Essentially there are two kinds of images, raster and vector.  A raster
image is a created from a bitmap, the instructions to create a shape by
printing specific dots on the page or lighting up specific pixels on the
screen.  A vector image is instead created from a set of instructions on how
to draw the shape, such as "Pen down; forward 30 units; right 90 degrees;
forward 30 units..." or "Place start of text at these XY coordinates, use
this font, make it bold and print the following text string..."

Since a vector image on your screen is essentially the output from a little
program on how to draw the image, and the graphic is that program; it's easy
to make changes to the program to change what it shows on the screen.  But
the raster graphic is like a fixed snapshot of the image and all you can do
is stretch it, shrink it, change the colour...

Think of the difference between looking at a document in Word, and looking
at a scanned-in image of that document in Photoshop.

Bj





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