Bitmap images, sometimes also called raster images, have their data organized in horizontal rows of pixels for convenient dispatch to raster-scan devices. Devices and display software also exist that can directly display any line, if given an exact specification of the line. An example is a straight line defined by its two endpoints. Such a line is sometimes called a vector, and an image file whose data is specified exclusively in terms of vectors is called a vector image file.

ImageGear reads most popular formats that contains vector data. While doing so it performs so called "rasterization", i.e. conversion of vector data into raster representation. For some vector formats such conversion can only be possible for the certain platforms (WMF/EMF vector data can only be rasterized in Windows version of the product, and PICT vector data can only be rasterized in Mac version of the product). For some vector formats (DWF, DWG, DXF, HPGL,HPGL/2, DGN) ImageGear also allows you to control the projection of 3D vector data into 2D raster bitmap.