Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon(s), which are all based on
mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics. Vector, in this context, implies more than a straight line.
Vector graphics are based on images made up of vectors (also called paths, or strokes) which lead through locations called control points.
Each of these points has a definite position on the x and y axes of the work plan. Each point, as well, is a variety of database, including
the location of the point in the work space and the direction of the vector (which is what defines the direction of the track).
Each track can be assigned a color, a shape, a thickness and also a fill. This does not affect the size of the files in a substantial way
because all information resides in the structure, it describes how to draw the vector.
Vector art is ideal for printing. Since the art is made from a series of mathematical curves it will print very crisply even when resized.
For instance, one can print a vector logo on a small sheet of copy paper, and then enlarge the same vector logo to billboard size and keep the
same crisp quality. A low-resolution raster graphic would blur or pixelate excessively if it were enlarged from business card size to billboard
size. The precise resolution of a raster graphic necessary for high-quality results depends on the viewing distance; e.g., a billboard may
still appear to be of high quality even at low resolution if the viewing distance is large enough.
If we regard typographic characters as images, then the same considerations that we have made for graphics apply even to composition of written
text for printing (typesetting). Older character sets were stored as bitmaps, therefore to achieve maximum print quality they had to be used at
a given resolution only; these font formats are said to be non-scalable. High quality typography is nowadays based on character drawings (fonts)
which are typically stored as vector graphics, and as such are scalable to any size. Examples of these vector formats for characters are
Postscript fonts, TrueType fonts and Web fonts.