What is vector graphics and what is its definition?

the graphics displayed in a vector computer can be generally divided into two categories-vector graphics and bitmap. Vector diagram uses straight lines and curves to describe graphics. The elements of these graphics are some points, lines, rectangles, polygons, circles and arcs, etc., which are all calculated by mathematical formulas. For example, the vector figure of a flower is actually an outline of an outer frame formed by line segments, and the color of the outer frame and the color enclosed by the outer frame determine the color displayed by the flower. Because vector graphics can be obtained by formula calculation, the volume of vector graphics files is generally small. The greatest advantage of vector graphics is that it will not be distorted regardless of enlargement, reduction or rotation. Freehand of Adobe, Illustrator and CorelDRAW of Corel are the best among many vector graphic design softwares. The animation made by the famous Flash MX is also a vector graphic animation.

vector images, also known as object-oriented images or drawing images, are mathematically defined as a series of points connected by lines. The graphic elements in a vector file are called objects. Each object is a self-contained entity, which has properties such as color, shape, outline, size and screen position. Since each object is a self-contained entity, it can move and change its attributes many times without affecting other objects in the legend while maintaining its original clarity and curvature. These characteristics make vector-based programs especially suitable for legend and three-dimensional modeling, because they usually require the ability to create and manipulate a single object. Vector-based drawing is independent of resolution. This means that they can be displayed on the output device at the highest resolution.

the biggest difference between a vector map and a bitmap is that it is not affected by the resolution. Therefore, when printing, the graphics can be enlarged or reduced at will without affecting the clarity of the drawing.

Vector drawing: The graphics are drawn according to the geometric characteristics, and the vector can be a point or a line. The vector drawing can only be generated by software, and the file occupies less internal space, because this type of image file contains independent separated images and can be recombined freely and unrestricted. Its characteristics are that the enlarged image will not be distorted, regardless of resolution, and the file takes up less space, so it is suitable for graphic design, text design, logo design, layout design and so on.

The advantages and disadvantages of vector diagram are summarized as follows:

Advantages: (1) Small files; (2) the image element object can be edited; (3) The enlargement or reduction of the image does not affect the resolution of the image; (4) The resolution of the image does not depend on the output device;

Disadvantages: (1) It is difficult to redraw the image; (2) The fidelity is low, and it takes a lot of skills to draw images with high naturalness.

The commonly used vector graphic format

*.bw is a black-and-white graphic file format containing various pixel information.

*.cdr (CorelDraw)

*.cdr is a graphic file format in CorelDraw. It is a graphic image file format that can be used in all CorelDraw applications.

*.col(Color Map File)

*.col is a palette file format created by Autodesk Animator, Autodesk Animator Pro and other programs, which stores RGB values of various items in the palette.

*.dwg

*.dwg is a graphic file format used in AutoCAD.

*. dxb (drawing interchange binary)

*. dxb is a graphic file format created by AutoCAD.

*. DXF (Autodesk drawing exchange format)

*. DXF is a graphic file format in AutoCAD. It stores graphics in ASCII, which is very accurate in representing the size of graphics and can be called and edited by large software such as CorelDraw and 3DS.

*. wmf (Windows metafile format)

*. wmf is a common metafile format in Microsoft Windows. It has the characteristics of short file and modeling. The whole graph is often spliced by independent components, but its graph is often rough and can only be called for editing in M icrosoft Office.

*. emf (enhanced metafile)

*. emf is a Windows 32-bit extended metafile format developed by Microsoft. The overall design goal is to make up for the shortage of *.wmf file format used in Microsoft Windows 3.1(Win16) and make the metafile easier to use.

*. EPS (encapsulated PostScript)

*. EPS is an ASCII graphic file format described in PostScript language, which can print high-quality graphic images on a postscript graphic printer, and can represent up to 32-bit graphic images. The format can be divided into Pho toShop EPS format (Adobe Illustrator Eps) and standard EPS format, among which the standard EPS format can be divided into graphic format and image format. It is worth noting that only EPS files in image format can be opened in PhotoShop. *.ep s format consists of two parts: the first part is a low-resolution image displayed on the screen, which is convenient for preview and positioning during image processing; The second part contains separate data for each color separation. *.eps file is stored in the form of D CS/CMYK, which contains separate data of four colors of CMYK, and can directly output four-color mesh. However, besides being reliable on PostScript printers, the *.e ps format has many shortcomings: firstly, the efficiency of storing images in *.eps format is particularly low; Secondly, the compression scheme of *.eps format is also poor. Generally, the same image compressed by LZW of *.tiff is 3 to 4 times smaller than that of * .eps.

filmstrip

filmstrip is a slide, which is an output file format in Premiere. Premiere outputs the animation as a long vertical bar, which is composed of independent squares. Each grid is a frame. The lower left corner of each frame is the time code, and the lower right corner is the frame number. You can import the file in this format in P hotoShop, and then apply the unique processing function of PhotoShop to process it. However, the size of the filmstrip file must not be changed. If it is changed, the picture can no longer be saved back to the f ilmstrip format and can no longer be returned to Premiere.

*.ico(Icon file)

*.ico is the icon file format of Windows.

*. iff (image file format)

*. iff is a graphic file format used on super graphic processing platforms such as Amiga, and Hollywood stunt blockbusters are mostly processed by this format, which can realistically reproduce the original scene. Of course, this format consumes huge computer resources such as memory and external storage.

*.lbm

*.lbm is a graphic file format used in Deluxe Paint, and its encoding method is similar to *.iff.

*.mag

*.mag is a graphic file format commonly used in Japan.

*.mac(Macintosh)

*.mac is a grayscale graphics file format used in Macintosh, and its resolution can only be 72×567 when used in Macintosh paintbrush.

*. mpt (Macintosh paint brush)

*. mpt is a graphic file format used in Macintosh.

*.msk(Mask Data File)

*.msk is a graphic file format in Animator Pro, which contains a bitmap graphic.

*. opt (optics menu settings file)/*. twe (tween data file)

is a graphic file format created by Animator Pro.

*.ply(Polygon File)

*.ply is a graphic file format created by Animator Pro, which contains a series of points used to describe polygons.

*. PBM/*. PGM/*. ppm (portable pixmap)

graphic file format.

*.pcd(Kodak PhotoCD)

*.pcd is a Photo CD file format, which is developed by Kodak Company and can only be read by other software systems. This format is mainly used to store color scanned images on CD-ROM, and it uses YCC color mode to define colors in images. Y CC color mode is a variant of CIE color mode. CIE color space is an international standard that defines all colors that can be observed by human eyes. The YCC and CIE color spaces contain much more colors than the R GB and CMYK colors of displays and printing devices. Most of the Photo CD images are of very high quality, and the cost of scanning a roll of film into a Photo CD file is not high, but the quality of scanning depends on the type of film used and the operation level of the scanner user.

*. pcx (PC Paintbrush)/*. PCC

*. pcx was originally a compressed PC bitmap file format supported by PC Paint Brush graphics software of Zsoft Company. Later, Microsoft transplanted PC Paintbrush to Windows environment, and the *.pcx image format was supported by more graphic image processing software. The number of colors supported by this format has developed from the earliest 16 colors to the current 16.77 million colors. It adopts run-length encoding scheme for compression and has a 128-byte file header.

*.pic

*.pic is a graphic file format which contains uncompressed image information.

*. PICT/*. PICT2/*. PNT

*. PICT file format is mainly used on Macs, and can also be used on PCs with Quick Time installed. Files in this format are not suitable for printing (if you print files in *.pict format on a PostScript printer, it will cause PostSlipt errors), but are often used in multimedia projects. * .pict is also one of the formats used by Mac application software for image display.

*. PSD (Adobe PhotoShop Document)/*. PDD

*. PSD is a standard graphic file format used in Photoshop, which can be stored in RGB or CMYK mode, and the number of colors can be customized and stored. *.psd file can separate and save different objects in the form of L ayer, which is convenient for modifying and making various special effects.

*.pdd, like *.psd, is a special graphic file format in PhotoShop software, which can save every tiny part of image data, including layers, additional mask channels and other contents, which will be lost when being exported to other formats. In addition, P hotoShop can open and store these two formats faster than other formats, because these two formats are self-format files supported by PhotoShop. The only regret is that although PhotoShop has applied compression technology in the calculation process, the image files stored in these two formats are still extremely large. However, storing images in these two formats will not cause any data loss, so when you are editing, you'd better choose these two formats to save, and then convert them into other file formats with smaller disk space and better storage quality.

*.pxr(PiXaR)

Perhaps only PIXAR workstation users are familiar with the file format *.pxr, which supports grayscale images and RGB color images. You can open a * .pxr image created by PIXAR workstation in PhotoShop, or you can save the image file in *.pxr format for delivery to the workstation.

*. ras (sun raster files)/*. raw (raw gray scale)

graphic file format.

Scitex CT

Scitex CT is an image file format created on Scitex high-end prepress workstation, which is mainly used for image editing and color separation. Scitex CT images are always opened in CMYK mode. If they eventually return to Scitex system, please keep their CMYK mode. You can use PhotoShop to open and edit Scitex CT images.

*.tga(Tagged Graphic)

*.tga is an image file format developed by True Vision Company for its display card. It was created earlier and the maximum number of colors can reach 32 bits, including 8-bit Alpha channel for displaying live TV. This format has been widely used in various fields of P C, and this format file makes it possible for Windows and 3DS to exchange image files with each other. You can first generate colorful *.tga files in 3DS, and then use PhotoShop, Freeherd, Painter and other application software to modify and render them in Win dows.

*.win

*.win is a graphic file format similar to *.tga.

*. xbm (xbbitmap)

*. xbm is a graphic file format.