If a printer, sign shop or embroiderer has ever asked you for “a vector version,” you have run into the difference between a vector logo and a PNG. The short version: a PNG is a photo of your logo at one size. A vector file is the logo’s actual drawing instructions, so it can be any size.
Short answer: use a PNG for screens (websites, social media, email, slides). Use a vector file (SVG, PDF, EPS or AI) for anything printed, cut, stitched or enlarged. If you only have a PNG, a designer needs to redraw it as a vector.
What a PNG actually is
PNG is a raster format: a grid of colored pixels. Its big advantage over JPG is transparency, so your logo can sit on any background without a white box. Its limit is size. A 500-pixel-wide PNG looks sharp in an email signature and fuzzy on a 3-foot banner.
What a vector file actually is
A vector file stores shapes as points and curves with fill colors. The computer redraws those shapes at whatever size you ask for, so edges stay crisp from a pen barrel to a building. Vector files can also be recolored, separated into spot colors for screen printing, and cut by vinyl plotters.
How to tell which one you have
- Check the extension. .svg, .eps, .ai and most logo .pdf files are vector. .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif and .webp are raster.
- Zoom in to 800 percent. Jagged squares mean raster. Smooth edges at any zoom mean vector.
- Beware of fakes. A PNG placed inside a PDF or EPS is still raster. If it pixelates when zoomed, it is not a true vector.
When a PNG is perfectly fine
- Website headers and footers (export at twice the display size)
- Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google Business profile images
- Email signatures, invoices and Word or Google Docs
- Presentation slides and video overlays
When you must send a vector
- Vehicle wraps, truck lettering and trailer graphics
- Storefront signs, banners and yard signs
- Embroidery on hats, polos and jackets
- Screen-printed shirts and promotional products
- Engraving, laser cutting and die-cut stickers
- Anything larger than a sheet of letter paper
Turning a PNG logo into a vector
Automatic converters trace pixels into shapes, and the result is usually lumpy, bloated with points and hard to edit. A proper conversion is a manual redraw: a designer rebuilds each letter and shape with clean curves, matches or improves the colors, and exports the full file set. This is the same process we use for AI and low-resolution logos, and most are finished the same day.
For a full rundown of SVG, EPS, PDF, AI, PNG and JPG, see our logo file formats guide. If your logo already looks soft online, here is why logos go blurry.
Only have a PNG? Send it over and we will tell you whether it can be redrawn as is or needs cleanup. Call (313) 329-6047.
