When you have a logo or design created, ask for and keep a high resolution copy of the original artwork.
That’s the advice from small town sign maker Wayne LaMunyon. He says it’s the number one complaint of sign and banner makers everywhere. Small business owners get a logo or a business card with a design, then later they want a banner or a big sign. Way too often, they didn’t keep a copy of the original artwork, and Wayne has to rebuild the logo from their tiny business card copy. For a fee, of course.
So, do yourself and your sign maker a favor. Keep several high resolution copies of your logo or design, digital or hard copy.
New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates. Want more stories? Read our shared stories from all over.
- Check your small business website for outdated pandemic changes, missing info - January 31, 2023
- Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors - January 15, 2023
- 2023 trends for rural and small town businesses - December 26, 2022
- Local reviews on Google Maps drive enduring value - December 17, 2022
- Extra agritourism revenue from camping, cabins and RVs with HipCamp - December 12, 2022
- Harvest Hosts attract vanlifers and RV tourists, Boondockers Welcome - December 2, 2022
- Holiday 2022 marketing: Tell your founding story - December 1, 2022
- Holiday 2022 Marketing: Tell your customers’ stories - November 30, 2022
- Holiday 2022 Marketing: Introduce your people - November 29, 2022
- Holiday 2022 Marketing: Share your holiday traditions - November 28, 2022
Another option: Many printers will keep a copy of the artwork on file for future jobs. Naturally, you’ll want to keep copies yourself, but having your printer keep a copy as well not only tells the printer “you’ll be back” but also ensures that a copy is stored offsite.
Bob, excellent advice! Thanks for adding to the ideas.
When you ask your designer for the file, ask them if they created the logo in a vector format. If so, ask for copy of the vector file – this will likely be an Illustrator file (.ai) or an EPS file (.eps – this is a more generic format). Not all logos will be created in vector programs, but if yours was, you will be able to resize the logo to any size you want, from business card to semi-trailer.
If the logo hasn’t been created in vector format and you’re asking for ‘high-resolution,’ ask for something which is at least 300dpi, as large as possible. You can size images down cleanly, but you can’t size them up.
Mitten, great technical points, and very easy to understand. Thank you!