Episode 33: Vector v. Raster, with Sean Doran

In this episode:

Ever hear the words "vector" and "raster," when talking about graphics, but wondered what that actually meant? In this quick episode, Sean goes over the technical differences between the two, when each image type should be used, and how to optimize them.

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Show Notes & Links

Apps & Tools Mentioned

Sketch 3 by Bohemian Coding

Adobe Illustrator CC

Inkscape

Affinity Designer

Pixelmator

Adobe Photoshop CC

Gulp.js

Grunt.js

ImageOptim

Alfred

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Intro

Since I recently taught a 2 hour workshop on Sketch 3, I wrote a couple of emails to the attendees the week leading up to the class in preparation for what they’d be learning. In the workshop I was showing them how to use Sketch 3 as a tool, and how to take advantage of what it has to offer, while also highlighting what areas Sketch isn’t good at. I didn’t have time to give an introduction to design basics, so that’s what these emails were for.

Sketch 3: A-Z was a one-week workshop that gave attendees the principles for designing modern day websites, and how they could get up and running with Sketch 3 as a new design tool to see their ideas come to life.

Before I begin, a big thank you to Kevin Mack and Columbus Web Group for putting on these Weekend Workshops. They are free, open to the public, and are meant to offer accessible education that isn’t your traditional schooling route. The monthly free meetups make for great networking events, educational opportunities, and an all around fun time. I can’t recommend them enough.

Scooby Doo after a couple of Scooby snacks

With programs such as Sketch 3, Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer, InkScape, we have what are called vector-based applications. So what I mean by vector-based is that it is based on points: tiny dots that have an X and Y coordinate. If you think back to grade school, you probably had graph paper and were told to put dots at certain (X,Y) coordinates. After all the dots were on the paper, you would connect the dots with a line in a certain order, and you’d end up with a drawing!

Sketch 3, and any design program that can handle vectors, takes that same graph paper concept, and steps it up a notch. Here's a lovely SVG just for you.

Vector graphics uses geometrical objects, like points, lines,...