What logo file do we actually need?
Short answer: a vector file — AI, EPS, PDF or SVG. A high-resolution PNG with a transparent background is usually fine too. What almost never works is a logo saved off your own website, and that is the single most common reason an order stalls before it reaches the machines.
AI · EPS · PDF · SVG
Always works
~9cm
Typical chest logo
8MB
Upload limit
What works, and what does not
| File | Embroidery | |
|---|---|---|
| .ai, .eps, .pdf, .svg (vector) | Ideal | Ideal |
| High-resolution .png, transparent | Usually fine | Ideal |
| High-resolution .jpg on white | Workable, needs cutting out | Workable |
| Screenshot or website image | No | No |
| Photo of a van or a sign | No | No |
| Logo inside a Word or PowerPoint file | Sometimes recoverable | Sometimes recoverable |
If you are not sure what you have, send it anyway. We will tell you within a working day whether it is usable, and we would rather look at it for nothing than have you guess.
Why a website logo fails
A logo on a website is built to look right at a couple of hundred pixels on a screen. Stitched at 9cm across a chest, or printed at 25cm across a back, there is simply not enough information in the file — edges go soft, thin lettering breaks up, and what looked sharp in a browser turns into a smudge on a polo.
Embroidery is less forgiving than print here. Thread has a minimum size it can hold: below roughly 8mm, letters close up and detail disappears. That is a physical limit of stitching, not something a better machine solves.
The usual fix is a redraw — rebuilding your logo as clean vector artwork so it reproduces at any size. We quote that before doing any work. It is a charge, not a favour, and it is never added to an invoice unannounced.
Where to find a usable file
- Whoever designed it. They will have the original artwork. Ask for “the vector files, AI or EPS”. This is the fastest route and usually free.
- Your sign writer or van wrapper. If your vans are lettered, somebody already had print-ready artwork.
- Your last printer. Anyone who has produced business cards or a banner for you holds a usable file.
- Nowhere. Plenty of firms have lost the original — that is what a redraw is for, and it is a one-off. Once it is done you own clean artwork for everything else you print.
What happens after you send it
We check the file, set it at the size and position you have ordered, and send a visual proof. Nothing is stitched or printed until you approve that proof — which matters more here than on most purchases, because we cannot take returns on personalised goods. Your logo makes the garment worthless to anybody else.
The proof is also the step that sets your delivery date, and it waits on you. Turnaround is typically ten days and most orders post inside seven, but that clock starts when you approve, not when you pay.
If you would rather see it on a garment than on a screen, the £29.99 sample pack puts your real logo on a real polo and t-shirt for the price of a takeaway.
Getting the size right
Most trade logos sit at roughly 9cm wide on a left chest. Wider than about 11cm starts to look like a sponsor patch; under about 6cm and nobody reads it from across a car park.
A back logo is a different job — usually 25 to 30cm across, and worth paying for on outerwear and hi-vis where people see you from behind. On a polo worn under a jacket all winter it is money spent on something nobody sees.
Common questions
Do you charge to digitise my logo?+
No. Setting your logo up for stitching is included. What we charge for is a redraw — rebuilding unusable artwork as clean vector — and we quote that before doing any work.
I only have a JPG. Is that the end of it?+
Not usually. If it is high resolution we can often work from it, particularly for print. If it is small or taken from a website, it will need redrawing. Send it and we will tell you which.
Can you match my exact brand colours?+
For print, closely. For embroidery, we match to the nearest thread — there is a fixed palette rather than infinite colours, and the closest match is usually indistinguishable to anyone who is not holding a swatch.
Can you use a logo with a gradient?+
Printed, yes. Embroidered, no — thread cannot fade between colours. We would simplify it to solid colours, which is a redraw, and we will show you the proof before anything is made.
What file size can I upload?+
Up to 8MB, in PNG, JPG, SVG, PDF, AI or EPS. Anything larger, email it and we will pick it up.
Will you send a proof before making anything?+
Always. Your logo at the exact size and position ordered. Nothing goes to production until you say yes, because personalised goods cannot be returned.
Send it over and we will tell you straight
We will say whether it stitches, prints better, or needs redrawing first — and what that would cost. No charge for looking.