Raster vs Vector Which to Use for Packaging

The next stage, which may be really exciting, is having your package printed when you've decided on it.

After spending a great deal of time crafting the ideal packaging for your company, it's time to review it and make sure everything meets your expectations.

You may realize that there are a lot of words used in the design process that you are not quite familiar with, such raster and vector.

We'll go over some important vocabulary and things to be aware of while designing and printing.

First, let's go over some key phrases that you will need to keep in mind as you go.

Throughout the design process, you'll hear the phrases "pixel" and "bitmap" often. What they mean by this is this:

Pixel: On a screen, a pixel is the smallest unit of a picture. Screen images are simply composed of tiny squares with various color codes on them.

Bitmap: Bitmaps are composed of individual pixels arranged in a grid to create an overall image or picture.

We'll examine what a vector picture is now that we've defined a few important words.

Raster: What is it?

Digital pictures known as bitmaps or raster graphics are made up of small rectangular dots, or pixels, arranged in a grid pattern to simulate an image.

Raster graphics work well for non-line art pictures and are often created from photo scans or digital camera captures.

A better quality picture has more pixels in it. When you enlarge the picture, you can clearly see lower pixel counts. Each pixel is easily visible, which results in poor quality.

The ability to display intricate compositions and delicate color gradations is one benefit of raster pictures.

Using Pictures in Raster

Adobe Photoshop or another raster-based application is required to perform any adjustments or changes to raster images, which are most often encountered in digital tools and photography.

Raster pictures are more suited for photography and imaging than for design work as they can't be scaled like vector graphics can and often distort when blown up to enormous proportions.

Raster pictures work well for photography, but since you can only resize an image to a certain number of pixels, they are less useful for developing logos, for example.

File Structures

The following formats are available for raster file storage:

Tagged image file formats include.tiff,.psd,.pdf,.jpg,.jpg (Joint Photographic Expert Group),.png (Portable Network Graphic),.gif (Graphics Interchange Format), and.bmp (Bitmap Image File).

All picture files will show pixels, however different file sizes will have different display settings.

Better-quality photographs will display more smoothly, but they will also need a lot more storage. Although a smaller file will be simpler to store, its quality can suffer.

Whichever of the two you chose for your package, now that you know what they are?

How do you define Vector?

An picture generated using Adobe Illustrator or another specific design program is called a vector image, which is highly specialized.

To produce a picture, vector graphics use paths to specify geometric forms. More versatility is possible since they maintain picture quality even when resizing or altering them.

The good news is that, if necessary, vectors can be quickly transformed to rasters.

In contrast to raster graphics, vector images maintain their smoothness at any size. During the design phase, they are also helpful when dealing with file size restrictions.

The main disadvantage is that you have to use specialized software to access and edit vector graphics; otherwise, you can't open them with other programs until they've been converted to raster files.

Making Use of Vector Graphics

Sketch and Adobe Illustrator are the greatest applications for creating vector pictures.

Photoshop is meant mostly for raster pictures, thus it is not the best option.

For design work, such as logos and icons, vector files perform best since they can integrate a lot of information and may be utilized in many sizes without sacrificing quality when used for branding goods, websites, and other applications.

File Structures

The following formats are compatible with vector files.

.ai (document in Adobe Illustrator format).eps stands for Encapsulated PostScript. Scalable Vector Graphic (svg) and Portable Document Format (.pdf), only available when saving from vector applications

Which Is Better for Packaging?

What you want to show on your package and your logo will be the main factors in determining which choice to choose.

Vector graphics are preferable when using geometric shapes and components.

The quality of the photos will not be compromised, and you may alter them in many ways to match different dielines without compromising on quality.

Fortunately, with vector pictures, you don't necessarily have to start from scratch.

Adobe Illustrator and other similar tools may be used to recreate rasterized graphics that can be vectorized.

This is only effective, however, if your picture has well defined mathematical curves, forms, and lines.

For pictures like photos, where there isn't a clear form, it can't be done.

For pictures like photos and "real-life" visuals that pixels can replicate, raster images work better.

For instance, raster is the greatest choice if you want product photographs on the package or other artwork since it prints well as long as the pixel count is high.

Utilizing raster pictures at their original size is recommended, while you are free to adjust slightly.

A lower-quality picture will result from making significant changes to the image size.

After you've chosen the kind of picture you want to utilize, there are a few things you should think about.

Requirements for Packaging Printing

The resolution you choose will have an impact on the printing quality.

1. 300 dpi

The optimum printing quality may be obtained by using a high-resolution of 300 DPI.

If the resolution of any image is less than 300 DPI, printing it may result in less sharp and high-quality images.

To find out the resolution of your picture, you may right-click on it and examine its attributes on your computer.

2. Model of Color CMYK

Utilizing the CMYK color model can help you achieve precise color matching, which is crucial for your branding.

Make sure that the designs are converted from RGB to CMYK before printing your packaging to preserve the clarity and quality of the print.

3. Ask to See a Sample Box

Obtaining a box sample is essential after you've made your packing decision so you can see it in person!

Examining the package closely enables you to find any defects that may be rectified before larger prints are made!