Q:
What is the difference between bitmaps and vectors?
A:
Vectors are “object-oriented” graphics made up of mathematical equations. This means they are resolution-independent. You can take vector shapes and scale them to the size of a building and they won’t lose one bit of image quality.
Bitmaps images are composed of pixels and their quality is always determined by their resolution, or number of pixels per inch. Think of a mosaic..the more tiles you have, the finer the image.
But which one is better?
Vectors are ideal for logos, text and any other imagery that must be printed with utmost clarity. In fact most of the fonts you use are actually made of Postscript vectors.
Bitmaps are best used for photography, illustrations and any other imagery that requires a real-life, continuous tone look to it.
Both formats have their strengths and work well together to produce high-quality printed applications.
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