What Are Advantages And Disadvantages of Vector Images?
Vector images are created using a mathematical formula that allows for the construction of an image without using a physical object.
This type of image can be edited and manipulated in different ways, making them popular for logos and graphics. The most common type of vector image has a line or curve at its centre and is composed of point-like shapes. More complicated images may have multiple paths, curves and circles that interconnect to form the shape.
Web designers choose between a raster image and a vector image. Vector images work exceptionally well at small sizes, while a raster image can be scaled to any size without loss of quality. Since vector images work well with many web applications, web designers now use vector images in place of raster images when possible. Many web designers are familiar with how to create a vector image, but there is something new about vector images: you can manipulate a vector image to be any size you want.
There are two main vector image types, paths and shapes. A path is a set of lines and shapes that can be edited using a computer graphics program. These paths can be merged together, and they can be adjusted individually. This is useful if you want to create icons or illustrations. A shape is just one line. It can only be used when creating logos and is often just a single line. Once created, the size of a shape can not be altered. This makes them useful for creating logos and icons, but they will have a limited variety when creating large images.
This article will go over the advantages and disadvantages of vector images.
Advantages of Vector Images
1. In most cases, vector images require less disk space than a bitmap. They are formed mainly by flat colours or simple gradients, because of which they do not require a lot of disk space. The lesser information needed to create the image, the smaller the file size. Thus, they are given more preference in comparison to other images.
2. Vector graphics can be scaled up or down without loss of quality, making them perfect for large printouts or use on the web. Vector graphics also allow you to change the direction and shape of an object without having to redraw it from scratch.
3. If you create a vector image, you don’t have to worry about the resolution of your image. You can have an image 600px wide and 300px high, even though it looks like it is huge. The advantage is that you can have a comprehensive image without losing quality.
4. They can be easily saved and modified in the future. The best part is that the modification process is quite simple as well. All kinds of changes can be easily managed without any difficulty. Even if a file is modified, the resultant file does not occupy much space. This is another reason why they are used across industries.
5. The process of creating them is quite simple as well. Using simple drawings, we can get complex vector images without any difficulties. User-friendly and straightforward programmes such as Corel Draw and Adobe Illustrator can be used for creating simple graphics, which can be converted to vector images.
6. Vector images store information about where the pixels are located. When your image resizes, the picture looks the same. The only thing that changes is the number of pixels used to store the image. All of the content still looks the same. Vector images also store colour information. When a colour is applied to an image, it applies to all the pixels. Vector images can also include strokes and fill. When using a vector image, the image will look the same no matter what size of container you use. You can use a vector image on many different types of pages. The image will look the same on any device that supports the web.
The Disadvantages of Vector Images
Vector images are very versatile and can be edited easily on a computer. However, they do have some limitations.
1. They are generally not suitable for encoding pictures or videos taken in the “real world” (for example – photographs of nature), although some formats support a mixed composition. Virtually all digital cameras store images in the bitmap.
2. The data used to describe them must be processed by a powerful machine, i.e. the computer must be powerful enough to perform the necessary calculations for forming the final image. If the data volume is high, it may slow down the image rendering on the screen, even when working with small files.
3. Another disadvantage is that even minor drawing errors are often visible when the images are enlarged to a certain extent. Such an incident can affect the quality of the images, especially when they are used in animation.
Although vector images have a few disadvantages, they have a wide range of applications and are implemented in computer graphics, architecture, engineering, etc.
Summary
Vector images are the most popular and easiest to manipulate. They are scalable, and flexible and can be used for creating different types of images like logos, illustrations, charts, posters, etc. The images are created by using different colours of a single shape or combination and placed together to get an organized and professional-looking final output. The vector images are very flexible and easy to customize as the colours, fonts, shapes etc., can be changed using the tools provided by the vector image editor.
