Logo file formats, explained in plain language
SVG, EPS and PDF are vector formats: they store shapes as math, scale to any size without quality loss, and are what printers ask for. PNG and JPG are raster formats locked to a fixed pixel grid: use SVG as the master and for the web, PNG for uploads, and PDF or EPS for print.
The two families
Every format on this page belongs to one of two families. Vector files describe the logo as geometry: this curve, this fill, this proportion. Because nothing is stored as pixels, the same file is sharp at 16 pixels and at two meters. Raster files store a grid of colored pixels: perfect at or below the size they were exported for, and only able to stretch beyond it. A logo is drawn as shapes, so its source of truth belongs in the vector family; rasters are exports, made per surface at the exact size the surface wants. Here is the vector half of that claim at four sizes, one file:
The raster half, what happens when a PNG is pushed past its export size, is demonstrated live in the SVG vs PNG zoom test.
Every format in one table
| Format | Family | Transparency | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| SVG | Vector | Yes | The master file and the web. Tiny, infinitely scalable, editable, styleable with CSS. |
| PNG | Raster | Yes | Uploads, documents, email signatures and every form that rejects SVG. Export at 2x display size. |
| JPG | Raster | No | Photographs. Wrong for logos: no transparency and compression fuzz around sharp edges. |
| Container (usually vector) | Yes | Print handoff. Universally opened, preserves vector shapes when exported from one. | |
| EPS | Vector (legacy) | Yes | The old print-shop standard. Still requested; any vector master converts to it. |
| WebP | Raster | Yes | Web delivery of photos and screenshots. Fine as an optimization, not as a logo master. |
| ICO | Raster container | Yes | Favicons only: one file carrying 16, 32 and 48 pixel versions for browsers. |
| AI | Vector (working file) | Yes | Adobe Illustrator's native format. A source file for designers, not a delivery format. |
Transparency deserves its own note, because it is the most common way a logo file fails in the wild: JPG cannot carry it at all, and a logo delivered as JPG shows up inside a white box on every colored surface. The full mechanics are in the transparent background guide.
The three files every brand needs
An SVG master. The one file from which everything else is exported. It never blurs, weighs a few kilobytes, and converts cleanly to every other format on this page.
Transparent PNGs at fixed sizes. For the surfaces that demand pixels: upload forms, docs and decks, email signatures, social avatars. Export each at twice its display size so it stays sharp on high-density screens; the per-platform numbers live in the social media size table and the favicon size guide.
A print file on demand. When a printer asks for PDF or EPS, export it from the SVG master that day. There is no need to store one in advance; the master is the guarantee that you always can.
Formats you can ignore
TIFF is a heavyweight raster for photography and scanning, BMP is an uncompressed relic, GIF's hard-edged transparency leaves jagged outlines around curved marks, and HEIC lives in phone camera rolls. None of them has a role in a logo kit. If a designer hands over only an AI file, ask for an SVG or PDF export alongside it: the AI file is the workshop, not the product.
What the LogoRay kit ships
A LogoRay kit is this page in a zip: the lockup and the bare mark as SVG masters, light and dark versions, transparent PNGs from 2048 down to 32 pixels, the complete favicon set with the ICO, and the 1024 app icon tile. Because the marks are vector-native, the PDF or EPS a printer eventually asks for is one lossless export away. And before you put a name on those files, the sibling naming tool at startupnamegenerator.com screens it against the US and EU trademark registries, a registry search no other logo maker pairs with its kit.
Common questions
What file format should a logo be in?
Keep one vector master, ideally SVG, and export everything else from it. For daily use that means SVG for your website, transparent PNG for uploads and documents, and PDF or EPS when a printer asks for print-ready artwork. If you only have room for one file, make it the SVG: every other format can be produced from it.
What is the difference between vector and raster logo files?
A vector file (SVG, EPS, PDF with vector art) stores the logo as shapes described mathematically, so it redraws sharp at any size, from a favicon to a building wrap. A raster file (PNG, JPG, WebP) stores a fixed grid of pixels, so it has a maximum size beyond which it blurs. Logos are drawn as shapes, which is why the master should always be vector.
What logo file format do printers want?
Vector artwork: usually PDF or EPS, and increasingly SVG directly. Print output is far denser than screens, so a web PNG that looks fine on a monitor turns soft on a shirt or a sign. Any clean SVG converts losslessly to PDF or EPS, so a vector master answers every printer request.
Is a PDF logo file vector or raster?
It depends on what is inside. A PDF is a container: exported from a vector tool it holds true vector shapes and scales perfectly, but a PDF made by placing a JPG or a scan holds only pixels. If you can zoom far into the PDF and the edges stay sharp, it is vector.
Can I convert a PNG logo to SVG?
Not by renaming it. A converter has to trace the pixels and guess the shapes, which works on flat, high-contrast marks and fails on gradients, photos and small text. When the original vector file is gone, tracing or redrawing is the path back, covered in the vectorization guide on this site.
Compose a logo from hand-curated vector marks and own the SVG, the transparent PNG set and the icon files in one download. Free to design, $39 once for the files.