Vector vs Raster Files: Which One Does Your Print Job Need?

A vector file describes artwork as mathematical shapes, lines, curves, fills, so it scales to any size with perfectly crisp edges. A raster file describes artwork as a fixed grid of pixels, so its sharpness is capped by its resolution. Logos, text and cut lines belong in vector; photographs are raster by nature.

The two are not rivals but roles: most finished print files contain both, vector type and logo over a raster photograph, and problems start when something that should be vector arrives as pixels.

Where vector is non-negotiable

Anything with a hard edge that will be scaled or cut: logos, headline type, icons, and above all cut lines, a die-cut sticker or a custom-shaped sign is cut from a vector outline, not from pixels. A logo saved as a small JPEG becomes soft the moment it is enlarged onto a banner; the same logo as vector is equally sharp on a card and on a 10-foot banner.

How to tell which you have

File type is a strong hint: AI, EPS and SVG are vector formats; JPEG, PNG, TIFF and anything from a camera are raster. PDFs can contain either, zoom far in: if edges stay razor sharp, it is vector; if they pixelate, it is raster. Placing a JPEG inside a PDF does not convert it, the pixels just travel in a new container.

Which one for your job?

Send vector for logos, text-heavy layouts, and any custom cut shape. Send raster at 300 PPI at final size for photographs, per the resolution rules in our DPI vs PPI entry. When your logo only exists as a pixel image, tell us, depending on the job we can work with it or advise on redrawing it as vector once, after which every future print job benefits.

Common questions

Is a PDF a vector file?

Sometimes. A PDF is a container: one exported from a design tool with live shapes and type is vector; one containing a placed photograph or a scan is raster inside. Zoom far in, sharp edges mean vector, pixelated edges mean raster.

Can you convert my raster logo to vector?

Simple logos can often be redrawn as vector, which is worth doing once since every later job reuses it. Complex or photographic marks cannot be meaningfully vectorized; there we work from the highest-resolution original you have.

Why does my die-cut sticker need a vector outline?

The cutter follows a path, and a path is vector by definition. From a pixel image we must first build that outline, which we can do for you, but supplying the cut line as a vector shape gives the most exact result.

Products where this term matters

See also in the dictionary: DPI vs PPI, Kiss-cut vs die-cut · full dictionary