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We’ll go over each format’s pros and cons, browser and operating system support, and what each format is best used for. Now that you learned the main differences between raster and vector images, let’s look into the most used file formats for image optimization that will result in a better website performance. On the other hand, enlarging a raster may lower its image quality. When compared, the quality of the vector image format is unchanged when it’s magnified. People often use vector image files for logos, icons, or fonts – visuals expected to have flexible scalability in any situation. Examples of vector image file types are EPS, SVG, and AI. They typically have smaller file sizes than rasters. Since vector images are defined based on algorithms – not by a specific number of pixels – it’s possible to scale them up without distortion or loss in quality. Each path may contain various properties, such as stroke color, fill color, and thickness. It can be a straight line, a square, or a curvy shape. Vector images are constructed of paths that are based upon mathematical equations.Ī path is defined by a start and end point, which are connected by lines and curves. That means, if you resize the image, the pixels will get stretched to fill the extra space, making your image blurry, distorted, or pixelated. Use raster images for complex images with smooth edges and color gradients, such as graphic design projects and photographs.Įvery pixel in raster files has a defined color, position, and proportion according to the resolution. Examples of raster file formats include JPEG, GIF, and PNG – these are the most common image file types on the web.
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Raster images typically have larger file sizes than vector images. The higher the resolution, the more details can be seen in a picture.
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Each pixel contains a color, which lines up with one another to form the image. Raster images are composed of grids of tiny, square dots called pixels. To choose which file format is the best for you, you have to consider the image quality, how quickly you expect your visitors to open the images, and how much space you have to store them. Raster images can be either lossy or lossless, while vector images are neither lossy nor lossless because their size is already small – therefore, they don’t need any compression. It only slightly reduces the file size, but it preserves the image quality. Meanwhile, lossless compression only takes away non-essential metadata. While this significantly reduces the file size, it also lowers the image quality. Lossy compression is a process that removes some of your image data. Lossy and lossless are considered as compression techniques, while raster and vector are image file types. Different Image File Types – Raster vs Vectorĭifferent Image File Types – Raster vs Vectorīefore we talk about the differences between raster and vector graphics, it’s important to understand the difference between lossy vs lossless compression.
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