I've Lost My Logo Files! Now What Do I Do?

I’ve Lost My Logo – Now What? So you have lost your logo, or your logo is being held hostage by your last printer, or the person in the office who knew where it was on the server no longer works there. The only logo file you can find is the one on your website and your printer, promo shop, newspaper just told you, “Sorry! That is only 72 dpi, we need a file that is 300 dpi at size or vector art.” You gasp quietly and pretend to understand, OR you gasp loudly and ask, “Umm, in English please?”. Either way, you are probably about to learn that YOU are up that proverbial creek with out a paddle. Never fear there is a solution. It really isn’t a difficult one either, but it may or may not cost you some money. IF YOU HAVE LOST YOUR LOGO FILES HERE ARE YOUR SOLUTIONS 1. IF your logo is being held hostage by your last printer then call and ask them to release it to you. IF at any point you sent him a file that contained your logo, chances are your designer can extract the logo from that file and save it in a separate file for you and send it to you. Ask your designer to save it in the following formats: .ai, .pdf, .jpg, and .giff and then send it to you on a disk or email it to you. NOTE: The GOLDEN file will be the .ai file (or vector file). This is the vector version of your logo. NEVER lose this file though you may never be able to open it yourself. If your logo was created in Word, PhotoShop, or some other program you may be S.O.L. when it comes to having a vector version. These are usually image files – not vector. (don’t worry, that can be fixed too!) 2. YOU CAN HAVE YOUR LOGO RECREATED OR REDRAWN. The logo is just LOST. No one knows where the native files are. All you have is what is on your website or what has been printed on your business cards. There is a simple solution to this problem. Hire someone to redraw your logo as vector art. Your graphic designer may be able to do this for you, or you can hire someone who specializes in vector redraws (like Logo Origins). They will recreate your logo as vector artwork and then send you a disk with you files on it. On that disk there are 2 folders. One says, FOR PRINT, the other says FOR WEB, the appropriate versions of your logo for each application are located within. They also provide a File Usage Guide so that you will know what files to use for which applications (web, print, etc.). You really are not up that proverbial creek, so you can put down your paddle now – but you will have to pull out your wallet. So what is having my logo redrawn going to cost? Here is that answer we all hate – It depends. It depends on the complexity of your logo, and who you choose to have redraw it. Rates vary. Logo Origins charges anywhere from $150 – $500 per logo redraw depending on the logo complexity. Most logo redraws fall in the $150 – $250 range with that company. The good news is, you send them what you have, they look at it and send you a custom estimate so you will always know what it is going to cost before hand. Bottom line, find a logo designer you can trust and develop a relationship with. Then when you loose your logo files, you can call them and ask them to send you back up!