English Reference

Word

raster image

Definition

compound. a digital picture made of a grid of tiny colored dots called pixels. When you zoom in very close, you can see the individual squares that make up the image.

compound. a digital image file format composed of a fixed grid of pixels, where each pixel is assigned a specific color value. Unlike vector graphics, these images lose clarity and become pixelated when scaled beyond their original resolution.

Examples

“A photograph on your phone is a raster image.”

“The designer explained that a raster image is perfect for complex photographs but poor for logos that need to be resized.”

“While vector graphics rely on mathematical paths to maintain sharpness at any scale, a raster image is resolution-dependent and will exhibit aliasing if enlarged significantly.”

Examples

simple

“A photograph on your phone is a raster image.”

contextual

“The designer explained that a raster image is perfect for complex photographs but poor for logos that need to be resized.”

complex

“While vector graphics rely on mathematical paths to maintain sharpness at any scale, a raster image is resolution-dependent and will exhibit aliasing if enlarged significantly.”

Usage

Commonly contrasted with 'vector image' or 'vector graphic'.

Etymology

Derived from the Latin 'rastrum', meaning a rake. The term refers to the rake-like pattern of parallel lines used to scan a surface, a method established in early television technology.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Domain

Computing

This entry

Level
C1 · Advanced
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/raster-image

English Reference