What Logo Files Should You Deliver? A Practical Handoff Checklist

A good logo handoff is not every export option checked at once. It is a compact system that lets another person choose the right artwork without guessing. The recipient should know which file belongs on a website, which one can go to a sign vendor, which mark works on a dark background, and which source remains editable.

The package depends on the brand. A local service business may need a site header, social avatar, vehicle decal, and office documents. A software product may need an app icon, favicon set, social card, and monochrome interface mark. Start with destinations, then create files that answer those jobs.

The core delivery set

Most handoffs benefit from these layers:

1. Editable master. The original design file with organized layers, live type where appropriate, and documented fonts.
2. Portable vector. A clean SVG for digital use and PDF or EPS when a print partner requests one. Approved lettering is outlined.
3. Transparent raster. PNG exports at useful dimensions for presentations, documents, email, and upload forms.
4. Color variants. Full color, black or dark, white or reversed, and any approved one-color construction.
5. Layout variants. Primary, horizontal, stacked, symbol, and wordmark only when each belongs to the approved system.
6. Destination assets. Favicons, app icons, social avatars, or other product-specific files generated from the master.

Do not manufacture variants merely to make the folder look substantial. If a symbol should never appear without the wordmark, do not deliver a symbol-only file. If there is no approved gradient version, a gradient folder creates ambiguity instead of value.

Organize around meaning

Example-Brand-Assets/
  00-Read-Me/
  01-Primary-Logo/
    SVG/
    PNG/
    PDF/
  02-Alternate-Lockups/
    Horizontal/
    Stacked/
    Symbol/
  03-One-Color/
    Dark/
    Light/
  04-Digital-Assets/
    Favicons/
    Social-Profile/
    App-Icons/
  05-Editable-Source/

Numbers keep the intended order stable. The names describe meaning before format. Avoid top-level folders containing only JPG, PNG, SVG, and EPS; a recipient looking for a white horizontal mark should not have to search every extension.

Use filenames people can decode

A useful filename records brand, lockup, color treatment, background intent, and sometimes size:

example-logo-primary-full-color.svg
example-logo-horizontal-white.svg
example-symbol-black-512.png
example-social-avatar-full-color-1080.png

Use white or reversed consistently instead of mixing negative, knockout, light, and inverse without explanation. Include dimensions in raster names. Do not put dimensions in vector names unless the canvas itself is a fixed platform surface.

Avoid logo-final-v7-FINAL2.png. Working version history belongs in the source project, not in the public package. The handoff should contain the current approved set and a visible package date or version.

Preserve a usable master

Name layers, remove abandoned concepts, keep construction geometry when it explains the mark, and record fonts and licenses. Preserve live type in a source copy before making outlined delivery vectors.

Store brand colors for their intended media: hex and RGB for screens, plus CMYK or spot values that have actually been reviewed for print. A mechanical RGB-to-CMYK conversion may not preserve the desired appearance. If print colors have not been proofed, say so rather than presenting unverified numbers as authoritative.

Linked images and fonts must be packaged when licenses allow or documented so the recipient can obtain them. An editable file that opens with missing assets is not truly editable.

Prepare a clean digital vector

The website SVG should have a correct viewBox, intentional bounds, no hidden drafts, and no dependency on an installed font. Remove scripts, event attributes, unnecessary metadata, and external references. Test it as an ordinary <img> and test inline use separately if the system requires it.

Keep full-color values explicit. A one-color interface variant may use currentColor when the implementation team understands that behavior, but do not flatten a multicolor identity into one inherited CSS value. Deliver fixed-color and monochrome files under different names.

Export raster sizes with a purpose

One enormous transparent PNG is not a package, and twenty arbitrary sizes are not better. Include useful tiers such as 512, 1024, and 2048 pixels on the longest edge, plus exact assets for known destinations. Preserve aspect ratio and never stretch a horizontal lockup into a square.

For high-density screens, a 2× source is a practical default: a logo shown at 240×80 CSS pixels can use a 480×160 PNG. Extra pixels should increase density, not make the mark appear twice as large.

Open every PNG over light and dark plates. Confirm transparency, edge cleanliness, bounds, and variant. A white logo on a white artboard can be present even when it looks blank, so include a preview or readme explanation rather than adding an opaque background.

Include a short usage note

Explain which lockup is primary, when to use light and dark files, minimum-size and clear-space guidance, approved colors, prohibited transformations, and which format suits web, documents, print, social profiles, and app icons. Provide a contact for unlisted uses.

A visual PDF helps, but include plain text so the guidance remains searchable and accessible. Link to full guidelines rather than copying a second version that will drift.

Audit from a clean environment

Unzip the package into a clean folder on another machine or user account. Open SVGs in a browser, PDFs in a general viewer, and PNGs over contrasting colors. Confirm that vector lettering does not change, rasters match their filenames, colors are intentional, and nothing depends on an absolute path to your computer.

Then remove duplicates, temporary exports, and sensitive working files. A disciplined brand kit is easy to trust because every asset has a role. The handoff is complete when the next person can choose correctly without asking what logo_3_alt_newest was meant to be.