# Preparing a logo PNG for a FiveM sign

> Alpha, contrast, size and aspect: what makes a server logo cut cleanly into real 3D geometry instead of turning into a rectangle on the hillside.

Source: https://fam-tools.com/guides/prepare-a-logo-png-for-fivem · FAM Tools · published 2026-10-12 · updated 2026-10-12 · about 8 min

**Short answer.** Export a PNG with a real alpha channel, no background rectangle and no soft outer glow, around 1000 pixels on the long edge. Wide logos suit a hill sign best; the editor trims empty margins for you.

## Key points

- Transparency is the outline. A logo on a white box becomes a box.
- Drop shadows and outer glows blur the edge the tracer follows — export a flat version.
- 1000 px on the long edge is plenty; the board texture renders at 512 px tall.
- Wide beats square on a ridge: a 3:1 banner fills it, a square badge gets tall.

Uploading a logo to the banner creator turns it into real geometry: the outline is traced from the transparency and extruded, so holes in your logo are genuinely open and you can see the hillside through them. That only works if the file you upload has an outline to trace.

## Use a real alpha channel

The editor traces the transparency of your image to find the shape. If your logo sits on a white or black rectangle, the rectangle is the shape — you will get a slab with your logo printed on it rather than cut-out letters.

Export from your editor with the background layer hidden, as a 32-bit PNG. If you only have a JPEG, there is no alpha channel at all and no amount of processing invents one; redraw it or ask whoever made it for the source.

> **Checkerboard is not transparency** — Some editors show a checkerboard preview while still exporting a flattened background. Open the exported file in a viewer that shows transparency as transparency — or drag it onto a browser tab — before uploading.

## Avoid soft edges

Drop shadows, outer glows and heavy feathering all blur the boundary between opaque and transparent. The tracer has to pick a threshold somewhere in that gradient, which gives you a slightly bloated, slightly wobbly outline.

Export a version with those effects turned off. The sign gets its own glow from the neon treatment anyway, and it will be a much cleaner one than a baked-in Photoshop glow seen from two kilometres away.

## Size and aspect

Anything above about 1000 pixels on the long edge is plenty — the board texture is rendered at 512 pixels tall, so a 4000 px export only makes the upload slower.

Aspect ratio matters more than resolution. A sign is a wide object: a 3:1 banner fills the ridge the way the stock letters do, while a square badge ends up as tall as it is wide and uses only a couple of support columns. If your logo is square, consider setting it beside your server name rather than using it alone.

The editor trims empty margins automatically, so you do not need to crop tightly before uploading. It also scales the result to fill the board, which is why a logo with a lot of built-in padding comes out smaller than you expected — crop the padding, not the logo.

| Logo shape | What it looks like on the hill |
| --- | --- |
| 3:1 or wider | Fills the ridge, reads from across the map — best case |
| 2:1 | Comfortable, a little shorter than the stock letters |
| 1:1 square | Tall and narrow; strong close up, harder to read at distance |
| Taller than wide | Works, but the frame has to grow upward — check it at street level |

## Fine detail and thin lines

Remember the sign is read from a long way off. Hairline strokes, one-pixel outlines and small text inside a logo all survive the trace but disappear at distance, and they add geometry for nothing.

If your logo has a detailed emblem and a wordmark, the wordmark is usually the part worth putting on the hill. The emblem reads better on a smaller surface — a billboard in town, or beside a spawn point.

> **Check it in the editor before you buy** — The preview is the build. Upload, look at it from the street view and the distant view, and if the detail vanishes you have lost nothing — the editor is free until you export.

## Colour

The logo keeps its own colours by default, and the neon treatment adds emission on top. A very dark logo gets most of its visibility from the glow rather than from the fill, which can look washed out at night and invisible at noon.

If your brand colour is dark, the usual answer is to let the editor recolour the logo with your palette for the sign and keep the dark version for everything else. It is the same logo, read at a distance it was never drawn for.

## Questions

### What file format should I upload for a FiveM logo sign?

A PNG with a real alpha channel. SVG, JPEG and flattened PNGs either have no transparency or get traced as a rectangle.

### How big should the logo file be?

About 1000 pixels on the long edge is more than enough. The board texture is rendered at 512 pixels tall, so anything larger is only upload time.

### My logo is square. Can I still use it?

Yes, but it will be a tall object rather than a wide one. Pairing it with your server name usually looks better on a ridge than the badge alone.

### Do transparent areas really show the hill through them?

Yes. The outline is extruded into actual geometry, so holes in the logo are holes in the sign.

## Related

- https://fam-tools.com/guides/install-a-custom-vinewood-sign
- https://fam-tools.com/guides/fivem-texture-optimization
- https://fam-tools.com/guides/brand-your-server-map
- https://fam-tools.com/guides/fivem-custom-props
- https://fam-tools.com/guides/ymap-vs-script-signs