Bitmap (also known as raster) basics:
- Bitmap images are made up of pixels or dots of color arranged in a specific pattern
- GIF, PCX, TIFF, JPG, PSD (Photoshop), and CPT (Photo-Paint) are examples of bitmap images.
- All photographic images are bitmaps.
- Clip art images on the Web are bitmaps.
- Bitmap images are not the best candidates for resizing, rotating, or stretching. They work best at the size and orientation at which they were created.
- Bitmap images can be cropped, colorized, converted to B&W, and combined with other images using an image editing program such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Jasc Paint Shop Pro, or Corel Photo-Paint.
Vector basics:
- Vector images are constructed from mathematical formulas that can be drawn and redrawn easily in different ways.
- EPS, WMF, AI (Adobe Illustrator) and CDR (CorelDRAW) are examples of vector images
- Vector images can be easily resized, rotated, and stretched.
- While in vector format, cropping, colorizing, converting to B&W, and combining with other images is somewhat more complicated than with bitmap images and requires solid knowledge of working with illustration programs such as Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, or Macromedia Freehand.
If the image you want to use is not in the optimal format for the kinds of modifications you want to make, convert it. Vector to bitmap conversion is easiest and can be accomplished in most graphics software programs or with specialized image conversion tools.
Bitmap to vector conversion (also called tracing) is a more complicated process that doesn't always produce good results. There are specialized tools to do the job although some illustration programs include an auto-trace function that may be all you need for simple conversions. High contrast images such as black and white line art work best when converting from bitmap to vector.
Extra Tip: Edit images in the native format of your graphics software
