This is a fundamental of media production: logos should be vector graphics. You don’t have to know what that means if you are not a graphic designer. Your logo designer-creator should know and should provide those files. They might create non-vector versions (raster images like TIF, JPG, PNG, GIF), and they should also provide vector files in formats like EPS, AI, SVG, and PDF.
Your logo design might have gradients of color like a photograph. Get those designs (usually raster images) if you want, but for the long-term purposes of a logo, you should also get a vector version.
Ask for Vector Graphics with Logo Design
Maybe you don’t need a vector logo immediately, but it’s very likely you’ll need it some day. During the life of a business, a logo is used in lots of places where a vector file is best or required:
- screen printing on shirts
- large signs
- small, one-color imprint on promotional items
Ask for vector files when your logo is designed.
That’s the minimum I want to tell business owners and managers about logos in this post. I want to introduce the term vector graphic, and I want to suggest asking for them.
A Bit More info About Vector Graphics
If you want to know a bit more, I add these points:
- Vector graphics can be resized to any size and maintain quality.
- Vector graphics are required in some types of imprinting.
- Vector graphics can easily be used with transparency to show the background around the logo.
- Vector graphics are usually in these file types: EPS, AI, SVG, PDF, and sometimes PSD.
Some of these file types can also have non-vector graphics, so simply saving a non-vector logo to these file types does NOT create vector graphics. - JPEG, PNG and GIF are never vector format.
Conclusion
Ask for vector graphics when a logo is designed. It’s very likely you’ll need them during the life of your business.
