Not every digital image is stored as a collection of coloured pixels. While photographs and pixel art are usually saved as bitmap images, many logos, icons, maps and illustrations are created using a completely different method called vector graphics.

Instead of storing the colour of every individual pixel, a vector graphic is made up of mathematical objects such as lines, rectangles, circles, triangles and curves. Each object is stored as a set of instructions describing its position, size, colour, outline and other properties. This means the computer recreates the image by drawing these shapes whenever it is displayed.

One of the biggest advantages of vector graphics is that they can be scaled to any size without losing quality. Whether a logo is printed on a business card or stretched across a giant billboard, it remains perfectly sharp because the computer simply redraws the shapes using the stored mathematical instructions. In contrast, enlarging a bitmap image eventually reveals the individual pixels, making the picture appear blurry or blocky.

Our interactive Vector Graphics Simulator lets you explore these ideas by creating your own vector artwork from simple shapes. Add rectangles, circles, triangles and lines, then experiment with changing their size, position, colours, rotation and layering. You can drag objects around the canvas, resize them, reorder them and instantly see how the generated SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) code changes to describe your drawing.

As you experiment, compare your experience with creating bitmap images. Rather than editing individual pixels, you’ll be editing the properties of objects and discovering how a complete image can be represented using just a small collection of mathematical instructions. You’ll also see why vector graphics often produce much smaller files for simple illustrations and why they are widely used for company logos, diagrams, technical drawings, maps, icons and user interface graphics.