What is the difference between Raster vs. Vector?

Vector images are made up of basic geometric shapes such as points, lines and curves. The relationship of the shapes is expressed as a mathematical equation which allows the image to scale up or down in size without losing quality.

Vector-based designs can be created using software like Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw.

Raster images are made up of a set grid of dots called pixels where each pixel is assigned a color value. Unlike a vector image, raster images are resolution dependent.

When you change the size of a raster image, you shrink or stretch the pixels themselves which can result in a significant loss of clarity and very blurry image. Not a very good look :(

At Print Peppermint, although we can and do often work with raster-based images we PREFER vector files, which make the prepress process easier and will result in a higher quality print.