Vector vs raster: differences and application in branding
Difference at a glance: formulas versus pixels
A raster image is a grid of pixels, each assigned a color. If you double the image size, the program will stretch the same pixels over a larger area, and a characteristic 'staircase' will appear on the edges. Vector works differently: it is a set of Bézier curves described mathematically through point coordinates. Scaling a logo from a business card to a building facade — the computer simply recalculates the formula anew, without loss of edge sharpness.
Hence the difference in resolution requirements. A raster image needs 300 dpi for printing, and 72–96 dpi for screens. Trying to artificially 'boost' the resolution of a photograph is pointless: no more pixels will physically appear, but the file will swell and the website will load slower.
What actually breaks if a logo is drawn in raster format
The problem is not that a raster logo 'looks worse' in theory — it becomes apparent in specific working situations, and almost always unexpectedly for the client.
- Billboard or sign. A logo designed for a screen 500×500 px, when magnified up to three meters, becomes a mosaic of squares — it will have to be redone from scratch because there are simply no source data for reconstructing the shape.
- Pantone spot colors. They exist only in a vector environment — it is physically impossible to specify them in a raster RGB file for accurate color separation.
- Engraving and embroidery. A CNC machine and an embroidery machine read the contour as a path along which the cutter or needle moves. A raster image has no such path — it will have to be created anew, manually tracing each pixel edge.
- Lossless resizing. The same vector becomes an icon 16×16 px and a packaging layout without a single correction. Raster gives a quality result only in one specific size.
Converting vector to raster is a matter of seconds, export with one click. The reverse path—from raster to vector—requires manual or automatic shape reconstruction, and the result almost never perfectly matches the original.
AI, EPS, SVG, PDF: who to send what
Confusion with formats is the main reason why clients send designers and print shops the wrong files. In practice, a simple rule applies: one master file and several derivatives for specific tasks.
| Format | What is it | Who to send |
|---|---|---|
| AI (Adobe Illustrator) | Master file with all layers, fonts, and revision history | Stored at the branding agency or in the company archive, rarely shared externally |
| EPS | Industry standard for printing with 1980-x resolution, readable by any graphic software | Print shops, signage companies, embroidery and engraving suppliers |
| PDF (vector) | Universal container that preserves vector paths and fonts | Suitable for both print and as an EPS alternative if the print shop is modern |
| SVG | XML format for the web, supports CSS animation | For web developers for websites and interfaces |
| PNG 2x / 3x | Raster export for a specific screen pixel density | For social media, presentations, mobile apps |
An optimized SVG logo weighs 1–5 KB. If a file exported 'by eye' from auto-tracing weighs 200 KB or more, it still contains excess nodes and artifacts that must be manually cleaned up before sending to website layout.
Vectorization is not a magic button
Vectorization is the process of converting a raster image into a vector through automatic contour tracing (Image Trace in Illustrator, Vectorizer, Autotracer) or manual redraw. The point of it is when the original logo exists only as a scan, an old JPEG, or a photo from a sign, and no original files remain.
Automatic tracing handles flat, high-contrast signs without gradients well — a simple black silhouette on a white background will be restored almost perfectly. However, a logo with a smooth color transition, shadow, or halftone will be corrupted by auto-tracing: instead of a smooth curve, you'll get a jagged outline made of hundreds of excess anchor points.
To check whether the file you see is a real vector or a 'fake', simply open it in an editor and try to select the contour. A real vector has few nodes, and the line remains clear when zoomed in 10 times. A 'fake vector' is a raster image simply packed into an SVG container, which when zoomed in blurs exactly like a regular PNG.
If the source is a low-quality photo of a logo from a sign, and the logo itself is complex, with fine details and texture, automatic vectorization won't save you — the result will have to be manually refined for hours. In such a situation, it is faster and cheaper to redraw the logo from scratch based on references rather than fight with tracing artifacts.
Can vector and raster be mixed in one identity
Yes, and it is necessary — this is not a violation of rules, but a standard practice. A telling example is the website apple.com: the logo, all text, and interface buttons are made in vector, while product photos, hands with a phone, complex gradients like a rainbow — are raster. Combining both formats in one project is normal, if you understand where the boundary lies.
The simple division works:
- Vector is required — logo, brand mark, corporate patterns, icons, font compositions, elements that scale across different media.
- Raster is acceptable — photographs in the brand book, textures, complex illustrations with gradients and shadows, background images on the website.
The correct set of files for a logo looks like this: a master copy in AI as the source of truth, plus ready raster exports in PNG format at resolutions 1x, 2x, 3x for various screen densities. An important nuance is that each size must be exported separately from the vector, not stretch a single ready PNG image to different densities: scaling an already rendered raster again results in pixelation.
Where the raster physically fails in production
Theoretical discussions about 'quality loss' become a concrete problem on a specific medium.
- Billboards and outdoor advertising. When printing on areas of dozens of square meters, any raster resolution below the required threshold becomes a visible grid — the vector recalculates without loss at any scale.
- Flexographic printing on packaging. Here the vector is needed not for beauty but for color separation: printing is done in separate blocks of color, and only a vector file with Pantone block colors guarantees that the colors will not 'float' and will match the brand book across the entire print run.
- Embroidery on clothing. The embroidery machine sews stitches along the contour — the vector path is converted directly into a program for the machine, a raster image is not suitable at all for this purpose.
- Engraving and laser cutting. The machine cuts or burns along the contour trajectory, not by pixel color — without the vector, the task cannot be solved physically.
In all these cases, a request to the print shop or production 'send the vector' is not a formality or a whim of the manager, but the only way to achieve a predictable result.
Difference at a glance: formulas versus pixels
A raster image is a grid of pixels, each assigned a color. If you double the image size, the program will stretch the same pixels over a larger area, and a characteristic 'staircase' will appear on the edges. Vector works differently: it is a set of Bézier curves described mathematically through point coordinates. Scaling a logo from a business card to a building facade — the computer simply recalculates the formula anew, without loss of edge sharpness.
Hence the difference in resolution requirements. A raster image needs 300 dpi for printing, and 72–96 dpi for screens. Trying to artificially 'boost' the resolution of a photograph is pointless: no more pixels will physically appear, but the file will swell and the website will load slower.
What actually breaks if a logo is drawn in raster format
The problem is not that a raster logo 'looks worse' in theory — it becomes apparent in specific working situations, and almost always unexpectedly for the client.
- Billboard or sign. A logo designed for a screen 500×500 px, when magnified up to three meters, becomes a mosaic of squares — it will have to be redone from scratch because there are simply no source data for reconstructing the shape.
- Pantone spot colors. They exist only in a vector environment — it is physically impossible to specify them in a raster RGB file for accurate color separation.
- Engraving and embroidery. A CNC machine and an embroidery machine read the contour as a path along which the cutter or needle moves. A raster image has no such path — it will have to be created anew, manually tracing each pixel edge.
- Lossless resizing. The same vector becomes an icon 16×16 px and a packaging layout without a single correction. Raster gives a quality result only in one specific size.
Converting vector to raster is a matter of seconds, export with one click. The reverse path—from raster to vector—requires manual or automatic shape reconstruction, and the result almost never perfectly matches the original.
AI, EPS, SVG, PDF: who to send what
Confusion with formats is the main reason why clients send designers and print shops the wrong files. In practice, a simple rule applies: one master file and several derivatives for specific tasks.
| Format | What is it | Who to send |
|---|---|---|
| AI (Adobe Illustrator) | Master file with all layers, fonts, and revision history | Stored at the branding agency or in the company archive, rarely shared externally |
| EPS | Industry standard for printing with 1980-x resolution, readable by any graphic software | Print shops, signage companies, embroidery and engraving suppliers |
| PDF (vector) | Universal container that preserves vector paths and fonts | Suitable for both print and as an EPS alternative if the print shop is modern |
| SVG | XML format for the web, supports CSS animation | For web developers for websites and interfaces |
| PNG 2x / 3x | Raster export for a specific screen pixel density | For social media, presentations, mobile apps |
An optimized SVG logo weighs 1–5 KB. If a file exported 'by eye' from auto-tracing weighs 200 KB or more, it still contains excess nodes and artifacts that must be manually cleaned up before sending to website layout.
Vectorization is not a magic button
Vectorization is the process of converting a raster image into a vector through automatic contour tracing (Image Trace in Illustrator, Vectorizer, Autotracer) or manual redraw. The point of it is when the original logo exists only as a scan, an old JPEG, or a photo from a sign, and no original files remain.
Automatic tracing handles flat, high-contrast signs without gradients well — a simple black silhouette on a white background will be restored almost perfectly. However, a logo with a smooth color transition, shadow, or halftone will be corrupted by auto-tracing: instead of a smooth curve, you'll get a jagged outline made of hundreds of excess anchor points.
To check whether the file you see is a real vector or a 'fake', simply open it in an editor and try to select the contour. A real vector has few nodes, and the line remains clear when zoomed in 10 times. A 'fake vector' is a raster image simply packed into an SVG container, which when zoomed in blurs exactly like a regular PNG.
If the source is a low-quality photo of a logo from a sign, and the logo itself is complex, with fine details and texture, automatic vectorization won't save you — the result will have to be manually refined for hours. In such a situation, it is faster and cheaper to redraw the logo from scratch based on references rather than fight with tracing artifacts.
Can vector and raster be mixed in one identity
Yes, and it is necessary — this is not a violation of rules, but a standard practice. A telling example is the website apple.com: the logo, all text, and interface buttons are made in vector, while product photos, hands with a phone, complex gradients like a rainbow — are raster. Combining both formats in one project is normal, if you understand where the boundary lies.
The simple division works:
- Vector is required — logo, brand mark, corporate patterns, icons, font compositions, elements that scale across different media.
- Raster is acceptable — photographs in the brand book, textures, complex illustrations with gradients and shadows, background images on the website.
The correct set of files for a logo looks like this: a master copy in AI as the source of truth, plus ready raster exports in PNG format at resolutions 1x, 2x, 3x for various screen densities. An important nuance is that each size must be exported separately from the vector, not stretch a single ready PNG image to different densities: scaling an already rendered raster again results in pixelation.
Where the raster physically fails in production
Theoretical discussions about 'quality loss' become a concrete problem on a specific medium.
- Billboards and outdoor advertising. When printing on areas of dozens of square meters, any raster resolution below the required threshold becomes a visible grid — the vector recalculates without loss at any scale.
- Flexographic printing on packaging. Here the vector is needed not for beauty but for color separation: printing is done in separate blocks of color, and only a vector file with Pantone block colors guarantees that the colors will not 'float' and will match the brand book across the entire print run.
- Embroidery on clothing. The embroidery machine sews stitches along the contour — the vector path is converted directly into a program for the machine, a raster image is not suitable at all for this purpose.
- Engraving and laser cutting. The machine cuts or burns along the contour trajectory, not by pixel color — without the vector, the task cannot be solved physically.
In all these cases, a request to the print shop or production 'send the vector' is not a formality or a whim of the manager, but the only way to achieve a predictable result.
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