Logo checker guides
A logo has to hold up everywhere it goes. Learn what a logo checker tests, why logos fail at small sizes or on dark backgrounds, and how to fix each problem.
Check your logo for freeLogo checker articles
· 7 min read
Logo Checker: What to Fix Before You Use Your Logo
Read a logo checker report without chasing the score. Find out which warnings need a new file, an extra version or a closer look at the design itself.
· 11 min read
Logo File Formats Explained: PNG, SVG, PDF and More
Logo file formats in plain English: what PNG, SVG, PDF and WebP are for, which file to send a printer or sign maker, and how to check a logo file.
Why a good-looking logo can still fail
Most logos are designed big, on a white screen, and then used small, on everything else. That's where the trouble starts: a browser-tab icon (a favicon) that's a smudge, a profile picture with a white box around the logo, a dark website header where the name disappears. Testing catches those problems while they're still cheap to fix, before the logo is printed on a sign or a stack of business cards.
The tests a logo checker runs for you
Some tests are about the file and its pixels, and software does them better than your eye. Our free logo checker runs six. It looks for a truly transparent background, enough resolution for print (or a real vector), detail that survives at favicon size, contrast on white and on dark navy, a manageable number of colors, and proportions that fit a square avatar. You get a score out of 100 and a tip for anything that needs work. It all happens in your browser, so the file never leaves your computer.
Most of what it flags calls for an extra version, not a new logo: a simple icon for small spaces, a light version for dark backgrounds, a single-color one for stamps. If you have a template or SVG logo from us, you can make most of these in our logo maker and download again.
Tests to do yourself
The rest need a person, and none of them takes more than a few minutes:
- Show the logo to someone who doesn't know your business for five seconds, then hide it. Ask what they remember and what they think you sell.
- Print it in black on an ordinary office printer. If the idea only works in color, you'll see it straight away.
- Put it next to the logos of a few businesses like yours. It should look like it belongs in the same trade without looking like any of them.
- Read the name out loud, letter by letter. The checker doesn't proofread, and a missing letter is easy to overlook on a screen you've stared at for an hour.
- Search your country's trademark register for similar names and marks before you print the logo on anything expensive.
Unlike the file checks, these can send you back to the drawing board, so run them early. A screenshot of a preview is enough for most of them.
When the file test flags something, the logo file formats guide sorts out what PNG, SVG and PDF are each for. The free logo maker guides cover what to look for before you download, and the 3D logo maker guides deal with keeping depth readable at small sizes.