What is the difference between vector and bitmap images?
A bitmap (e.g. TIFF, JPEG, PNG) is made up of a thousands of tiny squares or 'pixels'. These pixels are all the same size, but can be in a huge range of colors. The amount of pixels shown in an image is called 'resolution'. When there are lots of pixels and an image looks smooth or photographic, that's 'high resolution'. When there are less pixels an image might look blocky or 'pixellated'.
Due to the fact that there are a set number of pixels in a bitmap image, they don't hold up well when zoomed in or enlarged. For this reason, we ask for bitmap images at 300 ppi or larger - so your design will look smooth & beautiful when printed.
A vector image is created by mapping out X and Y coordinates to plot each point on a line or curve. This means that vector images are scalable and can be enlarged to billboard size while maintaining smooth edges.
Where possible, we recommend saving graphic designs, text and line art as 'vector based' PDFs. This is possible in applications like Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign. You can download templates for each of these applications.