User Guide

Chapter 370
In contrast, bitmap images consist of a matrix of pixels whose display depends on the resolution
of your monitor and printer. Bitmap images appear granulated when enlarged.
Vector image (top) and bitmap image (bottom)
FreeHand is a vector drawing program, but you can work with bitmap images in several ways.
You can rasterize FreeHand objects, which means to convert them to bitmap images within your
document. For more information, see “Converting vector graphics to bitmap images” on page
326. You can also export an entire FreeHand document or selected objects to a bitmap file format.
For more information, see “Exporting bitmap images” on page 352.
You can import or copy a bitmap image into a FreeHand drawing. For example, you can import a
photograph of a rose, an image that would be difficult to create using vector graphics, to enhance
a drawing. (For more information, see Chapter 10, “Using Imported Artwork,” on page 309.)
Macromedia FreeHand MX can import a wide variety of vector and bitmap graphic formats.
You can also trace a bitmap image in FreeHand. The Trace tool creates paths that follow the
outlines of a bitmap image. For example, you can import a photograph of a cow, and then
trace the cow’s outline or just the cow’s spots. For more information, see “Tracing bitmaps” on
page 323.