17.1 Graphics Formats
There are two main formats for graphics—pixel and vector.
The GIMP works only with pixel graphics, which is
the normal format for photographs and scanned images. Pixel graphics
consist of small blocks of color that together create the entire image. The
files can easily become quite large because of this. It is also not
possible to increase the size of a pixel image without losing quality.
Unlike pixel graphics, vector graphics do not store information for all
individual pixels. Instead, they store information about how image points,
lines, or areas are grouped together. Vector images can also be scaled very
easily. The drawing application of
OpenOffice.org, for example, uses this format.