Clip Art

Clip art is a collection of pictures or images that can be imported into a document or another program. The images may be either raster graphics or vector graphics. Clip art galleries many contain anywhere from a few images to hundreds of thousands of images.

Clip art is typically organized into categories, such as people, objects, nature, etc., which is especially helpful when browsing through thousands of images. Most clip art images also have keywords associated with them. For example, a picture of a female teacher in a classroom may have the keywords "school," "teacher," "woman," "classroom," and "students" associated with it. Most clip art programs allow you to search for images based on these keywords.

When you find a clip art image you want to use, you can copy it to your computer's clipboard and paste it into another program, such as Photoshop or Microsoft Word. You may also be able to export the image to the Desktop or another folder on your hard disk. Most clip art is royalty free, meaning you can use the images without paying royalties to the creators of the images. So if you buy a clip art package with 50,000 images for $50.00, you are only paying 1/10 of one cent for each image. That's a pretty good deal.

Updated in 2006 by Per C.

quizTest Your Knowledge

Which type of mouse click displays a contextual menu?

A
Double-click
0%
B
Right-click
0%
C
Left-click
0%
D
Shift-click
0%
Correct! Incorrect!     View the Contextual Menu definition.
More Quizzes →

The Tech Terms Computer Dictionary

The definition of Clip Art on this page is an original definition written by the TechTerms.com team. If you would like to reference this page or cite this definition, please use the green citation links above.

The goal of TechTerms.com is to explain computer terminology in a way that is easy to understand. We strive for simplicity and accuracy with every definition we publish. If you have feedback about this definition or would like to suggest a new technical term, please contact us.

Sign up for the free TechTerms Newsletter

How often would you like to receive an email?

You can unsubscribe or change your frequency setting at any time using the links available in each email.

Questions? Please contact us.