What Vector Art Is, and When You Actually Need It

Sooner or later someone asks for "the vector version" of your logo, and if nobody ever made one, you discover your brand only exists as a JPG someone exported in 2019.

The actual difference

Raster images are grids of pixels. A photo is raster. Each pixel holds a colour, and there's a fixed number of them. Enlarge the image and you're stretching those pixels — the software invents the in-between ones, which is why it goes soft and blocky.

Vector images are instructions. "A circle of this radius, centred here, filled with this colour." "A curve through these points, stroked 2pt." Nothing is stored as pixels at all, so there's no fixed resolution. Ask for it at 2 inches or 20 feet and the maths simply recalculates. It's razor sharp at both.

That's the whole thing. Pixels have a size baked in; paths don't.

Which formats are actually vector

Genuinely vector: AI (Illustrator), EPS, SVG, and PDF when it was created from vector artwork.

Always raster: JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, and PSD in most practical cases.

The trap is the PDF. A PDF is a container — it can hold true vector paths, or it can hold a photograph of your logo. Both open identically. Renaming or re-saving a PNG as a PDF or EPS converts nothing; you get the same pixels in a new wrapper. Plenty of people have sent a "vector file" that was exactly this.

How to check quickly: open it and zoom to 1600%. Vector edges stay perfectly crisp. Raster goes blocky.

When you'll be asked for one

• Screen printing — each colour needs its own screen, which means clean separations
• Signage, vehicle wraps, large format — anything printed big
• Vinyl cutting and laser — the machine follows paths; without them there's nothing to follow
• Promotional products — engraving and pad printing
• Professional print — spot colours and crisp type
• Rebrands and brand guidelines — the master artwork should always be vector

Embroidery is the exception people get wrong

Embroidery does not use vector files. An embroidery machine reads a stitch file — DST, PES, EXP — which is a list of needle movements, not shapes. You cannot send a vector file to an embroidery machine any more than you can send a JPG.

So why do digitizers ask for vector? Because it's the cleanest possible reference. Crisp edges and defined shapes make it far easier to rebuild the design accurately as stitches. Vector helps the human, not the machine. A large sharp PNG works nearly as well — see logo digitizing.

Getting a vector version

Find the original. Ask whoever designed the logo. If a designer made it, an AI or EPS almost certainly exists somewhere.

Auto-trace it. Illustrator's Image Trace and similar tools produce something instantly. On very simple, high-contrast art it's passable. On anything real it produces jagged edges, hundreds of stray anchor points and unusable paths — technically vector, practically useless.

Have it redrawn. A person rebuilds the artwork by hand with clean geometry and proper curves. This is what vector art conversion means, and it's why it starts at $3.50 rather than being free.

What good conversion gives you

Clean editable paths, organised layers, correct colours, and files in every format you'll be asked for. Do it once and you stop having this conversation every time a supplier asks.

Only have a JPG? Send it over — we'll tell you whether it's worth redrawing and what it'll cost before you commit.