About bitmap imagesBitmap images--technically called raster images--use a grid of small squares known as pixels to represent images. Each pixel is assigned a specific location and color value. For example, the boot laces in a bitmap image are made up of a mosaic of pixels that give the appearance of laces. When working with bitmap images, you edit pixels rather than objects or shapes. Bitmap images are the most common electronic medium for continuous-tone images, such as photographs or digital paintings, because they can represent subtle gradations of shades and color. Bitmap images are resolution-dependent--that is, they contain a fixed number of pixels. As a result, they can lose detail and appear jagged if they are scaled on-screen or if they are printed at a lower resolution than they were created for. ![]() Bitmap image at different levels of magnification Because computer monitors represent images by displaying them on a grid, both vector and bitmap data is displayed as pixels on-screen. |