Vector formats. What are the main differences between raster graphics formats?
Graphic files come in various formats, for example: jpg, gif, tiff, ai, eps, bmp, cdr, etc. and although they all carry information about an image, each format has unique properties and is adapted to solve different problems. tasks.
However, among huge amount graphic editors and formats, two global categories can be distinguished - vector and raster graphics. Just like formats, raster and vector graphics serve different purposes and complement each other.
And yet, what's the difference between vector graphics and raster? Which one is better to use for creating layouts? In this article you will find full information and you will be able to sort this issue out once and for all.
Imagine a grid or chessboard. Each square (raster or dot) has its own color and brightness. A raster image consists of such a mosaic. The more points on the plane and the smaller they are, the less we notice them and the more clearly we see the image.
Looking at thousands of dots on the screen different colors and shades, we guess objects and images in it. It is these colorful dots that make up any digital photograph. A raster image, unlike a vector image, is capable of conveying a realistic image consisting of thousands of small details.
Modern cameras allow you to take pictures at tens of millions of points. To see the points that make up such a photograph, it is necessary to enlarge it many times:
Raster graphics are used when working with realistic images.
Advantages
Vector is used much more often and is easier to view.
- Capable of reproducing an image of any complexity, regardless of the number of colors and soft gradient transitions.
Flaws
The simplest raster image has a larger size than a vector image
- When scaling, clarity disappears
Vector graphics do not consist of dots containing color information, but of anchor points and vector lines connecting them. The vector image file contains information about the positions of the points, as well as information about the line passing through the reference points.
That is, a vector file contains information in the form of formulas and mathematical calculations, and therefore has a small size, regardless of the actual scale of the depicted canvas. Vector graphics are indispensable when designing drawings, drawing maps, various schemes etc. Vector graphics are also often used in print design.
Advantages
Image clarity is maintained when scaling
- Any image can be easily edited without loss of quality
Flaws
You can only depict simple elements unlike raster
- Converting a vector to a raster is easy, but converting a raster to a vector is difficult
Video lesson:
The following video shows the difference between a raster and a vector using two images as an example.
Brief summary.
Raster graphics consist of multi-colored dots, and vector graphics consist of geometric shapes. It is noteworthy that vector graphics can be easily converted to raster (rasterized). That is, a vector drawing can be converted into a raster image of the required resolution, but converting a raster image into a vector is quite difficult without loss of quality.
There are two ways to convert from raster to vector, the first is tracing (the process when the computer automatically recognizes the contrasting parts of the image and draws the expected vectors), the second is this (the computer can sometimes incorrectly see how the vector should go and then you have to draw it manually).
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Reducing the size of raster and vector images.
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in their memory. Test on the topic “Computer Graphics” Option 2 2 Multimedia is A) receiving moving images on the display; B) application program for creating and processing drawings; B) combining high-quality images with realistic sound; D) the field of computer science that deals with the problems of drawing on a computer. 3Select correct sequence stages of development computer graphics: a) The emergence of graphic displays; b) Symbolic graphics; c) The emergence of plotters; d) The emergence of a color printer. A) a, c, d, b; B) b, c, a, d; C) b, a, c, d; D) a, b, d, c. 3. The creation of arbitrary drawings and drawings is carried out by A) scientific graphics; B) design graphics; B) business graphics; D) illustrative graphics. 4. What computer device carries out the sound sampling process? A) sound card; B) columns; B) headphones; D) processor. 5. A raster image is... A) a mosaic of very small elements - pixels; B) a combination of primitives; B) color palette. 6. Point graphic screen can be painted in one of the colors: red, green, brown, black. How much video memory will be allocated to encode each pixel? A) 4 bits; B) 2 bytes; B) 4 bytes; D) 2 bits; D) 3 bits. 7. The GR tool is: A) Line; B) color; B) sprinkler; D) drawing. 8. A graphic primitive is: A) line; B) eraser; B) copying; D) color. 9. To obtain a 4-color image, you need to allocate A) 1 byte for each pixel; B) 1 bit; B) 2 bytes; D) 2 bits 10. A discrete signal is...A) digital signal; B) the number of measurements made by the device in 1 second; C) the value of a physical quantity continuously changing over time; D) a table with the results of measurements of a physical quantity at fixed points in time. 11. At what sampling frequency is sound reproduction more accurate? A) 44.1 kHz; B) 11 kHz; B) 22 kHz; D) 8 kHz. 12. What can be considered disadvantages raster graphics compared to vector? A) Large volume graphic files. B) Photographic image quality. C) Ability to view images on a graphic display screen. D) Distortions when scaling. 13.What are the disadvantages of an LCD monitor? A) light weight; B) darkening when the viewing angle changes; B) absence of e/m radiation; D) small volume. 14For coding Green colour the code is 1011. How many colors are in the palette? 15Find the volume of the recorded quad audio file if the recording lasted 4 minutes, using a 16-bit audio encoding depth and a sampling frequency of 32 kHz. 16To store a raster image measuring 64 by 64 pixels, 512 bytes of memory were allocated. What is the maximum possible number of colors in the image palette? 17 During the raster conversion process graphic file the number of colors decreased from 512 to 8. How many times did the information volume of the file decrease?
Let's say you've just completed a design project and are about to save the file, at which point you need to choose the right extension for the file. If you do not understand the difference between these formats, then it will be quite difficult to choose the right one, but today we decided to help you and explain one simple thing:
There are many image formats, but only a few are important
There is one main rule - each task has its own image formats. There are many various formats, which you will never even encounter, especially if you are engaged in print design.
Let's try to find out what image formats may be useful to us.
Raster and vector images
To really understand the difference between image types, you first need to understand how raster images differ from vector images.
Raster images are made up of pixels and can be expressed as anything from simple illustrations to complex images such as color photographs.
Since raster images are made up of a fixed set of pixels, there is a loss of quality when scaling them, especially if they are enlarged. They are often used as a final product, ready to be sent to print or published on a website.
Vector images aren't really images at all - they're something like mathematical formulas, directly interacting with the computer, telling it the coordinates of the shapes that need to be displayed. Thanks to this, vector images can be scaled without loss of quality, since the formula simply adjusts to the required dimensions of the final drawing.
Vector images are used to create text and logos, and they are not capable of displaying complex graphic products such as photographs. They are usually used as working files, which are later converted into raster images for websites. But with their help you can also develop graphics for subsequent printing:
Choosing the right image formats
The classification of the main file types used in print and web design involves more than a simple division into vector and raster. Both raster and vector are just two large families that include many different image formats with different advantages, shortcomings and purpose.
Raster formats
JPEG
Many people don't like JPEG, but it's worth noting that it's just not really suitable for printing. In JPG format it is used strong compression. This is good if you want to keep file sizes as small as possible, but it is not entirely suitable in terms of the quality of the image you are going to print. Therefore, this format cannot be used when creating, say, logos.
Thanks to small size files, JPEG is often used in web design, as it has a positive effect on page loading speed. The JPG format is also widely used for digital photographs, since the loss in quality is invisible, and due to its smaller size, many more pictures can fit on a flash drive or hard drive.
Given all these advantages, JPG has established itself as the "standard" format for everything outside the design field. In practice, you will likely encounter clients who provide their own logos in terrible quality, or those who prefer to work exclusively with this format because it is the only one they know. Do everything you can to attract their attention to other, more suitable formats.
GIF
No one seems to ever pronounce the name of this format correctly. Designers often pronounce the first letter G clearly or dictate all three letters in turn, however its creator, Steve Wilhite, states that the correct way to pronounce the name is "jeev". Although its abbreviation stands for Graphics Interchange Format (“ image exchange format"), and it itself is mainly used in web design.
Advantage of GIF ( which also distinguishes it from other web image formats) is that these pictures can be animated.
In addition, GIF supports transparency, which can sometimes significantly reduce the weight of files. However, the concept of small weight is relative, since the more colors used, the larger the file will weigh. It is also important to consider the number of frames, since each frame also affects the weight of the file and increases the loading time of the web page.
PNG
The PNG format combines the advantages of JPG and GIF, however, it has clear recommendations for use. Like JPG, the PNG format is ideal for photographs, and at the same time allows you to save even best quality pictures than JPG. PNG also supports transparency, making it a near-ideal option for designers who want transparent elements without sacrificing graphic quality.
The main disadvantage of PNG is big size file, and this negatively affects the loading speed of the site. This format is best used selectively for elements where it is required high quality, which JPG and GIF are unable to offer ( e.g. high quality logos). PNG also applies to raster formats images, so when scaling such files you risk losing quality.
TIFF
TIFF (sometimes TIF) is an uncompressed file format, which means that when saved it is not compressed at all. TIFF also supports layering.
This format is often called " ready to print” although most printers work better with native file types like AI and PSD.
In addition, TIFF is too heavy a format for web design. And file sizes can be intimidating for inexperienced clients, so try to prepare projects in more common formats.
PSD
PSD is a native format Adobe programs Photoshop. This means that these files can only be edited seamlessly in Photoshop.
PSD cannot be used on website pages, and we strongly discourage you from sending design previews to clients in this format. However, it is great for later printing or for sharing project files with other designers.
Vector formats
EPS
EPS is a standard vector file format consisting of numerous formulas and numbers that generate a vector illustration. This is an ideal format for design elements that typically need to be scaled ( for example logos).
Files in EPS format are ready for printing, however, this is not the format that should be used in web design. Often, once a page design is approved, its component elements are converted to PNG, JPG and GIF.
Design elements saved in EPS format can be opened in any editor that supports vector graphics. Therefore, EPS is more suitable for sharing files with clients, printing on a printer, or for collaboration on a project with other designers.
A.I.
AI is another branded vector format from Adobe, designed for use in Illustrator. An AI file cannot be embedded in web pages and is not the format used to send projects to a client. But it is well suited for indoor use and for printing.
Other formats
Adobe's PDF format is ideal for both printed materials and digital use. This is a format that any client can “handle” and that can be printed on a printer without any problems. You can place both raster and vector images in a PDF document, or even combine them in a single document.
Of course, you will have to try hard to display the contents of a PDF document on a website page in a high-quality manner, but you can download it. This format is also ideal for sending clients a preview of the final result.
However, PDF is more suitable for printed products such as books, brochures or flyers.
Converting different file types
As you work on your print design, you may have to jump from one format to another. Sometimes you need to place JPG photos and an EPS logo into a common project, which is being worked on in a PSD file in Photoshop.
The good thing is that every image format has strengths, and an experienced designer knows how to take advantage of them. There is a high chance that you will need the same design element in different formats: the main source of the logo will be stored in EPS format, its PNG version will be used on the site, and the animated GIF version will be reserved for special occasions.
Vector formatsFiles vector format are especially useful for storing linear elements (lines and polygons), as well as elements that can be decomposed into simple geometric objects (such as text). Vector files do not contain pixel values, but mathematical descriptions of image elements. Based on mathematical descriptions of graphic forms (lines, curves, splines), the visualization program constructs an image.
Vector files are structurally simpler than most raster files and are usually organized as data streams.
Examples of the most common vector formats are AutoCAD DXF and Microsoft SYLK.
WMF. This is a vector format that is used graphic programs Windows OS. This format is used to transmit vector images via clipboard in Windows environment. This format is accepted by almost all programs that work with vector graphics. Use this format for raster images it is forbidden. Disadvantages: color distortion and failure to save a number of parameters that are set for images in graphics programs.
AI. Illustrator internal format. Can open Photoshop program and besides, this format is supported by all programs related to vector graphics. This format is the best remedy when transferring vector images from one program to another. Raster graphic elements when transmitted via AI format, in most cases they are lost.
CDR. This is the internal format of the Corel Draw program. This format is very popular, as is the software package itself. Many programs can import vector files into Corel Draw formats. IN CDR format also contains raster graphic objects. This format uses compression, and different compression is applied to vector and raster files.
Metafile formats
Metafiles can store both raster and vector data. The simplest metafiles resemble vector files; they contain the language or syntax for defining vector data elements, but may also include a raster representation of the image. Metafiles are often used to transport raster and vector data between hardware platforms, as well as to move images between software platforms.The most common metafile formats are WPG, Macintosh PICT and CGM.