Vector and Raster graphics are one of the two main parallels, in the sector of imaging and printing. To understand a complete difference between and going ahead with one of these for your design, it is mandatory to mention here that both of them are utilized for a single result: To get a print on your product’s package. But what makes them separate from one another? Well, it is the quality. This article from Packman Packaging which is India’s leading manufacturer of corrugated boxes and top graphic creation house for packaging products will elaborate on all those distinct features and will tell you the reasons why Vector Printing and Packaging is more apt than the Raster Printing and Packaging.

The primary difference

Raster is made using of dots and pixels. Whereas Vector is created up of angles and lines.

If you one is not aware of the graphic designing background, it will be a bit new and tricky for you.

Here is an example: Let us say you have a vital image captured in your camera, but it is minimal. You will plug the camera, download a photo viewer, zoom it out to the maximum level and guess what! When you zoom it, it is not more than a group of graphical boxes. What it means is that the image is certainly a Raster image. Raster images are formed of such tiny multi-color boxes. These boxes are graphically mixed with one another to form a complete multi-shaded picture. Files having JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BMP formats are generally raster.

Now, know about a Vector Image with another instance. Let’s assume you own a flower shop, and you have created a logo for your brand. Now, while printing the letterhead of the business, you require a logo to be put and printed. You also require that logo on a big billboard at the same junction. Now placing that letterhead’s small logo on the big billboard will not be a good idea; if that is in a Raster form. A raster image would pixelate when extended to such an extent. That is where a vector image comes in. Vector files are customizable graphic interface files with interchangeable resolutions. EPS, SVG, CGM, and AI are the most popular vector types used in the market.

So, the one-liner difference in a practical sense for a layman is that: A vector can be magnified to the endless sizes, whereas the raster has no flexibility to be magnified and zoomed in.

What to use? Vector or Raster

Your printing includes the graphics as well as the images. Straightforwardly speaking, pictures are always available in raster form, whereas all the other graphics consisting of uniform geometric shapes are vectors.

If one is printing on product packaging material having a pretty tagline and a graphic, a vector image will work excellently. Raster images generally, work fine on one particular resolution but pixelate and decreases quality on everything else. This is why the images that require to be printed are always to be taken in the highest quality.

In the situation of printing on the product packaging: vectors are more liked and to be used because they are simple to be resized without reducing any pixels. Another aspect of vectors over raster is that a vector could be converted into a raster, whereas a raster cannot be converted into a vector. These are the major reasons why packaging creators are in love with the vectors and opt for them over rasters.

If you are looking for creating a design for your packaging, on the Packman website, you can directly upload your artwork and place your order that will get delivered across India within 9 working days.