Have you seen an online image that looks blurry when you make it bigger on your screen? The same effect can happen to an imprint that doesn’t use vector art. No one wants their logo to look like that.
Vector art is your answer for beautifully printed images at any size. This article will define vector images, discuss promotional products that are perfect for your design and more. Let’s get started!
What is a vector graphic?
Vector graphics are images made with mathematical formulas that are read by a computer. These formulas are turned into shapes that make up the image.
Why do you need a vector image?
Vector images are important because their quality remains the same no matter their size. Fixed paths make up the vector graphic and they can easily be rendered to a new size by a computer.
In contrast, raster art is the standard type of image you see on the web in memes and other pictures. These images are made of a limited number of pixels that become bigger when stretched. The enlarged pixels are what make them look fuzzy.
Watch our video on the benefits of using vector files for product imprints:
4 types of vector files
Many types of vector files are out there but we recommend certain ones for printing processes. These are the four we suggest:
AI 
This file type stands for Adobe Illustrator and is the native vector format for the program. It is the perfect choice if you know you will be working on Illustrator only. You can take advantage of all the features it has to offer.
EPS 
Encapsulated PostScript is a commonly used format because of its high-quality results in printing. Unlike newer file types, EPS is compatible with older computers and machines.
SVG 
Another standard type of vector file is a Scalable Vector Graphic. As the name implies, these files are easy to scale to different sizes without loss of quality.
PDF 
Portable Document Format can be a vector file format if you use a vector program to create the art. PDFs are easily transferable through email and other online means.
Where is vector art used?
Vector art is used throughout the world for various projects. Here are the top places you can find it:
- Logos
- Advertisements
- Promotional products
- Web design
- Video games and other media
How to prepare your art for custom products
You can use programs like Adobe Illustrator to take your existing art or logo and convert it to vector art. Tools like Image Trace map the artwork into the vector paths and you can adjust the controls to fine-tune it to your liking.
Our graphic designers request that you convert the text to outlines in your vector art before submitting your artwork to us. To do this in Illustrator, select your text, click “Type” in the menus and then choose “Create to Outlines.” Make sure your changes are saved before you exit!
We do accept PSD, PNG and JPG raster files with a resolution of 150 to 300 dots per inch at full print size. You can find the imprint area size for each item on the product details page. However, we still prefer vector files to make the process as smooth as possible.
We can accept pictures off the Internet, but the exact image may not be usable due to low resolution or copyright issues. Our design team can use an Internet image as inspiration for the unique design they create for your products!
