How to send a logo that engraves cleanly

Send vector art. AI, SVG or EPS. If vector is not an option, send the highest-resolution PNG you have, on a clean background. That is most of the answer. The rest of this is why, and what to fix before you send the file.

The laser has one color and no shades

The engraving is cut into the cup. It is not vinyl and not a sticker, so it will not peel or fade. The laser removes the coating and exposes the metal underneath, so the mark comes out in the color of that metal — the same color as the lid, silver on most cups. You do not choose it. There is no second color and no halftone screen to fake one.

So every part of your logo does one of two things. It engraves, or it doesn't. Nothing lands in between, and that single rule explains every piece of advice below.

What comes out clean

• Solid shapes with hard edges.
• Bold or medium letterforms. Thin display faces get fragile.
• Line art with a consistent stroke weight.
• Marks that still read when you shrink them down small on screen.

A quick test before you send anything: open the file, drop it to a small size, and print it in black on white. If it still reads there, it will read on a cup. The customer photo gallery shows what finished logo work looks like on real orders.

What does not translate

• Gradients. A fade from dark to light has nowhere to go. It flattens to one tone.
• Drop shadows and outer glows. Soft edges are shades. Same problem as gradients — the soft part either becomes solid or disappears.
• Hairlines. Very thin strokes can drop out, and very thin gaps between strokes can close up, once the art is sized to the engraving area.
• Photographs. A photo is thousands of tones. A photo is not a logo, and it will not become one on a cup.
• Color carrying the meaning. If your mark only works because the icon is red and the type is navy, it stops working when both come out the same.
• Type that is already small in the file. A registered-address line or a tagline set in tiny letters under the wordmark is the first thing to go.

Vector beats raster

Vector files — AI, SVG, EPS — are shapes described by math. They scale up or down to whatever the engraving area needs, and the edges stay exactly as sharp as you drew them. Raster files are a fixed grid of pixels. Push one bigger than it was made and the edges soften into a blur.

If raster is all you have, send it at high resolution with a clean background — transparent or plain white, cropped close to the mark. Not a screenshot of the logo sitting on a web page. Not a small file that has been saved as a JPEG enough times to leave mush around the letters.

For bulk and logo work, AI, SVG, EPS or a high-resolution PNG. On a product page the upload field takes .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .svg and .pdf.

Three fixes that solve most files

Ask for the one-color version. Most brands already have one, built for stamps, embroidery or single-color print. That file is already the right shape for a laser. Ask whoever made your logo for it.

Flatten the effects. Turn off the shadow, the glow and the bevel and look at what is left. If the mark falls apart without them, it needs a thicker outline, not an effect.

Cut what is too small to read. A tagline, a founding year, a web address set tiny under the wordmark. Dropping them makes the part people recognize bigger and cleaner.

You see a proof before anything is engraved

Bulk and logo orders have no minimum. You get a price and a digital proof, and nothing goes on the laser until you approve that proof. That is where artwork problems get sorted — if a hairline needs thickening or a tagline needs to come off, you see it and sign off on it first.

Logos go on the same pieces names do: the Frost Buddy Universal beverage holder, the 3-in-1 can cooler, the YETI 20 oz travel mug and the custom engraved Stanley Quencher.

Where to send the file

For one or two pieces, upload on the product page itself. Choose Logo, or Text + Logo if you want a name alongside the mark. Logo mode hides the font grid — your file is the artwork — and sets the engraving to back horizontal. Text + Logo keeps the font list, and keeps the placement choice on the products that offer one, unless you pick Custom Design/Logo from that list. That option goes on back horizontal too.

For anything larger, start with the quote form on the bulk and logo orders page. The form cannot take attachments, so send your artwork by replying to the quote email. That keeps the file on the same thread as the price and the proof. Quote replies usually come within one business day.

If you are not sure your file will hold up, send it anyway and ask. You will know before anything is engraved.