Graphics

Flash is a graphics-oriented format. Graphics created within Flash are vector graphics.

Most images, in particular those on the Web, are bitmap graphics. Bitmap graphics describe images as a grid of pixels, each pixel having its own color value. GIF and JPEG files are examples of bitmap formats. Bitmap graphics are resolution-dependent. For example, low-resolution images look blocky or pixelated. And, displaying an image at a resolution higher than it was created results in a degrading of the image quality. Bitmap images can be very high-quality, however, these files are extremely large.

Vector graphics describe images as outlines with filled regions of color. The outlines are represented as mathematical curves joining a few key points. Because of this representation, vector image files are much smaller than similar bitmap images, and are not locked into a specific size as bitmap images are, so they can be scaled to any size without loss of clarity. Click on the Zoom In/Out buttons below for an illustration:

Although you can import bitmap-based graphics like GIFs and JPEGs into Flash, its own graphics are vector-based, which is one of many reasons Flash files are so small and can be delivered so easily over the Web.