Image vs. Visual — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on November 2, 2023
An image is a physical likeness or representation, while visual pertains to anything relating to seeing or sight.
Difference Between Image and Visual
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
An image can be a physical representation, like a photograph or a painting, capturing a visual aspect of something. Visuals, however, are broader, encompassing any kind of sight-related stimulus or anything that can be seen, not just a static representation.
Images are often used to convey information, evoke emotions, or share experiences visually. They are captured or created snapshots. Visuals are the manner in which these images, as well as other sights, are experienced by the viewer, and they extend to include motion, as in the case of videos or animations.
In digital terms, an image is a file that can be opened, viewed, and edited. It’s a digital piece of media representing a visual aspect, like a .jpeg or .png file. Visual, in this context, can be an adjective describing how information is displayed or processed, relating to the way something is shown.
While an image is a noun denoting the item itself, visual can be an adjective describing features related to sight. An image is a single entity; visual is an attribute that can be applied to a range of entities, including images.
Images serve as a medium to freeze a moment in time, often used in personal and professional contexts to preserve memories or communicate ideas. Visuals are essential to human perception and understanding, integral in fields ranging from art and education to science and technology.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
A representation of a person or thing.
Related to the sense of sight.
Usage
Noun.
Adjective or noun.
Function
To depict or convey a specific scene.
To enable seeing or to be seen.
Types
Photograph, illustration, icon.
Diagrams, videos, graphics.
Scope
Specific to the item represented.
Encompasses all things seen.
Compare with Definitions
Image
A likeness created by painting or drawing.
The artist's image of the countryside was breathtaking.
Visual
Pertaining to the act of seeing.
Visual skills are important for reading.
Image
An image (from Latin: imago) is an artifact that depicts visual perception, such as a photograph or other two-dimensional picture, that resembles a subject—usually a physical object—and thus provides a depiction of it. In the context of signal processing, an image is a distributed amplitude of color(s).
Visual
A picture, piece of film, or display used to illustrate or accompany something.
The presentation included powerful visuals.
Image
A representation of the external form of a person or thing in art
Her work juxtaposed images from serious and popular art
Visual
Relating to graphical imagery or design.
She has a great sense of visual style.
Image
The general impression that a person, organization, or product presents to the public
She strives to project an image of youth
Visual
A feature in the arts using images or light.
The exhibition featured interactive visuals.
Image
A simile or metaphor
He uses the image of a hole to describe emotional emptiness
Visual
Of or relating to the sense of sight
A visual organ.
Visual receptors on the retina.
Image
Make a representation of the external form of
Artworks which imaged women's bodies
Visual
Seen or able to be seen by the eye; visible
A visual presentation.
A design with a dramatic visual effect.
Image
A representation of the form of a person or object, such as a painting or photograph.
Visual
Optical.
Image
A sculptured likeness.
Visual
Done, maintained, or executed by sight only
Visual navigation.
Image
(Physics) An optically formed duplicate, counterpart, or other representative reproduction of an object, especially an optical reproduction formed by a lens or mirror.
Visual
Having the nature of or producing an image in the mind
A visual memory of the scene.
Image
One that closely or exactly resembles another
He is the image of his uncle.
Visual
Of or relating to a method of instruction involving sight.
Image
Likeness; semblance
Genesis says that man was made in the image of God.
Visual
A picture, chart, or other presentation that appeals to the sense of sight, used in promotion or for illustration or narration
An ad campaign with striking visuals.
Trying to capture a poem in a cinematic visual.
Image
The opinion or concept of something that is held by the public
The public's image of business leaders as greedy.
Visual
Related to or affecting the vision.
Image
The concept or character projected to the public, as by a person or institution, especially as interpreted by the mass media
An actor who tried to convey an image of refined beauty.
Visual
(obsolete) That can be seen; visible.
Image
A typical example or embodiment
That child is the image of good health.
Visual
Any element of something that depends on sight.
Image
A mental picture of something not real or present
Our image of the cottage did not conform with reality.
Visual
An image; a picture; a graphic.
Image
A vivid description or representation in words, especially a metaphor or simile
The poem uses the image of a barren tree to convey feelings of desolation.
Visual
(in the plural) All the visual elements of a multimedia presentation or entertainment, usually in contrast with normal text or audio.
Image
(Mathematics) A set of values of a function corresponding to a particular subset of a domain.
Visual
(advertising) A preliminary sketch.
Image
(Computers) An exact replica of the contents of a storage device, such as a hard disk, stored on a second storage device, such as a network server.
Visual
Of or pertaining to sight; used in sight; serving as the instrument of seeing; as, the visual nerve.
The air,Nowhere so clear, sharpened his visual ray.
Image
(Obsolete) An apparition.
Visual
That can be seen; visible.
Image
To make or produce a likeness of
Imaged the poet in bronze.
Visual
Relating to or using sight;
Ocular inspection
An optical illusion
Visual powers
Visual navigation
Image
To mirror or reflect
A statue imaged in the water.
Visual
Able to be seen;
Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof
A visual presentation
A visual image
Image
To make a visual representation of (an object) using remote scanning or technology such as magnetic resonance imaging
Imaged the diseased kidneys.
Imaged the surface of Mars.
Visual
Used to describe a method of showing information.
We use visual aids in our teaching.
Image
To symbolize or typify
A kneeling woman imaging the nation's grief.
Image
To picture mentally; imagine or visualize
Imaged each dive before doing it.
Image
To describe, especially so vividly as to evoke a mental picture
The passage images what it's like to grow up poor.
Image
To print (a file) using a laser printer, imagesetter, direct-to-plate press, or similar device.
Image
To transmit (an exact replica of the contents of a storage device) to another storage device
Imaged the hard drive to the server.
Image
An optical or other representation of a real object; a graphic; a picture.
The Bible forbids the worship of graven images.
Image
A mental picture of something not real or not present.
Image
A statue or idol.
Image
(computing) A file that contains all information needed to produce a live working copy. (See disk image and image copy.)
Most game console emulators do not come with any ROM images for copyright reasons.
Image
A characteristic of a person, group or company etc., style, manner of dress, how one is or wishes to be perceived by others.
Image
(mathematics) What a function maps to.
The number 6 is the image of 3 under f that is defined as f(x) = 2x.
Image
(mathematics) The subset of a codomain comprising those elements that are images of something.
The image of this step function is the set of integers.
Image
(radio) A form of interference: a weaker "copy" of a strong signal that occurs at a different frequency.
Image
(obsolete) Show; appearance; cast.
Image
(transitive) To represent by an image or symbol; to portray.
Image
(transitive) To reflect, mirror.
Image
(transitive) To create an image of.
Image
To create a complete backup copy of a file system or other entity.
Image
An imitation, representation, or similitude of any person, thing, or act, sculptured, drawn, painted, or otherwise made perceptible to the sight; a visible presentation; a copy; a likeness; an effigy; a picture; a semblance.
Even like a stony image, cold and numb.
Whose is this image and superscription?
This play is the image of a murder done in Vienna.
And God created man in his own image.
Image
Hence: The likeness of anything to which worship is paid; an idol.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, . . . thou shalt not bow down thyself to them.
Image
Show; appearance; cast.
The face of things a frightful image bears.
Image
A representation of anything to the mind; a picture drawn by the fancy; a conception; an idea.
Can we conceiveImage of aught delightful, soft, or great?
Image
A picture, example, or illustration, often taken from sensible objects, and used to illustrate a subject; usually, an extended metaphor.
Image
The figure or picture of any object formed at the focus of a lens or mirror, by rays of light from the several points of the object symmetrically refracted or reflected to corresponding points in such focus; this may be received on a screen, a photographic plate, or the retina of the eye, and viewed directly by the eye, or with an eyeglass, as in the telescope and microscope; the likeness of an object formed by reflection; as, to see one's image in a mirror.
Image
To represent or form an image of; as, the still lake imaged the shore; the mirror imaged her figure.
Image
To represent to the mental vision; to form a likeness of by the fancy or recollection; to imagine.
Condemn'd whole years in absence to deplore,And image charms he must behold no more.
Image
An iconic mental representation;
Her imagination forced images upon her too awful to contemplate
Image
A visual representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a surface;
They showed us the pictures of their wedding
A movie is a series of images projected so rapidly that the eye integrates them
Image
(Jungian psychology) a personal facade that one presents to the world;
A public image is as fragile as Humpty Dumpty
Image
A standard or typical example;
He is the prototype of good breeding
He provided America with an image of the good father
Image
Language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense
Image
Someone who closely resembles a famous person (especially an actor);
He could be Gingrich's double
She's the very image of her mother
Image
A representation of a person (especially in the form of sculpture);
The coin bears an effigy of Lincoln
The emperor's tomb had his image carved in stone
Image
Imagine; conceive of; see in one's mind;
I can't see him on horseback!
I can see what will happen
I can see a risk in this strategy
Image
A reproduction of a person or thing.
The image captured her smile perfectly.
Image
A mental representation.
His heroic image is admired by many.
Image
An icon or figure.
Click the image to open the file.
Image
A visual impression in photography, film, or mirrors.
The image in the mirror was distorted.
Common Curiosities
Is a sculpture considered an image?
While it can be, the term image is more often used for two-dimensional representations.
Are videos considered visuals?
Yes, videos are a type of visual media.
Can visual be used as a noun?
Yes, visual can be a noun, referring to visual elements or aids.
What is an image?
An image is a representation of a visual form, like a photo or painting.
Can the word 'image' refer to one's reputation?
Yes, image can also refer to the concept or perception of a person or entity.
Do images have to be physical objects?
No, they can be digital or mental representations as well.
What does visual mean?
Visual relates to seeing or to something that can be seen.
Can an image be a symbol?
Yes, images can also be symbols or icons representing more abstract concepts.
Do visuals always need to be visible to everyone?
No, some visuals like infrared are outside human vision but are still visuals.
Is visual art only paintings and drawings?
No, visual art includes any art form primarily visual in nature.
How do image files differ from videos?
Image files are static representations, while videos include motion.
Are graphs and charts considered images or visuals?
They can be both; they're images and part of visual data representation.
Can the term 'image' apply to a brand?
Yes, a brand's image is the perception people have of the brand.
What makes something a visual aid?
It’s a tool used to enhance the understanding of information visually.
Does visual learning mean learning through images?
It means learning through any visual means, including images, videos, and diagrams.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
