What are vector images?

Vector images are not made up of pixels like raster images, but instead they are created using points, lines, curves, and shapes to represent a computer graphic. They use mathematical functions to determine where everything sits in the image.

All of this sounds very technical, doesn't it? Here's what you really need to know about vector images to determine whether or not you'll use them in your Prezis.

The preceding image has been created in Adobe Illustrator and saved as a PDF file. You can clearly see in the zoomed section on the right that there is absolutely no loss of image quality. I'll come back to this point later, but hopefully you've just had one of those nice "ahah" moments!

You can probably tell by now that I'm a big fan of Adobe products, but I do appreciate that there are other (less expensive) pieces of software for working with vector images. Here are a few you should look into:

• Inkscape

• DrawIt (Mac format only)

• DrawPlus

Note

Later in this chapter, I'll show you how to create your own vector images using Inkscape. Keep reading though because there's more you need to know before you get to that stage.

Vector file formats

Vector graphic editors like the ones mentioned previously will allow you to export your images in many different file types. The only ones that matter to us though are PDF and SWF (Small Web Format) because these are the only two file types that can handle vector images and are supported by Prezi. The following table gives a quick explanation of each file format along with some tips on using them in Prezi.

Vector formats within Prezi
File format	Uses	Tips
.pdf	This format preserves all visual elements within the file and compresses the file size very effectively.	Prezi desktop player will need to convert .pdf files, so, an Internet connection is needed for this.
.swf	Very fast loading format with excellent compression for small file size. Also supports animation (if you know how!)	Supports transparency like .png and .gif files, so, is very useful in Prezi.

Note

I should state that PDF is not strictly a vector file format, but exporting vector images to this format preserves the image details for inserting into Prezi. This means that you won't get any pixilation like that of a raster image.