Saving a logo: this should be easy... : Adobe illustrator

I have created a simple black logo with transparent areas. I need it to be scaleable (vector?)

I have tried several ways of saving it. As a jpeg it looks great on paper. Then I tried to paste it into another Illustrator design as part of a full color masthead for a newsletter. It did not scale down well and looked "thick".

It needs to be available in any size and needs to look good in print as well as web: from a small letterhead size to a huge banner.

I have been using an easy little program called Paint Shop Pro and am used to it. I am switching over to Illustrator and it has me flustered.

I am finding a lot of theory and explanation regarding formats, but no actual info on what to do and how to do it for what I need.

Please help.

When you draw with outlines and fill in colors in Illustrator it is a vector drawing (scaleable). When you save as a JPG it becomes a pixel (like Paint or Photoshop).

If you have text in a logo, select all and convert text to outlines. They are then vectors as well. (Always save a copy of your original so you can go back to edit it if you need to in the future.)
The vector AI/PDF can be scaled for huge banners as well as small letterheads.

In Illustrator CS3:
Save the Illustrator file as AI.
Save As to save file as PDF.
Save As EPS (select a version 9 or 10 as many people don't have later versions and can't access the later EPS).

File/export to 300ppi RGB for high resolution JPG/PSD/PNG for use in RGB based programs. PNG is best for transparency in Microsoft applications including Word. Some people also save as Metafile.

The AI or PDF or EPS can be placed in many programs.

If your later re-sizing your Illy vector object and notice things become un-scalled from each other (in other words certain bits become to thick or thin etc) then you need to make sure you have "Scale Strokes and effects" switched on. This can be done from within the preferences or from the Transform box (click on the little arrow in the top right), if it's got a tick it's on, no tick it's off.

Be aware raster effects that aren't actually rastered, for example virtually everything under "effect" will only have a limit to where it will work, for example (at least in the CS2) you could only go so big and only so small before the effect itself won't get any smaller or just disapears. In this case I always re-set the object to it's designed size and then go Object>Expand (for objects) / Expand Appearance (for effects). That lets you re-size it to your hearts content, you sometimes get some screen artifacts, but when they are exported/printed they don't appear.

Regards
Paul

Here's something that alot of "newbies" don't know about Illustrator... there is a preview mode (color) and a mode that you can look at your vector (line) art. press Control and the "Y" key - I'm sure it's in the menu bar as well... under the VIEW heading it's called OUTLINE - hope this helps you figure out Illustrators vector art capabilities.