bitmapy

Bitmapy, or bitmaps, are a type of digital image stored as a raster grid of pixels. Each pixel encodes a color value, and the image’s resolution is the width by height in pixels. Color depth, measured in bits per pixel, determines how many colors can be represented. Because bitmaps are resolution dependent, enlarging them can reveal blocky artifacts, while reducing size may lose detail.

Common bitmap formats include BMP, PNG, JPEG, GIF, and TIFF. BMP is often uncompressed; PNG and GIF provide lossless or limited compression; JPEG uses lossy compression for smaller file sizes. TIFF is versatile for printing and archival. Bitmaps may use indexed color palettes to reduce file size.

Bitmaps are produced by scanners and digital cameras and are widely used for photographs, textures in 3D graphics, and user interface elements such as icons. They are edited at the pixel level in image-editing software, with operations like filtering and color adjustments affecting individual pixels. Scaling a bitmap depends on the chosen interpolation method for quality.

Historically, bitmap graphics were standard in early computing and remain dominant for photographic imagery. Vector graphics, in contrast, are scalable and resolution independent, making them suitable for logos and illustrations. Modern workflows often combine both approaches, using bitmaps for raster textures and photography alongside vector assets for interfaces and typography.