Vector and raster images can look different.

Raster graphics cannot be scaled up without sacrificing image quality. At a certain point, when the raster image is enlarged enough, the edges become ragged, and it appears pixelated - i.e., when the pixels become visible. Raster graphics are made up of a fixed number of pixels, which makes them less scalable than vector graphics. CAD programs frequently use vector files for manufacturing, engineering and design because of their scalability and ease when it comes to editing the mathematical formulas.Ī raster graphics image maps bits directly to a display space, also called a bitmap. Animated images are also usually created as vector files, which provide for cleaner and smoother images. For instance, Amazon WorkLink is a mobile app that enables a fully interactive representation of corporate data on an employee's mobile device. Vector graphics are useful in application and web development because web apps and the graphics they contain must work with various screen sizes and device types. World Wide Web Consortium worked on Vector Markup Language, which evolved into the Scalable Vector Graphics open source language that contains vector and raster elements. Vector graphics were originally used in computer displays in the 1960s and 1970s. It was the scalability feature of vector graphics that resulted in its return, after falling out of favor to raster graphics in the 1980s. A logo created with vector graphics can be scaled up or down without loss of quality or creating a large file. For example, company and brand logos are displayed at different sizes they show up in the corner of a mobile application or on a roadside billboard.

Vector formats are good for projects that require scalable graphics, including scalable type and text. Graphic artists, illustrators and designers use vector graphics for a variety of reasons, including the following:

Open source vector graphics program