Logo Design File Types

Below is a list of the standard file types supplied with your logo design order. If you need any other file types, then please ask. The preferred design tools are Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.

dpi means dots per inch

Tif file

(CMYK Color) - 300 dpi high resolution

The tif file is for printing on a lithographic printing press. The CMYK color stands for the four colors that are used in "Process Printing".

Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and the K actually stands for Black. This file format is often requested by print shops. This is one of many file formats that a printer can request.

If you can open this file format on your PC you will often see that the colors are totally different to the other logo files we send you. This is because your computer monitor and your home/office printer uses RGB color. RGB color stands for Red, Green, Blue. Your PC does not have the correct filters to read CMYK color. This is entirely normal and when printed on a lithographic printing press the colors will print correct. (Because a lithographic printing press can print many more variations of the color spectrum you may notice a slight difference in the end product compared to what you would be able to print on a home office printer).

It is always best in the case of a consistent corporate identity to use a color matching system like Pantone. You will find a color matching book to view at your local printer but we provide an online version of the Pantone color matching system. Note that the online version is only as accurate as your computer monitor and for complete accuracy you really should view an actual swatch book at your printers.

Perfect for:

Professional printing.
Home/Office printing that supports CMYK color.

JPG files

(3 sizes = Normal, Medium and Small) or JPEG as it is often referred to (RGB Color) - 300dpi.

These file types are all used for home/office printing in applications like Word or PowerPoint (you import the image into your document) or for web site images in FrontPage or more professional web site editing programs (html editors) like DreamWeaver or GoLive. The resolution of these files is 300dpi which in printing terms is high resolution.

We give you several sizes because although it is possible to make your own sizes using the source file (eps file) few people in reality have the tools to do this. The sizes we send are usually sufficient for most things you want to do personally and if you do need anything else you can get the help of a designer with the correct tools to create other sizes as you see fit.

Perfect for:

Home/Office printing.
Web Design
Importing in to Microsoft Office applications like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access etc.

JPG file (Grayscale) - 300dpi.

This file type is provided so that you can seek trademark status for your logo. Most trademark organizations will only accept images that are in grayscale.

Perfect for:

Trademark application.
Home/Office printing.
Web Design
Importing in to Microsoft Office Applications like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access etc.

PSD file (RGB) - 300 dpi.

This file format is used by professional designers and is the native file format of Adobe Photoshop. You need Adobe Photoshop to open this file type. We supply it with a transparent background too so it is great for use by a professional web designer.

Many people mistakenly think the PSD file is your editable supplied source file. This is not true for logo design. For a logo to be used across a large spectrum of uses and applications it is created as a vector file. Vector files can be resized using the right software without loss of quality. Your PSD file can also be used for home/office printing if you have Adobe Photoshop. I repeat. In the case of logo design, this file type is NOT the master file.

Perfect for:

Home/Office printing. (Requires Adobe Photoshop)
Web Design. (Requires Adobe Photoshop)
Graphic Design. (Requires Adobe Photoshop)

EPS file (CMYK Color)

This is your fully editable master file that all the other file types are created from. You need specialist software to work with this file called Adobe Illustrator. The eps file is fully editable with the fonts flattened. We flatten the fonts because fonts are just like software and to own a font you must buy the licence. If we did not flatten the font then you would need to buy a copy of the font as well. You are of course free to do that yourself. There are many good font sites on the web but we always recommend Fonts.com

The eps file is a vector file. All the other file types we send are what is called raster files. Raster files are made up of tiny dots, clearly visible under a microscope. This means that when enlarged in size or reduced significantly in size, raster type files will lose quality. Vector files on the other hand do not suffer from this loss of quality because the image software uses a mathematical technique called vectoring to create the image.

The eps vector file can be reduced and enlarged using the correct software without any loss of quality. This file format is also used by the majority of professional printers.

Perfect for:

Professional Printing. (Requires Adobe Illustrator)
Graphic Design. (Requires Adobe Illustrator)

AI File (CMYK Color) Fully editable stationery design master file. Professional logo designers use vector drawing tools like Adobe Illustrator to create logo designs and not raster drawing tools like Adobe Photoshop. We also use Adobe Illustrator for stationery design as that is the industry standard for printers.

Perfect for:

Professional Printing. (Requires Adobe Illustrator)
Graphic Design. (Requires Adobe Illustrator)

Standard Transparent File Formats:

Many clients are surprised when viewing the design choices that we send that the JPG logo files do not have transparent backgrounds. The reason for this is that only certain file formats can support transparency. JPG files can not. We do however supply a couple of transparent file formats with your finished logo pack. These formats are the PSD file and the eps file. Both these formats however require special software to work with. The PSD requires Adobe Photoshop and the eps requires Adobe Illustrator.

PSD (RGB Color) - 300 dpi. This file format is used by professional designers and is the native file format of Adobe Photoshop. You need Adobe Photoshop to open this file type. We supply it with a transparent background too so it is great for use by a professional web designer.

Many people mistakenly think the PSD file is your editable supplied source file. This is not true for logo design. For a logo to be used across a large spectrum of uses and applications it is created as a vector file. Vector files can be resized using the right software without loss of quality. Your PSD file can also be used for home/office printing if you have Adobe Photoshop. I repeat. In the case of logo design, this file type is NOT the master file.

EPS (CMYK Color) This is your fully editable master file that all the other file types are created from. You need specialist software to work with this file called Adobe Illustrator. The eps file is fully editable with the fonts flattened. We flatten the fonts because fonts are just like software and to own a font you must buy the licence. If we did not flatten the font then you would need to buy a copy of the font as well. You are of course free to do that yourself. There are many good font sites on the web.

The eps file is a vector file. All the other file types we send are what is called raster files. Raster files are made up of tiny dots, clearly visible under a microscope. This means that when enlarged in size or reduced significantly in size, raster type files will lose quality. Vector files on the other hand do not suffer from this loss of quality because the image software uses a mathematical technique called vectoring to create the image.

The eps vector file can be reduced and enlarged using the correct software without any loss of quality. This file format is also used by the majority of professional printers.

Optional Transparent Extras:

Gif (RGB Color) - 72 dpi. Gif files do not resize well at all. For us to supply you with a transparent gif file you need to tell us the size you need. Otherwise if you try to resize it yourself the results will generally be very poor. Gif files are not the best quality file format and often suffer from pixalation. This is the technical word for jagged edges. If you want this file format you can request it on the order form in the other information area but please remember to supply the size required.

PNG (RGB Color) - 72 dpi. PNG files are a fairly new arrival on the scene. It is a web site file format supported now by most web browsers. The beauty of this format is that the quality of finish is usually high. The PNG file format also resizes much better than Gif files. Request this format on the order form should you require it.

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