Printed products, no matter what type or how many copies, have long been obtainable not only for businesses, but to individuals as well, as the Internet has made the affordable services of large print shops available to all.
Using an online print shop, however, does require some basic knowledge of graphic editing. Unfortunately, laypersons are simply not familiar with many of the technical terms used, which again and again leads to misunderstandings and to printed products that do not meet the customer’s expectations.
One of the fundamental elements of computer graphics is the difference between pixel and vector graphics, the latter of which is rarely encountered by the average computer user, since they have little application in the consumer area.
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| Pixel Graphics | Vector Graphics |
Vector graphics are made up not of small, individual pixels, but rather of geometrically defined basic elements that are put together and are therefore to be understood as a collection of mathematical formulas and not as a grid. The vectors are made up of lines, curves, circles, or polygons that can create complex graphics when combined. These so-called primitives require very little data; e.g. for a circle, only the centre’s position and the radius. In addition, properties like line width, outline colour, fill pattern, and gradient can be defined.
For that reason, vector graphics are especially suited for geometric designs and fonts. Also, they often require significantly less storage space than raster graphics do and can be enlarged or shrunk without losing anything in the process. In the printing industry, vector graphics are highly valued for these qualities.
Pixel-based graphics, also called bitmap or raster graphics, do consist of individual pixels, each with an assigned colour value, arranged on a grid. Raster graphics are therefore defined, for one, by their dimensions (height and width) in pixels, which is also called image resolution, as well as by the range of colours to be displayed, which is known as colour intensity or colour (bit) depth.
This kind of graphic, therefore, is quite well suited for displaying photos and complex colour gradients. However, they do have a serious disadvantage, the grave decline in quality that occurs when they are enlarged. This creates so-called “stairstepping,” which makes the picture appear pixelated or indistinct. In addition, these graphics are compressed for image formats such as JPEG files, and that injures the quality even more.
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| greatly enlarged pixel graphics | greatly enlarged vector graphics |
