What Logo File Do You Need for Custom Uniforms?

This is the step that stops clubs from getting started, and it should not. Here is what the terms mean, and what to do if you have none of it.

The short version

Send whatever you have. A designer will tell you within 24 hours whether it works or needs redrawing, and redrawing is part of the job, not an extra you have to arrange first.

The rest of this article is for when you want to understand why.

Vector versus raster

This is the only distinction that really matters.

Vector — the one you want

A vector file stores your logo as mathematical instructions: a circle here, this curve there, filled with this colour. Because it is instructions rather than pixels, it can be scaled to any size — a 20mm sleeve badge or a two-metre banner — and stay perfectly sharp.

Vector formats: AI, EPS, SVG, and PDFs that were saved from vector artwork.

Every decoration method ultimately needs vector artwork. Screen printing needs it to separate colours. Embroidery digitising works from it. Sublimation needs it to stay crisp at full-panel size.

Raster — usable, with caveats

A raster file is a grid of pixels. Enlarge it and you get blur or visible squares.

Raster formats: JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP.

A raster file works if it is large enough. The rule is 300 DPI at final print size. A crest printed 100mm wide needs roughly 1,200 pixels across.

The common trap: logos pulled from a website are usually 72 DPI and a few hundred pixels wide — fine on screen, far too small for a chest crest.

What we can work with

In descending order of how easy it is:

Vector file (AI, EPS, SVG, vector PDF) — ready to use
High-resolution PNG with transparent background — usually straightforward
High-resolution JPG on white — background removed easily
Low-resolution web image — redrawn as vector
A photo of last season's shirt — redrawn as vector
A sketch on paper — redrawn as vector

Every one of these is workable. Options 4 to 6 take a designer some time, which is exactly what the design service is for.

Things worth telling us up front

Your exact colours

If your club has Pantone references, send them. If not, tell us the colours in plain words — "the same navy as our old shirts" is genuinely useful, and we can match from a physical sample.

Screens and printed fabric do not show colour identically, which is why we confirm colour before running a full order rather than after.

Where the logo goes and how big

A crest that reads well at 90mm on a chest may lose its fine detail at 40mm on a cap. Tell us every placement you have in mind and we will flag anything that will not survive at size.

Whether you have a one-colour version

Some methods and some placements work best with a simplified single-colour mark. If your club already has one, send it. If not, we can make one.

What happens next

You send whatever you have. Within 24 hours you get a mockup showing your crest on the actual garment, at the actual size, in the actual colours. If the artwork needed redrawing, the mockup shows the redrawn version so you can see exactly what you are approving.

Nothing goes into production until you say yes, and revisions are free and unlimited until you do.