Why Your Logo Looks Blurry (Raster vs Vector)

You send your logo to a printer. It looks crisp on your screen. The printed version looks like it was made in MS Paint.

The problem: you sent a raster image where a vector was needed.

Raster Images: Grids of Pixels

JPEG, PNG, GIF—these are raster formats. They store images as grids of colored pixels.

A 100x100 pixel image has exactly 10,000 pixels. Enlarge it to 200x200 and you're inventing pixels that weren't there. The result: blur or pixelation.

Raster works great at intended size. Scale up and quality degrades.

Vector Images: Math, Not Pixels

SVG, PDF, AI—these are vector formats. They store instructions like "draw a circle here" and "make a line from A to B."

Scale a vector to any size and it recalculates. Always sharp. Always crisp.

When to Use Vector

Logos. Need them at every size—favicon to billboard. Vector handles all of them.

Icons. UI elements that appear at various sizes across devices.

Illustrations. Simple artwork with solid colors and defined shapes.

Print materials. Anything going to a printer at unknown sizes.

When to Use Raster

Photographs. Millions of colors, gradients, complexity. Photos are inherently raster.

Complex artwork. Painterly textures, detailed gradients, natural images.

Screenshots. Capturing what's on screen is inherently pixel-based.

Web photos. JPEG compression makes photos practical for web delivery.

The Conversion Reality

Raster to vector is hard. Software can trace edges and approximate shapes, but complex images don't convert well. Simple logos with solid colors convert reasonably. Photographs don't convert meaningfully.

Vector to raster is easy. Just export at your target size. But once rasterized, you can't go back to vector without re-creating it.

Common Mistakes

Using raster logos. Your logo should exist as vector (AI, SVG, or PDF). Raster versions can be exported from it at any needed size.

Screenshot vectors. Screenshots of vector files are raster. You need the actual vector file, not an image of it.

Over-vectorizing. Not everything should be vector. Photos and complex images don't benefit.

Ignoring source files. Design files (Illustrator, Figma) are vector-based. Exporting to PNG loses that. Keep source files.

Practical Workflow

1. Create original artwork in vector format
2. Keep the vector source file forever
3. Export raster versions at specific sizes when needed
4. Re-export from source when you need different sizes

Don't work backwards. Don't try to vectorize a raster logo from your website. Find or recreate the original vector.

File Format Quick Guide

| Format | Type | Best For | |--------|------|----------| | SVG | Vector | Web graphics, icons | | AI | Vector | Professional design source files | | PDF | Vector* | Documents, print | | PNG | Raster | Screenshots, transparency | | JPEG | Raster | Photos |

*PDF can contain both vector and raster content.

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Vector for scalability. Raster for photographs. Keep vector originals and export raster when needed. Getting this backwards creates blurry logos and frustrated designers.