Five Logo Files Every Business Should Have!

5 Must Have Logo Files All Businesses and Organisations Should Have

In order to ensure your logo looks professional and polished every time it’s used, it’s important to have the correct file formats on hand. A good designer will provide you with a variety of different files, each intended for a different use. In this article, we will explain the two main categories of files: vector and raster, and the five essential file formats that every business should have. We will also explain the industry standards for color mode and file extensions, and why they are important for different uses such as print or web. By the end of this article, you’ll have a better understanding of how to properly use and utilise your logo files.

Now that you have a professionally designed logo, what’s the next step? Where can you find the actual logo file and in which format is it? Here at Firefly New Media, we always provide our clients with these five essential file formats, and we’ll tell you why.

Your logo will be used in many different situations, whether it’s large or small, black or white, print or online. Whatever the platform, a professional designer will always make sure that your logo looks good every time it’s used.

As a standard, a good designer will give you a number of different files, each intended for a different use. It’s important to know what files they’re giving you and why.

Guide to Understanding File Formats for Your Logo

The file formats can be broken down into two main categories files: Vector and Raster

Vector Files

Vector files are the industry standard for professional printing and additional design work, such as brochures, flyers, business cards, and website design. They can be scaled to any size without losing any quality because they are made from mathematically precise points, not single pixels.

Vector files are usually provided in CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) colour mode, which are the four standard colours used to create full-colour printing. Common vector file types include .ai (Adobe Illustrator), .eps (Encapsulated PostScript), and .pdf (Portable Document Format).

Precision Brand Guidelines created by Firefly.

Vector files are the industry standard when you require to get anything professionally printed, or if you need additional design work carried out, for example; brochures, flyers, business cards, website design etc.

Vector files are usually intended for use in print, thus they are usually provided in CMYK colour mode.

CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, which are the 4 standard colours used to create full-colour printing.

If you only receive one file type, make sure it’s a vector file, that’s because it can be converted to any other file type with the correct software.

Vector file types have the following file extension of .ai .eps or .pdf.

Ai: Adobe Illustrator The AI file should be used as the original, editable, working file. This is an Adobe file format used to create and store as a source and editable file type to render other file types from. Think of this as your logo file template.

EPS: Encapsulated PostScript EPS file types are now getting a little obsolete. Before Adobe introduced InDesign the industry standard QuarkXPress. EPS files may be requested by print companies who use older printing technology, so you should still have this file format.

PDF: Portable Document Format PDF format is the industry gold standard, universally viewed on any computer with Adobe Acrobat (or another PDF viewer). It’s also possible to preserve editing capabilities, meaning it can be opened and modified later in the same way as an AI file can.

PNG: Portable Network Graphics PNG images are lossless, meaning they do not lose any quality during editing. And, more importantly however they allow for transparency.