Bi

tmapVs.Vect
orI
mages

Mostimagesi
nthei
rnati
vest
atear
erasteri
mages, orbi
tmapimages.Theseimagesuti
li
ze
rowsandcol
umnsofpixel
smadeofdif
ferentcolor
storenderthei
mage.Bit
mapi magesare
quit
ecommon(.JPEG,.
PNG,et
c)andarefair
lyeasytounderst
and.

Bitmapimages,duetot
heirexpressi
onviabit
map,arer esolut
ion-
dependent
.Ify
ouneedt
o
resizeabit
mapi magey
ouwi l
l r
educethequali
tyoftheimage.Resi zi
ngthei
magetobesmall
er
forcesyoutogetri
dofpixel
s,andifyoui
ncreasesizethelinesandcur v
esbecomej
aggedand
definedbyacleargr
adi
ent.

Vectorimagessolv ethi
si ssueofr esizi
ngimages.Vect ori magesarepath-based–t heyar e
composedofmat hemat icalequat i
onssot hei mageitselfi
seasil
yscalable.Becauseoft his,
vectorimagesareconsi deredr esoluti
onindependent.Vect ori
mageshav easpeci f
icartif
icial
i
ty
tothem becausetheyar ecompl etelycomput er-
generated.They’
l
lneverlookphoto-real
isti
c.
Howev eronecani ndi
v i
duallyresizeandr etoolspecif
icshapesandcomponent sofv ect
or
i
mageswi t
houtdest r
oyingt heimagei t
self
.Thismakesv ectori
magesv eryusefulforgraphic
designers.

Howt
oConv
ertI
magest
oVect
ors

Duetothesefactor
s, of
tendesigner
swil
l choosetov
ectori
zeanimage,orconver
titf
rom a
bi
tmap(.JPEG,.PNG)t oav ect
or-
basedimage.Theopposit
eprocess,t
urni
nganimageintoa
bi
tmap,iscal
ledrasteri
zing.Thetwomostcommonpr ogr
amsusedt oconver
tbit
mapi mages
i
ntovectori
magesar ePhot oshopandIl
l
ust r
ator
.

Howt
oVect
ori
zeanI
magei
nPhot
oshop

Wheny
ouuseAdobePhot
oshop,t
hei
magesy
ou’
remani
pul
ati
ngarebi
tmapi
magesbydef
aul
t.
Fol
l
owthesest
epst
oconver
tbi
tmapi
magesi
nPhot
oshopi
ntovect
ori
mages.

Opent he“ Wi ndow”menuandsel ect“Paths”topul

lupt hecorr
espondingpanel.Youhav ethr
ee
choi
cesi nt heopt i
onsbar:selectthestandardPent ooltocr
eatestrai
ghtl
inesandBezi er
curv
esov ert heimage.Sel
ectt heFreefor
m opt i
onforamor eorganicandloosedrawingt hat
youtraceov ertheimage.SelecttheMagnet icPentof ol
lowtr
ansit
ionsofcolorandbrightness
wit
hint heimage.
Drawy ourvect
orpathsov
erthei
mageunti
lyouhaveatr
acedconv
ersi
onoft
hepathsand
shapeswi t
hinyouri
mage.Pr
essEnt
erwheny ouar
edonetr
aci
ngapathtosi
gnal
theendoft
he
pathway.

Selectf
urtherpathway
sut i
l
izi
ngtheLasso,Marquee,andMagicWandsel
ect
iont
ool
s.Cl
ickthe
menubut tonatthetopri
ghtcornerofthe“
Paths”panelandchoose“
MakeWorkPat
h”totur
n
eachselecti
onintoavectorpathway.

Setthet
oler
ancel
evel
fort
hepathways.Smal
l
erlev
elsmakethepathadher
etightl
ytowhat
you’v
etr
aced,whi
l
elar
gerl
evel
sdispl
ayssmoothtr
ansi
ti
onsbetweenanchorpoint
sinyour
path.

Wheny oucreateanewwor kpat

hbesuretodoubl
ecl
i
ckthePathnamethatappear
sinthe
“
Paths”panel.Acceptthedef
aul
tnameornameeachpat
h.Other
wisenewacti
onswill
repl
ace
vect
ordrawingsont heworkpat
hwit
hnewoutput.

Expor
tvect
orpathsfr
om PhotoshopintoIl
l
ustr
atorsoy
oucanuset
hem acr
ossot
herpr
ogr
ams.
Cli
ck“Fi
l
e”à“Export
”à“PathstoIl
lust
rator
.”