“Can you send us your logo in vector format?” is the email that sends a lot of business owners into a quiet panic. You open the folder, find logo_final_FINAL2.jpg, and send that. The signwriter replies, politely, that it won’t work.
Vector files (AI, EPS, PDF and SVG) scale to any size and are what printers, signwriters and embroiderers need. PNG and JPG are pixel files for screens. Below is what each format is for, the set you should own, and which one to send to whom. Keep this page handy; you’ll need it every time someone asks.
Vector and raster: the one distinction that matters
Every logo file is one of two kinds.
Vector files store your logo as maths: points, lines and curves. You can scale them to the size of a business card or the side of a truck and the edges stay perfectly sharp. Printers, signwriters, embroiderers and anyone making something physical want vector.
Raster files store your logo as a grid of coloured pixels. They look fine at the size they were made for, and go blurry or blocky when enlarged. Websites, social media and email mostly use raster.
You can always make a raster file from a vector. You can’t properly go the other way. Someone has to redraw it. That’s why the vector original is the file that matters most, and the one you most need to keep safe.
The formats, one by one
AI (Adobe Illustrator)
The working file your designer created the logo in. It’s vector, it keeps all the layers and colour settings, and it’s the most editable version. You need Adobe Illustrator to open it properly.
You might never open it yourself. You should still have it, because if you change designers in five years, this is what the new one will ask for.
EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)
An older vector format that almost any design or sign-making software can read. It’s the “universal adapter” of print. Signwriters and promotional product suppliers often ask for EPS specifically because their cutting and embroidery software expects it.
It doesn’t preview well on a normal computer (you may see a blank icon), which is why people assume it’s broken. It isn’t.
PDF (Portable Document Format)
A PDF can hold a vector logo, which makes it the most practical vector file to send. Anyone can open it, it previews properly, and printers accept it happily. One catch: a PDF can also just contain a pixel image, so a PDF isn’t automatically vector. If your designer exported it from Illustrator as a vector PDF, you’re fine.
If you’re only going to send one file to a printer, a vector PDF is usually it.
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)
A vector format built for screens. Web developers love SVG because the logo stays crisp on every screen size, from a phone to a 4K monitor, and the file is tiny. Canva also accepts SVG uploads.
One quirk: WordPress doesn’t allow SVG uploads out of the box, for security reasons, since an SVG can contain code. Your developer will enable it safely on your site. Don’t install a random plugin to get around it.
PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
A raster format with one big advantage: transparent backgrounds. That’s what lets your logo sit on a coloured banner or a photo without a white box around it. Use PNG for websites (when SVG isn’t an option), social media, email signatures, Word documents and slideshows.
Make sure you have one large enough. A PNG around 2000 pixels wide covers most uses. A 200 pixel version will look fuzzy the moment someone puts it on a slide.
JPG (or JPEG)
A raster format designed for photographs. It’s compressed, so files are small, but it can’t do transparency and it creates fuzzy smudges around sharp edges and flat colour. Exactly the things logos are made of.
JPG is fine for a quick preview or when a form insists on it. It’s the wrong format for nearly everything else involving a logo.
The logo pack you should own
The format is only half of it. A professional handover also includes different versions of your logo, each in the right formats:
Layouts
- Primary logo (usually horizontal)
- Stacked or square version, for social profile pictures and narrow spaces
- Icon or mark on its own, for favicons and app-style uses
Colourways
- Full colour
- One colour (all black, or all one brand colour)
- Reversed (white), for dark backgrounds and photos
Colour modes
- RGB versions for screens
- CMYK versions for print
- Pantone references if your brand uses them
Formats for each
- Vector: AI, EPS, PDF and SVG
- Raster: PNG with transparent background, plus JPG if you like
That sounds like a lot of files. In practice it’s a tidy folder with subfolders for Print and Screen, and it saves you an awkward email every time someone needs your logo. Ideally it comes with a short style guide showing your colours, fonts and how much space to leave around the logo. Our article on what goes in a brand style guide covers that in detail.
If the difference between RGB and CMYK is new to you, read why your logo looks wrong on the flyer first. Sending a screen file to a printer is the most common reason for disappointing colour.
Who gets what
Printer (flyers, cards, brochures): a vector PDF in CMYK. If they ask for EPS, send EPS. If the job uses Pantone spot colours, make sure that version has them defined.
Signwriter or vehicle wrap: EPS or vector PDF, plus your Pantone or CMYK colour references so they can match vinyl. If they’re redrawing your logo from a JPG, that’s a sign you need to send them better files.
Embroidery, uniforms and promo products: EPS or vector PDF, and the one-colour version as well. Embroidery often can’t reproduce fine detail or gradients, so the supplier may want a simplified version.
Web developer: SVG for the logo, plus a transparent PNG as backup, all in RGB. Also give them the icon on its own for the favicon. WordPress asks for a square site icon at least 512 by 512 pixels.
Social media and Canva: transparent PNG files of the stacked or icon version for profile pictures, and the horizontal version for banners. RGB.
Newspaper, sponsor or event organiser: ask what they want. If they don’t know, send a vector PDF and a high-resolution PNG and let them pick.
When you don’t have the files
This happens more than you’d think. The designer has moved on, the old agency’s gone, or the logo was made by a nephew in 2014. What to do:
- Search your email for “logo”, “.ai”, “.eps” and “.pdf” from around the time the logo was made. The files are often sitting in a forgotten attachment.
- Ask your printer or signwriter. If they’ve printed your logo properly before, they may have a vector version on file.
- Ask the original designer. Most are happy to resend files.
- Get it redrawn. A designer can recreate a logo as clean vector artwork from a good-quality image. It’s quicker and cheaper than a new logo, and it’s a good chance to fix any wonky bits.
Whatever happens, store the final pack somewhere that isn’t one person’s laptop: a shared Google Drive or Dropbox folder that the business owns.
Before you sign off on a logo
If you’re having a logo designed now, ask before you start what the final handover includes. “Logo files” should mean all the versions and formats above, not three JPGs in an email. Whoever designs it, including us on a logo and brand design project, should be able to tell you exactly which files and guidelines you’ll get at handover.
Stuck with a JPG and a signwriter waiting? We can check whether yours can be redrawn as a vector file before the job stalls.