I can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve had to explain the difference between raster vs vector art files.
It seems like a gazillion.
And I’m still doing it. How about you?
For this article, I thought I would explain it again (!) and discuss some points that matter more than others. If you are super advanced in the decorated apparel industry, you might want to skip this one.
Just starting out? Need to send something about this topic to a customer? New to apparel sales? Frustrated art department staff member?
Read on my friend.
We’re going to cover some basic graphic design vocabulary, what makes sense for apparel production applications, why this stuff should matter to you, and yes, what exactly is the difference between a raster vs vector art file.
Don’t make rookie art mistakes.
Raster vs Vector Art: The Definitions
Ok, let’s jumpstart this party by getting right to it.
Raster
A raster file is an image composed of a finite set of dots called pixels. The word “pixel” comes from combining the “pix” in picture, and the “el” in element. So, essentially a pixel is a picture element.
Every pixel is square in shape and assigned a specific color. If you imagine a multi-colored chess board as being a close-up of a raster image, it can help paint a mental picture of what I’m describing.
Unlike a vector file, a raster file is dependent on the resolution of the file. The number of pixels that fit into a square inch determines the resolution. A 72 ppi (pixels per inch) file means that the image is only composed of 72 pixels in that square inch. A 300 ppi file means there are 300.
Smaller pixels means the image looks better on a computer monitor, phone or even your television.
What you need is to strike a balance based on your intention with the file.
More pixels = better quality.
Fewer pixels = faster download speed.
For files, the pixels per inch is the resolution of the actual file. Dots per inch, or dpi, refers to the capabilities of the printer used. Dpi is the density of the inkjet dot placement. It aligns with the pixels per square inch rule too, so the higher the number the better print quality.
For resolution, especially for production, you always want a bigger number.
Low Resolution = Bad
A low-resolution image is usually what someone “borrows” off of some website somewhere to use as the basis for their artwork.
You’ve received one of those hand grenades for production use before, right?
An easy way to tell if the image will have reproduction challenges is to just look at the edges. If they are “stair-stepped” or look jagged, it’s going to be tough to get that to reproduce cleanly without a lot of work to that file. Just look at the image we chose for this article. See the choppy look at the background image has? That’s the indication of poor resolution.
When you ask for a higher resolution file and your customer just changes the resolution from 72 to 300 and sends it back to you, that isn’t solving the problem. When that file was transformed, the software program had to basically guess how it should look and filled in areas with pixels to make the change.
What’s added might not be a good solution.
While you can always make resolution lower, bumping things up to a higher resolution usually has unwanted consequences. Added in are artifacts, pixelation, and weird chunks of color fun.
Resampling doesn’t always work.
High Resolution = Good
For raster images, always try to get at least a 300 dpi file at the actual size it will be reproduced.
For these file types, the larger the physical dimensions of the file get, the more megabytes the file may be in size. A 300 dpi file at 12″ x 12″ in size could be a 37MB+ file, and even larger if there are unflattened layers. That’s usually not something that can be emailed. I recommend either setting up an FTP portal on your website or getting a Dropbox account.
Raster image file size can be a good indicator for image quality.
So when a customer shoots you a raster image that is 112K is file size, you may be in trouble.
Raster images are best for photographs, complex illustrations, banner ads, web graphics, and content for social media. Adobe Photoshop is the recognized best industry platform for manipulating these photographic images, but other software programs can be used as well. In addition, many designers have switched to Affinity Photo as an alternative as it is lower in price than the Adobe Creative Cloud.
Your best defense in getting great files is educating your customers on what you need in order do a good job. Have some predesigned educational material on your website, and saved as a one-pager that you can email a customer.
Educating your customer is always a good idea.
Answer to the Statement – “This is all I have”
If you are in business for any length of time, you are going to run into this statement concerning a poor resolution art file.
“Sorry, but this is all I have.”
How are you dealing with this challenge?
You need a policy that is standard for dealing with this challenge. Do you charge to fix this situation? Are you spending valuable art department time cleaning up that logo, or do you simply rely on a service that can do it for $10?
More often than not, this conversation is about a low-resolution logo file that is needed for the customer’s order.
Which brings us to…
Vector
Vector images are based on math, not pixels. If you remember your high school geometry class, if you plot two points on a graph, you can connect them with a line. Plot four, connect all of them with a line, and you have a box shape. With that shape defined you can make the line or the box a color.
What’s great about this type of image is that it can be enlarged or reduced in size and never lose fidelity.
For this reason, vector images are always the best choice for logos and type.
Always.
Your art director isn’t crazy for constantly harping that logos coming in for orders have to be vector files. I’ve been that guy. It’s a quality control thing. He’s just annoyed that for something so basic, he has to constantly repeat the raster vs vector art instructions on what’s needed.
I know you’ve heard this:
- Logos need to be vector files. This is so there aren’t any resolution challenges.
- All Pantone colors labeled. Specifying these in the logo art file means nobody has to guess or ask questions later.
- Fonts should be converted to outlines. This means that killer font you downloaded for free needs to be converted from that text file to vector paths so it reads correctly in the logo art file.
Vector files are always best when doing something with logos or text. The majority of designers use Adobe Illustrator, but there is a big contingent of CorelDraw users too. Also, like with Photoshop, the vector version of Affinity Designer is seeing some growth. It’s really a personal preference at this point, but with Adobe shifting everything to their cloud format many designers don’t want to be saddled with that expense forever.
Just remember, creative talent wants to spend time being creative.
Go figure.
If you can’t quickly handle a problem with a supplied file, you might consider bringing in some help to resolve the problem for you so bigger challenges can be tackled.
Outsourcing Headaches
There has been an explosion of cheap raster to vector art services out there that can do this for your shop.
I know you are bombarded with marketing from those companies.
My advice?
Try a few, find one or two that you like, and send your headaches off to be converted so that your shop talent is working on higher priority tasks.
Always try to get the correct file from your customer, but if you can’t, make sure you have a plan for handling the challenge. I would suggest that both Sales and Customer Service have art programs loaded on their computers so they can check files coming in when the order is placed.
Defuse the bomb before it’s thrown in your art department’s lap. Simply open the file and check for the three bulleted points outlined above.
If it passes the smell test, send it on to your art crew. If not, work with your customer on getting what you need.
Prevent workflow problems by getting the art right on the front end of the order.
Optimize Your Art Files for Production
Remember, you aren’t designing just for cheap thrills. Although that could be possible. I’ve seen some of those portfolios over the years. Yowza.
Your art files are going to be used in some sort of production capacity.
Are you dialed in enough to know what you need for each type of production in your shop?
No, I don’t mean you.
I mean your sales or customer service people. That art intern you just hired for the season. The receptionist that deals with walk-in traffic.
If you asked them what are the specific raster vs vector art parameters needed for DTG, embroidery digitizing, screen-printing, sublimation or even for cad cut-vinyl would they be able to provide the correct answer? (Whatever you do in your shop.)
Go ahead give them a spot quiz.
I’ll wait.
What Were Your Answers?
Were you surprised?
What did they miss?
No wonder there is a bottleneck sometimes with orders in your shop regarding art files. I know it seems silly, but people miss these facts all the time.
You think they know. They should know.
But along the way, they are missing the mark somewhere.
Next Steps
Solving this problem is easy. Just give them the answers.
Create a chart on what’s needed for every type of production in your building, print them out and post them on the wall.
While you are at it, update every one of your clients with the instruction file so they can (hopefully) send you what you need for their next order. Throw this on your website FAQ section for good measure. When you get a new customer shoot this over to them with the new customer form package.
Call it your Shop Raster vs Vector Art Guidelines.
For example, here’s how InkSoft details how we do our art with our Design Studio. Check it out by clicking here.
A good chunk of solving problems starts with outlining the proper expectations.
People need to know what to do. Your job is to make it easy for them to understand the rules.
We Don’t Ship Blank Shirts
Let’s face it, we don’t ship many blank shirts to customers.
The art part of the order equation is a critical component. Take a few minutes this week and resolve those nagging challenges that seem to always hamstring you at the most inopportune times.
Gather your staff together. Ask them, what are the top ten problems that we constantly have with art in our shop?
Dig in and solve those problems.
Image Vocabulary List
Just for fun, here is a list of common terms for your reference:
Color Models
RGB
A light based additive color model that is derived from the three primary colors: Red, Green & Blue. This is how your image looks on your computer monitor or phone. The colors for RGB look great on an electronic monitor but will be printed differently than shown.
One of the biggest challenges with uneducated customers is “the printed colors didn’t match the proof you sent me when I looked at it on my phone.” There always will be a color difference, so get out in front of this and discuss it. Use Pantone Colors for anything that is spot color. Photographic images will print CMYK.
CMYK
CMYK is the initials for the subtractive color model, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (Black). These are the colors that when printed form a four color process image. There will be a color shift from RGB when printed. This usually looks flatter and duller than RGB, but it is linked to the hues in the image more than anything. Customers will often send an RGB file to be printed, so be sure to show them a proof in CMYK that reflects how the image will look before going to press.
Spot
Spot colors are inks that are specifically mixed to be a particular hue. They can be a standard name, such as “Forest Green” or a Pantone color such as PMS 349. Customers, especially brands, have specific color matching needs as they want their companies logo to appear consistently across all mediums. Ink companies provide a simple to use mixing system to match Pantone colors.
Common Terms
Lossless
Lossless means that it contains all of the data from the original file and nothing is “lost” when it is saved. This is a compression algorithm that allows the original file to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data. It’s important that lossless file types are used when you don’t want any problems with the file when opened or downloaded.
Lossy
The term Lossy means that something was removed from your file when it is compressed by the algorithm to make the file size smaller. Lossy files are great for anything used online, as file size and download speed are critical. For print production though, this can spell trouble as it means something was removed during the compression process to make the file smaller. Beware.
Raster File Extensions
.afphoto
.afphoto is the extension for an Affinity Photo file.
.jpg
.jpg is a lossy raster file that is usually for web & print, photos & quick previews. The name is derived from the Joint Photographic Experts Group or .jpeg, and this was eventually shortened to .jpg. The more files are compressed the more artifacts and pixelation increases. Often used online as the file size is small, and for fast proofing with email attachments. With this in mind, it is a standard best practice to not use a .jpg file for production files.
.gif
.gif is a lossless raster file that stands for the Graphics Interchange Format. This is a hugely popular web image format, and not because the name is pronounced (or mispronounced if you are in that camp) like a brand of popular peanut butter. Most commonly associated with short video graphic files, this can also be used for standalone images. Choosy moms like this type of file. Especially for their video internet memes.
.png
.png is a lossless raster file that shows millions of colors. These types of files are basically the next generation .gif files, as they can display higher color depths and contain the ability to be transparent. .png files have quickly become the web standard for graphic files online.
.tiff
.tiff is a lossless raster file that stands for Tagged Image File Format. These are high-quality files and most commonly associated with photographic images from digital cameras. In particular, .tiff files are commonly placed as photos in a vector layout program such as Illustrator or InDesign.
.psd
.psd is the extension for a saved Adobe Photoshop file.
Vector File Extensions
.afdesign
.afdesign is the extension for an Affinity Designer file.
.ai
.ai is the extension for a saved Adobe Illustrator file.
.cdr
.cdr is the extension for a CorelDraw file.
.pdf stands for Portable Document Format. This was created to display documents or graphic files correctly, regardless of the circumstances. A .pdf file will display correctly on any device, software, operating system or online web browser. The .pdf format is the universally recognized print standard for files to be sent to a printer for production. This format may contain both raster and vector elements in the file. Always check.
.eps
.eps is the extension that stands for Encapsulated PostScript. To be sure, .eps files were meant to be a way to export vector file data to be used in a larger project. Often this type of file may contain raster elements as well. This format saves the data for the file and ensures it is printed at the exported resolution, no matter the size that it is printed. Always check this type of file upon receiving.
.svg
.svg stands for Scalable Vector Graphics. This is an XML-based vector image format that supports interactivity and animation. These files are great for online applications where vector based graphics are used, as rendering support can happen on all major web browsers. (Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Opera, Safari, and Microsoft Edge)
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“Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.” – Andy Warhol
“Drawing is the honesty of art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad.” – Salvador Dali
“Creative without strategy is called art. Creative with strategy is called advertising.” – Jef I. Richards
