Vector art and high-quality images can easily enhance your design projects. Learn about vector graphic features and benefits, and discover sources for downloads in this article.
What Is Vector Art and What Main Features Should You Know About?
Modern web design states various principles and trends for attracting customers and promoting brands. Moreover, an ordinary user especially values an eye-catchy and user-friendly web interface. Content makers spend time searching for illustrations and icons to implement creative ideas in their projects.
To create an appealing web design and a recognizable brand, you can use vector images. How are they better than usual raster pictures? In this article, you will find out vector graphic features, common vector formats, and sources to download HD images for commercial and personal purposes. Read on!
What Does Vector Art Mean In Design?
There are two types of graphics in web design: vector and raster. Vector graphics are pictures created with simple geometrical shapes, lines, and curves, anchored by mathematical formulas. Illustrators manually draw these images in specialized, vector-compatible software. In contrast, raster graphics are pictures made of pixel grids where every pixel contains a different color.
You can convert vector pictures to rasters in a few seconds by exporting your file in PNG, TIFF, JPG, and JPEG formats in a graphics editor. However, you need illustration software skills to transform rasters to vectors manually, and this process will take you longer than just exporting a file to your device.
Designers often use vector images for creating icons, logos, and navigation kits. Vector art can look like an entire composition, so you can separate its parts and use them for creating minimalistic website designs.
Main Features Of Vector Art In Design
Vector graphics have specific features that can help you boost your designs. Check them out below!
- Scalability. Mathematical formulas state control point locations for composing an entire vector image. When you zoom in on vectors, their point coordinates get automatically recalculated. That’s why vector pictures don’t lose their quality even after considerable rescaling. There is no need for designers to create multiple file versions with different resolutions for implementing responsive projects. Vector graphics and illustrations look identically sharp on PCs, tablets, and smartphones.
- Editability. You can modify any element of your vector picture, e.g., make lines bold, recolor shapes, and specify a rounding radius. Vector editability allows designers to customize their visuals for specific projects. Moreover, you can download icon sets, open them in vector-based software, and easily make any edits and manipulations.
- Small size. A vector file only stores anchor points and color information, while a raster keeps data about every pixel. A raster image can weigh over 100 MB. The same resolution vector picture can weigh up to 5 MB. Due to their small size, you can use vectors to optimize website loading speed and decrease visitor bounce rates.
What Are The Common File Formats For Vector Art?
Vector-based software and applications employ different algorithms to structure mathematical formulas for creating these illustrations. This way, vector files come in several formats compatible with multiple or specific editors. The commonly used vector formats are:
- SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)—a multifunctional vector image for displaying graphics on the web. SVG images are created with XML code. They also support animation, interactivity, scripting, and other features that make them more versatile than other image formats.
- EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)—a widespread vector format compatible with multiple graphic editors like Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, and Inkscape. This format is suitable for creating various printed materials.
- AI (Adobe Illustrator)—a popular, native to Adobe Illustrator format, in which vector graphics keep their quality even after considerable scaling and enlargement. AI format is only compatible with Adobe Illustrator, as other editors will automatically transfer AI to PDF before launching the editing process. Moreover, the created file is tied to the used Adobe Illustrator version, meaning you cannot process old files in the updated software.
- PDF (Portable Document Format)—a cross-platform format used for storing various documents and vector visuals. You can open PDFs in multiple Adobe applications and other graphics editors. The format allows the processing of both text and graphic elements.
- CDR (CorelDRAW)—a vector format developed by Corel Corporation to create logos and illustrations. Being native to the CorelDRAW application, CDR allows editing and saving vector pictures with multiple visual effects, e.g., you can embed fonts, or create several pages and edit them separately in one file.
How Can You Make Vector Art?
First, you must develop illustrating skills to start drawing vector pictures. Nonetheless, illustrators usually use specialized, paid software for creating vector graphics. Multiple applications allow you to draw vectors from scratch. Learn about some of them below:
- Adobe Illustrator. It is a professional vector-based editing tool used for creating logos, icons, and illustrations. Adobe Illustrator allows you to draw vectors, edit text, work with image layers, and manipulate different brushes. The software’s functionality and workspace are similar to Photoshop.
- CorelDRAW. Designers use this application for creating logos, illustrations, posters, banners, charts, and diagrams. CorelDRAW provides many features for manipulating vector graphics and art, e.g., you can apply embedded filters, templates, and presets.
- Affinity Designer. You can use this application to make various logos, icons, illustrations, and other vector artwork. Beginner and amateur illustrators will appreciate the program’s intuitive interface and detailed tutorials. The tutorials are available in video and written format, making it easier to learn how to use Affinity Designer without prior knowledge of design software.
Three Sources To Get Ready-To-Go Vector Art
You can download ready-made vector pictures for your design projects from online stock content marketplaces. These platforms offer visuals from pro-skilled and amateur illustrators.
Depositphotos
Depositphotos is a leading online stock content marketplace that offers 54+ million paid and free vector clip art, illustrations, icons, and graphics. The platform features various trending categories and thematic collections where you can browse authentic royalty-free visuals for your commercial and personal projects. To find an appropriate picture, sort the content library using advanced filters.
You can search for images by type, orientation, color, location, origin, and contributor. Moreover, the Search by Image tool allows uploading a reference picture to find similar, licensed visuals for creating designs.
How do you download vectors from Depositphotos?
- Click on this link to search for HD vector files: https://depositphotos.com/stock-vectors.html.
- Enter your request in the search box and press Enter to see the results.
- Browse pictures, adjust search filters, and choose a preferred image.
- Select Vector to get the appropriately formatted file.
- Click the Download Vector button to save the image on your device.
Note that you must create a free account to download files from Depositphotos. After registration, you will automatically get a free 7-day trial with the possibility to download 10 complimentary premium pictures. However, after the first seven days, you must purchase a budget-friendly subscription or on-demand plan to save unwatermarked premium visuals.
Creative Market
Creative Market is a popular online marketplace for designers and content creators. You can find graphics, fonts, templates, and photos for your projects on the platform. Besides, you can explore popular design patterns, compositions, and tips. The platform’s editing community constantly monitors visual and font trends so that you can find fresh, inspiring ideas.
Follow these steps to download vector graphics from Creative Market:
- Go to the Creative Market official website.
- Select the Graphics tab in the search box or hover over the menu to clarify your request.
- Type in your search request and press Enter to see the results.
- Select the Graphics Category in the Filter section to sort and find particular pictures.
- Choose the needed vector.
- Click on the Add to Cart button and go to the shopping cart to pay for the image.
You can apply for the Creative Market Membership to buy visuals for your projects at special prices. These subscription plans offer affordable, customizable monthly deals.
Vexels
Vexels is an online platform where creatives and designers can find vector and raster pictures, PSD files, icon sets, and logos. You can also browse PSD mockups and print-ready T-shirt designs. The platform offers curated collections and categories to find unique ideas for your commercial projects. You can try the Mockup Generator, T-Shirt, and Logo Maker Tools for implementing your designs.
Proceed with the following steps to download vector pictures from Vexels:
- Visit the official Vexels website.
- Go to the Design category.
- Choose the Vectors tab in the search box and get results.
- Enter a key phrase in the search box to clarify your request.
- Select the needed picture and click on the Download button.
Conclusion
Designers prefer using vector graphics to create user-friendly, responsive, and eye-catching projects. You can considerably zoom in on vectors without quality loss and edit them in graphics editors, changing their colors, elements, and lines. Moreover, vector images have small file sizes allowing you to increase your website loading speed. Illustrators draw vectors in professional software like Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW. Nonetheless, you can download ready-made vector art and icons from online stock content platforms.