SVG files look sharp at all screen resolutions, have super small file sizes, and can be edited and modified using code. These files are commonly used for website logos to keep the image crisp no matter what device or browser a person is viewing your website on.

What an SVG is & Why You Should be Using it

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) are web-friendly vector images. Files in this format use an XML-based text format to describe how the image should appear. Because text is used to describe the graphic, a SVG file can be scaled to different sizes without losing quality, unlike a PNG or JPG file.

With PNG or JPG files you are restricted to pixels. You would use a PNG file when you require transparency in your images. Transparency in an image requires a large file size. The larger the file size, the slower the graphic is to load. When working with JPG files, you have the choice of quality or compression. More compression gives you a smaller file size, but you lose image quality. SVGs files are just code, which means they can have a smaller file size and a quicker load time.

Currently Squarespace only offers the option to add a .png or .jpg logo file. But there is a workaround! Squarespace doesn’t make it easy, but it is possible. Here’s how you can add an SVG logo to the Logo/Title section of your Squarespace site.

How to Add an SVG Logo to Logo/Title Section of Your Squarespace Website

These instructions may vary depending on the template your website is using. For this example we used the Brine template.

1. Add a Transparent PNG File

Hover over the page title you want to add the SVG to and click edit. Add a transparent PNG that is the same size as your .png or .jpg logo file.

2. Upload SVG*

Upload the SVG file using the link editor.

  1. On any page, select “edit” and add text to the page. You can remove this text later
  2. Highlight the text and select the link icon from the toolbar
  3. Click the gear icon in the URL box
  4. From the pop-up window, select the “File” tab
  5. Click Upload File to select the SVG file from your computer. You can also drag and drop the file into the Upload File area
  6. Once the file has uploaded click Save
  7. In the link editor copy the URL to the SVG. It will look like this /s/file-name.svg**
  8. Click apply

*Looking to turn a JPG or PNG image to an SVG file? Try Adobe Express. 

**In some cases you may need to add the full image URL. It will be much longer and look like this:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/602d8c67675bb40d4f-1b1fcb/t/602e9574f59fb32c9e67195c/1613665652987/file-name.svg

You can find this URL by clicking on the link created above and copying/pasting the full URL from the browser window. 

Now that the SVG file has been uploaded and the URL has been created the linked text can be removed.

3. Add Custom CSS

Back to the Home Menu, select Design, and then Custom CSS.

Insert the following code:

.Header-branding-logo {
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-image: url(PASTE IMAGE URL HERE);
}

Note: If you have the logo set to display in the top centre of the screen you may notice the logo appears slightly off-centre. To fix this you can add this line to the code above:

background-position:center;

The class or ID you are using as a selector will vary based on the template you are using. For this example we used the Brine template and the class is Header-branding-logo. You can find the name of your logo’s class or ID by right-clicking on the logo in your template and selecting Inspect Element.

4. Adjust Size

The SVG file may upload at smaller size. You can adjust the width by going back to the Home Menu, select Design, and then Site Styles. Under Header: Branding there is a slider to increase the logo’s width.

5. Add Mobile Logo

On most templates Squarespace uses a different class or ID to display the logo on mobile. What’s frustrating about this is that Squarespace does not give you the option to upload a mobile logo anywhere on the site so there is no real way of knowing this… until you open your website on mobile and realize your SVG logo is not there.

If you are using a different logo for mobile you’ll need to repeat Step 2 to upload this new logo. If you are using the same logo simply add the mobile class or ID to the Custom CSS you created in Step 3. For the Brine template the mobile class is .Mobile-bar-branding-logo.

.Mobile-bar-branding-logo {
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-image: url(PASTE IMAGE URL HERE);
}

Now your SVG logo will appear in the header of your website! You can rest easy knowing that your logo will look great on any device.