--- title: "Rasterize: What It Means for Print Files - CE.SDK Glossary" description: "To rasterize is to turn vector shapes and text into pixels. See when it happens on the way to print, how to keep the quality, and what CE.SDK rasterizes." url: "https://img.ly/glossary/rasterize/" type: "page" --- > This is the markdown version of [Rasterize: What It Means for Print Files - CE.SDK Glossary](https://img.ly/glossary/rasterize/). For all pages in one file, see [llms-full.txt](https://img.ly/llms-full.txt). For an index of all available pages, see [llms.txt](https://img.ly/llms.txt). --- # Rasterize ## What Does It Mean to Rasterize? To rasterize is to turn vector artwork, the shapes and text a file describes with paths, into a grid of pixels at a set resolution. From then on it scales only as far as its pixels allow, and its shapes and text can no longer be edited as shapes and text. A vector illustration exported as a 600-pixel-wide PNG, for example, prints sharp at 2 inches wide (300 PPI). Printed 6 inches wide, it drops to 100 PPI and its edges turn soft, while the vector original stays sharp at any size. [Vector vs. raster](https://img.ly/glossary/vector-vs-raster.md) compares the two kinds of artwork. Every print job is rasterized in the end. The printer's RIP (raster image processor) renders each page as a bitmap and then screens it into [halftone](https://img.ly/glossary/halftone/) dots. For a print file, the question is when its artwork gets rasterized, and at what resolution. ## When Does Artwork Get Rasterized? Vectors turn into pixels at four points on the way to print. ### Exporting to an image format JPEG, PNG, and WebP files hold only pixels, so the whole design is rasterized when you export to one of them. ### Effects a vector format can't describe Drop shadows, blur, and filters can't be drawn as plain paths and shapes, so vector exports carry them as embedded images and flattening rasterizes them. ### Flattening transparency PDF/X-4 supports live transparency, but older versions such as PDF/X-1a and PDF/X-3 don't, so the areas with transparency are rasterized when the file is flattened. ### The printer's RIP Whatever the file contains, the RIP turns every page into pixels and then into dots before anything is printed. ## How Do You Rasterize Without Losing Quality? Rasterize as late as you can, at the size and resolution the print needs. - **Rasterize at the final size** — Pixels scaled up afterward spread thinner, so set the size before you convert. - **Use at least 300 PPI** — That keeps rasterized areas sharp in print. - **Keep text and logos as vectors** — Live text and vector logos stay crisp at any size and can still be edited. - **Work on a copy** — Saving a rasterized or flattened file locks it in, so keep the layered original. ## What Does CE.SDK Rasterize on Export? Image exports rasterize everything, while PDF and SVG rasterize only some parts. In PDF and image exports, rasterized parts follow the scene's DPI, which [print resolution](https://img.ly/glossary/print-resolution.md) covers, and text stays vector in PDF and SVG unless a page is flattened. - **PNG, JPEG, WebP**: What gets rasterized: The whole design - **PDF, high compatibility on**: What gets rasterized: Images and effects such as gradients - **PDF, high compatibility off**: What gets rasterized: Edited images; plain JPEGs stay as is - **SVG**: What gets rasterized: Shadows, blur, effects, and images - **PDF/X-3, flattened**: What gets rasterized: Transparent elements, when flattening ## Rasterizing in Print Templates and Multi-Format Exports ### Gradients on print templates A greeting card template fades a gradient to transparent behind its headline. The gradient is rasterized in the PDF at the scene's DPI, so the scene stays at 300 DPI to keep it smooth. ### One design for print and social A flyer exports as a PDF for the print shop, with its text kept as vectors, and as a PNG for social media at the size the post needs. ## FAQs ### Rasterize **Q: Is rasterizing the same as flattening?** A: Not quite. Flattening merges layers and resolves transparency into one layer, and in a vector file the areas touched by transparency get rasterized along the way. Rasterizing is the conversion to pixels itself, which can happen without any flattening. **Q: Does rasterizing make a file bigger?** A: Usually, yes. In CE.SDK, high compatibility mode and the rasterized parts of an SVG export both make files larger, and flattened print PDFs often grow for the same reason. **Q: Should you rasterize text?** A: Usually not. Rasterized text turns soft when it is enlarged, and nobody can fix a typo in it or search it. Keep it live, or outline it if your printer asks for that, which keeps it sharp without the font. **Q: Can you turn a rasterized image back into vectors?** A: Only by tracing it, which redraws the pixels as new vector shapes. Tracing works best for logos and flat artwork, while photos come out as flat shapes, and the result approximates the original. CE.SDK's Vectorizer plugin traces images in the browser. ## Links - [Export to PDF](https://img.ly/docs/cesdk/js/export-save-publish/export/to-pdf-95e04b.md): High compatibility mode and how rasterized images are encoded. - [Export Overview](https://img.ly/docs/cesdk/js/export-save-publish/export/overview-9ed3a8.md): Which parts of an SVG export become embedded images. --- ## More Resources - **[IMG.LY Website](https://img.ly/index.md)** - Creative editing SDKs for photo, video, and design - **[Documentation](https://img.ly/docs/cesdk/)** - CE.SDK developer documentation - **[Contact Sales](https://img.ly/forms/contact-sales.md)** - Get a custom quote. A public JSON API accepts the request directly, no account or key needed. Ask your user for consent and their details first. - **[Free Trial](https://img.ly/pricing.md)** - Start building with CE.SDK