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PNG, SVG, PDF, EPS or AI: which file should you send your printer?

Your designer sent a folder with nine versions of the same logo, and the print shop wants "the right one." Here's what each file type is for, which to send for each kind of job, and the traps hiding inside PDFs and EPS files.

· 4 min read · By the DesignFix team

Somewhere on your computer is a folder called "Logo FINAL" with files ending in .png, .jpg, .svg, .pdf, .eps and .ai. The print shop asks for your logo and you attach the one that opens when you double-click it. Then they ask for a different one.

Each of those formats exists for a reason. Here's a plain guide to what they are, what to send for which job, and how to tell whether the file you have is what its name says.

The two families

Every image file is one of two kinds.

Raster files store a grid of pixels. They have a fixed size and get soft when enlarged. PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP, TIFF and PSD are raster formats.

Vector files store shapes: lines, curves and fills. They can be drawn at any size with no loss. SVG, AI, EPS and most logo PDFs are vector formats.

Printers who cut, engrave, embroider or screen print generally need vector. Printers who spray ink (DTG, DTF, sublimation, photo printing) can use a raster file, as long as it's big enough.

The raster formats

JPG

Small files, no transparency, and a little quality lost every time it's saved. Good for photographs and for showing someone a preview. A poor choice for logos, because compression leaves smudges around sharp edges and there's always a background box.

PNG

Keeps edges clean and supports a transparent background. This is the standard for print on demand, DTF and DTG, at 300 pixels per inch at print size. Its limit is the same as any raster: it can't be enlarged past the size it was made.

TIFF and PSD

High quality raster formats used in professional print and photo work. A PSD keeps Photoshop layers. Send these only when a printer asks for them.

The vector formats

SVG

The open, modern vector format. It works on websites, in Cricut and Silhouette software, in Canva and in every design program. If you can only keep one vector version of your logo, keep the SVG.

AI

Adobe Illustrator's own format, and usually the original working file your designer built. Print shops that run Adobe software often prefer it, because everything stays editable.

EPS

An older vector format that almost every sign, embroidery and screen print system can still open. It's slowly being replaced by PDF and SVG, but plenty of production equipment still asks for it.

PDF

The most flexible of all, and the easiest to share, since anyone can open it. A PDF saved from a design program keeps vectors, fonts and exact colors, which is why commercial printers love it.

The trap: the file extension doesn't prove anything

A PDF, an EPS or even an SVG can be a wrapper around a raster image. If someone places a small JPG into a new document and saves it as a PDF, you get a file that ends in .pdf and is still a blurry JPG inside. Print shops see this every day.

Two quick tests:

  • Zoom test. Open the file and zoom in as far as you can, 1,600% or more. A real vector stays razor sharp. A wrapped raster turns into squares.
  • Outline test. In Illustrator or the free Inkscape, switch to outline view. A real vector shows the paths of every shape. A wrapped raster shows an empty rectangle.

Renaming logo.png to logo.svg doesn't convert it either. Turning a raster into a real vector means tracing or redrawing the shapes.

What to send for which job

  • Screen printing: vector (AI, EPS, PDF or SVG) with spot colors
  • Embroidery: vector or a clean, large PNG for the digitizer to work from
  • Vinyl cutting, decals and signs: vector, always
  • Engraving and laser cutting: vector
  • DTF, DTG and print on demand: transparent PNG at 300 PPI at final size
  • Sublimation: PNG or high quality JPG at 300 PPI at final size
  • Business cards, flyers and packaging: print-ready PDF with fonts outlined
  • Website: SVG for logos, PNG or WebP for images
  • Social media: PNG or JPG

When in doubt, send the vector PDF. A printer can make any other format from it.

The files every business should have

A complete logo set is smaller than that folder of nine:

  1. The original vector (AI or SVG)
  2. A PDF copy of the vector for sending to printers
  3. A large transparent PNG, at least 3,000 px wide, for everyday use
  4. Versions for light and dark backgrounds, plus a one-color version

With those four things, you can answer any printer's request in one email.

If all you have is a JPG or PNG

That's common. Logos made years ago, by someone who's hard to reach, or in an app that only exported images, often exist only as a small raster.

The fix is a vector redraw: rebuilding the logo as real shapes, with matched fonts and clean flat colors. Done once, it gives you every format on the list above and ends the back-and-forth with printers for good.

That's a job we do every day. Send us the best copy you have and we'll return a clean vector set, ready for any print method. Start here: image to vector.

  • file formats
  • vector files
  • print-ready files

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