How to Prepare a Logo for Uniform Printing

Every logo file is one of two kinds. A raster file, also called a bitmap or simply an image, is a grid of tiny colored squares called pixels. A vector file stores no pixels. It describes the logo as shapes, lines and curves defined by math, with a fill color for each shape.

The difference shows when the size changes. A raster file has a fixed number of pixels, so stretching it over a larger area makes edges soft or blocky. A vector file is redrawn from its instructions at whatever size is needed, so one file serves a small chest crest and a full back graphic.

That is why vector is the preferred format for logos, crests and lettering. Raster is the right format for photographs and artwork with soft shading, where the detail lives in the pixels.

A quick test

Open the file and zoom far in on a curved edge. If the edge stays clean, the artwork is vector. If you see blur or a staircase of squares, it is raster. The file extension alone does not settle it.

The letters after the dot tell you what a file can contain, not what it does contain. Some formats are always raster. Others are built for vector artwork but can also carry a raster image inside.

Placing a PNG inside an AI, EPS or PDF file, or renaming it, does not turn it into vector artwork. The pixels are still pixels. A raster file is not automatically unusable, though. A large, clean PNG can print well.

Transparent and solid backgrounds

A logo file has either a transparent background, where only the logo exists, or a solid one, where the logo sits in a filled rectangle, usually white. On a white web page the two look identical. On a navy jersey, the solid one arrives as a white box unless someone removes it. A JPG cannot hold transparency, so a JPG logo always carries a background.

• Place the logo on a dark color in any program. A white box shows up immediately.
• If a background was removed by hand, zoom in on the edges. A pale halo or rough fringe will print.
• If white is a real part of the design, such as white lettering, say so. Otherwise it may be treated as empty space.
• If your brand has a reversed or one-color version for dark backgrounds, send it too.

Resolution applies only to raster files, and it comes down to a single division.

Pixels versus print size

A raster file has pixel dimensions, such as 1,200 by 800. That is the real amount of detail in the file. Resolution describes how tightly those pixels are packed once the file is printed, measured in pixels per inch (PPI). Many people say DPI, dots per inch, for the same idea, although dots strictly describe what a printer lays down.

A logo 1,200 pixels wide printed 4 inches wide comes out at 300 PPI. Print the same file 12 inches wide across a jersey back and it drops to 100 PPI. The same pixels were spread over three times the width. Run it the other way to see what you need: a 10-inch graphic at 300 PPI needs 3,000 pixels.

The commonly cited guidance

The figure quoted most often for print is 300 PPI at the final printed size. Adobe's Photoshop documentation, for example, describes 300 PPI as what professional printing typically needs. Treat it as a general reference, not a universal rule. Exact requirements depend on the manufacturer and the decoration method, so ask what yours needs.

Why a small web logo prints badly

A logo saved for a website is sized for a screen. Images made for screens work well at roughly 72 to 96 PPI, so a logo only 300 pixels wide looks crisp in a page header. Printed 10 inches wide, those 300 pixels give 30 PPI, a tenth of the usual print reference. The result is soft edges and visible steps on curves.

Our team does this arithmetic for you. Send the artwork and we tell you whether the file is a vector or an image, its pixel size, and the resolution that results at the size you place it.

Color is where expectations and results drift apart, because a screen and a garment make color in different ways.

RGB and CMYK

RGB stands for red, green and blue, the colors of light used by monitors, phones and cameras. CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black, the inks of four-color process printing, where a wide range of colors is built from those four.

Both are what Pantone calls device dependent. The same RGB values look different on two monitors, and the same CMYK values print differently on two presses. The numbers are recipes, not definitions of a color. Which mode a manufacturer wants in the file varies, so ask before you convert anything.

Spot colors and Pantone matching

A spot color is a single ink mixed to a specific color before printing, not built up from dots of four inks. Spot colors tend to be cleaner and more consistent, which is why they are widely used for logos. The Pantone Matching System (PMS) gives each one a number, so a designer and a factory can refer to the same target.

Not every spot color survives a four-color process. Pantone's own figure is that, in a typical print environment, about 55 percent of its spot colors can be closely matched using CMYK alone.

Fabric adds another step. Pantone keeps a separate color system for textiles, partly because the appearance of a color changes with the material and some colors cannot be achieved on some materials at all. A PMS number from your brand guide is a sound target to give a uniform manufacturer, but the result depends on the fabric, the inks or dyes and the decoration method.

Lettering in a logo is stored either as live text, which still depends on a font file, or as outlines, where each letter has been converted into a plain vector shape.

Live text causes surprises. If the person opening your file does not have the same font installed, the software substitutes another and the logo changes shape. Converting text to outlines removes the dependency: the letters become artwork and look the same on any computer. Outlined text can no longer be retyped, so keep an editable copy.

Font licensing in brief

Fonts are licensed software, and each comes with its own terms. A license that lets a designer create a logo does not necessarily let them pass the font file to a printer. Adobe's font service, for example, allows logos and merchandise made with its fonts but not packaging the font files for someone else. Outlined artwork avoids the question, because no font file changes hands.

Player names and numbers are different. They are new text set for each order, so the font must be available, and licensed, wherever that text is set. If your brand uses a specific typeface for them, tell your manufacturer early.

Printing reproduces your artwork. Embroidery rebuilds it out of thread, and that changes what a logo can contain.

Digitizing

An embroidery machine does not read a logo file. A specialist first converts the artwork into a stitch file, a process called digitizing: deciding which areas are filled, which are outlined, how dense the stitches are and the order they sew in. A stitch file is planned for a particular size, so embroidery cannot be rescaled as casually as a print.

Small text and thin lines

Thread has thickness, so there is a floor on how small a detail can be stitched. Madeira, a thread manufacturer, puts the smallest block lettering at about six to seven millimeters tall, roughly a quarter inch, with 40-weight thread, a weight commonly used for embroidery. With finer 60-weight thread and a finer needle, it says block letters can go down to about three millimeters. Script lettering, serif typefaces (those with small finishing strokes) and stretchy or textured fabrics generally need more room.

Thin lines behave the same way. A fine outline that prints cleanly may be too narrow to stitch, and a digitizer will usually thicken it, simplify it or leave it out. Small taglines and fine inner detail are the parts most likely to change.

• Supply the vector file and say where the embroidery goes and how wide it should be.
• Expect the embroidered version of your logo to be slightly simplified. That is normal.
• If your brand guidelines include a small-size logo, send that version too.

If all you have is a PNG from a website, a vector version very likely exists somewhere. Look for it before paying to have one made.

1. Ask the original designer or agency. Request the source files: AI, EPS, SVG or a vector PDF. Logos are normally drawn in vector software.
2. Check the brand guidelines. Schools, leagues, sponsors and larger companies often publish a brand guide or media kit with approved logo files and colors.
3. Ask a previous supplier. A printer, sign maker or uniform supplier who has reproduced the logo before may hold a vector copy.
4. Have it redrawn. A designer can rebuild the logo as vector artwork from your sharpest image. Send the largest file you have and the font names if you know them.

Design software can also trace a raster image into vector shapes automatically. The trace follows the pixels it is given, so a small or blurry source tends to produce lumpy curves and rounded corners. For a crest that goes on every garment, a careful redraw is the safer route.

If you are not sure what kind of file you have, send it to us on WhatsApp and we will tell you what it is, or ask our team.

Having a file is not the same as having the right to use it. Every mark on a uniform belongs to someone, and you need that owner's permission to reproduce it.

Logos are commonly protected as trademarks. The United States Patent and Trademark Office describes trademark infringement as the unauthorized use of a mark on or in connection with goods or services in a way likely to cause confusion about their source, and courts also ask whether buyers are likely to be confused about sponsorship. Where infringement is proven, a court can order the use to stop and the infringing articles destroyed or forfeited.

• Your own crest. Confirm that the club or company has the right to reproduce the artwork, particularly if a volunteer or freelancer designed it.
• Sponsors. Get written approval and their official logo files. Sponsors often specify which versions, colors and sizes are allowed.
• Schools, leagues and governing bodies. Many control their marks through a licensing or communications office. Ask before you design around their logo.
• Professional teams and well-known brands. Do not copy them. A close imitation can raise the same question as the mark itself.

This is general information, not legal advice. For anything uncertain, ask the owner of the mark or a trademark attorney. Brands developing their own line can read about our private-label manufacturing.

Pre-flight is the print trade's term for checking a file before it goes to production. Run through this list before you upload or email artwork.

Common mistakes

• Sending a screenshot, or a logo copied from a website or social media profile.
• Renaming a PNG to .svg or .eps, or saving it as a PDF, and calling it vector.
• Enlarging a small image, or changing its DPI setting to 300, to make it look acceptable.
• Sending a JPG with a white box around the logo for a colored garment.
• Leaving live text in the file, so the font changes on another computer.
• Using a sponsor or league logo found online without asking the owner.
• Approving a proof without checking logo size, position, color and spelling.

Every order with us goes through an artwork proof that you approve before anything is produced, so the proof is the place to catch whatever the checklist missed. Read how an order works, or browse the other guides.