Today we reviewed our assignments. Generally spoke about what needs to be met before we can consider our midterm complete. This midterm showed up quick! I guess this is where the pressure starts to build. Our discussion in class really helped me out. I’ve heard of raster and vector. I really never took the time to read and understand completely. I was trying to get away with knowing the bare minimum.
Raster (bitmap) is what I am familiar with. I have been working with raster for over 5 years. Raster is made up of dots (pixels) per inch. Raster is always measured in dots (pixels) per inch and resolution. The image cannot be expanded beyond its original state. The reason being is there are no additional pixels to fill in the extra space. If raster is measured in pixels per inch, what happens when those pixels are stretched over tow inches?! The computer will try to fill in the extra space with existing pixels. What usually ends up happening is the pixels are stretched then the pixels start projecting their individual edges and start to dominate the image. If an image looks good on a monitor, it does not mean that it will print out clear. A monitor projects a picture at 72 ppi (pixels per inch). What I didn’t know is in order to print; images have to be at least 300 dpi! I always thought that if they look good on my monitor, they’ll look good on paper. I was totally off!
Vector files are made up of paths. Paths are made of dots that are placed together to create a line. So vector is made with thousands of dots (pixels) that project a line. If using a vector based software, in this example I used Illustrator. In Illustrator a click with the pen tool will place a dot. When another dot is placed in a different place in the document, the computer places a path between the two points. With vector images require mathematical calculations with every stroke that you make with any tool. Because of the mathematics required to make the picture, the file size is small compared to a raster file. In a raster file the computer has to store pixel by pixel. With a vector file it only stores locations on the document that take up less space on a hard drive. Vector art minimizes download time when working with the internet. Vector can make the wait shorter so web surfers can enjoy the internet.
After reading the two web pages that Ivan gave us, everything came together. Understanding the differences is vital to my studies. I have converted raster to vector via Illustrator. I have also converted vector to raster via Photoshop. After reading the two web pages, I was unable to confirm the Cartesian coordinate system. It does help to visualize and understand the concept at hand, not sure why they didn’t mention it on the links. I will design my cover page with Photoshop; I’m more familiar with that software compared to Publisher.
