Scaling bitmap graphics versus scaling vector graphics

Due to some organizational changes, past December, I had to remove the S.A. suffix from the Sicirec logo:

The original logo with the “S.A.” suffix intact.

After removing the S.A. suffix from the vector file in Illustrator’s vector format, I wanted to export the logo to a small PNG again. Annoyingly, though, the PNG—if I wanted Illustrator to respect the correct aspect ratio—could not be the same width as the original PNG if I gave it the same height; it would always be one pixel higher. If, however, I exported it as a huge PNG corresponding to the vector’s original dimensions and scaled it down in The GIMP, the dimensions turned out about the same.

It was then that I noticed that The GIMP’s scaling algorithm is actually very decent. From just looking at the two images below, you need a moment or two to notice that one is a little sharper than the other. Obviously, that’s the Illustrator version.

In the end, though, neither version integrated easily with the complex layout which I had based around the logo image, so I simply opened the existing PNG image in The GIMP and erased the S.A. suffix.

The original PNG after the GIMP treatment.

I still don’t understand why I couldn’t repeat the scaling result of the original image in Illustrator. But, I’ve probably wasted enough time on a rounding issue that isn’t even an issue…