose detail & become somewhat jagged when enlarged on-screen or printed at a larger size than designed for
Vector
- Vector images are created with both straight and curved lines defined by mathematical objects
- Logos and text that will be used in print or large scale viewing are best fit for Vector file formats
- Vector files on the other hand retain their quality when printed or viewed at any resolution
Bitmap / Raster File Formats
JPEG [.jpg] – In computing, JPEG is a commonly used method of lossy compression for photographic images. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality.
GIF [.gif] -The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is a bitmap image format that was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and has since come into widespread usage on the World Wide Web due to its wide support and portability.The format supports up to 8 bits per pixel allowing a single image to reference a palette of up to 256 distinct colors chosen from the 24-bit RGB color space.
PNG [.png] – Portable Network Graphics is a bitmapped image format that employs lossless data compression. PNG was created to improve upon and replace GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) as an image-file format not requiring a patent license.
PSD [.psd] – The .PSD (Photoshop Document), Photoshop’s native format, stores an image with support for most imaging options available in Photoshop. These include layers with masks, color spaces, ICC profiles, transparency, text, alpha channels and spot colors, clipping paths, and duotone settings.
Vector File Formats
EPS [.eps] – Encapsulated PostScript, or EPS, is a DSC-conforming PostScript document with additional restrictions intended to make EPS files usable as a graphics file format. In other words, EPS files are more-or-less self-contained, reasonably predictable PostScript documents that describe an image or drawing, that can be placed within another PostScript document.
AI [.ai] – Adobe Illustrator Artwork (AI) is a proprietary file format developed by Adobe Systems for representing single-page vector-based drawings in either the EPS or PDF formats.
As far as the file formats I used, those are pretty much it. Sometimes I will use .PDF, but for the most part I stick to those listed above. They are usually the easiest to work with, and most clients are able to open the formats.
Well, I hope I gave you some insight into graphics formats, the differences between them, and the different file formats used. Please feel free to leave me a comment if you feel I have missed something, or just that you enjoyed the post.
Thanks for stopping by!
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