Vector file types and transparent PNGs
Adobe Stock offers various vector file types and export options to meet your project needs.
Vector file types
Photos and graphics come in either vector or raster file formats. You can make vectors infinitely larger or smaller and they’ll remain smooth and crisp because they’re made with mathematical equations, lines, and curves that create points on a fixed grid. On the other hand, raster images become distorted if you resize them too much because they’re made up of a fixed number of square pixels.
You can license Adobe Stock vectors as scalable AI, EPS, or SVG files, or as pixel-based JPEG files. And now, many Adobe Stock vectors, illustrations, and photos are also available for licensing as transparent PNG files.
Here’s more information about each file format:
- Vectors as AI, EPS, or SVG files: These graphics are based on geometric shapes, and you can resize them by any amount without affecting their quality. They’re the best choice for projects that involve a lot of advanced creative editing, and Adobe Illustrator is the ideal app for editing them.
- Vectors as PNG files: These pixel-based images can have transparent backgrounds, and resizing them may impact their quality. They’re the best choice for projects that require transparent backgrounds, and you can edit them with a variety of apps.
- Vectors as JPEG files: These pixel-based images have white backgrounds, and resizing them may affect their quality. They’re the best choice for simple creations that require a small file size or background.
Transparent PNGs
Why license vectors, illustrations, and photos as PNG files with transparent backgrounds? Simply put, they make it easy to create layered designs. Manually removing a background from an image is a tedious process that can lead to imperfections, but you can quickly layer a transparent PNG onto another image or design, and the background will show through. Plus, you can work with transparent PNGs in creative apps of all kinds, including Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
Here are a few use cases for transparent PNGs:
- An icon on a website where the background can show through
- A social media post where objects are placed on a layout with text and shapes
- A digital collage that uses silhouetted images to create a cutout look