Preparing your Logo for a Vinyl Banner
Vinyl Business Banners Logo
One of the most common problems I encounter when producing a vinyl banner for business is the incorporation of your businesses logo.
Now this is no feat of rocket science in itself, but the main problem arises from the file that carries your company logo.
The problem is that the logo file is often too small a size to be used on a vinyl business banner. Using too small a file is like spreading butter a little bit too far across a piece of bread, you know it is there but much of the flavour is lost.
It is possible to recreate just about anything logo-wise using the sophisticated software tools I use to help create a vinyl banner for you. Though my thoughts are why reinvent the wheel (or the logo) anyway?
Many businesses these days have a soft copy of their company logo. This usually comes from professional graphic artists and designers for use in the company’s brochures, business cards and letterheads – you know the type of thing. This is where the trouble can start.
Because the people generating the logo usually only see the need to produce logos etcetera in a size big enough for use on the small scale – say about 25mm square for a business card, once we stretch this size image out to 500 or 600 mm, remember the dry bread – think Sahara Desert.
The images are often held in a file format called a JPEG (often called a Jay-Peg – and short for Joint Photographic Experts Group). Now this is a great format for many uses. It is great for photos and it is what is called a “Raster” image (a Raster image is not a photo of Bob Marley by the way), it refers to a method of image production made from a matrix of dots to make up an image.
You are likely looking at quite a few JPEG files right now on my blog. The JPEG (along with bitmap images) are some of the most common file types for images used on the web. It’s short coming is that it is an image made out of little dots called pixels.
When we magnify these images by 20 or 30 times to sit on a vinyl business banner, we have trouble. The edges get a saw tooth or grainy appearance, this is called pixilation and it can ruin the look of your vinyl banner in no time flat. This effect is not as noticeable at distance but closer up it starts to take on that “done with Crayola” look. Not a good impression for your business banner to be making.
So what is the answer? Ask you graphics people for a larger copy of your logo image (a lot larger) if it is in the JPEG format, or better yet ask for a copy of your logo in a Vector file format.
A Vector image unlike a Raster image is made up of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, and shapes (or polygons), which are all based on mathematical equations, to represent the image. What this means is that the image is scalable and adjusts itself based on mathematical formula to create the image we see, regardless of the size – perfect!
Some common vector graphic formats are;
- CGM – Computer Graphics Metafile
- SVG – Scalable Vector Graphics
- ODG – Open Document Graphics
- EPS – Encapsulated PostScript
- PDF – Portable Document Format
- SWF – Shock Wave Flash
- XPS – XML Paper Specification
- Windows Metafile
So as a favour to me make you a great value vinyl banner and many other people who work with your logo, have a huge JPEG file or a vector image for me to work with, you will be the one who benefits.
Best of Success to You.
Steve
