Preparing Your Logo & Artwork for Engraving and Printing
The cleaner your artwork, the better your award, medal or badge comes out — and the fewer back-and-forth proofs it takes. A few simple things (the right file type, outlined text and your brand colours) make production faster and the result sharper.
Vector files are best for engraving and cutting
For laser engraving, laser cutting and pin dies, a vector file (AI, EPS, PDF or SVG) is ideal because it scales to any size without losing sharpness. If you only have a logo in a document or on your website, tell us — we can often clean it up or advise what's needed.
High-resolution files for full-colour printing
For UV-printed acrylic and printed badges, a high-resolution image (PNG, JPG or TIFF, ideally 300 dpi at final size) reproduces colour and detail well. Low-resolution logos pulled from a website often look soft or pixelated when printed larger, so send the best version you have.
Single-colour vs full-colour
Engraving on metal and crystal is single-colour by nature (an etched or laser mark), so a logo that relies on colour may need a one-colour version. UV-printed acrylic and printed pins and badges reproduce full colour — if brand colour is important, that route is usually better.
Outline your text and note your fonts
If your design includes text, converting it to outlines or curves (or telling us the font) avoids the wrong font being substituted during production. This matters most for names, titles and taglines that must read exactly right.
Share your brand colours
Give us your brand colour references — for example a Pantone number or a hex code — so printed and enamel colours are matched to your brand rather than approximated. Sending these upfront avoids a colour-correction round later.
Frequently asked questions
What artwork format should I send?
A vector file (AI, EPS, PDF or SVG) is best for engraving and cutting; a high-resolution PNG, JPG or TIFF works for full-colour printing. If you only have a small or low-res logo, send it anyway and we'll advise.
My logo is only on our website — is that enough?
It can be a starting point, but website images are often low-resolution. We can often clean it up or recreate it as a vector — tell us and we'll let you know what we need.
Can you print my logo in full colour?
Full colour reproduces well on UV-printed acrylic and printed pins and badges. Metal and crystal engraving is single-colour, so a colour logo may need a one-colour version for those.
How do I make sure the colours match our brand?
Send your brand colour references (Pantone or hex) with the artwork and we'll match printed and enamel colours to them rather than guessing.