What is the difference between raster and vector artwork?

A raster file is a grid of colored pixels. Adobe describes raster files as images built from pixels, tiny color squares that, in great quantity, can form highly detailed images, and notes that if you zoom in or enlarge one you start to see those individual pixels. The detail in the file is fixed the moment it is saved, and no software can add detail that was never captured.

A vector file stores instructions instead of pixels: this curve, that corner, this fill color. Because the shapes are described rather than sampled, Adobe notes you can resize, rescale, and reshape vectors infinitely without losing any image quality, and the files stay light because they hold formulas rather than pixel data.

That single difference decides most of what follows. A raster logo has one usable size. A vector logo has every size, from a left chest print to the side of a truck. The full comparison, including resolution, DPI and how to tell which one you already have, is in raster vs vector.

Which file formats hold vector artwork?

Only some of the files people call "logo files" contain paths. Adobe lists SVG, EPS and AI among the vector types, and JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP and TIFF among the raster types. PDF sits in both camps: it is a page format, standardized as ISO 32000, that can carry vector art, text and embedded photographs in the same document.

FileVector?What it is best at
AIYesThe Adobe Illustrator working file, with layers and effects still editable
EPSYesAn older PostScript format that almost every print workflow can still place
SVGYesWeb and screen use, and an open standard anyone can read
PDFUsuallySending artwork to a printer, if it was saved from vector and not from a scan
JPGNoPhotographs, not logos: its compression softens clean edges
PNGNoScreen graphics with transparency, at one fixed size

A PDF or an EPS can also be nothing but a photograph in a wrapper, which is the most common surprise when a file arrives. What each format really stores, who can open it and which one to send is covered in vector file formats. To check an AI or EPS file you cannot open, use our free EPS and AI file viewer.

The two processes want different things from the same logo.

  • Screen printing needs the design split into a set number of inks, with each color as its own closed shape, line weights heavy enough to hold on a screen, and Pantone references so the ink is mixed to the right color. Screen printers publish minimum line weights and type sizes for exactly this reason. See vector art for screen printing.
  • Embroidery digitizing does not use your vector paths as stitches, because stitches are built object by object, not traced from an outline. What a vector file gives the digitizer is certainty: exact shapes, exact corners and exact color boundaries, which matters most in small lettering and fine detail. Our artwork requirements for embroidery digitizing covers what to send.
  • Vinyl cutting, DTF and engraving all read paths directly, so closed shapes with no stray points and no overlapping duplicates matter more than how the file looks on screen.

One clean vector master usually feeds all of them. That is the argument for redrawing a logo properly once, rather than repairing a JPG for every job.

What does each vector artwork guide cover?

  • Raster vs vector: pixels against paths, resolution and DPI, why enlarging a JPG fails, where photographs belong, and how to tell in a few seconds which kind of file you have.
  • Vector file formats: AI, EPS, SVG and PDF side by side, plus the raster files people send by mistake, with notes on fonts, outlining and color spaces.
  • Vector art for screen printing: spot colors against process, Pantone references, outlined fonts, line weights that survive the screen, and what overprint and trapping do.

How do we redraw artwork as vector?

Every file is redrawn by hand, never auto-traced, and checked by a second artist before it goes out. Standard turnaround is 4 to 8 hours, with rush and super rush available, and the team works 24 hours a day. Pricing is a flat rate per design, and revisions are unlimited with no time limit.

Pick the service that matches the job: vector art conversion for a scalable logo you will use everywhere, JPG to vector conversion when all you have is a compressed or faded image, and screen print vector art when the file has to go straight to a press. If the artwork is already clean vector and you only need films, see color separation for screen printing. Send whatever you have; we will tell you what is in it first.

Frequently asked questions

Artwork stored as paths: lines and curves defined by points and equations, rather than as a grid of pixels. Because the shapes are described mathematically, the file can be scaled to any size without losing quality.
No. Adobe describes PNG as a raster format built from a fixed number of color pixels. It can have a transparent background, which makes it look like a logo file, but it still has one usable size and it does not support CMYK color.
It is not required. A clear image is usually enough, because stitches are built object by object rather than traced from your paths. Vector helps most on small lettering and fine detail, where the exact shape matters. See our artwork requirements.
Auto-trace tools will produce paths, but they sample pixels rather than rebuild shapes, so the result has far too many points, wobbly edges and dozens of near-identical colors. We redraw the artwork by hand instead. See JPG to vector conversion.
Use our free EPS and AI file viewer in the browser. It shows you what is inside the file, which is the quickest way to find out whether a supplied file is real vector or a photograph in a vector wrapper.

Sources

Sources checked 21 September 2026.