Here is a scene I’ve watched play out more times than I can count. A client gets their finished logo, opens the delivery folder, and finds a dozen files staring back: .ai, .eps, .svg, .pdf, .png, .jpg, a couple they’ve never seen before. The printer is asking for an EPS. The web developer wants an SVG. The social-media manager just wants “something that works.” And the client, very reasonably, has no idea which file goes where.
So they pick one — usually a PNG, because it’s the one that opens when they double-click it — and use it for everything. Three weeks later their logo is blurry on a banner, surrounded by an ugly white box on a coloured background, or rejected by the print shop entirely.
None of that needs to happen. Understanding logo file formats is one of the most practical things you can do to protect your brand, and it takes about five minutes. Let’s sort it out for good.
The one idea that explains everything: vector vs raster
Every logo file you’ll ever receive falls into one of two camps. Get this distinction and the rest is just labels.
Raster files are made of pixels — a fixed grid of coloured dots. PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF and TIFF are all raster. They’re perfect for photographs and they work everywhere online, but they have a hard ceiling: blow them up past their native size and the pixels show. A raster logo is a printed photo; enlarge it and it gets fuzzy.
Vector files are made of maths — points, lines and curves described by equations rather than dots. SVG, EPS, AI and (properly saved) PDF are vector. Because there are no pixels to stretch, a vector logo scales from a favicon to a billboard and stays razor-sharp at every size. These are your master files. You may never open them yourself, but you must keep them, because everything else can be regenerated from them and they cannot be rebuilt from a PNG.
That’s the whole secret. Vector = infinitely scalable master. Raster = ready-to-use, fixed-size copy.
What each format is for
AI (Adobe Illustrator) — the original working file your designer builds in. Fully editable, vector, the true source. You probably can’t open it without Illustrator, and that’s fine. Keep it forever; it’s the negative your whole brand is printed from.
EPS — the universal print master. When a printer, sign-maker or merchandise supplier asks for “the vector file,” this is almost always what they mean. Hand it over and they can work at any scale, in print-ready CMYK colour. If you remember one format for the offline world, remember EPS.
SVG — the web master. It’s vector, it’s tiny, and because it’s actually code, browsers render it perfectly crisp on every screen, including retina and 4K displays. In 2026, if your logo appears anywhere on a website, SVG should be the first choice — it loads fast, which quietly helps your page speed and SEO.
PDF — the universal go-between. A vector PDF can hold print-quality artwork while opening on literally any device, which makes it the safest format to email to someone when you’re not sure what software they have.
PNG — the everyday digital workhorse. Raster, but with one killer feature: transparency. That means your logo can sit on any colour or photo without a white box around it. Use it for social profile pictures, email signatures, slide decks and quick web jobs. Ask your designer for a few sizes — say 500px, 1000px and 2000px wide — so you’ve got the right one without needing design software.
JPG — the one to avoid for logos. JPG throws away data every time it’s saved and creates visible muck around the sharp edges and text that logos are made of. Use it for photographs, not your brand mark.
The cheat sheet: who needs which file
When someone asks you for “the logo,” this is the answer:
| You’re sending it to… | Send this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A printer / sign-maker | EPS (or AI / vector PDF) | Vector, scalable, CMYK-ready |
| Your web developer | SVG | Crisp on every screen, tiny file size |
| Social media / email / slides | PNG (transparent) | Works instantly, sits on any background |
| Someone whose software you don’t know | vector PDF | Opens anywhere, keeps quality |
| Your own archive (never delete) | AI + EPS + SVG | The masters everything else comes from |
A simple rule of thumb behind the table: vector for anything that scales or prints; raster for anything that’s used at a fixed size on screen. And one colour-mode note that saves a lot of grief — files headed to a screen should be RGB, files headed to a printer should be CMYK. A logo that looked vivid online can print disappointingly flat if nobody converted it.
The mistakes that cost real money
Three errors account for most of the logo disasters I get called in to fix:
- Using a low-res PNG for print. It looks fine on the screen, then arrives on a roll-up banner looking like it was faxed. Print needs vector.
- Putting a JPG logo on a coloured website header. Hello, white box. PNG (or SVG) with transparency solves it instantly.
- Not having the master files at all. A founder who only kept the PNG their freelancer sent on Fiverr — and lost touch with the freelancer — now can’t print, can’t resize, and effectively has to pay to have the logo redrawn from scratch.
That third one is why this matters beyond convenience. You don’t fully own a logo you only have as a PNG. You own a snapshot of it. Ownership lives in the editable vector source.
What you should actually demand from your designer
When you commission a logo — from anyone — your delivery package should include, at minimum: the editable vector master (AI or layered SVG/PDF), an EPS for print, an SVG for web, and a set of transparent PNGs in a few sizes, in both full-colour and a one-colour version for awkward backgrounds. Anything less and you’ll be back asking for files at the worst possible moment.
This is simply how we deliver every project at MalbarDesign — the full asset package, organised, labelled, in every format you’ll plausibly need, with the masters clearly marked so you never lose them. If you’d rather not audit a folder of mystery files ever again, start a logo project with us.
And if you’re still at the stage of deciding what kind of mark to commission in the first place, it’s worth knowing the seven types of logos and which one fits your business before you brief anyone.
FAQ
Vector files (SVG, EPS, AI, vector PDF) are built from maths and scale to any size without losing quality — they’re your master files. Raster files (PNG, JPG, WebP) are built from pixels and have a fixed size; enlarge them and they go blurry. Use vector for scaling and print, raster for fixed-size on-screen use.
Send an EPS, or an AI or vector PDF if the printer accepts them. These are vector and can be reproduced at any size in print-ready CMYK colour. Never send a PNG or JPG for professional print work.
SVG, in almost every case. It’s vector, so it stays sharp on any screen, and it’s far smaller than an equivalent PNG, which helps your site load faster. Use PNG only where SVG isn’t supported, such as some email clients.
JPG uses lossy compression that discards data each time it’s saved, creating visible artefacts around the sharp edges and text logos are made of. It also can’t store transparency, so it leaves a white box. Use PNG or SVG instead.
At minimum: an editable vector master (AI or layered PDF/SVG), an EPS for print, an SVG for web, and transparent PNGs in several sizes, ideally in full-colour and one-colour versions. The vector masters are what give you true ownership of the logo.
