Choosing the Best Logo for the Job
When choosing which logo to use, you need to consider:
- The space available in your design—Choose the logo that can be used at optimal sizing and staging/spacing
- Your budget—When printing, black logos and black/70% black logos are less expensive than
projects with PMS 361 in their lettering or background. On the web, either can be used for the same cost. If printing a logo in color and printing commercially, use files labeled CMYK.
Choosing the Best Format for the Job
| Web Use | .jpg, .png (.gif) |
| Ink Jet/Laser Printing of .doc Documents Want a transparent background on a color block/colored paper? | .eps, .jpg, .pdf, .png (.gif) use .eps, .pdf |
| Commercial Printing in Black and White | .eps, .jpg, .pdf, .png (.gif) |
| Commercial Printing in Color (CYMK Files) Want a transparent background on a color block/colored paper? | .eps, .jpg, .pdf use .eps, .pdf |
| Enlarging Logos for Signs, Banners | .eps |
A Quick Primer on Format Differences
.eps - Keep this format on file if you will be printing the logo in multiple sizes and configurations. The vector formatting of EPS files enables them to be rendered smoothly at any desired display size, from letterhead to convention banner. They have transparent backgrounds that let an underlying ink color or the color of the paper show through.
.jpg (jpeg) - Great for web work, as are .png and .gif files. JPGs do not support transparency, i.e., they will not let background colors show through; logos will instead appear in a white rectangular box.
.pdf - Transparency is supported starting with PDF version 1.4 and Adobe Acrobat 5.0.
.png (.gif) - PNG files, which support 16 million colors, are an improvement on the GIF format, which is limited to 256 colors. Like GIFs, PNGs support transparency. They can be enlarged slightly with little apparent image degradation.
.tif - TIFF files are not offered at the download site in order to keep things simple, but they can easily be created from CYMK .eps files using Photoshop. The file standard for images in the printing business for many years, tiffs do not support transparency, i.e., they will not let background colors show through but will instead appear in a white rectangular box.