Introduction

It's time to talk pure vector... 100% scalable baby and why the galleries ask you to post only 100% vector on deviantART's vector galleries. Not only that but learn why blurs are raster effects! Oh yes, we're getting a little technical again.

Like other articles during Project Educate, here comes the definition...

What is Vector Art?

In digital art there are two layer formats: raster and vector. Raster formats are based in pixels and vector is based in paths and points.

When you resize a raster image, you are expanding the pixels. Your program has to try to estimate what the colours would be for the additional pixels created. Due to this, the image loses it's clarity and creates a pixel effect.

When you resize a vector image, you are increasing the distance between the points. Due to this, the image doesn't lose it's clarity and doesn't pixellate.

The key element of vector is that it's infinitely scalable without any quality loss and it's why we love it!

That Damn 100% Vector Rule

Some might love the rule, others hate it and it's that all the vector galleries on deviantART should be 100% vector without any raster elements.

Why do we have this rule?
As we've talked about in Vector Art, Technically Speaking, vector is a medium and it's often a complex one to get to know. There are a lot of people who are passionate about the medium not only because of it's aesthetic side, but also it's technical side... we're all a bit geeky!
Initially the galleries started out at 100% vector to help prevent any misconceptions. It's hard to learn what vector is without having misplaced pieces in the galleries confusing you!
During Ikue's GM term, he ran a poll about miscats where 64% of people wanted the galleries to remain 100% vector, 30% asked for some sort of slack. Since then, there hasn't been an active debate on keeping the galleries at pure vector.

What do I need to do if I use raster elements in my work?
The short answer is to post them in mixed media. I know some deviants think this is a bit of a no mans land. Even if you use raster elements in your vector work, you are still embraced by the vector community and many of the vector groups.
You are still a vector artist if you use a little raster, but unfortunately due to the rules of the galleries, please post your work in the mixed media galleries.

So What Are Non Vector Elements?

The first thing which comes to mind is people who add textures over their work. How can you get around this? Well, have you considered using Live Trace in Adobe Illustrator? Check out this tutorial I wrote for VectorTuts+ to find out more ways of adding texture and keeping your work 100% vector!

Some vector programs (including Adobe Illustrator) have filters and effects which create raster elements. The ones which come to mind are Drop Shadows, Inner Glows, Blurs and Feathering... which are all types of blurring effect.

Let's get technical a moment. Remember how we talked about gradients in the Vector Art, Technically Speaking article? Radial gradients being compared to an earthquake... you have an epicentre and the shock travels out from the centre outwards in one direction? With any sort of blur effect you are specifying a certain area is to merge colours into each other. A blur is based in pixels and effectively each pixel is merging into the next. As vector is not based in pixels, this is near impossible to do.

So what the program does is it duplicates the object you're asking it to blur. It will then rasterize the object to a high resolution and apply the blur effect to it. It will then group the duplicated blurred raster object with the original vector object.

You can test this yourself... in Adobe Illustrator (as well as other programs), you can expand a vector object to see any additional objects which are grouped with it. When a raster effect is used, the object will produce the two objects. In Adobe Illustrator, the raster object will have the name "image" instead of the usual "Path" or "Compound Path".

Other Aspects Which Shouldn't Be Posted in the Vector Galleries

The vector galleries should contain completed works, so if you're wanting to share your works in progress please post them in your scraps gallery. The vector galleries should contain completed pieces.

But I want people to see my work from the start!
Although there are a lot of people who want to see your works in progress, there are some that don't. If your watchers want to see your work developing from the start, they will have you on "scrap watch". They get excited and want to see this sort of thing. However for the people who don't like seeing works in progress, if you keep posting them in your main gallery and they don't have you on scrap watch, then they might begin to lose favour with your gallery.
When you post your completed piece, you could always link the works in progress pieces in the description of your vector piece for people to see the progression. You might even find doing this would encourage your watchers to put you on "scrap watch"!

Conclusion

There are plenty of artists who add subtle raster elements to their work and post it in the vector galleries. Personally, I'd rather focus on helping people understand why the galleries require 100% rather than moving many missed placed deviations. Many have been there for years and some can be so subtle, you might not even tell. If you've got any raster elements in your vector work, I wont be moving them... but for the sake of those wanting to learn more about vector and those who enjoy seeing purity, please move them to the mixed media galleries.
There are many ways to reproduce these effects and some do take a little bit more time. However if you're passionate enough about vector... where there is a will, there is a way. If you'd like to know more, please do not hesitate to contact me

Please note, this article is not aimed at anyone. It's specifically written to help educate and inform those who want to learn more about vector as part of Vector Week.