Thanks to Potrace which is embedded into Inkscape since 2008, if not mistaken.
It is used to convert raster images to scalable vector images.

Here's an example: the original jpeg stock image is 580 x 440 px.
Opened in Inkscape and ran Trace bitmap (conversion to svg),
tweaked a few nodes and applied gradients over some parts of the image.
Took about 5 minutes !!! in total and i wasn't even trying hard.




It's pretty good, if you ask me. Would have probably hit 90% similarity if spent some more minutes on it.
The point is - SVGs are scalable vectors, if somebody's not aware, so it can be saved as bitmap image of
practically any sensible size.

Inkscape's a cool way to convert bitmap to vector. I also use Autotrace too. More then often, I use straight potrace as well. My main motivation is vector simplication for artistic effect (since sometimes annisotrophic filtering doesn't give you the right result you want).

I think Potrace is still available for download as a standalone app.
Thanks to you, Lyle, now i'm extremely busy, because i have to test-run everything i do with vectors in two applications, lol.
I mean, now i have AI. Tried tracing the same image with Ai and it does trace somewhat differently than Inks.

That's a lovely tip. Thank you. I've been looking for ways to do that for a long time.

It's a very nice feature indeed.

In fact, a few years back I used Inkscape's bitmap to vector parser to take a bitmap of Saturn and create a vector for making a huge pavement print. A pavement print is a sort of print you can walk on, meant to put on a pedestrian street where people notice it - drawback is that it cannot be pixellated since people get so close to it. I think the final image was 5x4 meters in the end. I actually tried to use GIMP on one of the massive work computers to scale it into an epicly huge bitmap, but there was no way. Inkscape was the saviour.
.
Griatch

That is a good exapmle of usage, Griatch. My sister made huge panel painting (print on canvas to be precise) as a BD gift for her friend's loft. She used AI to make a raster-vector-raster conversions. I took a small part in that project. Learned a lot of stuff from my sis.

That's one of two things I think inkscape has over Xara Designer. The bitmap tracer is much better.