A clean and recognizable logo can help your brand stand out among countless others. But what if your logo keeps coming out messy, no matter how many times you edit it?

Logos come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, so it can be challenging to pinpoint the types of editing that need to be done to create a crisp, finished design. Luckily, we’ve got the answers! Below, you’ll find a quick breakdown of the 6 most popular ways to make a logo appear clean and finished with the help of Photoshop.

1. Increase Resolution of Your Logo

Let’s say you’ve created your logo in Photoshop, then uploaded it to a site to have it printed on a t-shirt. Though the file looks fine on your computer, the print appears fuzzy.

Oftentimes, a logo can seem messy because the resolution is too low. This means that the number of pixels the logo has on a screen is not enough to print at the size you desire. The file requires more information (more pixels) to produce the sharp image that you see on your screen. In print, this generally means a resolution of 300 DPI

To increase the resolution, open the file in Photoshop. Click Image from the menu bar at the top of the screen and select Image Size.

In the next dialog window, make sure the Resolution is set to 300. You’ll also want to check the dimensions of the document. If you’re trying to print your logo on a poster, but have your dimensions set to the size of a postal stamp, you might run into some issues.

2. Fix Perspective

Perspective may be one of the most underacknowledged elements in terms of logo design. Often seen more in photography, perspective can completely alter the entire look of a design or image.

Imagine that you have a logo with a rectangular frame that has a shadow on the upper edge of the shape. You would like the logo to appear as if a light is shining down on the frame, however, with the placement of the shadows, light appears to be coming from below.

If your logo is appearing messy, it could be that the perspective is off in some way. Take a look at the way different elements interact. Are the introducing dimension and depth in the way that you intend, or is something off?

3. Take Advantage of White Space

White space is one of the key elements in any design and can be extremely important in determining how clean or messy a design appears.

To make sure that you have enough white space in your logo design, use guides and grids in Photoshop to help gauge the positioning of various elements.

To add guides in Photoshop, click and drag from the ruler to the canvas. You should see a blue line appear. This will help guide your design but will not show up in the final product.

4. Increase Contrast to Create Depth

If your logo appears muddy or flat, you may need to increase contrast to create depth.

Click on Adjustments in the menu bar and select Brightness/Contrast. From here, simply move the Brightness and Contrast sliders to make adjustments. You want your lines and edges to be well defined without interfering with the overall look of your logo.

5. Choose a Strong Type for Easy Readability

Font choice can be one of the biggest culprits for a messy design. Make sure that any text that appears in your logo is easy to read and doesn’t blend in too much with other elements. If this is happening, it’s probably best to change the font or pick a different color to help it stand out more.

6. Use Textures and Patterns to Create Interest

Make sure that any textures and patterns in your designs are adding to the logo and not taking away from it. The clever placement of a texture can capture attention and make certain elements stand out. However, too many conflicting patterns or poor placement of patterns can make a logo appear messy and unappealing.

Final Thoughts

When cleaning up a logo design, there are endless ways this can be achieved. Depending on the type of design, you may need to increase vibrancy, smooth out lines, or make the text more readable. Thankfully, editing programs like Photoshop make it easy to do all of these edits in one place.

Hopefully, these 6 tips will help you clean up your logo. Keep in mind that logo styles can vary, so not all of these will apply to every design. However, this is a great place to start if you feel like your logo just needs those finishing touches.