1.1 What Vector Graphics Is and Why It Matters
Inkscape is a vector graphics editor. What does that mean?
The majority of images stored and processed on computers today are represented as rasters, also called bitmaps. A raster image is a rather primitive representation—just a lattice of small rectangular areas called pixels. For each pixel, the only information a raster file stores is its color and, possibly, its transparency.
For example, if you have a bitmap image with a black circle on white background (Figure 1-1, left), there is in fact no black circle stored in the image at all. It’s only you, when viewing this image, who may (or may not) get the idea of a black circle. All the computer knows about the image is that some of its pixels are ...
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