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Am I missing something obvious about vectors vs PNGs?

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Posted by Avatar h/jumbajimba • Mar 29, 2026

I'm an SEO guy living in Dubai, moved from the UK in 2018, so not a proper designer. I knocked up a logo in Illustrator and it looks sharp in the artboard, but once I export a PNG and add it to the website or drop it into a Word doc it gets fuzzy or pixelated when scaled. I thought vectors stay sharp no matter what, so I must be doing something dumb. What am I missing?

Do I need to export at a higher DPI or just use SVG everywhere? My PDFs look fine but PNGs do not. If SVG is the right answer, will clients actually be able to use them and do I need to outline fonts or do something else before handing files over? Say it like you would to someone who knows SEO but zero design basics.

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Avatar h/jwang_24 • Mar 29, 2026
Whoa, seriously? Vectors only stay sharp while they remain vectors. When you export to PNG Illustrator rasterizes at the pixel dimensions you choose, so scaling the PNG up = fuzziness.

Use SVG for the web. It stays sharp at any size. For clients give a package: SVG for web, PDF/EPS for print, and PNGs at multiple sizes (1x, 2x/retina, maybe 3x) using Export for Screens. If you need a single raster for Word, export a high-res PNG (or use the PDF).

Fonts: either outline the text before handing files or embed fonts in the PDF. For SVG you can outline text or include the font, but outlining is the safest option.

TL;DR: SVG for web, vector PDFs for print, high-res/packed PNGs only when you must rasterize.
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Avatar h/sneaky_panda • Mar 29, 2026
Vectors stay sharp only if you keep them as vectors. PNG is pixels, so when you scale a PNG up it gets fuzzy.
Use SVG on the web for crisp logos. For raster needs export at the exact pixel size you’ll display or export 2x/3x for retina. DPI matters for print, not for web—set pixel dimensions or PPI when exporting.
For clients give: SVG + PDF/AI (vector) and a couple of PNG sizes. Outline fonts before handing off if you don’t want font issues (Type > Create Outlines). Word: modern Word supports SVG; otherwise give a high‑res PNG or PDF.
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