vector and bitmap images

vector and bitmap images

A bitmap, raster or pixmap, as they are known, is an image that is made up of pixels each coloured seperately to show the image in a detailed form, with more pixels providing more detail, although the detail of bitmap images means they have large file sizes which take longer to load they are rarely used for flash games however because of detail they are normally used on webpages.
one problem with bitmap images is resizinging them larger as it strectches the pixels and quality is lost as the individual dots become visible. the average computer screen moniter has roughly 70-80 pixels per a squared cm of the screen.

below is a vector image which has been magnifyed to show the pixels.



there are alot of different types of bitmap file formats such as jpeg, png, gif, bmp and psd and so on.
in photography digital camera or any device with a camera can take images and normally save them as a jpeg file which is the most common type of bitmap file on the internet.

a vector image is an image not made up of individual pixels instead they are made up of complete shapes and curves, their quality tends to be lower than bitmap images although they are faster to load which makes them ideal for flash games. They use mathematical formulas to work out what they will appear as on the screen,
because of this and the fact that they dont use pixels they can be resized without losing quality, due to this great advantage companies, for example, nikie whose logo is a tick, use vector images for their logos as they can be resized for poster print or for business card sizes without having to create each indiviudal logo at that size which would cost the companies more.
The advantage of not having individual pixels is smaller file sizes which load faster.

Gamers who play call of duty black ops will have noticed that when creating your playercard call sign you use vector images layered upon eachother to create the image you want.

it is possible to convert bitmap images into vector by using programs such as adobe illustrator by using the rastorise effect and the image will be converted from a bitmap into a vector, although some minor details may be lost the image will look the same if not better.