Fonts, logos and files a designer must hand over

A design source files handover is complete when the client holds editable originals — not just PNGs — plus web-ready fonts, licensed logo masters, colour and type tokens, and a written index saying what each file is and where it is used. If a new designer or developer can rebuild your site without emailing the previous one, the handover worked.

Key Takeaways

• A handover means the working files behind a design, not pictures of it. Exports are copies; the source is the master.
• Four things must arrive together: editable source, licensed fonts, vector logo masters, and a written file index.
• Fonts are the most common gap. A desktop licence rarely covers web embedding, and a webfont licence is often tied to named domains.
• Store large binary assets in version control with Git LFS rather than leaving them loose in an email thread.
• Verify with a rebuild: someone who has never touched the project reproduces one page from the package alone.
• Domain, hosting and design-tool accounts belong in your name, not the designer's.
• Settle the deliverable list in the contract, before the final invoice, while you still have leverage.

What exactly counts as a design source files handover?

A handover is the transfer of the working files behind a design, not pictures of it. You should receive the editable document, the fonts it uses, logo masters in vector form, the colour and type definitions, and a written index that maps each file to where it is used. Exports come too, but they are copies rather than the master.

The distinction matters because exports are one-way. A PNG of your logo cannot be recoloured, stretched onto a shopfront, or edited when the strapline changes. The source file can. If the only thing you were given is a folder of PNGs and a PDF, you were handed a preview, not a handover.

Why does an incomplete handover cost you later?

Every future change starts from the source. Without it, the next developer redraws your logo from a screenshot, marketing picks a near-match font, and the brand drifts with each campaign. That drift is invisible for a year and then expensive to reverse across print, web and signage.

What files must a designer hand over?

Treat the list below as the minimum for a finished brand or website project. Ask for it in the contract rather than in a friendly email after delivery, because the obligation usually ends when the final invoice is paid. Our website handover checklist covers the technical side of the same transfer.

1. Editable design source — the native file from whatever tool was used, with named layers, defined components, and no linked assets pointing at a machine you do not own.
2. Logo masters — vector artwork, PNG exports with transparency at a few agreed sizes, and a single-colour version for stamps and embroidery.
3. Font files and licences — the webfont files actually used, plus the licence document naming the domains or seats covered.
4. Colour and type tokens — hex values for screen, CMYK or Pantone references for print, and the type scale with line heights.
5. Image and icon originals — full-resolution photographs and the source icon set, not the compressed web versions.
6. A written inventory — one page listing each file, what it is, and where it appears.
7. Third-party licences — stock photography, icon sets, and any font bundled with a plugin or theme.
8. Account access — if the work lives in a hosted tool, transfer ownership or export everything before access is revoked.

Which file formats actually matter?

Format decides whether a file stays useful. Vector artwork scales to any size; raster does not. A flattened export is fine for a business card and useless for a shopfront. The table below maps the formats you are likely to be handed to what each one can and cannot do.

How do you handle fonts without breaking the licence?

Fonts are where handovers fail most often, and the failure is legal as much as technical. A desktop licence usually does not cover web embedding, and a webfont licence is often tied to a named domain or a pageview band. Ask for the licence text, not a verbal reassurance.

Families released under the SIL Open Font License are the easy case: you can embed, self-host and modify them, and the terms travel with the files. Commercial families are not. If the designer bought a single desktop seat, your web build was already out of scope, and goodwill does not fix that at 11pm before a launch.

Devanagari adds a second problem. Nepali text needs a family with genuine Devanagari coverage and correct shaping, not a Latin font with a fallback bolted on. We have written separately about why Nepali fonts break on websites, and the fix usually starts at the handover stage, not in CSS.

How do you verify a handover actually works?

Verification is a rebuild, not a file count. Someone who has never seen the project should open the package on a clean machine and reproduce one page or one poster without asking a single question. If they have to ask, the package is incomplete — and you found out cheaply.

1. Open every source file on a machine that is not the designer's.
2. Confirm no missing-font warnings appear when the file loads.
3. Compare exported colours against the printed brand sheet.
4. Export a page and hold it next to the delivered design.
5. Pick three files at random from the inventory and confirm they exist where it says.
6. Check that licence documents name your organisation and your domains.
7. Test the agreed breakpoints — our note on putting responsive design in the contract explains why that belongs in writing.

What breaks when the handover is incomplete?

The symptoms are predictable. Build logs show a fallback font where the brand font should render. A logo looks soft on a retina screen because the only file is a 400-pixel PNG. A stock photo invoice arrives two years later. None of it is dramatic, and all of it costs more to fix than the handover would have.

When something looks wrong, work in this order: check the font stack, check the asset resolution, check the colour value, then check the licence. Nine times out of ten the problem is a missing or unlicensed font, because fonts are the one asset people copy around without reading the terms.

The quieter failure is the substituted source. A designer exports a flattened PDF from their working file and calls it the source. It opens, it looks right, and it is useless for editing. Check for layers and editable text before you accept it. For binary assets like PSD and TIFF, use Git Large File Storage so the repository does not bloat and the originals stay retrievable.

What does a proper handover cost?

The cost is hours, not licence fees. A designer who kept files organised packages them in an afternoon. One who did not will either bill days of untangling or hand over a tidy folder that quietly omits the editable original. Put the deliverable list in the contract so the time is priced before it becomes an argument.

The recurring cost is the part people forget. Webfont licences renew, stock images carry seat counts, and hosted design tools charge per editor. A package with no licence documents pushes those renewals onto you with no record of what was bought or when it lapses.

Who owns what, and what about credentials?

Ownership should be stated in writing, and it should say the client owns the delivered artwork and the source. Anything less is a licence, not a purchase. Escrow is the fallback when a supplier holds something you cannot otherwise get; our note on source code escrow for small business explains when that is worth the paperwork.

Credentials are the other half. Domain registrar, hosting, CMS admin, the design tool workspace, the font vendor account. If those stay in the designer's name, you do not control your own brand. Get them transferred, then change the passwords.

What does a real handover failure look like?

Say a retailer signs off a rebrand in January. The agency delivers a PDF brand book, PNG logos and a social kit, and everyone is pleased. In March the shopfront printer asks for vector artwork and receives a 900-pixel PNG. In June the new website launches in a fallback font because the webfont licence covers the agency's staging domain only. In November a second studio quotes to redraw the logo from scratch. Three small failures, one root cause.

Which option suits which situation?

A marketplace template gets you moving fastest, but the source stays the vendor's and your brand sits inside someone else's layout. A freelancer handover depends almost entirely on the contract, not the portfolio. A studio usually carries the most process. Redrawing from scratch is the fallback, and it is the one option that always costs more than the handover would have.

The decision rule is simple. If an asset will appear in more than one place — web, print, signage, an app icon — pay for the source and the licence now. If it is a one-off graphic for a single campaign, an export is genuinely enough, and asking for more just slows the project down.

In short

A design handover is complete when someone else can carry the work forward without you: editable originals, licensed fonts, vector logos, colour and type definitions, a written index, and the accounts in your name. Ask for the list in writing before the final payment clears, while you still have room to negotiate.

• Source, fonts, logo masters, tokens, index — all five, or it is not finished.
• Read the font licence yourself; desktop and web rights are different things.
• Verify by rebuilding, not by counting files.
• Keep domain, hosting and tool accounts in your own name.

People also search for

These are the questions readers send us after reading this guide. Most of them come up during contract review, which is the right moment to settle them, and each one links to the article that answers it in full.

• What should a project handover meeting cover?
• Does a paid discovery phase reduce redesign risk?
• What should a design contract say about revisions?
• How do I check that a website handover is complete?
• How should a web project quote break down?
• When is a redesign actually worth doing?

If you are midway through a rebrand and the files are not adding up, our team can help you audit what you were given, write the deliverable list into your next contract, and fill the gaps — see graphic design services or get in touch through our contact page.