A raster image is made up of a fixed grid of pixels, each holding its own color value. Common raster formats include JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BMP, and they're the standard output of cameras, scanners, and screenshots.
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Because the pixel grid is fixed, raster images look sharp at their native resolution but lose quality when scaled up, unlike vector graphics which are resolution-independent. That's why photos and detailed textures use raster, while logos and icons often favor vectors.

Why does raster matter?

Raster is the format you'll use whenever you're working with photography or richly detailed imagery, since it captures subtle color and tonal variation that vector shapes can't reproduce. Designers rely on tools like Photoshop to edit raster images, always keeping the source resolution high enough for the intended output size.

Knowing when to choose raster over vector matters for performance and quality too: raster files can get large and pixelate when resized, so it's important to export assets at the right dimensions for web or print from the start.

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