Embroidery vs Printing for Workwear: Which Should You Choose?

Wondering how to share your logo for branded workwear? The good news is that you don't need to be a designer to get this right. But this is probably the assumption most people arrive with: that sharing a logo for branded workwear requires some advanced knowledge of file formats, colour profiles, or artwork specifications. It doesn't. What it requires is sending the clearest version of your logo that you have available, and being upfront about what you're unsure of. The rest is something we can work through.

That said, the file you send does matter to some extent. Not because there's one magic format that unlocks the system, but because the quality of the output is directly tied to the quality of what goes in. A blurry screenshot becomes a blurry chest logo. A cropped image means a conversation before production that could have been avoided entirely.

So, rest assured, this isn't a technical spec sheet, but a practical walkthrough: how to send your logo for workwear orders, what to send exactly, and what happens on our end before the order goes anywhere near a machine.

Why Your Logo File Matters for Branded Workwear

Both embroidery and print require your logo to go through an artwork stage before it touches a garment. For embroidery, the file gets converted into a stitch pattern (a digitised version of your design that tells the machine exactly where each thread sits, at what angle, in what colour). For print, your artwork is reproduced directly onto transfer film or screen. In both cases, the quality of that process depends on what you give us to start from.

A low-resolution image is often what creates problems. If the source file is blurry, the digitiser tracing your logo has to make decisions about detail that should already be clear. Lines get approximated. Small text (anything below roughly 4mm height in embroidery) becomes unreadable, or has to be simplified in a way that changes how your printed or embroidered workwear logo reads.

Colours can shift, too, if there's no Pantone reference to anchor them. What looks like your exact navy on a laptop screen might be three shades out from your brand standard by the time it's on a fleece.

None of that is catastrophic. It just creates delays. And for a business that needs a team fitted out by a particular date, a delay at the artwork stage is the most avoidable kind.

The Best Logo File Types to Share

Vector files first. AI and EPS files are the formats that give the clearest possible starting point because they're not made of pixels (they're mathematical descriptions of shapes, lines, and curves). Scale them to any size and the edges stay crisp. If your business has ever worked with a graphic designer, these files exist somewhere. It's worth a quick look in a shared drive or an email from the designer before assuming they're gone, as they’re the best logo format for embroidery and print alike.

After those: high-quality PNG. A PNG at 300 DPI with enough physical dimensions to fill a garment-scale print is usually workable. "High quality" is doing a lot of work in that sentence, though. A JPEG exported from a website at 72 DPI and 100 pixels wide is not the same as “high quality”: it's a web-optimised thumbnail, and it's a fundamentally different thing.

Less useful are screenshots, images copied from email signatures, and logos pulled from social media profiles. These exist at screen resolution. They can be sent. But if the file is too small or blurry to work from, we'll come back to you before production, which adds time to an order that didn't need to be slowed down.

What Makes a Logo Suitable for Workwear?

Before sending anything, it's worth a quick check against this list. Not because you need to resolve everything yourself, but because flagging issues to us early is faster than discovering them mid-production.

• Resolution and clarity: can you zoom in on the logo on your screen without it going blurry immediately? If it's already blurring at normal size, it's going to be a problem at embroidery scale.

• Full logo, not cropped: logos get trimmed to fit different spaces (square crops for profile pictures, horizontal cuts for website headers etc.). Send the complete mark. If you have multiple versions, send them all and we'll work out which applies.

• Readable text: fonts below around 4mm height lose legibility when stitched. If your personalised workwear logo has a fine-print strapline or small supporting text, mention it when you send the file. It might need simplifying, and it's better to know that before production than after sixty units are done.

• Colour accuracy: if your brand has specific Pantone or CMYK references, include them. Colours shift between screens and substrates. A colour reference gives us a fixed point to work from instead of approximating from a monitor.

• Transparent background where possible: not essential, but it helps, particularly if you're sending a logo file for embroidery. A white background on a logo going onto a white garment won't show. Put that same file on a navy hoodie and the white box is immediately obvious. If you can provide a version without the background, it immediately removes a potential problem.

How to Share Your Logo with Workwear Express

Pick the products you want branded and add them to your order. When you select the customisation option in your basket (by clicking the “add your logo to this item” button), you'll reach the upload point (this often also includes choosing where you’d like the logo to sit on your chosen garment). The system accepts JPG, PNG, EPS, AI and PDF files. Upload what you have. 

Then add your notes. This is the step people most often skip, and yet it sometimes matters more than the file format. You can add specific brand colours, including any Pantone references. Size preferences if you have them. Brand guidelines if they exist. Anything worth mentioning goes here.

A logo submitted with no notes attached is a logo we have to make reasonable assumptions about. Our assumptions might not match your expectations. Thirty seconds of notes now prevents a back-and-forth later.

After submission, the artwork goes through a check before production. If anything needs resolving (file quality, placement suitability, a colour question…), we'll contact you before the order moves forward. Nothing goes to production with an unresolved artwork issue.

Can I Upload My Own Logo for Custom Workwear Orders?

Yes. You upload your logo for workwear orders directly when configuring your garments, alongside the products and customisation options you've selected.

If you have a brand guidelines document (or anything that specifies logo usage, minimum sizes, clear space rules, and preferred colours), attach it or reference it in your notes. The more context you share, the closer the final result gets to what you're picturing. Your team will tell you if it's off.

What If You Only Have a JPEG or Screenshot?

Send it.

Don't let an imperfect file stop you from starting the process. Most customers don't have an AI or EPS file sitting ready on their desktop. They have a version of their logo saved from a website built three years ago, or an image their previous uniform supplier returned to them, or something exported from a Word document or PowerPoint slide deck.

That's fine. We work with what we have, and we make sure it meets your expectations, too.

The caveat is that if the file is too small, too blurry, or otherwise unsuitable for production at garment scale, we'll ask for something better before we go any further. It adds a step, but it doesn't kill the order. If you've checked everywhere and a higher quality version genuinely doesn't exist, say so. In many cases, we can redraw artwork from a low-resolution source, though that's a separate conversation and not always necessary.

 

Screenshots are what tend to cause the most delays. They’re not impossible to work from, but often the hardest starting point. If that's all you have, tell us upfront rather than hoping it'll be fine.

Where Can Your Logo Be Placed on Workwear?

Standard placements coverg most of what teams actually want. Left chest is the most common, positioned roughly where a breast pocket would sit. Right chest is less frequent but valid for secondary logos, job titles, or company text. Back centre and back yoke for larger prints, team names, or safety-related text. Sleeves for secondary branding or badge-format logos.

Hi-vis garments need a separate note here, as the placement zones on high-visibility workwear aren't purely aesthetic decisions: EN ISO 20471 requires that the retroreflective tape and fluorescent panels remain unobstructed to maintain the garment's certification class. A large back print on a hi-vis vest is a compliance question before it's a branding question. We always make sure the placement is compliant.

Embroidery vs Print: Does the Logo File Need to Be Different?

The same file can usually serve both methods. But the logo itself might work significantly better for one than the other, and it's worth knowing which before you commit.

Embroidery is physical. Thread has a minimum width, which means very fine lines and tiny detail can either disappear or merge once stitched. Gradients (smooth transitions from one colour to another) can't really be achieved in thread without specialist techniques that most standard embroidery doesn't use. Clean, bold logos with defined edges and a limited colour count translate well. Complex multi-colour artwork with fine line detail and colour blending, probably not.

Print handles that type of complexity better. Gradients, large-format logos, photographic elements, intricate illustration… these are print territory. For T-shirts, hi-vis, and anything requiring a wide-format back print, the conversation usually starts here.

Common Mistakes When Sharing Your Logo

If you know them, they’re easy to avoid:

• Sending a screenshot: usually too small, always low resolution, often cropped unexpectedly.

• Uploading a small website image: website logos are optimised for screen display at small sizes. That's not the same as production resolution.

• Using an old version of the logo: if your branding has been updated (even a minor refresh to the font or colours), check before you send. A batch of uniforms with the old logo is a problem that surfaces after dispatch, not before.

• Sending a cropped mark: make sure you send the complete logo, including the symbol, wordmark, and any strapline, unless you're intentionally ordering with just one element. If you're unsure which version to use, send all of them.

• Not mentioning brand colours: if you have Pantone references, include them.

Your embroidered or printed workwear logo is more likely to meet your expectations if you double check these before checking out.

What Happens After You Share Your Logo?

The artwork goes through a production check before anything proceeds. We're looking at file quality, sizing, method suitability, and whether the configuration you've requested is achievable on the specific garment. If something needs resolving, we'll contact you before production starts.

Once the artwork is confirmed and approved, we’ll send you a proof for approval. Once approved by you, the order moves into production. 

FAQs

Can I upload my own logo for custom workwear orders?

Yes. You upload your logo directly during the ordering process. Simply click the  “add your logo to this item” button and you’ll be prompted through the custom workwear logo upload process.

What is the best logo file type to send?

The best logo file type for printed workwear and embroidered garments are vector files (like AI and EPS) give the clearest starting point because they scale without quality loss. High-resolution PNG or JPEG files are usually workable too. Screenshots and small website images are the least useful, though you can still send them if that's all you have.

Can I use a JPEG or PNG logo?

Yes, if the quality is sufficient. A large PNG at 300 DPI is often fine. A small JPEG exported at low resolution from a website typically isn't. If there's any doubt, send what you have and we'll tell you whether something better is needed before production.

Do I need a transparent background?

Not always, but it helps, especially on dark or coloured garments. A logo with a white background applied to a dark hoodie will show the white box. Transparent background removes that problem. If you can provide both versions, include them both.

Can I send my logo after placing an order?

It's much better to send it during the ordering process. If you've placed an order without including artwork, contact us as quickly as possible. The earlier the file is in, the sooner the production check can happen and the less likely it is to affect your timeline.

What happens if my logo is too low quality?

We'll contact you before production and ask for a better version. If you don't have one, that's a conversation we can have about options, including artwork redraw in some cases. The order doesn't proceed until the artwork question is resolved, as nothing goes to production on a file we're not confident in.

Can I choose where my logo appears on the garment?

Yes. Our system will prompt you to choose your preferred placement for the garment you’ve chosen. Simply click on the image that represents where you’d like it to sit.