What is a vector file for your artwork

Has someone who is printing your logo asked you for a Vector file, EPS or AI outlined artwork?  This might help…

A vector file – can be referred to as an AI, EPS or PDF.  A PDF is generally a vector file. However, depending how a PDF is originally created, it can be rejected as a vector file. 

When you design your logo, your Graphic Designer should supply your artwork in all formats for you to use your logo on.   Your Graphic Designer will provide your logo in formats to use for Web design, brochures, and stationery and for printing on products and signs etc…  if you cant find your vector files and still have a relationship with your graphic designer this is the best place to go to obtain your correct artwork needed for your logo, otherwise it could cost you $$ to have redrawn with another graphic designer. 

What does a vector file do? – they allow us to resize your logo to the product, use your logo colours (PMS or CMYK) and fonts, providing a very crisp image of your logo to apply to a physical product.  

If you provide a JPEG, PNG,TIF, GIF, (known as Raster files) these are just like pictures, we cant use them to print, they have no depth to them and we cant match the colours or fonts. 

Below is an image of what we see for printing. You can see why we need Vector files. 

Why do we ask for outlined artwork?  –  below is what we see in the file, and we can size everything according to the product and print area allowed.  We can make it big enough for your private jet or small enough for a pen!!

A vector file also is your property.  No one else should have access to your Vector files without your permission.  If a customer says to us, they want to print t-shirts with BHP’s logo and they provide us with a JPEG which we cant use, the only way we can print the tees is if we have an EPS which means they would need to go to BHP to get the EPS to use and of course they probably would not give them permission to do this.