Why your logo might not print.

Vector vs. raster — the one that matters most

A raster file (JPG, PNG, GIF) is a fixed grid of pixels. Blow it up and you're stretching those pixels — it goes soft and blocky. A vector file (AI, EPS, PDF, SVG) stores shapes as mathematical curves, so it scales to any size with perfectly crisp edges.

This is why the logo that looks sharp in your email signature can't go on the side of a box truck. It was never big enough; it just never had to be. A vector version has no size limit at all, which is why it's the first thing we ask for.

If nobody has the vector, we can redraw it — that's design work, quoted as an optional add-on with your project, and it's often worth doing once so you own a proper logo file forever.

Resolution, and the rule that surprises people

Small print wants around 300 DPI at final size. Large format doesn't — a billboard viewed from 200 feet is printed at a fraction of that and looks perfect, because your eye can't resolve the detail at distance. A vehicle wrap sits somewhere in between.

The rule that catches people: resolution is meaningless without a size. "300 DPI" on a two-inch image is not enough for a two-foot print. What matters is pixels at final printed size.

Colour: your screen is lying

Screens make colour with light (RGB); printers make it with ink (CMYK). Some brilliant screen colours — electric blues, hot greens, neon orange — simply don't exist in ink and will print duller. That's physics, not a printing fault.

If your brand has specific colours, give us the Pantone or CMYK values rather than "the blue from our website". And judge colour from a proof, not a monitor.

Bleed and safe area

Bleed is extra artwork past the trim line, so a hair of cutting movement doesn't leave a white sliver at the edge. Safe area is the margin inside the trim where nothing important should sit. Text crammed to the edge is the most common reason a file comes back for revision.

Fonts

A file that references a font you have and we don't will substitute something else, silently, and your layout changes. Two fixes: outline the text to curves, or send the font files along with the artwork.

The short checklist

• Vector logo (AI, EPS, or PDF) — not a JPG off the website
• Photos at sufficient pixels for the final printed size
• Brand colours as Pantone or CMYK values
• Fonts outlined or supplied
• Bleed included, important content inside the safe area

Don't have all that? Most people don't, and it isn't a problem — just tell us what you've got. We review every file before production either way, and if something won't hold up we'll say so before it's printed rather than after. Send us your files.