Vector Images

Vector images: Vector images are images made with lines, text, and shapes. Main example of a vector image being used in would be the McDonalds Logo which is made up of vector shapes. This can be scaled down on so they can be used on name badges and the same file can also be used for the signs you would see on massive billboards.

 Vectors are a way of defining images on a computer and are defined by points and curves rather than by pixels. They would use mathematical equations to measure out the shapes so no matter how big or small they get they won’t lose any detail. They are resolution independent meaning no matter how big or small the picture is they will never lose quality. It’s possible to use full colour in a vector image because the definition will not lose its colour even if it’s scaled to larger size but that’s if the image is only made up of vector images. You will tend to lose colour if the image is raster because it won’t support many colours

Advantages of Vector Images:

•              Vector images have the appearance of artistic form such as cartoons

•              They can be easily converted to bitmap images

•              Lines and curves are defined and will always be smooth and retain their continuity

•              They will use smaller files size and won’t take up a lot of memory.

•              They can be blown up to a larger size for things such as a poster and they won’t lose detail

Disadvantages of Vector Images:

•              Thin lines may disappear if a vector drawing is reduced too much

•              Small errors in a drawing may become visible as soon as it is enlarged too much

•              If you make a small error when creating vector images they may become visible when they are blown up to a bigger scale

This is an example of the difference between vector and raster images you can see that when you zoom in on a raster image it starts to become very pixelated whereas the vector image does not.