So you just got all of your files for your dream brand, from either me or another fabulous designer, but you have NO IDEA what file formats to use and where. Don’t worry sis, I got you! Let’s get into what file formats to use for your brand, depending on the usage.
File Formats For Web And Screen Usage
These are the file formats that you want to use for social media, your website, and anything online or on a screen. These formats ensure that everything will remain high quality while also staying in the correct colour space and look.
RGB Colour Space
The colour space that your web files should always be in, is RGB. RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue, and colours in this space are created from lights in those three original colours. This allows not only a large amount of shades and hues of different colours, but it also creates very vibrant colours that can’t be replicated in printing. Essentially any colour you think of, can be found in the RGB colour space, however, that doesn’t always mean you can recreate it in print, which I’ll talk more about later.
SVG Files
SVG files are the highest quality that your designs for screens can be. These are vector based files which means that you won’t get any pixelation in your logos or other designs. If you want your logo to be high resolution and high quality while expanding it to large sizes or keeping it small, this is the file format to use. I would highly recommend using this format for anything that you create for screens including social media assets, newsletters, and websites (depending on file size limits).
PNG Files
PNG files are made out of pixels rather than vectors so even though they offer high quality and transparent backgrounds, if you expand these files a lot (making your logo absolutely HUGE) then the quality will lower and your design will start to look pixelated. These files are great, however, for smaller applications and if you need a smaller file size (especially for websites).
Ai Files
These Ai files are NOT ai slop, none of that artificial intelligence in this household haha. These files are actually where the original designs are created. You most likely won’t ever need to personally use these files to be honest, however, sometimes other designers request these so they can have access to the original design.
File Formats For Printing
CMYK
The CMYK colour space is specific for printing because they create every colour using Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (K), don’t ask me why K stands for black ink though, haha. Since every colour is created from these coloured inks, unfortunately a lot of bright and neon colours can’t be created the same as your RGB colours. That’s why a lot of printed assets might not look the exact same match as your web/screen assets.
Pantone and PMS colours
This is a very specific colour match to your original RGB colour. Your selected PMS code for your colours in your guidelines is to be used for printing when you want an EXACT match. Since all printers print colours slightly different, Pantones are the universal colours that will be printed the same across all print shops. It’s more expensive to print things with these colours, but if having the exact colour across all assets are important to you then I highly recommend using Pantones rather than CMYK, when printing.
EPS Files
EPS files are essentially the vector files for print. So instead of SVG files for web, you use EPS files for print! These are the files you want to use for printing as much as possible to ensure the highest quality. If you are working with a printer for flyers, brochures, business cards, etc, and they ask for vector files, give them your eps file!
PNG
Similar to the information regarding PNG files for web and screens, these file formats can have transparent backgrounds and are great for smaller applications because they hold their quality. If you are enlarging your logo though a lot, then definitely use a EPS file instead, to make sure it keeps its quality and doesn’t get pixelated.
Final Thoughts
Trust me I KNOW that these file formats can be very confusing and overwhelming at first, but I promise you the more you use them, the easier it gets. The main thing to remember is that SVG and EPS files are the highest quality because they are vector based, and PNG files are made of pixels so they are good for smaller applications and have a smaller file size.
Good luck, and if you ever have any questions, whether we’ve worked together or not, I’m always here to help!
