Tips for Submitting a logo
File Types for Custom Logos
What file types can I submit for a custom logo?
When ordering a custom traction base, please submit vector-based files. These files include Native Adobe Illustrator (.AI), Encapsulated Post Script (.EPS), Portable Document Format (.PDF), Scalable Vector Graphic (.SVG), Windows Metafile (.WMF), Corel Draw (.CDR) and Freehand (.FH).
When requesting these files from your art or sports information department, be sure to tell them that you need these files in their native file format. In other words, opening up a .jpg file in Photoshop and using the “Save As” to save it as an .eps file is not going to magically convert a bitmapped file back into a vector file.
How can I tell if it’s a vector file or not?
You can’t tell for sure without opening the file in a graphics program, but one good indication is that the file size is usually very small, typically under 200k and sometimes as small as 50k.
Why can’t you just use what I give you?
We could but we won’t. We want to print the highest quality image possible and for logos, vector files are the best way to go. So while you can use small jpgs or gifs to print out a business card or a letter head, you cannot use them to print out an image that is 15″ x 18″ or larger. In addition to what was already mentioned, bitmapped files are extremely difficult to color match without ICC profiles. Vector files are much easier to get to print the colors you are looking for.
To see the difference, take a look at the examples below:
Vector vs Bitmap
The file on the left is a vector, while the bitmapped is on the right.
When viewed and printed at this size, both appear identical.
Scale up the same files by as little as 300%, and it’s very easy to see the difference:
Keep in mind that these images are only about 4 inches wide and logos on a small base are 15 inches wide.
This is 1800% magnification:
For more technical information on file formats and their differences, please see Image File Formats.