Engrave, mark, print or emboss: how do you put a logo on a product?

The right way to put a logo on a product depends on three things: what the product is made of, whether the logo needs colour, and how much handling it will take. Laser engraving and marking last longest, UV and silk screen printing carry your brand colours, and a 3D printed logo is part of the object itself.

There is no minimum order. Every method below starts from one piece, so you can try one before you order a batch. Still choosing how to make the product itself? See which making technology your project needs.

Every logo method at a glance

One tone means the laser shows the logo in whatever colour the material turns, such as frosted white on clear acrylic or bright steel through a coated tumbler.

Not sure which row is yours? Send a photo of the item

Laser engraving: a logo that lasts

Laser engraving cuts the logo a little way into the surface, so you can feel its edge and it cannot peel, fade or wash off. Choose it for anything handled every day: tumblers, bottles, keychains, tools, plaques and leather goods. The colour comes from the material, not from ink: wood darkens, clear acrylic turns frosted white, and on a coated tumbler the bare steel shows through.

See everything we engrave on our laser engraving and cutting page. Buying one personal gift? Our engraving shop engraves a bottle, keychain or luggage tag, and you see it before you pay.

Laser marking: a clean mark on metal parts

Laser marking heats stainless steel or aluminium just enough to change its colour, without cutting into it. The mark is dark, crisp and flush with the surface, so there is no groove for dirt and no lost sealing face. Choose it for logos, part numbers and serial numbers on working parts, where each part can get its own number from your list.

The full comparison is in laser engraving vs laser marking.

UV printing: full colour and photos

UV printing lays full-colour ink, plus white, straight onto the item and hardens it under ultraviolet light in seconds. It is the method for a logo in its real colours, a photo or a gradient. It needs a flat or gently curved face, and it prints on acrylic and 3D printed parts. Ink sits on the surface, so a piece rubbed every day is better engraved.

More on our UV printing service, or read what UV printing is for the details.

Send your artwork and we tell you how it will come out

Silk screen: crisp colours for repeat runs

Silk screen printing pushes ink through a fine mesh screen, one screen for each colour. It gives solid, crisp spot colours that wear well, and it suits a logo in one to a few colours that stays the same across a run. It is a standard service of ours, and it starts from one piece, though the cost per piece drops as the run grows. Full colour photos and gradients belong to UV printing instead.

Send us the logo, the item and how many

A 3D printed logo: part of the object

A logo can be modelled straight into a 3D printed part, raised (embossed) or sunken (debossed), and it prints with the rest of the piece. Nothing is added, so nothing can come off. It shows in the part’s own colour, or in a second colour on a multi-colour print. Very fine text may need to be made a little bigger to print cleanly.

Our guide to logos on your 3D prints has the smallest text sizes for each process.

Logo already in the model? Get an instant quote

Laser cut lettering: the logo as the sign

For a sign or a wall logo, the logo itself can be laser cut out of acrylic or wood, then fixed to a wall, a panel or a plaque. Cut acrylic has clean, polished edges, and it can be painted in your brand colour after a primer.

See laser cutting, or design your own on our acrylic sign page.

Paint and plating: brand colour or real metal

Spray paint gives a 3D printed logo, sign or part your exact brand colour, matched to a Pantone code, always over a primer so it grips and stays smooth. Electroplating coats a printed part in real chrome, gold or copper, for a logo or trophy that should look and feel like metal. Plating softens very fine detail, so it suits bold shapes better than small text.

Both are on our colour and finishing page. Read more on finishing options and electroplating 3D prints.

Tell us your colour and finish

Sand blasting and debossing: ask us first

We also sand blast and deboss logos. Sand blasting gives a frosted, matte design, and debossing presses the design into the surface. Both depend heavily on the item, so they are quoted job by job: send us a photo of the item and the logo before you plan around them.

We do almost anything else too. Ask us, and if we can’t, we’ll tell you.

Ask us about your item

Logos on corporate gifts

For staff and client gifts, the method follows the gift: engraving for tumblers, bottles and keychains, UV printing for a full-colour logo on acrylic, and a 3D printed piece when the gift itself is in your brand’s shape. We make customised corporate gifts from one piece to a full batch.

Cost: what moves the price

The method, the logo’s size, the number of colours and the quantity move the price most. A logo modelled into a part you are already printing adds very little, and plating is the most involved finish. Starting prices are on our pricing page, and the instant quote prices a 3D printed part straight away.