A client asks for "the logo", and every supplier wants something different: the printer a vector PDF, the developer an SVG, the embroiderer a file they can digitise, the person updating the slides something that pastes into PowerPoint. Eight logo file types cover all of it, each good at one job. Here is what each format is, where it belongs, which ones the client should receive, how RGB and CMYK versions differ, and how to name them.

Logo file formats at a glance

Format Type Transparency Use it for
SVG Vector Yes Websites, apps, developers, design tools
PNG Raster Yes Documents, slides, email signatures, social profiles, video
PDF Vector Yes, flattened in PDF/X-1a Printers, sign makers, packaging
EPS Vector No live transparency Suppliers who ask for it by name
AI Vector Yes The editable master, kept by the designer
JPG Raster No Upload forms that reject everything else
WebP Raster Yes Web pages, generated by the site
ICO Raster Yes The favicon, several sizes in one file

So what file format should a logo be? A vector, kept in Illustrator and delivered as SVG for screens, PDF for print and transparent PNG wherever software wants pixels. Those three answer nearly every request; the other five serve specific cases.

Vector or raster: the distinction behind every choice

A vector file stores the logo as paths and colour values, so it scales to any size without losing sharpness; print, signage and anything cut or stitched starts from one. SVG, PDF, EPS and AI are vector formats, though a PNG wrapped in a PDF is still pixels.

A raster file is a grid of pixels at a fixed size; enlarge it and the edges blur. PNG, JPG, WebP and ICO are raster formats, always exported from the vector, never the reverse.

Two more properties decide where a file can go. Transparency lets the logo sit on any colour or photograph without a white rectangle. Colour mode decides the medium: SVG, PNG and WebP hold RGB only, for screens, while a PDF can carry RGB, CMYK or spot colours such as Pantone.

What each logo file type is

SVG is the vector format of the web: a text file browsers draw directly, a few kilobytes for a logo, sharp on any screen. Figma, Canva and recent desktop Word and PowerPoint open it too. Outline the type, or it depends on fonts the viewer lacks.

PNG is the raster for everything that is not a browser: lossless, with a full alpha channel, RGB only. Export it at twice its displayed size, or around 2000 px on the long side for a general purpose file; sizes per placement are in logo dimensions for web and print.

PDF is the print handoff. A vector PDF keeps the paths and the exact colours and opens in every print shop. The PDF/X-1a standard flattens transparency and allows only CMYK and spot colours; PDF/X-4 keeps live transparency and colour profiles. For a flat logo either works, so ask the printer.

EPS is the print format before PDF. It holds vectors and CMYK or spot colours, but no live transparency: opacity and blend effects are flattened on save. Some embroidery, engraving and promotional goods suppliers still ask for it.

AI is the native Illustrator file, with layers, artboards, swatches and live type. Saved with the default Create PDF Compatible File option, it opens in a PDF reader as a flat preview, so clients think they can use it; without Illustrator they cannot edit it.

JPG is a lossy raster with no transparency: every logo JPG has a background, and compression softens flat edges. Its one job is the upload form that accepts nothing else.

WebP is a web format developed by Google, lossy or lossless, with transparency and smaller files than PNG. Browsers display it; Google Docs and Slides do not accept it. Websites generate it from your PNG or SVG.

ICO is the Windows icon format browsers read as a favicon, with several sizes in one file, usually 16, 32 and 48 px. Illustrator cannot write it; see export favicon and app icons from Illustrator.

Which format for which use

Websites and apps

SVG for the header and any logo in the code, a transparent PNG at 2x for platforms that refuse SVG, and the favicon set: favicon.ico, favicon.svg and PNG icons.

Social media

Platforms take PNG or JPG for profile pictures, not SVG, and recompress uploads. Upload a square PNG of the logomark at 1000 x 1000 px with margin for the circle crop; a JPG would be compressed twice.

Office documents and email

Word, PowerPoint, Keynote and Google Slides all accept a transparent PNG; Google Docs and Slides do not take SVG. Email signatures use a PNG too, because many email clients, Gmail among them, do not display SVG.

Print

A vector PDF in CMYK, plus a spot colour version when the brand specifies a Pantone ink; a printer asking for a "high resolution logo" usually means this file. A raster, if unavoidable, must be 300 ppi at the final printed size.

Signage

Sign makers cut vinyl and rout letters along paths, so they need PDF, AI or EPS, sometimes DXF. Convert strokes to fills: a cutter follows a stroke's centre line, not its width.

Embroidery and merchandise

An embroiderer digitises your logo into a stitch file for their machine (DST or PES, for example) from a vector PDF or a large PNG. Fine lines, small type and gradients do not survive thread, so send the simplest version and the Pantone references. Screen printing wants a vector with one spot colour per screen; print on demand services take a transparent PNG at 300 ppi at print size.

Video

Editors place a transparent PNG at least as wide as the logo appears in the frame, which on a 3840 x 2160 timeline can mean 2000 px, and need the white version over footage. Motion designers in After Effects prefer the AI or a vector PDF. An animated logo is a separate deliverable, such as a ProRes 4444 file with an alpha channel.

RGB or CMYK: one logo, two colour spaces

Screens mix light in RGB, presses lay down ink in CMYK, and saturated RGB colours, bright blues, greens and oranges especially, have no CMYK equivalent: an automatic conversion prints them duller. Decide the CMYK values, and the Pantone reference if there is one, during the identity work, and build the print files from them.

  • Screen files (SVG, PNG, JPG, WebP, ICO) are RGB, in sRGB, matched to the HEX values.
  • Print files are CMYK PDFs, plus a spot colour version for a Pantone ink.
  • The black logo for print is 100 percent K, one ink, so small sizes stay sharp instead of showing four plates out of register.
  • White is no ink. On kraft, coloured stock or a dark garment it has to be printed as a white ink or a foil, set up as a spot colour.

What the client should receive, and what they should not

The default delivery covers each lockup (logomark, logotype, full logo) in full colour, black and white:

  • SVG for screens.
  • Transparent PNG at 2x for documents, slides, email and social profiles.
  • PDF: CMYK for print, RGB for screens and the office printer.
  • The favicon set, if there is a website.

Add one JPG on white if a supplier needs it. Leave out by default EPS (on request), WebP (the website makes it), spot colour files (when a job needs the ink) and the AI master.

The master is decided in the contract, not on delivery day: owning the logo and owning the source file are two different things. The AI file is your working file, with the construction, sometimes rejected directions, and live type in fonts the client may not be licensed to use. It also invites small edits made without you. Unless the contract lists source files among the deliverables, the AI stays with the designer; when it does, deliver a clean copy with type outlined and unused artboards deleted. Folders and sending are covered in how to deliver a logo to a client.

How to name logo files

A file name is the only label that travels with the file. Use brand, lockup and colour version, then the colour space for print files and the pixel width for rasters. Lower case, hyphens, no "final".

acme-logo-colour.svg
acme-logo-colour-rgb.pdf
acme-logo-colour-cmyk.pdf
acme-logomark-white.png
acme-logomark-black-2000.png

Mark the colour space on every PDF and EPS: RGB and CMYK files look identical in a file browser, and only one belongs at the press. Then sort the files into folders named after the use: web, print, documents, social. The export steps are in export all logo formats from Illustrator.

Questions

What file format should a logo be?

A vector, delivered as SVG for screens, PDF for print and transparent PNG for everything else. No single format covers every use: a printer cannot enlarge a PNG to sign size, and Google Slides cannot place an SVG.

Is SVG or PNG better for a logo?

For a website or an app, SVG: sharper, lighter, and it scales to any screen. For documents, email signatures and social profiles, PNG, because those tools refuse SVG or handle it inconsistently.

What logo format does a printer need?

A vector PDF in CMYK with type outlined, plus a spot colour version if the brand uses a Pantone ink. Some printers still ask for EPS or AI; send what they ask for. A PNG or JPG only works at 300 ppi at the final size, and only if the printer agrees.

Should a client get the AI file?

Only if the contract says so. The SVG, PDF and PNG files let the client use the logo everywhere; the AI file lets someone edit it, which most clients do not need. When it is included, send a cleaned copy, not your working file.

Do I still need EPS files in 2026?

Not by default. PDF does everything EPS did, with transparency on top, and most suppliers accept it. Keep EPS for the supplier who asks for it by name.

How Anchr Tools exports and delivers the formats

Anchr Ship produces the default set in one pass from Illustrator. It generates black and white flat variants of the logomark, logotype and full logo as new artboards, then exports every artboard as SVG (web optimised, text outlined), PNG at 2x with transparency, PDF and a print-ready CMYK PDF/X-1a, named in lower case and sorted into a numbered folder tree split into Digital and Print. On request it adds favicons (favicon.svg and a favicon.ico with 16, 32 and 48 px), app icons and social images. Ship does not write EPS, JPG, WebP or Pantone files; those stay a Save As job.

Anchr Portal then publishes the brand as a hosted page: logo files for light and dark backgrounds, HEX, RGB and CMYK values with click to copy, and a zip of the whole pack. The client gets one link, always current, no account needed, and forwards it to the printer or the developer. Both plans include all five tools: Per brand at 49 USD a year with a 7 day trial, Studio at 199 USD a year with 14 days; see pricing.

For web and social sizes, the free logo resizer turns an SVG, PNG or JPG into favicons, app icons, a 2x header logo, a 1000 x 1000 profile picture, a 1200 x 630 share image and an email signature logo, in your browser.