Keep a master vector file and export SVG for the web and EPS or PDF for print. That single rule prevents most of the branding headaches small businesses run into. Beyond that master file, you need SVG for your website, EPS or vector PDF for printers, and a handful of PNGs sized for everyday use. The rest of this guide explains why each one earns its place and when to reach for it.
TL;DR:
- Use vector files such as AI, EPS, or SVG for all large or scalable applications to ensure logos stay sharp at any size.
- Always request a complete logo package including a master AI file, print-ready EPS or PDF, web-optimized SVG, and multiple PNG sizes with transparency.
- Ensure your logo files are correctly formatted for their platform: SVG for websites, EPS or PDF for print, and PNG for social media or email signatures.
- Check logo files by zooming past 400% or opening in a vector program to verify they are vectors, avoiding pixelated or blurred images.
- Store all logo files in a well-organized cloud folder with clear naming conventions and version control to simplify future access and rebranding efforts.
Table of Contents
- Vector vs raster: what the difference is and why it matters
- Core logo file formats and what each is for
- What a complete logo file package should include
- Which format to use where: web, social, email, print, merch and embroidery
- Colour modes, colour matching and export settings
- How to check whether a file is vector, and how to fix it if it isn’t
- Practical file handover checklist for printers and developers
- Kukoo’s practical perspective: how we package logo handovers
- How Kukoo Creative handles your logo files from day one
- Sources
Vector vs raster: what the difference is and why it matters
A vector file stores your logo as mathematical paths: points, curves, and lines that a computer redraws at any size with total precision. A raster file stores it as a fixed grid of coloured pixels, like a mosaic with a set number of tiles. Enlarge a vector logo and it stays crisp. Enlarge a raster logo past its native size and the edges turn blocky, because vector artwork scales without loss of quality while raster images become pixelated when stretched.
That distinction decides whether your logo looks professional on a shopfront sign or embarrassing on a pull-up banner. Raster is perfectly fine for a small social media post, a document header, or an email footer, where the display size never changes. It becomes a problem the moment someone needs your logo bigger than the file was made for, which happens more often than owners expect: a supplier wants it for a van wrap, a trade show asks for a 3 metre backdrop, a local paper wants a print-ready ad.
Checking whether a file is vector takes seconds. If the edges stay sharp, it’s vector. If they blur or turn into visible squares, it’s raster. You can also open the file in Inkscape, a free editor: vector files show editable paths and anchor points, while raster files show a single flat image layer with no paths at all.
Three checks worth running before you trust a logo file:
- Zoom past 400% and watch for blur or blockiness.
- Open it in Inkscape or Illustrator and look for paths, not pixels.
- Check the file extension. .ai, .eps, .svg, and vector .pdf are vector; .png, .jpg, and .webp are always raster.
Pro Tip: If a supplier sends you a logo as a Word document or PowerPoint slide, don’t assume it’s usable artwork. Extract the image and run the zoom test before you pass it anywhere near a printer.
Core logo file formats and what each is for
Seven formats cover almost every situation a small business will hit, and each one has a specific job.
- AI (Adobe Illustrator): the editable master file. Keep this as your source of truth, with layers, fonts, and colour swatches intact, and never hand it out as a final deliverable.
- EPS: the format printers and sign fabricators still request by default, because it preserves vector data and works reliably across older production software.
- SVG: the standard for websites and app interfaces. It scales cleanly on any screen and keeps file sizes small enough for fast page loads.
- PDF: a universal container that can hold vector artwork inside it, useful for sending proofs, approvals, and print-ready files to non-designers.
- PNG: a raster format with proper transparency support, making it the everyday choice for social posts, slide decks, and documents.
- JPG: fine for a quick preview or a placeholder, but it can’t do transparency and compresses your logo every time it’s saved.
- WebP: a newer web format offering smaller file sizes than PNG or JPG at similar quality, worth using where your website or developer supports it.
Between them, these seven formats answer nearly every “which file do I send” question that lands in a small business owner’s inbox.
What a complete logo file package should include
A proper handover isn’t one file, it’s a small library. Here’s what to expect from a designer, and what to chase up if you were only ever given a single PNG.
- A master editable vector file (AI or the equivalent native format), with layers organised and fonts either embedded or listed by name.
- EPS and/or vector PDF for print, set up in CMYK, with Pantone reference numbers noted if exact colour matching matters.
- An optimised SVG for web use, alongside PNGs in large, medium, and small sizes with transparent backgrounds, plus a JPG or two for quick previews.
- Colour variants: full colour, mono black, mono white (reversed for dark backgrounds), and greyscale.
- Lockup variations: horizontal, stacked, and an icon-only mark for social avatars and favicons.
Most professional handovers follow roughly this same structure, because it covers every practical use case a growing business runs into within its first year.
Pro Tip: Ask for a one-page brand colour sheet alongside the files, listing HEX, RGB, CMYK, and Pantone values together. It saves you re-asking your designer every time a new supplier requests colour codes.
A sensible folder structure keeps all of this usable rather than buried in a downloads folder six months later, which the handover checklist further down covers in detail.
Which format to use where: web, social, email, print, merch and embroidery
Different platforms have different rules, and using the wrong file is the single most common cause of a fuzzy logo, a white box where transparency should be, or a rejected print job.
- Website: SVG first, with a PNG fallback for older browsers. Favicons need small raster variants too, typically 32×32 and 180×180 pixels, alongside ICO support for wider compatibility.
- Social media: PNG sized to each platform’s recommended dimensions, exported directly from your SVG master to dodge the recompression artefacts that come from re-uploading an already-compressed JPG.
- Email signatures: small PNGs, because most email clients still don’t render SVG reliably.
- Print: EPS or vector PDF, set in CMYK. Resolution and DPI genuinely matter here: raster artwork for print needs enough pixel dimensions at the final physical size, usually 300 DPI, or it prints soft and blurry no matter how good the design was.
- Merchandise and embroidery: vector only. Embroidery digitisers need simplified outlines with limited colours, because a stitch machine can’t reproduce fine gradients or thin detail the way a printer can.
The SVG standard also supports lightweight CSS animation and compresses to a genuinely tiny file size when optimised, which is part of why it has become the default for modern web use rather than just a nice-to-have.
Colour modes, colour matching and export settings
RGB is built for light: screens generate colour by mixing red, green, and blue pixels, so RGB is correct for anything digital. CMYK is built for ink: printers mix cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, and colours shift slightly between the two systems every single time. That shift is normal, not a fault. Warn your printer if colour accuracy matters and agree on acceptable tolerance before the job runs, rather than after 500 flyers arrive slightly off-brand.
Where an exact match genuinely matters, such as a signature brand colour on signage or packaging, specify a Pantone spot colour and include the Pantone number in your handover file. Printers can match Pantone far more consistently than they can match a CMYK breakdown alone.
- Give web developers HEX and RGB values.
- Give printers CMYK and Pantone values.
- Keep both sets on a single colour spec sheet.
- Flag transparency and anti-aliasing settings when exporting PNGs, so edges stay smooth rather than jagged.
Pro Tip: Export web PNGs at 2x the display size for crisp rendering on retina screens, then let the browser scale down rather than up.
How to check whether a file is vector, and how to fix it if it isn’t
Follow these four steps before you send any logo file to a printer, developer, or sign maker.
- Look at the file extension. .ai, .eps, .svg, and .pdf are usually vector; .png, .jpg, and .webp are always raster.
- Open it in Inkscape or Illustrator. Vector files show paths and anchor points you can click and drag; raster files show one flat image.
- Zoom in past 400%. Sharp edges mean vector. Blur or visible pixels mean raster.
- If it’s raster and you need vector, your options are a designer redraw, Illustrator’s Image Trace tool for simple marks, or a professional vectorisation service for anything with fine detail. GIMP is a free option for inspecting and cleaning up raster source images before tracing.
When briefing a redraw, hand over your best-quality reference image, state every lockup you need, and specify your colour values upfront rather than after the first draft.
Practical file handover checklist for printers and developers
A clean handover starts with clear file names. Use a consistent pattern such as logo_horizontal_fullcolour.svg or logo_mark_white_500px.png, so nobody has to guess what’s inside a folder full of “final2_USE THIS ONE.png” files.
When emailing a printer or developer, always state:
- The intended final size or placement (business card, van livery, homepage header).
- The required colour mode, CMYK for print, RGB for screen.
- Bleed and trim requirements, plus any Pantone numbers.
- Which specific file you’re sending and why.
Watch for these red flags before a job goes wrong: a printer asking “do you have the vector file?” after you sent a JPG, a developer flagging a logo as “too pixelated for retina”, or artwork arriving in RGB when the job needs CMYK. All three are avoidable with the checklist above.
Kukoo’s practical perspective: how we package logo handovers
Every logo project we deliver at Kukoocreative includes the same core package: a master vector file, EPS and PDF for print, an optimised SVG for web, PNGs in multiple sizes, mono and reversed versions, and a one-page colour spec sheet. Over a decade of client handovers has taught us that the businesses who struggle later are almost always the ones who only ever received a single PNG.
Store everything in cloud storage with clear version control from day one. It sounds unglamorous, but it’s the difference between finding the right file in ten seconds and rebuilding your logo from scratch because nobody can locate the original.
— Kukoo
How Kukoo Creative handles your logo files from day one
Kukoocreative gives small businesses the full file package upfront, so you’re never stuck asking a designer for “the other version” six months into a rebrand. It suits owners who want a proper handover done once, properly, rather than piecing formats together themselves as problems come up.
Every logo project includes:
- A master editable vector file, fully organised and documented.
- Print-ready EPS and PDF files set up in CMYK.
- An optimised SVG for your website.
- PNGs at multiple sizes, in full colour, mono, and reversed variants.
- A one-page colour specification sheet with HEX, RGB, CMYK, and Pantone values.
If your current logo file only exists as a blurry PNG from an old email thread, start with our logo design brief to see exactly what we’ll need from you and what you’ll get back.
Sources
- Raster vs vector (Adobe)
- Logo File Formats Explained: The Complete Guide
- Logo File Formats Explained: PNG, SVG, JPG, AI, EPS, PDF | Renderforest
- What is a vector file logo? How to choose the right file format (Shopify)