Logo File Extensions and What They Mean

When you engage a designer to design your new logo design, at the end of the process you’re going to be handed over a number of files in different file formats. You may wonder why you receive so many files and also why you can’t even open some of them. 

Ideally, the designer will break up the files into different folders for print and digital or web use and also provide a folder containing the master file. The file formats you should receive are .ai, .eps, .jpg, .png and .pdf. 

The .ai and .eps files are the ‘God’ files and should be protected at all costs.

Before we get into the file formats, it’s important to identify the two types of artwork that designers produce, vector and raster. Vector art is based on mathematical anchor points and infinitely scalable without compromising quality. Raster artwork is pixel based and unable to be scaled up without compromising or destroying the quality of the artwork. Once pixel and size parameters are set, this is the final output size of the artwork. Logos should always be designed in a vector format.

Now that’s clear, let’s break down what the file formats are and where you can use them.

• AI (Adobe Illustrator Artwork) is a proprietary file format developed by Adobe Systems for vector artwork and the .ai file extension is used exclusively by Adobe Illustrator. Illustrator is the industry standard for the development of all vector artwork across graphic design.
  
  
• EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) – this is a standard graphic file format for logos.  EPS files are a PostScript file (a page description language in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing business), and a versatile editable file format.
  
  EPS files are usually generated by professional drawing applications as well as most desktop publishing/layout programs. While an .eps file can contain raster imagery, it is generally used solely for vector based artwork.
  
  
• JPEG or JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) – easily the most common file format you’ll find across the internet. JPEGs are raster files (pixel based) and known for their lossy compression. Lossy compression means that the quality of the image decreases as the file size decreases.
  
  There are differing resolution parameters depending on where your jpg may be used. Often the term dpi is used interchangeably when they definitely shouldn’t be. PPI (pixels per inch) describes the resolution of a digital image in pixels whereas DPI (dots per inch) is in fact, the amount of ink dots on a printed image.
  
  Although PPI predominantly refers to screen display, it also directly impacts the print size of your design and quality of the output. DPI, on the other hand, primarily only concerns print.
  
  Digital applications generally only require 72ppi, digital printing can be as low as 120-150ppi while offset printing requires 300ppi. If you have a jpeg you would like to print in larger quantities (offset), it will need to have over 4 times the resolution of an image used on the internet. 
  
  
• PDF (Portable Document Format) – you can create PDF files from a wide range of programs, it is a truly portable file format that ‘holds’ artwork and text in place no matter what computer it is viewed from. They will also retain the integrity of vector artwork so are usually the best way for a client to view a crisp version of their logo design. PDF’s can contain both vector and raster elements.
  
  
• PNG (Portable Network Graphics) – great for interactive documents such as web pages, but are generally not suitable for printing due to their file size. A signature trademark of PNG’s are that they usually have a transparent background - a significant advantage over a jpeg file.
  
  Like jpegs, PNG files are raster and cannot be used larger than 100% of original image size. They can be reduced in size.
  
  

Now you’ve got through all of that, here’s an extra file format that you may come across:

• TIFF (Tagged Image File) – a high quality large raster file. While all other raster (pixel based) files feature some level of degradation, TIFF files generally are the highest quality raster version of your artwork. It is still not superior to any vector based artwork though, due to it not being scalable and generated using pixels.