Your Logo Cheat Sheet: How To Use Logo File Formats

Send your printer a PDF, your web developer an SVG, and use a PNG for everything you make yourself: slides, documents, social posts and email signatures. That covers most of what you'll ever need. The rest of this cheat sheet explains the six files in your logo folder, which one to send to whom, and why your logo sometimes comes out blurry.

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Which logo file to send to whom

1. Printer (business cards, brochures, stationery): PDF. Send EPS or AI if they ask for it.
2. Sign maker, vehicle wraps, exhibition stands: AI, EPS or PDF. Never a JPG.
3. Embroidery or branded clothing: AI or EPS. They will convert it for their machines.
4. Web developer: SVG, with a PNG as backup.
5. Social media profile and posts: PNG.
6. PowerPoint, Word, Google Slides, Canva: PNG with a transparent background.
7. Email signature: PNG, sized small.
8. Your designer or agency: the AI file, plus the brand guidelines PDF.

Why are there so many logo file formats?

Each one does a different job. Some are built for print and can be scaled to the side of a building. Some are built for screens and load quickly. Some have a transparent background and some don't.

A good brand handover gives you all of them, so you have the right file whenever someone asks, whether that's today or in three years' time.

There are two kinds underneath. Vector files (AI, EPS, PDF, SVG) are drawn with maths, so they stay sharp at any size. Raster files (PNG, JPG) are made of pixels, so they go blurry when you stretch them.

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What is an AI file?

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The master file, made in Adobe Illustrator, which is where your designer built the logo. It's vector, so it scales to any size without losing quality.

Use it for: handing to designers, printers and sign makers who need to make something new with your logo.

Can you open it? Not without Illustrator, and that's fine. It isn't broken. Keep it safe, because it's the file every future designer will ask for.

What is an EPS file?

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An older vector format that does the same job as the AI file. It will look as sharp on a billboard as on a business card.

Use it for: printers, sign makers and embroiderers who specifically ask for EPS. Most now accept AI or PDF instead, but some still prefer it.

Can you open it? Not easily without design software. Keep it with the AI file.

What is a PDF file?

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The file almost everyone can open. A logo PDF from your designer keeps the vector quality, so it's usually the safest file to send to a printer.

Use it for: printers, sharing your brand guidelines, and anyone who needs to see the logo exactly as designed.

One warning: don't edit a logo inside a PDF. If something needs changing, ask your designer to change the AI file and export a new PDF.

What is a JPG file?

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A pixel-based format built for photographs. It keeps file sizes small, but it can't have a transparent background, and it gets blurry when it's enlarged or compressed.

Use it for: a logo on a plain white background, on screen only.

Don't use it for: anything printed, or anything on a coloured background. That's how you end up with a white box around your logo on a roller banner.

What is a PNG file?

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The one you'll use most. A PNG can have a transparent background, so your logo sits cleanly on colours, photos and slides.

Use it for: PowerPoint, Word, Canva, social posts and email signatures.

Don't use it for: large print jobs. It's still made of pixels.

If you open a white PNG and see nothing, it hasn't failed. The logo is white on a transparent background. Place it on something dark and it will appear.

What is an SVG file?

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A vector format built for screens. It stays sharp at any size, on any screen, and the file is tiny.

Use it for: your website, and anything animated. Hand it to your web developer.

Can you open it? Any web browser will show it. Your developer will know what to do with it.

CMYK, RGB and Pantone: the folders inside your logo folder

You may see the same logo in folders labelled CMYK, RGB and Pantone. They're colour settings, not different logos.

1. RGB is for screens: websites, social media, slides.
2. CMYK is for standard print: brochures, business cards, leaflets.
3. Pantone is an exact ink colour, used when the printer needs to match your brand colour precisely, on signage or merchandise, say.

Send a printer the CMYK file unless they ask for Pantone. Use RGB for everything on a screen.

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Frequently asked questions

Which logo format is best for a website?

SVG, because it stays sharp on every screen and loads quickly. Keep a PNG as a backup for anywhere that won't accept SVG.

Which logo format is best for printing?

A vector file, usually PDF. Some printers ask for EPS or AI. Don't send a JPG or PNG for print unless the printer has checked it's large enough.

Why does my logo look blurry?

Someone has used a JPG or PNG that's too small and stretched it. Swap it for a vector file (PDF, SVG or EPS), or a larger PNG.

Why can't I open my .ai file?

You need Adobe Illustrator. That's normal. You don't need to open it yourself. Send it to designers and printers, and use the PDF or PNG versions day to day.

Share this with anyone on your team who has ever had Carol from conveyancing ring them, asking why the PDF logo keeps crashing in Word.

Need a brand worth the file formats?

A brand identity is only as useful as the files it ships with, but the brand has to come first. See how we approached it for Athena Security Solutions. If your current identity isn't keeping up with the business, our Brand & Growth Workshop is where we start. Book a Clarity Call and we'll talk it through.