A logo does not make an invoice valid, but it makes it recognisable — the client sees who it is from before reading a word, and it looks like it came from a business rather than a template. Done badly, it also does the opposite: a blurry, oversized or mis-coloured logo is the first thing a reader notices.
This guide covers the file to use, the size that prints well, where to put it on the page and how to check the result in the PDF. The steps use Simple Invoice, where the logo is uploaded once in your business profile and appears on every invoice, but the advice on formats and sizing applies anywhere.
Choose the right file
Four formats work; they are not equal.
- SVG — a vector file that stays sharp at any size and is usually tiny. The best choice if you have one. Simple Invoice accepts SVG files up to a small size limit and renders them as images.
- PNG — the right raster format for logos with flat colours or a transparent background. Export it at least twice the size it will print so it stays crisp.
- JPEG — fine for photographic logos; avoid it for flat graphics, where compression leaves halos, and note that it cannot be transparent.
- WebP — accepted, with the same advice as PNG. Some design tools export it by default.
Use a transparent background
A logo on a white rectangle looks fine on white paper and wrong the moment the header has a tinted band or the invoice background colour changes. Export a PNG or SVG with a transparent background so the logo sits on whatever is behind it. If your logo is white or very light, keep a dark-background variant for templates with an accent band.
How big should it be?
Smaller than you think. On an A4 or Letter page, a logo between ten and twenty-five millimetres tall reads clearly without competing with the title and the total; wide horizontal logos can be shorter. Simple Invoice offers three logo sizes on the header block — small, medium and large — which map to sensible print heights, with width following the file's proportions. Start at medium and reduce if the logo dominates the header.
Resolution matters as much as dimensions. A raster logo printed at twenty millimetres tall needs at least a few hundred pixels of height to avoid softness in the PDF; a vector logo has no such limit.
Upload it on the invoice header
In Simple Invoice click the header on the invoice and use the logo upload. Pick the file; a preview appears and the logo is saved in this browser for the current document. To change it, upload a new file in the same place; to remove it, use the remove control.
If the upload is rejected, the file is probably too large after encoding or too big a vector. Export a smaller PNG or simplify the SVG and try again.
Place it on the page
The header block owns the logo. Its alignment setting puts the logo and title on the left, centres them, or splits them with the logo on one side and the title and number on the other — the layout accounts-payable teams see most often. Turn Show logo off on templates for clients who print in black and white if the logo does not reproduce well in greyscale.
The header style on the Design tab changes the setting the logo sits in: plain for white space, band for an accent-tinted area behind the header, bar for a thick rule above it. Band works well with a transparent logo and an accent colour taken from the logo; bar suits a small logo and a large serif title, as in the design invoice template.
Match the accent to the logo
Pick the strongest colour in your logo and set it as the accent. The table header, the emphasised total and the header band or bar then take the same hue, and the document reads as one design instead of a logo dropped onto a form. Simple Invoice's colour controls accept a hex value, so copy the exact code from your brand files rather than eyeballing a swatch. Keep the text colour dark and the background white or near-white; the accent is for emphasis, not for paragraphs.
Check the PDF
Export a PDF and open it at 100 percent. The logo should have clean edges, no white box around it, and no visible compression. If it looks soft, re-export the source at a higher pixel size or switch to SVG. If a header band or the logo's own background is missing in the PDF, the browser's print dialog has Background graphics turned off — turn it on and export again. Colours in the PDF are the colours on screen; there is no separate print conversion, so what you see on the canvas is what the client receives.
Questions
Is a logo required on an invoice?
No. Nothing about an invoice's validity depends on a logo. It is there for recognition and professionalism; your business name in text is what the rules care about.
Can I use a different logo on different invoices?
The logo belongs to your business profile, so one logo applies to all invoices. If you trade under two names, hide the logo on one template and put the second name in the header title, or run the second business from a separate browser profile with its own data.
Does a logo take up a lot of storage?
No. Raster logos are downscaled and re-encoded on upload. A typical logo uses only a small fraction of the browser's local storage.