# Logo file fix: the twelve files a real business needs

> The problem is rarely that the logo looks wrong. It is that the file you have cannot be used by the next person in the chain: the printer wants CMYK, the sign shop wants a cut path, the embroiderer wants a single colour, and the web needs a favicon.

Canonical: https://dosiefoxie.com/logo-file-fix.html

A logo is not one file. It is a small system of files that share one source. When the system is incomplete, each supplier improvises, and the brand drifts a little at every step: a different green, a different spacing, a stretched mark on a van.

The checklist below is the full set of deliverables. The free tool checks the vector properties it can see in the file; the rest is the list to compare against. You can do it by hand in ten minutes, and it tells you whether you need a conversion, a redraw, or just the missing exports.

## The twelve deliverables

| File | What it is for |
| --- | --- |
| SVG | Web, UI, anything that scales; true geometry |
| EPS | Older print workflows and vector handoff |
| PDF | Vector print hand-off; the printer makes the separations |
| CMYK master | Four-colour print; the file a printer actually wants |
| Spot approximation | Named ink starting point for screen print and signage |
| Mono | One-colour stamps, forms, embroidery, cheap print |
| Reverse | Dark backgrounds and garments |
| Horizontal lockup | Website header, letterhead, email signature |
| Stacked lockup | Square spaces, social avatars, signage |
| Icon-only | Favicon, app icon, chest embroidery, small stamps |
| Cut file | Vinyl, signage and vehicle lettering |
| Favicon set | 16–256 px, plus a maskable app icon |

## How to audit what you have

1. Open the SVG and search for image and base64. If either is present, the vector file contains a bitmap.
2. Search for text and tspan. Live text reflows on another machine; it should be outlined.
3. Look for more than roughly 900 path commands. That usually means an auto-trace.
4. Check whether a CMYK or PDF version exists at all. A printer can convert, but you are handing them a decision that belongs to the brand.
5. Check for a one-colour version. If the logo only exists in full colour, it will be approximated badly the first time someone needs a stamp or a single-screen print.
6. Open the smallest size you will use. If the name is unreadable at 16 px, the mark needs a small-size version, not a smaller export.

## What a complete pack prevents

- A sign shop redrawing the mark because the file is not cuttable.
- A printer converting RGB to CMYK and shifting the brand colour.
- An embroiderer simplifying the mark because the strokes are too fine.
- A developer using a 512 px PNG as a favicon because no icon set exists.
- A new hire guessing the spacing because there is no spec.

## Worked example: the missing CMYK master

**The brief**

A landscaping company has an SVG, a PNG and a JPG from an online logo maker. It orders 500 flyers.

The printer converts the sRGB green to CMYK and the result is duller and slightly bluer than the website. Nobody has a reference, so the flyer becomes the new reference, and the next print run matches the flyer rather than the brand.

A CMYK master with a stated conversion and a ΔE note would have made the shift visible before the run. That is the kind of gap a production pack closes: not by making the mark prettier, but by making the same mark reproducible.

## What our pack ships

The pack ships the geometry half of that list: SVG, EPS and PDF masters, the six lockups (both layouts, icon, wordmark, mono, reverse), 512/1024 PNGs, a favicon set, a maskable app icon, two social avatars, the font licence sheet, spec.json and mark.svg. It does not include a CMYK master, a spot reference, screen-print separations or a pre-flighted cut file; those are conversions your printer or sign shop makes from the masters. The difference is that every version now derives from one source, so a colour or spacing change re-renders the set instead of being patched file by file.

## Questions

### Can I fix my existing files instead of buying a pack?

Often yes, if the geometry is clean and only the exports are missing. The free audit tells you which case you are in. If the file is a traced bitmap or has live text, a conversion will not fix the source.

### Do I need EPS if I have SVG and PDF?

Not always, but some older print workflows and sign shops still ask for it. A PDF is usually enough for print. The pack includes EPS for every lockup, not just the colour version, so a legacy supplier does not have to convert anything.

### What is spec.json?

The parametric description of the mark: geometry, type, spacing, palette and lockups. Every export is generated from it, which is why an edit is a re-render rather than a redraw.