Bitmap v. Vector

Bitmap v.
Vector
PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Copyright 2013 PrintNinja LLC. All rights reserved. PrintNinja is a registered trademark of PrintNinja LLC. The PrintNinja logo and related marks are marks of PrintNinja LLC. This guide is provided as a conveience to PrintNinja customers and while every eort has been made to ensure its accuracy, PrintNinja cannot be responsible for any errors or omissions. This guide may contain references and examples that feature products,services or brands that are the intellectual property of others. These are included for illustrative purposes only and those products, services and brands do not endorse this guide or have any association with PrintNinja LLC.
Bitmap v. Vector
Digital images are usually divided into two distinct categorieseither bitmap les (also called raster les) or vector graphics. These image types have a signicant impact on the nal output of your printed materials.
Bitmap images
Bitmap (or raster) images are stored as a series of tiny dots called pixels. Each pixel is actually a very small square that is assigned a color, and then arranged in a pattern to form the image. When you zoom in on a bitmap image you can see the individual pixels that make up that image like in the example. Digital pictures, scanned images, web graphics and drawings created in Adobe Photoshop are bitmap les.
Types of bitmap le formats:

JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF
Vector graphics
Unlike bitmaps, vector images are not based on pixel patterns, but instead use mathematical formulas to draw lines and curves that can be combined to create an image from geometric objects such as circles and polygons. Vector images are edited by manipulating the lines and curves that make up the image using a program such as Adobe Illustrator or Adobe InDesign.
Types of vector le formats:

AI, EPS, SVG

Bitmap v. Vector
So whats the big dierence between the two?
Vector images have some important advantages over bitmap images. Vector images tend to be smaller than bitmap images. Thats because a bitmap image has to store color information for each individual pixel that forms the image. A vector image just has to store the mathematical formulas that make up the image, which take up less space. Vector images are also more scalable than bitmap images. When a bitmap image is scaled up you begin to see the individual pixels that make up the image. This is most noticeable in the edges of the image. There are ways of making these jagged edges less noticeable but this often results in making the image blurry as well. When a vector image is scaled up, the image is redrawn using the mathematical formula. The resulting image is just as smooth as the original. Here is an example of some text created both as vector and bitmap :
The Princes of LeRoy Kitchens
Vector
Bitmap/Raster
The Princes of LeRoy Kitchens

Enlarged to 250% Enlarged to 250%
Can I transform a bitmap image into a vector to improve quality?

The answer: it depends. Some bitmap images can be easily converted into vector formats, such as a signature that will be printed. Photographs and images generally cant be converted into a vector unless theyre made into a simplied illustration. Any text that is rasterized will have to either be re-typed or machine-read by special software before it can be typeset as vectorized text.
Signatures look best when vectorized.

Bitmap v. Vector
Anti-Aliased Text & Text in Photoshop
Designers working in Photoshop frequently notice the jagged appearance of text on the screen. This occurs when pixel density is low and the pixels can not adapt to the ne details of text. To correct this problem, designers use anti-aliasing, a software trick that is designed to make text look great on the screen. But beware! While its perfectly okay to modify text using anti-aliasing for screen output (a website, for instance), the results of anti-aliased text in printing are far more disasterous. Anti-aliasing produces extra dots and artifacts around text, leaving a halo eect on printed pieces. You need to disable anti-aliasing. Normal Text
Anti-Aliased Text
Check your skills
Look at the examples to the right? What dierences do you notice between the normal and the anti-aliased text? Try looking at the horizontal line in the letters H and e. Do you see how thick they get? The curves have grey bits that form a halo-eect. Try looking at the base of the two L letters; the foot of the letter has swollen. So, how do you avoid jagged text? First, ensure that your document is created at 300 dpi or higher. Secondly, in your text layers, turn anti-aliasing o by selecting the text and choosing None in the anti-alias type menu as shown below.
Do not rasterize the text in Photoshop when asked to do so. Keep your text as a separate, unattened layer. Save your le as a high resolution Photoshop PDF with layers. This will keep the text as vector type instead of converting it to pixels. If you need to apply eects to your text in Photoshop, it will require text rasterization. Ensure that the text is not anti-aliased and that the text is the exact needed size (or even larger) before rasterizing. Never scale the text up (increase its size) after rasterizing the text.
Dont rasterize type unless absolutely necessary.
Questions or problems?
Running into complications? Our designers are available for pre-press consulting services to guide you through the process or to work with you to completion. Visit our website for rates and details.


Bitmap v. Vector

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Bitmap v. Vector

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Bitmap v. Vector

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Bitmap v.

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Types of bitmap le formats:

Types of vector le formats:

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

The Princes of LeRoy Kitchens

Can I transform a bitmap image into a vector to improve quality?

Signatures look best when vectorized.

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

Check your skills

Dont rasterize type unless absolutely necessary.

PrintNinja | 877-396-4652 | www.printninja.com

You might also like