What files should you get from a logo designer? A handover checklist

What files should you get from a logo designer?

You should leave a logo project with three things: vector master files you can scale to any size, ready-to-use exports for screens and print, and written confirmation that you own the design. A folder of PNGs is not a finished handover. If a sign maker, printer or developer asks for "the vector file" and you cannot send one, you will end up paying someone to redraw your own logo.

Here is what a complete pack looks like, how to check it, and the ownership step most founders forget.

What is the difference between vector and raster logo files?

This is the distinction that matters most. Adobe explains that vector images "don't use pixels". They are stored as drawing instructions, so a vector logo "never gets pixelated" however large you make it. Raster images are a mosaic of tiny squares, and they become "blurry and pixelated when scaled beyond its intended size".

So your logo should be designed and delivered as vectors first. Raster files (PNG, JPG) are exports made from those vectors for everyday use.

Which logo file formats do you need, and what is each one for?

Even 99designs, which runs logo contests, tells clients to ask the winning designer for a vector file in PDF or AI format, with JPEG, GIF or PNG files as extras.

Which logo versions and colour variants should be in the pack?

Most logos need to work in more than one shape and more than one colour. A complete pack usually covers each of these, in every format above:

• Primary lockup. The full logo as you will use it most.
• Alternative layouts. A horizontal and a stacked version, for wide headers and tight spaces.
• Mark or icon on its own. For social avatars, favicons and app icons.
• Full colour. The main version.
• One-colour black and one-colour white. For dark backgrounds, embossing, single-colour print and photos.
• Colour values written down. HEX and RGB for screens, CMYK for print. As Printed.com puts it: "RGB for digital screens, CMYK for print."
• Font names. Which typefaces the wordmark and brand use, and where to license them.

If your brand has an English and an Arabic lockup, each needs the same set. Check the Arabic files as carefully as the English ones.

What size should a favicon be?

Google's own guidance says the favicon must be square (1:1) and recommends going larger than 48 x 48 pixels. Its list of supported formats includes PNG, ICO and JPEG but not SVG, so ask for a square PNG of your mark even if your site uses SVG elsewhere. Make sure the icon still reads at that size; a detailed full logo usually does not.

Who owns the logo once you have paid for it?

Payment alone does not always transfer copyright. This is the step to get right before the final invoice.

• UK: GOV.UK says that when you commission work, "the first legal owner of copyright is the person or organisation that created the work" unless you agree otherwise in writing. Without that, you may only get an implied licence to use it for its intended purpose.
• US: The Copyright Office's Circular 30 lists nine categories of commissioned work that can be "work made for hire". A logo is not one of them, so a freelancer's logo is not automatically yours just because you paid for it.
• UAE: A 2022 summary of the UAE's 2021 copyright law by the law firm Gowling WLG still recommends written "confirmatory assignments" so the business has proof of ownership.

Our advice: ask for a short, signed copyright assignment covering the final logo and its variants, and keep it with the files. This is general information, not legal advice, so check the wording with a lawyer in your country.

Worked example: a café checks its logo pack before opening

Say you are opening a specialty café in Dubai and your logo has just been signed off. Over the next month, five different people will ask you for your logo:

1. 1The sign maker wants a vector file. You send the PDF or EPS of the primary lockup in CMYK, plus the one-colour white version for the illuminated sign.
2. 2The menu printer wants print files. You send the CMYK PDF and the colour values, so the menus match the sign.
3. 3Your web developer wants web files. You send the SVG for the header, a square PNG of the mark for the favicon, and the HEX values.
4. 4The delivery app wants an image for your listing. You send a square transparent PNG of the mark.
5. 5Instagram needs a profile picture. You use the same square mark, which still reads in a small circle.

If any of those files is missing, you find out at the worst moment: the day before opening. Running through this list on handover day takes a few minutes.

How do you check your logo files before you sign off?

1. 1Open the SVG in a browser and zoom in a long way. The edges should stay sharp. If they blur, it is a raster file in disguise.
2. 2Place the transparent PNG on a dark background. There should be no white box around it.
3. 3Open the PDF and check the colour mode is CMYK for print files.
4. 4Compare colour values across files. The HEX in your guidelines should match the SVG.
5. 5Test the logo small. Our logo tester shows how your mark holds up at favicon and avatar sizes.
6. 6Get the signed copyright assignment.
7. 7Store everything in one shared folder with a short note on which file to use where, so the next person does not have to ask.

If your logo already exists but the files are a mess, a brand audit will list what is missing. If you are starting from scratch, a brand identity project should end with this full pack and the guidelines that explain it.

Sources

• Vector files explained (Adobe, accessed 21 October 2026)
• What should I ask the winning designer to provide? (99designs Help Center, accessed 21 October 2026)
• RGB vs CMYK (Printed.com, 4 April 2024)
• Define a favicon to show in search results (Google Search Central, updated 28 August 2026)
• Ownership of copyright works (GOV.UK, updated 14 October 2026)
• Circular 30: Works Made for Hire (U.S. Copyright Office, revised August 2024)
• The new UAE copyright law 2021: key takeaways (Gowling WLG, 22 March 2022)