Operation Manual

Corel DESIGNER basics | 61
Corel DESIGNER basics
Corel DESIGNER lets you create and edit drawings. In this section, you can find information about commonly performed tasks.
This section contains the following topics:
• “Understanding vector graphics and bitmaps” (page 61)
• “Starting and opening drawings” (page 62)
• “Scanning images” (page 65)
• “Working with multiple drawings” (page 66)
• “Undoing, redoing, and repeating actions” (page 66)
• “Zooming, panning, and scrolling” (page 67)
• “Previewing drawings” (page 70)
• “Choosing viewing modes” (page 71)
• “Working with views” (page 73)
• “Saving drawings” (page 74)
• “Working with locked files” (page 76)
• “Backing up and recovering files” (page 76)
• “Adding and accessing drawing information” (page 77)
• “Closing drawings” (page 78)
Understanding vector graphics and bitmaps
The two main types of computer graphics are vector graphics and bitmaps. Vector graphics are made of lines and curves, and they are
generated from mathematical descriptions that determine the position, length, and direction in which lines are drawn. Bitmaps, also known
as raster images, are composed of small squares called pixels; each pixel is mapped to a location in an image and has numerical color values.
Vector graphics are ideal for logos and illustrations because they are resolution-independent and can be scaled to any size, or printed and
displayed at any resolution, without losing detail and quality. In addition, you can produce sharp and crisp outlines with vector graphics.
Bitmaps are excellent for photographs and digital paintings because they reproduce color gradations well. Bitmaps are resolution-dependent
— that is, they represent a fixed number of pixels. They look good at their actual size, but they can appear jagged or lose image quality
when scaled, or when displayed or printed at a resolution higher than their original resolution.
You can create vector graphics in Corel DESIGNER. You can also import bitmaps (such as JPEG and TIFF files) into Corel DESIGNER and add
them to your drawings. For information about working with bitmaps, see “Working with bitmaps” on page 517.