V

value

See brightness .

vector graphics

Images that are composed of lines and objects that define their shapes . The objects created in vector-based software are made from Bezier curves, which are composed of mathematically defined points and segments. Vector images take up less space on a disk than raster images of comparable dimensions. See also object-oriented software .

vector mask

An area that is defined by a path and hidden from view.

virtual memory

The memory space that is separate from the main memory (physical random access memory, or RAM) in a computer, such as hard-disk space. Virtual memory helps to increase the amount of memory available to work on large documents.