Convert AI to PNG on your phone

24 September 2026 · Pathside guides

Pathside opens .ai, .eps, .svg and PDF on the phone →

Decide the size first

A vector file has no resolution. Exporting is the moment you choose one, and it is the only decision that really matters.

• For a website: the width of the space it goes in, doubled, for sharp rendering on modern screens. A logo in a 300 px slot exports at 600 px.
• For a document or a form: the printed width in inches × 300. A 2-inch logo is 600 px wide.
• For a chat or an email: 1000–1500 px on the long side is plenty, and keeps the file small enough to send.

Exporting

1. Open the file and check you have the right artboard — a brand file often has the logo six ways.
2. Choose PNG for anything with transparency or flat colour; JPG only for photographs.
3. Pick the multiplier or size, and check the pixel dimensions before saving. In Pathside they are shown on the button.
4. Save to Downloads or straight to Drive, then attach it wherever it needs to go.

PNG or JPG?

Logos and line artwork: PNG, every time. It keeps edges crisp and supports transparency. A JPG of a logo gets a grey halo around the letters that no one asked for, and cannot be transparent. JPG earns its place only when the artwork is a photograph.

Why not an online converter?

Because it means uploading a file you were trusted with. Most of those sites keep the upload for some period, several are ad-funded, and a few state in their terms that they may process what you send. If the artwork is a client's, that is a conversation you do not want to have. Exporting on the device avoids it entirely.

What you cannot do this way

You cannot change the artwork — recolour it, remove an element, change the text. Exporting takes a picture of what is there. Editing is desktop work.

Check the artboard before you export

An Illustrator file with six artboards exports six different pictures depending on which one is selected. Step through them and pick deliberately — the horizontal lockup for a website header, the stacked one for a square profile picture, the reversed one only if it is going on a dark background. Exporting artboard one because it was on screen is how the wrong version ends up in use for a year.

Transparency

PNG keeps it; JPG does not. If the artwork is a logo that needs to sit on a coloured background, export PNG or you will get a white rectangle around it. If you export PNG and still see white, the artwork itself probably has a white shape behind it — that is a design decision, and only the designer can remove it.

What the file size tells you

A flat logo exported at 1000 px should be tens of kilobytes. If yours is several megabytes, the artwork contains an embedded photograph or a heavy gradient mesh, and you may want a different format or a word with whoever drew it. If it is a couple of kilobytes, the export may be nearly empty — worth opening to check.

Keeping the original

A PNG is a dead end: you cannot scale it up later, recolour it, or send it to a sign maker. Keep the .ai, .pdf or .svg somewhere you can find it, and export a new PNG whenever you need a different size. Exports are disposable; the vector is the asset.