We’ve all done it. Spotted an image, logo or piece of artwork on a website, taken a quick screenshot and thought, “Can you just print this?”
Unfortunately, when it comes to professional printing, screenshots rarely provide the quality needed to achieve a sharp, polished result.
At Virtual Print, we want everything we produce to represent your brand at its best. Whether it’s a business card, sign, vehicle graphic, promotional product or piece of branded apparel, great print starts with great artwork.
Here’s why screenshots can cause problems.
A screenshot is designed for a screen, not for print
Screenshots capture exactly what is being displayed on your phone, tablet or computer at that moment.
They are made up of pixels and are generally created at screen resolution. That may be perfectly adequate when viewing the image on your device, but professional printing often requires considerably more detail.
Once we start enlarging a screenshot, those pixels become more noticeable.
The result?
Blurry edges, fuzzy text, pixelated logos and an overall loss of quality.
It might look sharp on your phone
This is one of the most common misunderstandings with print artwork.
Your phone has a relatively small, high-resolution screen, so even a low-quality image can appear beautifully sharp.
Now imagine taking that same image and enlarging it from the size of your phone screen to a metre-wide sign.
Suddenly, there simply isn’t enough image information available to maintain that same level of detail.
The larger we need to reproduce your artwork, the more important the quality of the original file becomes.
Screenshots are particularly problematic for logos
Your logo is one of the most important parts of your brand, so it should always look clean and professional.
A screenshot of a logo may introduce:
- Pixelated or jagged edges
- Blurry text
- Incorrect colours
- Unwanted backgrounds
- Compression artefacts
- Poor detail when enlarged
For logos, we will generally recommend supplying vector artwork wherever possible.
Vector files can be scaled from something as small as a pen to something as large as a building sign without losing their sharpness.
Common vector formats include AI, EPS and SVG, as well as some vector PDFs.
Can you make a screenshot higher resolution?
Unfortunately, increasing the dimensions of a screenshot doesn’t magically restore the information that wasn’t captured in the first place.
You can make the file physically larger, but that doesn’t necessarily make the original artwork clearer.
Think of it like enlarging a small photograph. Making the photograph bigger doesn’t create additional detail. It simply makes the existing pixels bigger too.
For professional printing, it’s always better to start with the original artwork or highest-quality source file available.
What should I send instead?
Whenever possible, send us the original file rather than a screenshot of it.
For logos and graphic artwork, we prefer:
AI, EPS, SVG or vector PDF files.
For photographs, send us the original high-resolution image straight from the camera, photographer or original source rather than a screenshot, social media download or compressed copy.
If someone else originally designed your logo, ask them for the original vector artwork files.
Having these files saved somewhere safe will make ordering future printing much easier.
What if a screenshot is all I have?
Don’t worry. Send it through and talk to us.
Sometimes we can locate a better-quality version, work with the original designer or determine whether the artwork can be professionally recreated.
For simple logos and graphics, the Virtual Print team may be able to redraw or recreate the artwork as a clean vector file.
Once that’s done, you’ll have a quality master file that can be used across future print projects.
The right file makes a big difference
We know artwork terminology can be confusing. JPEGs, PNGs, PDFs, vectors, resolution and DPI aren’t things most customers need to think about every day.
That’s why we’re here to help.
The important thing to remember is simple:
If you have the original file, send us the original file, not a screenshot of it.
Starting with good-quality artwork allows us to produce a finished product that’s sharper, cleaner and much more professional.
Not sure if your artwork is print-ready?
Send your file through to the Virtual Print Design and Branding team and we’ll check it for you before it goes to print.
Because when you’ve invested in your brand, it deserves to look its best.