What is a vector file?

What is a vector file?

You've undoubtedly come across the term vector file before. When you want to deliver a photo, logo, or illustration for print to a printer, they will often ask for a vector file. And you undoubtedly wondered then, and perhaps still, what is a vector file? How do I get a vector file and why is it so important for a print shop?

Vector file

In short, the answer to the question 'What is a vector file?' is:

A vector file is a digital image that can be enlarged without limit without the quality of the image deteriorating.

Now you'll undoubtedly wonder what a vector is then? Vectors are actually paths between so-called anchor points. Those paths can take various forms such as a line or a curve. Vector images are therefore built from lines, unlike other files that we'll return to later in this blog.

Easy to enlarge

The question now is, how is it that a vector file can be enlarged so easily? When you enlarge a vector file, the vectors are 'recalculated'. The distance between the anchor points of the vectors becomes larger and the path is then automatically adjusted. Any colors are also adjusted after this. This way, the vector file maintains the correct proportions and quality, no matter how large you make the file.

Here's the short answer to the question 'What is a vector file?'. But you might now be wondering, 'How can I recognize a vector file?'

Recognizing a vector file

As we mentioned earlier, a vector file is built from lines. Unlike, for example, a pixel file (we'll come back to the question of what a pixel file is). But how can we recognize a vector file? The easiest way to recognize a vector file is by the so-called file extension. A file extension is the letters after the period in the file name. For example, Microsoft Word has the file extension .DOC or .DOCX and Microsoft PowerPoint has the extension .PPT. A file name can then be documents.DOC or presentation.DOCX. It's the same for vector files, so you can recognize them by the extension of the file. Common extensions include SVG, EPS, AI, and CMX. The most common format in which a vector file is saved is EPS or AI. AI is the file format in which the Adobe Illustrator software saves its vector files.

The counterpart of a vector file

Most digital images you encounter on the internet, such as on websites, have a pixel file format. How does a pixel file differ from a vector file? As we said, a vector file is built from lines and can be infinitely enlarged without any quality loss. Unlike a vector file, a pixel file is built from so-called pixels. Pixel files are graphic files built from an enormous number of small colored squares, the pixels. Together, these pixels form the image or illustration. If you enlarge pixel files, you'll soon see that the images become 'blocky', in other words, the pixels become clearly visible. As we mentioned, a pixel file can work fine on a website or webshop, but if you want to use the file in print work, and especially on larger surfaces, you really need to deliver a vector file. A vector file is ideally suited to be printed on larger surfaces such as billboards, banners, vehicle lettering, and flags, for example. Because no matter how large the image is printed, the quality will always be razor-sharp and clear. This way, you make an excellent first impression.

What can be converted

In principle, photos and illustrations can be converted to a vector image. However, there are still some conditions for photos. Photos taken with your smartphone, for example, consist of millions of pixels. If you want to have such an image vectorized, a lot of information will be lost, with the result that the quality of the photo only seems to decrease. Photos of objects are generally somewhat better to vectorize. In general, the less detail in a photo, the better.

Advantages of a vector file

Working with vector files has, besides being able to infinitely enlarge, several more advantages. For example, they are relatively small files and therefore take up little hard disk space. A JPG format of the same file can easily be 5 times larger. Additionally, resolution doesn't play a role in a file either, vectors are, as we mentioned, lines and image resolution is not important here. A vector image is always sharp.

Work for specialists

Unfortunately, it is the case that working with vectors and vector files is very specialized work. If an image, an illustration, or for example a logo needs to be converted (vectorized) to a vector file, that's done entirely by hand. The image is, simply put, completely traced by hand. Graphic specialists use professional software for that, for example Adobe Illustrator. Those aspects added together make converting an image to a vector a particularly difficult and time-consuming job.

To trace a logo or an image, you need considerable, years of expertise to accurately convert an image to a vector image by hand. If you want quick access to a vectorized logo or illustration of the highest quality, it's advisable to immediately engage people with that years of experience. Like the specialists at Logo in Vector. We're happy to help you. We make sure you have your 'vectorized' file back within 24 hours. And at a very competitive rate. Want to know more about Logo in Vector's services first? Feel free to contact us, our specialists are happy to answer all your questions. Would you rather place an order? Click here.