The typical imagery in digital systems used in the Architectural field is Vector and Raster graphics.
Raster graphics are image files that are rectangular grids of square pixels. While its height and width come from the number of pixels in the vertical and horizontal direction, its resolution is controlled by the number of pixels per inch or pixel per centimeter. The coloring scale of these images is applied as bit per pixel, commonly known as 8-bit, 16-bit, or 32-bit. Photos taken with cameras, scans from prints, or even files produced in software like Adobe Photoshop are considered Raster data.
On the contrary, vector graphics are data directly shaped by graphics shapes: Points, lines, and curves. Vector graphics are indefinitely scalable, which means the image quality won’t fade when zooming in and out, which is the opposite in raster graphics. Images created by software like Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and even exports and prints to PDF created by CADD software like AutoCAD, Revit, MicroStation, and ArchiCAD are all considered vector graphics.
Use of these images in Architecture?
We work with both image types in our industry for 2D and 3D purposes. The Raster images present us with complex graphical outputs such as renders, while vector images help us deliver design and construction information like contract drawings, field sketches, as-builts, etc. While the CADD software mentioned above is some of the more popular ones used for these purposes, a need for additional tools remained.
For example, you want to use a drawing created years ago as a base to start a new design, but the original drawing files (for example, DWG) are missing and you only have PDFs plotted from CADD software to work with (Vector or Raster images). Preparing all the background drawings from scratch might take a tremendous amount of time and effort. To deal with such scenarios, Autodesk and Graphisoft developed and introduced tools that let you import a PDF and convert it to points, lines, and curves that can be selected and edited (Vector image). If you are not familiar with these tools, see the following:
AutoCAD: AutoCAD PDF to DWG Guide
ArchiCAD: ArchiCAD PDF too DWG Guide
But also, imagine you have a scan of an old floor map of a historic mansion (a Raster image), and you need to draw it digitally to edit some parts. Again, you can manually trace the drawing and redraw it digitally in CADD software, but tools like ‘AutoCAD Raster Design’ facilitate this process.
These vectorization tools also help to edit, clean, change, and save parts of raster images without having to redraw them from scratch.
Also, if you have raster images of object drawing which you want to prepare a 3D model of, do not forget that Adobe Illustrator helps vectorize them. And then, as mentioned above, vectorized images can be easily imported into your CADD tools.
Some other useful links that you may be interested in checking:
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