Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe vector graphics for web lectures, focusing on the experiences with Adobe Flash 9 and SVG. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents experiences made during the development and everyday use of two versions of the lecture-recording system virtPresenter. The first of these versions is based on SVG, while the second is based on Adobe Flex2 (Flash 9) technology. The paper points out the advantages vector graphics can bring for web lectures and briefly presents a hypermedia navigation interface for web lectures that is based on SVG. The paper also compares the formats Flash and SVG and concludes with describing changes in workflows for administrators and users that have become possible with Flash. Findings: Vector graphics are an ideal content format for slide-based lecture recordings. File sizes can be kept small and graphics can be displayed in superior quality. Information about text and slide objects is stored symbolically, which allows texts to be searched and objects on slides to be used interactively, for example, for navigation purposes. The use of vector graphics for web lectures is, however, a trend that has begun only recently. A major reason for this is that multiple media formats have to be combined in order to replay video and slides. Originality/value: The paper offers in insight into vector graphics as an ideal content format for slide-based lecture recordings.