How to Choose the Right Engraving Style for Your Design
By Seb Dorris, 11 min reading time
When it comes to personalization, what you engrave is just as important as how your design is showcased.
After 17 years in the customization business, we've developed 4 key ways to best showcase your designs based on wood selection, the complexity of your design, and which product you're looking to add a personalized engraving to.
The 4 Best Engraving Styles
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Text Engraving
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Logo Engraving
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Logo Inlay
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Premium Engraving
Let's start with option 1 - Text Engraving.
This one might seem self explanatory, but just in case we've taken the time to properly describe each one.
WHAT IT IS: If you're looking to engrave initials, a Monogram, someone's Name, a Short Message, or any combination thereof - we recommend going with a text based engraving.
HOW TO SET UP YOUR ENGRAVING WHEN YOU ORDER: When placing your order, we've simplified the process directly on our product page.
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- Step 1 - Select "Engrave Text"
- Step 2 - Enter in what you'd like engraved in the text box
- If you'd like your engraving broken up into multiple lines, label them with "L1" (line 1), "L2" (line 2), and "L3" (line 3). Most small products can engrave 2 lines of text at max, while larger products can hold up to 5 or 6 lines of text.
- If you'd like your engraving to go in a specific place, you can either email us with your order info to provide us more specific engraving details, or include a note in the text box itself.
- Step 3 - Select which font you'd like us to use via the font dropdown window. All products have a "font choices" image which will show you what the font looks like!
- Step 4 - Place your order, give us a week and sit back and relax
HOW MUCH TEXT CAN I ENGRAVE? :
| Pens | 2 lines of text |
| Bottle Openers | 3 lines of text |
| Bottle Opener Keychains | 2 lines of text |
| Flasks | 3 lines of text |
| Coasters | 2 lines of text, or a short stylized quote |
| Bookmarks | 3 lines of text |
| Pocket Notebooks | 3 lines of text |
| Lined Paper Journals | 5 lines of text |
| Prompted Journals | We only allow the name and title of the journal to be changed at this time. |
| Dog Tags | 2 lines of text |
Now on to option 2 - Logo Engraving.
This option is best suited for detailed logos and designs, or text based logos. It allows the logos to come out crisp and detailed on nearly any wood you can choose.
WHEN TO USE IT: If you're looking to have a specialized design, text or image based logo, we recommend using this option 90% of the time.
HOW TO SET UP YOUR ENGRAVING WHEN YOU ORDER: When placing your order, follow the steps below.
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- Step 1 - Select "Engrave Logo"
- Step 2 - Upload your logo via the image uploader
- 20MB max file size
- Please only upload the following file types: PDF, PSD, AI, SVG, EPS, JPEG, JPG or PNG
- All logos & artwork submitted must be black against a white or empty background & be crisp in order for us to get you the best engraving quality.
- Step 3 - Place your order, give us time to craft it, and sit back and relax!
- Email us at info@appletreellc.net for quotes on turnaround times for larger orders
The secret third option - Logo Inlay.
We call it our secret option because as of this writing, it hasn't been officially listed as an 'engraving option' just yet as the circumstances around when to choose this option are a little bit more nuanced.
WHAT IS IT, EXACTLY: When we inlay your logo, we are essentially recreating your logo through a combination of cutting your logo out in and then filling that space with either a small badge with your logo engrave on it (see Dickies example), or recreating your logo entirely using 2 different wood styles (see Comcast example).
WHEN TO USE IT: "Why is it a secret? These look so cool!" Listen, we know. We love inlaid designs and logos - it creates really lovely contrast between the woods and helps elevate your designs in such a beautiful way we could cry. Unfortunately, not every design can be inlaid without costing you a lot of money on labor, and us a lot of tears and time spent making adjustments to your design in order to be able to offer it to you as an inlay.
We recommend asking if we can inlay your design if you are looking to engrave a text based logo on something small like a bottle opener keychain, OR if you have a simple design or simple logo that you'd like to really embellish the look of.
Note that we also CANNOT inlay your logo on pens at this time. I know. We're sad about it too.
HOW TO SET UP YOUR ENGRAVING WHEN YOU ORDER: This is currently a special request option that requires direct back and forth with our team, so the process of ordering is a bit different.
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- Step 1 - Decide which product your logo would look the best on
- Step 2 - Email us at info@appletreellc.net
- Include your logo file, how many you'd like to order, and if you have a "need by" date tell us that too
- Tell us which product you're interested in having your logo inlaid on.
- Step 3 - After a design is submitted to you and approved, we will email you an invoice through our website. Once you complete payment, your specialty order will be crafted and shipped out within 2 weeks time. Note that this option is an additional $20 on top of the cost of the product.
Last but not least, option 4 - Premium Engraving.
If you've read through all these options and said to yourself "ok, but what if I want to engrave my logo AND text?", guess what - this option is for you.
Sometimes called the "Premium Double Sided" option (like on Etsy), when you select this option we will engrave both your logo and text on whichever product you choose. Typically, this means that your logo is engraved on one side of the product, and your text is engraved on the other side of it. Notable exceptions include pocket notebooks, notebooks, boxes, and coasters (coasters are split 50/50 - half with your logo, half with the text).
WHAT IS IT, EXACTLY: Premium engravings allow you to put a logo or design on one half of the product (the front, usually), and then either do something like add the name of your employee on the back (such as on a Narrator Pen or bottle opener), or in the bottom corner on the front of the product (such as a journal).
WHEN TO USE IT: Select this option if you'd like to engrave both text and either a logo or custom design on your order.
HOW TO SET UP YOUR ENGRAVING WHEN YOU ORDER:
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- Step 1 - Select "Premium Engraving - Text + Logo"
- Step 2 - Input your text in the text box
- If you'd like your engraving broken up into multiple lines, label them with "L1" (line 1), "L2" (line 2), and "L3" (line 3). Most small products can engrave 2 lines of text at max, while larger products can hold up to 5 or 6 lines of text.
- If you'd like your engraving to go in a specific place, you can either email us with your order info to provide us more specific engraving details, or include a note in the text box itself.
- Step 3 - Select which font you'd like us to use from the dropdown menu.
- Step 4 - Upload your logo via the file uploader.
- 20MB max file size
- Please only upload the following file types: PDF, PSD, AI, SVG, EPS, JPEG, JPG or PNG
- All logos & artwork submitted must be black against a white or empty background & be crisp in order for us to get you the best engraving quality.
- Step 5 - Place your order, give us about 1 to 2 weeks, and sit back and relax!
Hopefully now that you've reached the end you've got a more complete understanding of each of the available options when it comes to personalization for your orders. If you still have questions, we're happy to help you out! Don't hesitate to reach out to us via email at info@appletreellc.net or by filling out the contact form.
Cheers & Happy Gifting!
Seb at AppleTree Co.
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