Logo File Formats: Which File to Use for Each Job
SVG, PDF, EPS, AI or DXF? A simple chart of which logo file to give your website, printer, embroiderer, engraver or sign maker.
By Gaël Pons
Published
The vector logo file formats, which store shapes rather than tiny colored squares, are SVG, PDF, EPS and AI, plus DXF for cutting machines. The best file format for a logo depends on where it’s going: printers, embroiderers, websites and laser engravers each expect something different.
What are the vector file formats for a logo?
A logo in vector format usually comes as one of five extensions: .svg, .pdf, .eps, .ai or .dxf. The first four hold the same shapes in different wrappers; DXF comes from technical drawing and is mostly used by machines that cut or engrave.
How SVG, EPS and PDF differ, and which to send when a shop isn’t sure, is already covered in SVG vs EPS vs PDF. If you don’t know yet whether your current logo is a vector at all, start with how to tell if you have a vector logo. This page answers one question only: which file goes to whom.
Which logo file should you use for each job?
The logo file to use depends on where it will end up: a screen is happy with a PNG or an SVG, a workshop machine needs a vector format, and some trades also want a single-color version.
| Where it’s going | File to hand over | Logo version |
|---|---|---|
| Website, online store | SVG (transparent PNG as a backup) | Full color, plus the negative if the site has a dark theme |
| Email signature | Small, lightweight transparent PNG | Full color |
| Word, PowerPoint, Google Slides | Transparent PNG; SVG works in recent versions of Office | Full color |
| Social media profile picture | Square PNG, logo centered with some margin | Full color, or negative on a colored background |
| Favicon (the browser tab icon) | Square PNG, or SVG for browsers that support it | Symbol only, no text |
| Print shop (flyers, cards, posters) | Vector PDF | Full color |
| Sign, cut vinyl lettering | SVG, vector PDF or DXF | One color per vinyl sheet |
| Embroiderer | SVG or vector PDF | Full color and one color |
| Laser engraver | SVG or DXF | One color, no gray |
| Rubber stamp maker | SVG or vector PDF | One color |
| Screen printer (t-shirts, tote bags) | SVG or vector PDF | Few colors, negative for dark fabric |
Two notes clear up most misunderstandings. Your embroiderer doesn’t stitch from the SVG directly: they use it as a model to build a stitch file their machine can read, as the logo embroidery guide explains. And DXF only matters if the engraver or sign maker asks for it by name; the DXF file explainer shows why some machines insist on it.
Why don’t screens and workshops want the same file?
Screens and workshops want different files because a screen shows your logo at a size known in advance, while a workshop produces it at the size of the object. For an email signature or a slide, a well-sized PNG is enough, and it’s often the only format email apps display reliably. When to pick PNG over JPG for those uses is explained in our JPG vs PNG logo guide.
A cutting machine or a laser engraver follows the outlines of the design instead, and an embroiderer starts from those same outlines to program the stitches. They need described shapes, not a grid of pixels, which is the whole point of the vector file your printer keeps asking for.
What logo files should every brand have?
Every brand should have its logo in three versions (full color, one color, negative), each one in two file families: a vector format for production and a transparent PNG for screens. That set of six files covers almost every row of the chart.
- Full color: the everyday version, on light backgrounds.
- One color: a single solid fill for engraving, stamps, simple embroidery or one-ink screen printing.
- Negative: the shapes in white on a transparent background, for dark fabric and dark backgrounds. It needs a little care, explained in the white logo for dark backgrounds.
If your logo combines a symbol and a name, add the symbol on its own: that’s what becomes the favicon and the profile picture.
How should you name and organize your logo files?
Logo files are easiest to find when each name carries three pieces of information in the same order: brand, version, format. For example moon-cafe_color.svg, moon-cafe_one-color.pdf, moon-cafe_negative.png. Skip names like “logo final v3 (2).png”: six months later, nobody knows which one is right.
For storage, one “Logo” folder with two subfolders does the job: “Production” for vector files, “Screens” for PNGs. Keep a copy in a shared cloud folder, and when a vendor asks for “the logo”, send the link to the whole folder so they can pick the file their machine needs.
What if all you have is a JPG of your logo?
If all you have is a JPG of your logo, first dig through old emails from the designer or agency, where a PDF or an .ai file often hides. Failing that, the JPG can be converted into a vector file, and every other version can be made from there.
Every version of your logo from a single JPG
Depixelise takes the JPG, PNG, WebP or SVG you have on hand, up to 10 MB, and rebuilds it as shapes in about ten seconds. You judge the result yourself, full size on screen. An email gives you enough to fill half the chart above: the SVG your print shop and engraver will ask for, which an embroiderer turns into a stitch file; a transparent PNG (2000 px across) for your website and documents; the one-color version for stamps or engraving; and the negative version for black backgrounds. None of it costs a cent, nobody asks you to register, and the files come back clean of any watermark. If a platform insists on PDF or EPS, free software such as Inkscape opens the SVG and saves it in those formats.
Still give it a careful look. A tiny source image is enlarged automatically before its outlines are rebuilt, which can shift a detail, and a two-color logo squeezed into one ink sometimes loses a letter. Put the two side by side before anything leaves your inbox.
FAQ
Does a vector logo file have a size in pixels?
No, a vector logo file has no pixel size: its shapes are described by measurements the software recalculates every time you scale it. Only PNG and JPG files have a fixed size, which is why you export a PNG large enough for screens.
Can you send a vector logo over WhatsApp or Messenger?
Yes, a vector logo can go over WhatsApp or Messenger as long as you send it as a document rather than a photo. Sent as a photo, the file gets compressed into a pixel image and loses its point; sent as a document, it arrives untouched.
Can a favicon come straight from the vector logo file?
Yes, a favicon can come from the vector logo file, but rarely as is: at browser-tab size, text becomes unreadable. Keep the symbol alone, enlarge it so it fills a square, then export it as PNG or SVG.
Do you need one file per color for a screen printer?
No, one vector file is enough in most cases: the screen printer separates the colors to make one screen per ink. Just tell them how many colors there are and, if you know them, their color codes.