First, look for the vector file
Most logos were designed as vectors, and the blurry JPG is a copy of a copy. Before fixing it, ask:
- Whoever designed it. Designers keep the source files, and the customer has usually paid for them.
- The company's website. Logos are often served as SVG; it's worth checking.
- Brand guidelines, letterhead or a previous print job. A PDF from a past print order often has the vector inside it.
- The last print shop or sign maker they used, who may still have the file on record.
Upscale or vectorize?
| Job | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cut vinyl lettering, decals | Use: Vectorize | Why: The cutter follows paths; it cannot cut pixels |
| Embroidery | Use: Vectorize | Why: Digitizing for stitches starts from clean shapes |
| Screen printing | Use: Vectorize | Why: Each colour needs a crisp separation |
| Routed, engraved or laser-cut signs | Use: Vectorize | Why: The machine follows paths |
| Printed vinyl banner, flat logo | Use: Either | Why: Vector is crisper; an upscale is fine at a distance |
| Logo with photos, gradients or texture | Use: Upscale | Why: A trace turns gradients into flat bands |
| Social posts, slides, mockups | Use: Upscale | Why: Fast, and a screen hides small flaws |
Vectorizing a logo
- Auto-trace: Illustrator's Image Trace or Inkscape's Trace Bitmap (free) turn a clean, flat logo into paths in seconds. Start from the largest copy you have, and expect to tidy the result.
- Watch the text. Traced letters come out with wobbly curves and soft corners. If you can identify the font, retype the words in it rather than keeping the traced ones.
- Redraw by hand for anything that matters. A designer redrawing a simple logo is usually a short job, and the customer gets a file they can use forever.
Upscaling a logo
- 1
Upscale the logo on its own, at its own shape
Upscale just the logo, sized to how big it will be on the banner, then place it in your layout. If you ask for the banner's shape instead, the upscaler extends the background to fill it, which is right for a photo and wrong for a logo.
- 2
Proofread every letter
AI upscaling rebuilds detail rather than copying it, and small text is where it can go wrong: a letter can change shape, or a thin stroke can thicken. Compare the result with the original letter by letter before it goes to print.
- 3
Check flat colours
Brand colours should stay flat. If the upscale added texture or noise to a solid area, fill it back in with the exact colour in your editor.
How much resolution a banner needs: much less than a photo print. Banners are seen from across a room or a street, so 100 pixels per inch at full size is plenty for most, and big ones are often printed lower. Resly delivers at most 16 megapixels, so for a 3×6 ft banner filled edge to edge that works out at about 79 pixels per inch, fine from a few metres away. A logo that only fills part of the banner gets proportionally more.