3 Hints for Effective Logo Laser Engraving

(3-4 min read)

     These hints will reduce your time and costs when requesting laser engraving.  They will also help ensure you receive the highest quality service.

Provide Logo in Black and White

     The laser engraver works best with clear crisp edges.  A highly sensitive machine, the laser will interpret any blurred lines and attempt to engrave them exactly as they appear.  Here is a colour logo we received for custom wood jewellery displays.  You can see that the full logo appears crisp and clear.  However, when you zoom into the design, the artwork is blurred and not well defined.

     See the marked difference in clarity using a black and white logo.  This is not greyscale but 1-bit black and white.  This image will provide much better results when engraved.

Provide Corporate Approved Font

     Most logos also have some text included with their design.  This could be the name of the business, a tag line, or some other information.  In order to maintain and enhance your brand, it is best to provide the name of the font used and the TTF or OTF file, especially if your font is uncommon or unique to your company.

     Here is an example of a colour logo with text that we received and converted to black and white for engraving.  The lack of crisp edges on the trees does not significantly impact the engraving.  However, when we look closely at the font, we can see it will be a distorted engrave.  The top line of text is directly from logo image, the bottom line of text is typed using the corporate font.  The directly typed text will offer a much cleaner engrave.

Provide Branding Rules if Any

     If your organization has rules on how their logo and name are to appear, please send them when requesting engraving.  This will reduce your time and costs involved during the review and approval of mock ups.  This will also give an engraver a guideline for creating the best possible image for you.

     For example, here are branding rules received for engraving JW Marriott table signs.  Note there are requirements for both logo and font.

     Your engraver may have their own requirements when it comes to providing text and logos for engraving.  These three tips remain constant.

• The crisper the original image, the better the engrave.
• Providing your font will result in better engraving of text.
• Sharing your branding rules will speed up the process and reduce overall cost in design.

                If you have any questions about engraving, let us know.  We'll be happy to answer them.