Expert: Laith Ibrahim - 12/9/2007

Question
Hi. I created a logo in Illustrator CS2 and now I need to put it on a web site. I converted the text to outlines, then I clicked: save for web > transparency-no dithering > save as GIF. But, when I brought it on to the web, there were little white spots around the letter forms. I'm using a modern typeface, and the white spots are the worst around the serifs, so I thought perhaps the problem had something to do with converting from vector to bitmap and preserving the curve of the serifs. Also, the logo has to be very small: 174 x 131 pixels--but I created it that size in Illustrator, so there's no resizing going on or anything like that. Otherwise, though, the logo is fine. Anyway, sorry for the lengthy explanation, and I would appreciate any suggestions.

Answer
Hi Terry,
The solution is within the option of "save to web" in Illustrator. When you click "Save for the web" you'll find options on the right side. One of them is "Matte" color which is the color of the pixels around your logo (you probably had it white by default). You need to either change it to "none" or if you know the background color where you'll put the logo, choose the "Eye Dropper Color" and use it to pick the background color or choose "other..." and put the RGB values. This way the colors of the pixels around your logo will be exactly the same as the background and the edges will be crisp.
I'm sure this will fix the issue you're having with you logo.
Please let me know if any part of my instruction was not clear and I'll be happy to explain it with more details.

Best regards,

Laith