This article will introduce you to the types software used in creating web graphics.
The two basic types of graphics software:

There are many companies selling software to make graphics for both the web and print. All of these products have there own nuances and capabilities, but generally speaking graphic images that have been processed by a computer can usually be divided into two distinct categories; such images are either bitmap files or vector graphics.

As a general rule scanned images are bitmap files while drawings made in applications like Xara or Adobe Illustrator are saved as vector graphics. Yet today you can convert between these file types and even mix them.

1. Vector illustration:

Vector graphics are images that are created using mathematical equations. These types of programs are typically used to create drawings, shapes and lines. It is easier to create these sorts of graphics in vector illustration software than it would be in a bitmap editing software. Vector graphic files are usually very small (in kilobytes) because they only contain data about the shapes that form the drawing

2. Bitmap or image editing:

Examples of bitmap editing software are products like Adobe Photoshop and Corel Draw. These programs where originally designed to edit images like photographs. The key difference between vector and bitmap editing software is that the bitmap editors work on pixels where vector illustration software works with mathematical equations that set the dimensions of the shape(s). Bitmap editing software produce much larger files than vectors software since the files have to store information about each pixel in the image.

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