Why do we prefer vector art files instead of just any picture file?

We are often asked by customers if the art files they have will be ok for us to make a vehicle wrap, their business card, sign or banner with. In some circumstances, yes. Other times no. With a vector file we can easily scale the graphic larger or smaller in the Adobe Illustrator software. This is a vector based program we use for designing our projects. Now an explanation of what will work and what won’t.

Vector art files

A vector art file is a type of graphic file that can be scaled to any size, larger or smaller, without losing its appearance quality. The vector art file keeps its quality because it uses mathematical formulas to “scale” itself when you make the graphic 5 inches tall and then to 5 feet tall and back to 5 inches. Then when you look at its appearance, the quality is the same at 5 inches just as it was at 5 feet. For the long definition of a vector graphic read Wikipedia’s version here.

Raster art files

A standard picture file like jpeg, png, gif, bmp are called raster graphics. These will lose quality when scaled larger because they only have a certain amount of graphic data to work with. When a graphic is scaled larger, the software has to “fill in the gaps” of the missing data when enlarged. The following is part of our logo in jpeg format and enlarged. It is heavily pixelated.

List of vector file types

There are many different vector art files. The most common types are…

• .AI (Adobe Illustrator)
• .EPS (Encapsulated Post Script)
• .SVG (Scaleable Vector Graphics)
• .CDR (Corel Draw)

If you are a customer who has art files you wish to submit, look at the file extension. If the file name extension has one of the above mentioned names, it is a vector art file. By having a vector art file you will save time and money and you will have a higher quality print job. If you don’t have one of the above mentioned names, you probably have a raster graphic.

I don’t have a vector art file. What do I do?

If you have a raster graphic (jpeg, gif, bmp) you have several options. One can be having us print the picture file anyway. Although not recommended. We will always show you a proof of what the print quality will be like.

Another option is to have us rebuild your art file. We can rebuild your art file in vector format. This will incur an hourly design charge but the new graphic file will be in vector format. This means from a small business card to a large banner or vehicle wrap it will keep the same print quality.

Your graphic might be ok to use depending on the type of application. If you have for example a 1MB jpeg picture file and it is going to be used on a business card, it will probably be alright to use. If you are using that same 1MB jpeg for use on a vehicle wrap, probably not. Having a jpeg file and then “saving as” a vector file will not work! The graphic has to be made as a vector to start with.

Summary

We hope this explanation of why we prefer vector art graphics over the others has been informative. You know understand why a vector art graphic is important to us and to you. If you plan on doing small format printing and bigger printing projects like banners or a vehicle wrap, having a vector art file is very important. Some cases you can get away with a raster graphic but don’t always count on it. If you don’t have a vector art file you have a few choices of what you can do. We will do our best to work with what you got and we will always keep you informed of any issues that can or will come up.