Logos are beautiful, logos are unique, but getting your logo in the proper format for several different uses can seem mind-boggling. Here’s a brief primer on the two primary file format types for logos:
Raster
Raster images are by far the most common. They are made up of rows of pixels, similar to a mosaic. You can’t usually tell they are individual pieces until you enlarge the image.
- What’s good:
- This is the only way to save photo-type images.
- They work great for web sites, email insertion, and images.
- What’s bad:
- They don’t scale well. When increasing their size, the quality decreases and look “pixelated”.
- They can appear fuzzy and/or grainy when used with printed materials.
- Resolution: when using raster images, choosing the proper resolution is very important. Resolution is generally regarded as the number of pixels (dots) per square inch.
- 72 dpi (dots per inch) is a good resolution for images on web sites
- 300 dpi is a good resolution for images used on printed materials
- Common file formats:
- .jpg
- .gif
- .png
- .psd
- .tif
- .bmp
Vector. Vector images are made up of a series mathematical formulas consisting of points and lines. The smooth lines make vector images extremely flexible to work with.
- What’s good:
- They are scalable from very small (business card) to very large (signs & banners).
- They reproduce crisp and clear on printed materials.
- There is no need to worry about the image resolution.
- What’s bad:
- Many people don’t have vector versions of their logo
- The file sizes can be large
- Resolution: vector files are not subject to low or high resolution. Due to the nature of how vector images are created, they are always the same whether displayed small or large.
- Common file formats (these formats do not guarantee the file was originally created as vector art):
- .ai
- .eps
- .cdr
If you have a logo only in raster format it can be recreated in vector format to allow for more flexible use and better print production.
