Changing logo format - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

MoneyGuy · 06-10-2008, 02:26 PM

I have a logo that I need to change to EPS (preferably) or EMF format. How do I do this? It's currently a jpeg image. Can someone please help me?

Table 5 · 06-10-2008, 02:35 PM

basically you cant.

an EPS is vector based...meaning its based on math and is scalable (you can make it as big as you want and it will always be the same quality). a JPG images is vector based (made of pixels), so it can't really be scaled without a quality shift.

Unfortunately, you can turn an eps into jpg, but not the other way around. Sorry.

Ask whoever designed your logo to send you an EPS (or perhaps .AI) version. And if they didnt design your logo in a vector form, get a new designer. They are bush.

fredr123 · 06-10-2008, 02:43 PM

Kind of OT... A blog I follow with interest just had a post about getting professional looking logos on the cheap: http://soloinontario.blogspot.com/20...s-already.html

He went with a bargain logo producer called Logo Loft. We'll see how the results pan out.

MoneyGuy · 06-10-2008, 02:46 PM

Okay, thanks. I understand about half of what you wrote, Table.

But I have enough to go one now so I have a call into my designer. Will see what they say.

Hey, how do you guys know this stuff? I doubt that many of you are techies by trade so I have to assume you picked up all this info somewhere. This stuff (jpeg, eps, emf, vector-based) is greek to me.

Table 5 · 06-10-2008, 02:48 PM

Ugh, take it from me, don't go that route. You're going to wind up with a generic piece of crap that won't distinguish itself from anything.

A logo is the first impression that your business has...why cheap out a few hundred dollars when it can make such a big different in how your company is perceived.

If you do want to go the cheap route, head down to ACAD, and atleast get one of their design students to do something for you. atleast it won't be done by some hack who thinks all you need to design something is to have Photoshop.

Table 5 · 06-10-2008, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Okay, thanks. I understand about half of what you wrote, Table.

But I have enough to go one now so I have a call into my designer. Will see what they say.

Hey, how do you guys know this stuff? I doubt that many of you are techies by trade so I have to assume you picked up all this info somewhere. This stuff (jpeg, eps, emf, vector-based) is greek to me.

ha, sorry i tried to simplify it as much as possible, but it can get a little confusing. Your designer should know what all that stuff means though so dont worry. If they don't, I seriously recommend changing designers since it's basic knowledge.

Oh, and I'm not a techy..I'm an Art Director so i work with this stuff all the time.

mac_gurl · 06-10-2008, 02:52 PM

Hey, i'm a graphic designer and can help you out. Basically, it does involve rebuilding the logo from scratch, unless there is an eps format out there somewhere.

If you are interested, PM me and i can see what i can do for you.

fredr123 · 06-10-2008, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Table 5

Ugh, take it from me, don't go that route. You're going to wind up with a generic piece of crap that won't distinguish itself from anything.

See? Shows how much I know.

Table 5 · 06-10-2008, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fredr123

[
See? Shows how much I know.

it's ok, most people dont either, which is why a lot of these places get a lot of business, and why a lot of stuff out there looks very generic. Basically all the "concepts" they send you are from a big book of icons with some type attached...you're pretty much paying for clip-art.

Russic · 06-10-2008, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Okay, thanks. I understand about half of what you wrote, Table.

But I have enough to go one now so I have a call into my designer. Will see what they say.

Hey, how do you guys know this stuff? I doubt that many of you are techies by trade so I have to assume you picked up all this info somewhere. This stuff (jpeg, eps, emf, vector-based) is greek to me.

Don't feel bad about not understanding it ... that's why we're so lucky to have such a diverse group of skilled people (like mac_gurl) kicking around here.

Basically there are two types of images, raster and vector. raster is your every day run-of-the-mill image (that you would take with a digital camera) and it's comprised of millions of little pixels. For this reason you can only expand the image so much before there aren't enough pixels to fill the space and the image starts to look pretty rough.

A vector image meanwhile is "drawn" in a certain type of program. For this reason you can print it on a business card or billboard and the quality will always be the same. If mac_gurl helps you out, she will essentially take your jpeg (which is a raster image comprised of pixels) and draw/trace it in a program so that you can have a nice crisp logo designed for print that can be any size you'd like.

MoneyGuy · 06-10-2008, 04:02 PM

Ha, now I'm really confused. Bottom line, I guess, is I don't need to understand this stuff. I'll leave it to the experts and I'll pay them for their skills. My time is better spent doing what I do (see signature). Now I'll go read a corporate annual report or Investment Executive newspaper, stuff I do understand.

Thanks for the help. I like knowing that an Oiler fan can come here and get computer advice. Mac_gurl, I'll let you know if I need you. I have a call into the folks who did my original design. Thanks, all.

Table 5 · 06-10-2008, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Ha, now I'm really confused. Bottom line, I guess, is I don't need to understand this stuff. I'll leave it to the experts and I'll pay them for their skills. My time is better spent doing what I do (see signature). Now I'll go read a corporate annual report or Investment Executive newspaper, stuff I do understand.

Thats funny, because I sure could use some financial help!

Hack&Lube · 06-10-2008, 05:05 PM

The simple explanation.

Rasterized pictures are like your TV screen, made up of lots of tiny dots. If you hold your face up too it too close you can see them and that's why blowing them up makes it blurry. That's why you wouldn't used rasterized pictures for logos, etc. (unless the resolution was huge) Especially not JPEG because JPEG is a compressed format and it actually LOSES information in the compression and is even less defined than the original. It's a lossy format.

Vector pictures are basically shapes that are defined not but how many dots make up them, but by the lines that make them up. Lets say your logo is a square. A vector picture has all the math for those lines that make up that square. If you want to blow up that square, it just does the math to make the lines longer but stay the same relative size.

If you did that with a rasterized image, you'd just get a bunch of giant dots that might be blurry and not accurate to what you want.

CubicleGeek · 06-10-2008, 07:48 PM

Live trace in Illustrator can do a fantastic job of changing a raster into a vector. Particularly if the logo contains clear separation between objects.

Russic · 06-11-2008, 08:51 AM

haha ... i have a financial planner and I haven't the first clue as to what he does. I just give him my money and he tells me everything is going to be ok. My apologies for confusing you more!

fredr123 · 06-17-2008, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fredr123

Kind of OT... A blog I follow with interest just had a post about getting professional looking logos on the cheap: http://soloinontario.blogspot.com/20...s-already.html

He went with a bargain logo producer called Logo Loft. We'll see how the results pan out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Table 5

Ugh, take it from me, don't go that route. You're going to wind up with a generic piece of crap that won't distinguish itself from anything.

A logo is the first impression that your business has...why cheap out a few hundred dollars when it can make such a big different in how your company is perceived.

If you do want to go the cheap route, head down to ACAD, and atleast get one of their design students to do something for you. atleast it won't be done by some hack who thinks all you need to design something is to have Photoshop.

And here are the disastrous results, as predicted by Table 5:
http://soloinontario.blogspot.com/20...ummm-yuck.html

Russic · 06-17-2008, 12:55 PM

They aren't all bad. This logo really speaks to me. If I ever need a lawer I'm going to give them a call.

fredr123 · 06-17-2008, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russic

They aren't all bad. This logo really speaks to me. If I ever need a lawer I'm going to give them a call.

photon · 06-17-2008, 02:47 PM

LOL!

The first one isn't too bad.