Vector graphics are the standard today - especially when it comes to printing. It's easy to scale, takes up little disk space and is similarly easy to edit. But how do "vectors" work from the inside? What makes them so popular and why are they so different from "normal" graphics.
Although it seems modern and futuristic it is not at all a new invention - already in 1982 there was a vectrex console on the digital market, basing all its graphics precisely on vectors. How is this possible? Vector graphics are primarily curves - mathematical. To simplify: every shape in vector graphics can be described by a mathematical formula just like we did in school drawing graphs of functions. For this reason, it is so easy to stretch or scale it without losing the "sharpness" of the graphic. This is because in practice it only means changing the parameters of the "drawn graph". In the case of standard (raster) graphics, this means actually stretching a well-defined shape composed of tiny squares. Since, as a result of such a transformation, the computer has to "fill in the gaps" it creates new pixels in the missing places, the color of which is calculated based on the "cool calculation" of the algorithm.
That's why usually the file sizes of vector graphics are quite a bit smaller than those of raster graphics - because the file only needs to store the "function pattern" that draws individual shapes and their color - raster graphics need to "know" the position and color of each pixel individually. Why usually? Well, vector graphics, because of their characteristics, are used to "draw" simple elements - logos, maps, coats of arms, emblems, characters, figures, cartoons. It is very difficult to achieve the effect of a "photorealistic" illustration with its help. Of course, numerous profiles on behance or artstation prove that nothing is impossible, but in practice, when deciding on a photorealistic vector, we have to reckon with a much higher memory load - due to the alarming number of component objects.
Printing environment of vectors
The title is not exaggerated. Vectors are definitely required in all kinds of decoration and decoration of objects, as well as in the field of accidence - obtaining good print quality seems to be much easier when we have precisely defined shapes as a base, and not graphics built from small squares, the sharpness of which depends on their density. Even greater rigor can be observed in cutting processes, laser decoration or industrial embroidery, where "without vectors there is no move".
Such a solution seems fully justified - computers operating on geometric shapes will process graphics faster, better giving sharper images with greater print predictability. Any attempt to disrupt this ecosystem with raster graphics seems unnatural and pointless for it, just like the attempt to move vectors into the world of photography or retouching.
