Design file formats explained, and what to give the client

A design file format decides three things: whether the work can still be edited, whether it stays sharp at any size, and whether it prints and displays the way you designed it. The short answer is this. Keep working files as AI, PSD or INDD. Send anything for print as a PDF. Use SVG and PNG for logos on screens, and JPG, WebP or AVIF for photos on the web.

The rest of this article explains why. It covers vector and raster, print and screen, each common format in turn, a comparison table, and the handover checklist I use at the end of every brand project.

Vector or raster: the first question

Vector files store shapes as points and curves, described by maths. Scale them up for a shop sign or down for a pen, and the edge stays clean. Logos, icons, type, dielines and signs belong here.

Raster files store a fixed grid of pixels. They are right for photos, painted artwork and textures, but enlarge them past their size and they turn soft or blocky.

When I designed the identity for Abdeen Coffee, one hand-drawn Arabic mark had to work on a shop sign, on a small coffee pouch and on a phone screen. That only works because the master is vector: every other file, from the sign artwork to the social posts, can be exported from it.

Print or screen: colour and resolution

Colour: RGB, CMYK and spot colours

Screens mix light in RGB. Printing presses mix ink in CMYK. Some bright RGB colours, especially vivid greens, blues and oranges, cannot be reached in CMYK and print duller than they look on screen.

Packaging and identities often add spot colours, such as Pantone inks, mixed before printing so a brand colour stays the same from one print run to the next. It is worth checking a palette in one colour and in four. The Abdeen system was built to print cleanly either way.

Design in the colour mode of the final use, and ask the printer for their colour profile before you convert.

Resolution: pixels, PPI and DPI

For print, what matters is how many pixels land on each inch of paper at the final size. The usual standard for print seen up close, like brochures, boxes and books, is 300 pixels per inch. Large signs seen from a distance need less, and the printer will tell you how much.

For screens, the DPI number stored in the file means nothing. Screens only read pixel dimensions, so an image of 1080 by 1080 pixels looks identical whether the file says 72 or 300. The old rule of "save for web at 72 DPI" is a myth.

And raising the DPI value in Photoshop does not add detail. It only spreads the same pixels differently.

The formats, one by one

Working files: AI, PSD and INDD

These are the files you edit. They keep layers, artboards and settings that every export throws away.

• AI (Adobe Illustrator): vector, with multiple artboards. The natural home of a logo, a dieline or a sign. Saved with PDF compatibility on, other apps can open it as a PDF.
• PSD (Photoshop): raster with layers, masks, Smart Objects and adjustment layers. Right for photo work, mockups and social posts. Very large documents use PSB, Photoshop's large document format.
• INDD (InDesign): multi-page layout for brochures, profiles and books. It links images rather than storing them, so send it with the Package command, which collects the fonts and links into one folder. Save an IDML copy for anyone on an older version.

Print files: PDF, EPS and TIFF

• PDF: the standard for print. It holds vectors, images and fonts in one file that looks the same everywhere. For a press, export to a PDF/X standard: PDF/X-1a allows only CMYK and spot colours and flattens transparency, while PDF/X-4 keeps transparency live. Ask the printer which one they want.
• EPS: an older vector format. Some printers and sign makers still ask for it, and it is a safe file for print shops that work in CorelDRAW. It does not support live transparency, and newer apps handle it less and less well, so send PDF whenever it is accepted.
• TIFF: lossless raster for high-quality print. It supports CMYK, layers and transparency. Files are heavy, and Safari is the only major browser that shows TIFF, so it is a print format, not a web one.

Screen files: SVG, PNG, JPG, WebP and AVIF

• SVG: vector for the web, stored as code. Ideal for logos and icons on sites and apps. Convert text to outlines before exporting and keep the file simple.
• PNG: lossless, with full transparency. Good for logos, screenshots and flat graphics. PNG has no CMYK, so it is not a print file, and photos saved as PNG are heavy.
• JPG: lossy and without transparency, but small for photos. Each re-save loses a little more, and hard edges get a smudgy halo, so never keep a logo as JPG.
• WebP: lossy or lossless, with transparency and animation. It works in all major browsers and is usually smaller than JPG or PNG at similar quality.
• AVIF: newer and often smaller again, with transparency. Current versions of the major browsers support it, but not every design app exports it yet, so websites often convert images to it automatically.

Comparison table

What to deliver to a client: my handover checklist

A good handover means the client never has to come back asking for "the logo in another format". This is the list I work through.

Logo and identity

• Vector master: AI, plus a PDF for people without Illustrator, and EPS only if someone asks.
• SVG for the website and apps.
• PNG with a transparent background, in a few sizes.
• Every version: full colour, one colour, black and white, in each layout (horizontal and stacked), in Arabic and English if the brand has both.
• Colour codes: CMYK, RGB, HEX, and Pantone where used.
• Font names with a note on licences. Do not send font files unless the licence allows it.
• A short brand guide that says which file to use where. My article on logo design mistakes covers what to check before any of this leaves your desk.

Print: packaging, brochures and books

• A print-ready PDF in the standard the printer asked for, with bleed (often 3 mm, but the printer confirms) and crop marks.
• For packaging, the dieline on its own named layer in a spot colour, set to overprint, so it guides the cutter but never prints. On the Twins Pharma range, print-ready dielines were part of the handover, next to the bilingual labels.
• The packaged source: the InDesign package, or the Illustrator file with its linked images.
• A low-resolution proof PDF for approval, named clearly so nobody prints it by mistake.

Screens and social

• Exact pixel sizes for each platform, as PNG, JPG or WebP.
• SVG icons.
• Source files only if the agreement includes them. Settle this at the start, because some designers price source files separately.

Names and folders

• One folder per use: Logo, Print, Digital, Guidelines.
• File names that say what the file is, such as brand-logo-horizontal-fullcolour-cmyk.pdf.
• A short read-me listing what each folder is for.

Five mistakes I still see at the printer

1. A logo taken from a screenshot or a website, sent as a small JPG.
2. RGB files sent for print, so the colours shift on paper.
3. Fonts not embedded or outlined. Arabic text is the first to break, with letters that disconnect or swap fonts.
4. No bleed, so a thin white edge shows after cutting.
5. A JPG saved as PDF or SVG and called vector. The file type changed. The pixels did not.

Conclusion

The file format is part of the design, not an afterthought. Keep the working files, export each final file for where it will live, and hand over a folder the client can use for years without calling you. If you also prepare images in Photoshop, my guide to Photoshop tools and their uses pairs well with this one.

If you want a brand that arrives with every file it will ever need, start a project with me.