You know that feeling when you discover something so great you want to share it with everyone you know? Well, for me that time is now. I recently came across a new design tool that I think many of my fellow designers will appreciate as much as I do. It’s called “Logo Package Express”… an Illustrator plugin that takes the monotony and frustration out of logo file preparation. Save 25% off here.
Logo Package Express allows designers to create an organized set of logo files in as quickly as 2 minutes (seriously). No more having to monotonously prepare dozens of print and web logo files one at a time. No more having to tediously name each file and folder manually. The plugin does it all for you, quickly and easily.
The Benefits:
- Save time by creating logo packages 10x faster (200 logo files in under 5 minutes).
- Minimize frustration by avoiding the tedious file creation and naming process.
- Increase revenue by offering logo packages as an extra service.
- Eliminate human error (forgetting to include certain files, inconsistent naming, etc).
- Offer a more extensive and organized collection of logo files to your clients.
Here’s How It Works:
The first step is to open your vector logo in Adobe Illustrator and run the plugin. You’ll then be instructed to select your logo, upon which the plugin will quickly analyze things. Once the analyzing is complete you’ll be presented with a window (as shown in the preview below) allowing you to select the different logo components you’re wanting files created for (ex: logo mark, logotype, tagline).
Select your logo, logo mark, logotype, tagline
The next step is to create your files. Simply click “Create Print Logos” and wait a few seconds for the plugin to prepare your logo sets on screen. Once prepared you will be given a chance to remove or edit any of the logo sets visible on your artboard. To remove any unwanted sets, you just select and delete them.
A view of the print logo sets. Here you’d delete any of the logo styles that you’re not wanting before export.
When you’re satisfied with the previewed logo sets, click the “Export Print Logos” button. You’ll then name the project (enter in the business / project name) and select the path to which you’d like your print files to be saved. I recommend creating a new folder on your desktop and inside of it two additional folders titled “Print Logo Files” and “Web Logo Files” (as shown in preview below). Now back in Illustrator you’d choose the “Print Logo Files” folder as your “Export Print Logos” destination path and click “Export Print Logos”.
Here you can see I created a main folder with the project name, and inside of it I created 2 additional folders (one for print files and one for web files).
Now you let the plugin do it’s magic. In around 30 seconds or so (give or take depending on complexity of the logo) your files will be saved, labeled and organized into the folder you designated. When the process is complete you’ll see a Congratulations screen.
Here’s an expanded view of the various folders that the plugin created, sorted and named.
Here’s a preview showing the actual logo files in various formats.
If you require web logo files, the process would be the same. Simply click “Export Web Logos” and repeat the same steps from above. The only difference being, you’d save your files to the “Web Logo Files” folder.
Here’s a preview of the web logo folders and files in various formats. Cool huh?
Note: Selecting the gear icon in the upper right corner of the plugin presents you with settings options. Here you can choose which file types are prepared and exported, the size and resolution of the raster files, the threshold of the inverted logo files, etc. Detailed instructions explaining these settings and how to use the plugin are provided on the Logo Package website.
You can configure your desired settings here.
Summary: If you frequent my blog or social accounts, you know I rarely promote services or products. And when I do, it’s only items I’ve personally used and vouch for. I don’t say this lightly, but Logo Package Express is one of the best design tools I’ve used in ages. Not only does it save me countless work hours, it eliminates the dreadful process of having to create and prepare client logo files one at a time. And when I had questions, Michael (the creator) answered them thoroughly and promptly.
While there are a couple things I wish the plugin provided that are currently not available (ex: add padding around logos, custom file naming), these are by no means a deal breaker, and are features that will be added in future updates. Luckily there are workarounds for now via the following video tutorials: add spacing around logos, and batch renaming.
Considering the time saved and headaches avoided, this plugin is a no brainer in my opinion. Especially for the price. If you’re a logo designer (or even a business owner wanting to expand your company’s logo file arsenal), I can’t recommend Logo Package Express enough. Once you use it you’ll wish something like this was created years ago.
