Hi,

I'm looking for some advice please. When I've had logo's designed in the past they've always come with PSD source files. I've been reading through this board and come across the term vectors and many others...

Now I'm a bit confused... If I need the logo for the website, business cards, stationary and may eventually want a flash header made with the logo, what should I be asking for?

Many thanks.

Website= depends on what kind of site it is/designer
Business Card/Stationary= PSD
Flash=SWF

Thanks for that.

If I get it done PSD can it then be used to creat the other files you mention.

Thanks again

mmm, kind of.
PSD is "PhotoShop Document".. notice the "Photo"?, usually, pictures on the web are stored as jpg's a gif's. which can be created with Photoshop.

HTML.. hyper text makeup language (someone check if i have the right acronym), is the essential coding of the site. It is purely text, the graphical part of a site is when the "code" tells that "HERE is going to be picture X"

SWF.. sorry, I made a mistake. SWF is the final presentation format of a flash document. FLA is the format in which the editable animation information is stored. (like JPG VS PSD)

Assuming that you know what flash is, pictures EXPORTED from photoshop can be used in flash. BUT, the animated part is impossible to do in photoshop (impossible meaning not possible at all) The animations are stored in the FLA file(s)

there are two main file formats:

raster - this is produced by programs like photoshop. it is also known as a bitmap because it is simply a map of all the colored pixels. when this is enlarged it gets distorted, therefore it should not be used for print. file formats include but are not limited to jpg, gif, png, tiff.

vector - actually mathematical expressions that describe the shape. when transformed it simply modifies the mathematical expressons proportionally, thereby keeping quality. this is produced by programs like adobe illustrator, macromedia freehand, corel draw. this is the preferred method of logos and other things that need to have the ability to be transformed. some file extensions are ai and eps.


it is ok to get a psd AS LONG AS the logo created in it IS VECTOR. 99% of the time it isn't and you pretty much get screwed. when getting a logo, ask for two versions: a web version (jpg) and a print version (eps). and then again you need to make sure it isnt a photoshop eps because those sometimes arent any good either (if they made a raster image in photoshop, just because they save it as an eps doesnt mean it will suddenly become vector).


so as for a jpg and an eps and you'll be fine

Thank you very much.

If you have Adobe Illustrator you can use a .ai file most printers will take that as well, but make sure it's .eps or .ai , at least something vector, otherwise you are stuck.

^ Agrees...no pro designer worth his salt would ever create a logo in a bitmap-based program such as Photoshop...:)

It is ok to design logos in PhotoShop. People who design logos in PhotoShop doesn't mean that they are not professionals.

Many companies require logos for web only, and they give you specific dimensions... in which case they don't need to enlarge it. You can ask the client for specific dimensions (or approximation) for print, and design the graphic by maximizing the resolution to 300 dpi (vs. 72 dpi for web) - a drawback would be that the image cannot be resized, particularly enlarged.

It helps to be open with clients about potential drawbacks. If you do a good job on the designs, of course they will come back to you for more design needs.

However, it is a big plus if you learn and master vectors... then there are no drawbacks to worry about :)

HTH. Good luck.

why would you ever design a logo in raster just because the client didn't specifically ask to have a vector version? it isnt the clients job to be an expert on design and know exactly what it is he needs. designing a raster logo will only requre someone to redesign a vector version somewhere down the line. it is much easier to have a vector and save as raster than have raster and rebuild it to make a vector.

people who design logos in photoshop doesn't mean that they are not professionals.

no it doesnt, but it does mean they are not professional logo designers. professionals know their industry and tools, therefore they know that vector logos are ALWAYS better than raster because you can make a raster out of a vector but not a vector out of a raster.

a professional web designer would only be thinking about the web, so he most likely wouldnt think about print design - or even know what is necessary for print. besides, 300dpi isnt "maximum resolution" for logos. when we were forced to do a pseudo vector logo (make a raster work like a vector) we did the logo at 2000 dpi so it could be enlarged and still have decent quality. the reason it had to be vector was because it was a pastel drawing. Here's the company's site (http://www.williampear.com) if you want to see what the logo looks like. we didn't design it, we were just handed a magazine ad that they had using it and were asked to make a digital version.


everythings much easier when its vector...

Cool site:D

Thanks for the advice.

Originally posted by EagleImagery
^ Agrees...no pro designer worth his salt would ever create a logo in a bitmap-based program such as Photoshop...:)

ANMmark, you reading this?

I'd recommend asking for vectors every time . Though at the moment you might want the logo for a business card only, it may happen that in the future you might want a website or something else with the same logo and it will be hard to find the designer then. And if you have it in vectors (for instance .ia - Adobe Illustator) you will always be able to easily scale it and add any minor changes, play with the colors, etc.

Btw - .jpg is definately *not* the way to go when it comes to logos on the web.JPG is basically for photos and such and stuff with lots of color in it but tends to get jaggy with logos.

So the one and only choice for *web* logos is a transparent .gif really.

Just my 2 cents :)

or png. better image quality and it has alpha channel...but it all depends on the designer and what type of images he uses when designing. one might use jpg, another gif, another png. they all work, just some are better for certain things.

jpg - large file size, good for many colors, no alpha channel
gif - smaller file size, only good for few colors, has alpha channel
png - little bigger than gif, good for many colors with alpha channel.

It depends on what you're using the logo for. For print, it's best to go with vector. Web can be a raster format. It's best to keep it in vector if you can just in case you decide to print it in the future.