What is the difference between a bit-map and a vector graphic?
A bit map is made up of lots of tiny dots (pixels) – as you increase the size of the bitmap the number of dots has to increase too. If you have a small picture and want to make it larger then one of two things happens with bitmaps – the computer has to make the dots bigger, or occassionally it will add extra dots based on what the other dots around the existing ones are – so the picture quality degrades as you increase the size. A vector graphic works in a different way, the picture is made up of a series of points joined by lines – so as you increase the size of the picture the computer simply increases the length of the lines, size of the points and you get a much better image at a larger magnification.
