Your brand identity and how you show up in the crowded marketplace makes all the difference. From eye-catching logos to memorable brand colors to compelling marketing materials, every piece of artwork is part of your company’s story and unique selling proposition. However, when you’re so busy being creative, sometimes the whirlwind of ideas and designs turns into total disorganization.
Unfortunately, many businesses don’t have an organized digital filing system for their all-important logos and brand-focused artwork. Are you one of them? Get ready, because in this blog, we’re answering the top questions we hear from business owners about artwork files—and we’re throwing in some tips for keeping them organized, bringing order to the creative chaos and empowering your brand like never before!
What’s RGB, CMYK and PMS?
While this might sound like alphabet soup, these color stories are important to know related to your brand artwork. RGB, or Red, Green and Blue, is a color profile used in digital design, which emits light to create colors on TV, computer or phone screens. For print applications, RGB must be converted to CMYK, including Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. CMYK ink colors can have subtle color variations during blending. Finally, PMS, or Pantone Matching System is a universal color-matching system for print, where each color is assigned a code. PMS colors are pre-mixed to ensure consistent colors across different applications or prints, ideal for specific brand, school or team color requirements.
Why Do Colors Look Different on My Phone, Computer and Print?
Overall, colors look different on screens and on print flyers or signs due to the environment they’re in and who’s perceiving them. Of course, in marketing and branding, we use color extensively in different media, from online ads on digital platforms to print catalogs. The difference between RGB colors in digital imagery and CMYK shades in printing is due to light transmission vs. printed ink. Computer, TV and phone screens use red, green and blue light to show colors, whereas print uses cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink on a medium like paper.
As you’ve learned, if you want to use a digital image correctly in print, you’ll need to convert that RGB design to a CMYK file to print a similar physical image. No, you can’t control slight color variations from a screen to a flier, or in different people’s perceptions of colors. RGB colors emitted as light even appear different from screen to screen! However, using RGB and CMYK formats correctly for your different collateral is key to maintaining high-quality and consistent marketing materials.
What’s Vector Art? Why Are Vector PDFs Important?
Vector artwork is made up of points, lines, curves and shapes based on mathematical formulas so it’s “resolution independent.” That differs from raster images, which lose quality or clarity when you scale them. That’s why vector graphics are great for all types of marketing collateral from business cards to billboards. Fun fact: Early computers used vector displays, and today’s design work all requires vector graphics so you use them in print, responsive web design, typography and more. Artists and illustrators create individual vector images that can work alone or be used as part of other graphics. Designers depend on the quality of vector artwork to easily size them for the right composition in ads and websites.
It’s also important to have vector PDFs of your brand artwork to maintain quality across all of your marketing collateral. These special files are important for a few key reasons, including:
- Scalability: Vector PDFs are resolution independent, so you can scale your image up or down without losing quality, whether it’s on a business card or a banner.
- Print quality: Vector PDF images keep their sharpness and clarity to professionally print logos and other design elements to make your brand shine.
- Easily editable: You can easily edit these files with software like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW, making collaborative work and on-the-fly changes a breeze.
- File size: Vector PDFs are smaller than pixel-based raster images. That makes them easier to store, share and download/upload.
- Consistency: Vector PDFs maintain their appearance across different devices and platforms, so they look the uniform from on a computer screen to printed paper and beyond.
- Interactive elements: Vector PDFs can include hyperlinks, buttons and forms, which is great for digital documents or presentations with clickable components.
What’s an EPS File?
EPS, or Encapsulated PostScript, is a vector file format popularly used in professional printing collateral or all sizes, from posters to billboards. An EPS file consists of vector and bitmap data that allow the image to keep its resolution and quality, regardless of the scale or print size. Adobe created this file type in the late 1980s and it’s still widely used today despite the availability of other versatile formats like PDF. EPS files are ideal for printing intricate designs and legacy compatibility, making them a top choice for consistent, high-quality printing. However, you do need professional software like Adobe Illustrator to open and edit EPS files, in case you need to make changes on the fly.
How Should I Organize My Art Files?
First up, let’s establish that organizing your artwork files in a digital system your whole staff can easily access is critical for brand consistency and marketing efficiency. Here are a few key reasons for having a solid filing system:
- Ensures you have a collection of consistent visuals, so you don’t need to copy from old graphics or mistakenly grab an older version of your logo.
- Easily share the most up-to-date files with employees, designers and other collaborators.
- Backup your assets in the cloud and easily retrieve them if a computer crashes.
- Saves time since you can easily find the file you need and never have to redo work.
- Separates works in progress from finalized files, so there’s never any confusion or rework.
For setting up your own digital system, we recommend first creating an umbrella folder labeled “My Company Name Brand Assets.” Then add subfolders called “Logos,“ “Visual Branding,” “Brand Voice and Copy,” “Photography,” “Video and Audio,” and so on. Of course, you’ll create subfolders to match your digital asset needs. Once you’re ready to move files into your folders, implement a consistent file naming system, incorporating brand name, file type, version number and creation date to avoid confusion.
Get Started Today!
Select Sales offers essential support for your company's marketing needs. Whether you require a new brand design or modifications to your existing one, our team specializes in custom printing and designing promotional materials such as business cards, brochures, flyers, and more. We understand the importance of creating a professional and attractive marketing message to capture the interest of clients and prospects. Trust us to help your business achieve the success it deserves!
Select Sales offers free PMS charts so you can accurately choose your colors. Contact the Select Sales team at 610-974-8080 or visit www.SelectPromotionalProducts.com.