How Can We Make Use of Digital Graphic Files for Images?

Digital graphic files usually fall under one of the two headings – vectoror raster. Images like logo files are made of intricate paths of points and lines and are called Vector graphics. Images like digital photographs are made of a grid of tiny pixels and are called Raster graphics. In this article, we are going to further clarify the dichotomy of vector vs raster image files and understand how we can use digital graphic files for images.

Raster

Raster images are often called ‘bitmap’ images. If zoomed really close, every single pixel in a Raster image can be identified. We measure a raster file’s resolution in DPI (Dots Per Inch) and PPI (Points Per Inch).

• JPEG/JPG

JPEG is one of the raster formats, which stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. This happens to be a widely used format online, commonly for photos, images in emails, or large web images such as banner ads.

• GIF

GIF is one of the lossless raster formats, which stands for Graphics Interchange Format. It is a popularly used format of web image, commonly meant for animated graphics such as banner ads, email graphics, or social media memes. Although GIFs are lossless, it is possible to export them in a lot of customizable settings to reduce the number of colours or image information. This, in turn, helps in reducing the size of the file.

Vector

It is possible to scale vector files up or down without any loss of quality. This lets vector files to be the most reasonable format for graphics like illustrations, company logos, or icons because the same image may be employed for designs varying anywhere from a mobile app till a big billboard without compromising on the quality or enlarging the file size.

Possibly the most popular example of a vector-based file that we use in our day to day life without even knowing is a font file. Every letter that is typed by us is one vector graphic. One may enlarge the text size and zoom in as close as possible, but fonts will continue to remain clear if viewed on the web or in any standard editable format like a Word document.

• PDF

PDF is the acronym for Portable Document Format. It is an image format that is used for displaying documents or graphics appropriately, regardless of the device, operating system, application, or web browser. In its core, a PDF file has a strong vector graphics foundation. However, it can also produce anything ranging from raster graphics till form fields and spreadsheets.

Due to the fact that it is almost a universal standard, PDFs are mostly the file format that is requested by printers for sending a final image into production. Adobe Photoshop, as well as Illustrator, can be used to export directly to PDF, to make it easier to begin your design and straight away get it prepared for printing.

• EPS

EPS stands for Encapsulated PostScript. Even though it is primarily used as a vector format, such files can comprise of vectors as well as raster image data. Generally, an EPS file encompasses only one design element to be used in the larger design.

Beginning with the correct kind of image could save you a good amount of time and energy as you go ahead with a project. Assess how you are going to use graphics andthen generate the images accordingly.

Always know that vector images work best when used for logos or illustrations. On the other hand, raster images form the standard in the field of digital photography. Think of building a library of vector images for your files while saving copies of raster-based work for saving you time.