The differences between Vector and Bitmaps?
I don't like patterns from books. They are not the right size and the lines on the patterns are too thick. Computer printouts are the best because a computer can maintain a thin line on patterns.. The chess man below is impossible to cut out without a thin line from a computer file. . Bitmaps that you can see on web pages are also from a computer but they are poor representations of what a patterns ought to be. Vectors files are best.

Patterns from vector diagrams are absolutely essential for good quality scroll saw projects. Bitmaps often have thick lines and if increased in size produce the "jaggies". Vector diagrams never change the thinkness of the lines because the lines are created by a mathematical equation between two points. There are two diagrams below that illustrate this. They are pawns from a chess set that will appear in this web page. The pawn in the center is the orignal size. The larger pawn was increased 500%. The one to the left is the difference between a small vector and larger vector the other is the transformation a large bitmap undergoes. It becomes as you can see unusable. They both started the same size. Vector images can be emailed but not viewed on the net.

What are some vector image extensions?

What are some bitmap extensions?

• *.bmp
• * .jpg
• * .tif
• *.pcx
• *.eps

All fax images fax images are bitmaps

How can I use different images?

We all have some graphics programs on our computers and they have import and export commands. Explore those areas of your computer programs. Everyone has their favorite programs mine is Corel Draw. It is expensive but Corel 5 can be found at a cheap price from those who are upgrading to Corel 8. If you have children it is worth investing a few hundred for the program.

Take a look at http://www.corel.com./

Webpages have images and they are bitmaps. The images on this page are stored on the server at a reasonable size to use on the web page. You can simply use your right mouse button to click over any image webpages and store the image on your computer. Import the files it into a program adjust the size and use it.

Vector formated image might be placed on a special down loadable place on these pages in the future but for now send me an email with the description. I will send the image to you via e-mail. Send me the format you want, and I will send it in what ever format you prefer.