Understand Vector Graphics

To understand vector graphics as opposed to raster, or bitmap, images,[1] it helps to know how both kinds of images are generated. To understand that a little more, read on.

Steps

  1. Read about both vector graphics and raster graphics.
    • Simply put, a raster image is stored in terms of a list of pixels in a grid and what color they are. If a person were to describe a raster image to another person, it would be like handing somebody a piece of grid paper and saying, "Color the first square white. Now color the second square light blue," and so on.
    • An svg is also an xml file, and it is possible to see the code by opening the image file with a text editor.
    • For a raster image, making the image bigger just makes those squares bigger. If you zoom in far enough on a raster image (such a Convert a Bitmap Image Into a File Format Supported by wikiHow or JPEG), you will see pixels (short for picture elements) the little squares that make up the image. Vector images are infinitely scalable; you can scale a vector file to any size without seeing pixels.
  2. Know what a vector is in mathematics. A vector is simply a magnitude and a direction. A magnitude can be the length of a line, or it can be something like how fast a thing is going.
    • If somebody is headed east at four miles per hour, his velocity can be described as a vector.
    • A line can be described as a vector, too, by stating the angle of that line and its length. It's this kind of idea that makes up vector images.
  3. Understand that vector images are a collection of individual images and shapes (not just lines). They could also be described as consisting of a series of connected lines.
    • If a person were to describe a vector image to another person, she might say something like, "Start in the lower left corner of the page and draw a thick, green line. Start it upward at a 72 degree angle, but curve to the right so that it ends at the right side of the image at a 60 degree angle," and so on.
    • Because vector images are defined this way mathematically, [1] a computer can display them at any scale with no loss of definition.
  4. Look at an extreme closeup of a vector image versus a raster image, as shown above, and notice this difference.
  5. Become familiar with nodes and how they pertain to vector graphics.
    • To edit vectors, you need to edit nodes (however your software does it)[2]

Tips

  • Check out vector graphic software.[3] There are free software[4], shareware, and commercial.

Related Articles

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.signindustry.com/computers/articles/2004-11-30-DASvector_v_raster.php3
  2. ↑ http://www.pinoy7.com/psptutorials/ronstoons.com/node.shtml
  3. ↑ http://www.allgraphicdesign.com/graphics/graphicsclipartanimations/clipartgraphics/fileformats/vectorgraphics/vectorgraphics-software.html
  4. ↑ http://www.freebyte.com/graphicprograms/#vector

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