Touch of Wood Custom Laser Engraving

 Small Items With Text

The cost for engraving pens, pencils, boxes and similar items is scaled to the total number of lines of text in the order. The Minimum order is $10 unless otherwise noted, Shipping and Handling are additional.

1 to 9 lines, $2.25 per line of text.
10 to 99 lines, $2.00 per line of text.
100 lines & above, $1.75 per line of
text.

Most logos on pens, pencils and boxes may be engraved at the same price rates. The image must be oversized on clean, glossy paper (no faxes), or on an PC compatible 3 1/2" floppy disk or CD-ROM or DVD ( bmp, gif, jpg, tiff- (PC format only, no MAC files please).

Complex or highly detailed images turn into meaningless blobs when reduced to the size necessary to fit on a pen barrel, keep this in mind when designing your logo or graphic.

Images that need to be digitally enhanced will be billed at the rate of $50 per hour.

Shipping & Handling Rates

Due to recent rate changes and the method by which the United States Postal Service calculates Postal Rates, it has become necessary for Touch of Wood to include Shipping Zone and Shipping Rate Charts to our Order Form. Please use the Order Form and Rate Charts to organize your order and compute the Shipping Charges. You will need Adobe Reader to open the Order Form PDF file. We apologize for any inconvenience.

How to Prepare Your Order

1. If possible, do not assemble your pens, pencils or other items to be engraved. We can engrave partially or fully assembled pieces but much more care is required by us so as not to damage your item in the engraving process. (Weight becomes an issue as well as the weight of larger quantities add to the shipping costs quickly). Send each turned, polished and finished barrel in a separate bag (zip lock bags work well) with a note indicating the text and font style for that barrel and whether it is the upper or lower barrel. Stick a piece of tape, (masking tape works well), to the pen barrel at the location to be engraved. Mark a number on the tape that matches a number on the instructions for that piece and draw an arrow that points from left to right, (the same direction we read), for the proper orientation over the area to be engraved.

2. If applicable, draw a diagram indicating the placement of the engraving. Examples would be for a box or an assembled pen or pencil. We really are lousy at guessing, so help us out!

3. Specify whether you want a block or script style font style. Requests for a specific font will be honored if at all possible. Indicate if you want the engraving done for color filling. Engraving for color filling is deeper than engraving that isn't going to be filled.

4. When sending artwork to be scanned, remember that a good, clean, oversized original will give the best results. We can scan images up to 8 1/2" x 11". For signatures, please send originals in black ink (no photocopies). Signatures will be sized for the best visual result.

5. Please include a daytime phone number and an E-mail address so that we may reach you if we have any questions.

6.Include any additional instructions; there can never be too much information!

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                Other Types of Orders...

Above; Custom Laser Engraved Wood and Plastic Switch Plate, Using a Clip Art Image.

We can use a wide range of media for laser engraving. We can use digital files; jpg, tiff (windows only), cad files- dwg for laser cutting (see Custom Laser Cutting), word document files, clip art and we can scan documents such as; wedding announcements, invitations, original art up to 8-1/2" X 11" and more!

Laser Engraved Photographs

We have produced beautiful results with laser engraving photographs on to wood, Leather, Marble and Mat Board.

Below; Laser engraved photo from a digital camera on an 5" X7" Wood Plaque.

 Image files need to be 250 dpi resolution. The TIF File Format for Windows is the preferred raster image file type as the image is not compressed and retains the best and cleanest image for our use.

Clean, White Glossy Paper prints may be a color or Black & White photograph, sharply focused with good contrast, ( a good picture). We can not scan from textured stock, the scanned image will show the surface texture, unless this is the affect you desire.

The wood you supply needs to have the surface sealed prior to laser engraving or cutting. The laser process produces a smoky residue that will stain the wood if the surface is not sealed. You may apply your finish coats once you receive the engraved pieces. Any thing that will seal the wood will work, wax, lacquer, stain or paint are all acceptable.

Photographs to be scanned must be clean, undamaged on white glossy paper. Fingerprints, stains, tears and smudges or tinted paper stock will be picked up when we scan the image.

We recommend at least a 3 1/2" x 5" glossy picture for a 5" x 7" laser engraved photograph, 4" x 6" glossy photograph for an 8" x 10" or larger laser engraved photograph. The ideal glossy photograph for laser engraving any size photograph is 8" x 10". A poor picture or picture that is to be greatly enlarged will not produce the best quality laser engraved photograph.

I can use either a color or Black & White image or digital image. A digital image file needs to have a resolution of 250 DPI. The file will be too large to E-mail, please either send the file on a CD or a print on glossy paper that I can than scan in. The actual engraved image will be the same as a Black & White photo, only laser engraved in to the wood. The way it work is this; White will be the surface of the image, black will engrave the deepest with 256 steps for the shades between white and black.

If the subject is mainly dark tones, then the image will mostly burned in and will make it harder to see the image. You want enough light tones in the image so main subject stands out against the background.

A very busy image, like somebody standing among a grove of pine trees, would make it hard to pick out the subject because of all the background detail in the trees, the subject gets kind of blended in to the background.

Light on light or dark on dark do not usually work well either, you need contrast between the main subject and the background. For a person, the photo should be well exposed, front lit and in sharp focus. Side lighting produces a shadow on one side of the face and looks like a mask when laser engraved. The subject should be front lit with even lighting and not in shade so the subject stands out from the background.

The photograph needs to be well exposed, sharply focused, with good contrast between the subject and the background. The subject should be front lit with even lighting and not in shade so the subject stands out from the background.

Please instruct us as to the important area of the photograph to be laser engraved, we may need to crop the image to size for laser engraving.

Signatures must be provided on glossy paper in black ink and twice the size to be laser engraved.

 We are capable of laser engraving and laser cutting a wide range of materials, including; Acrylic, Anodized Aluminum, Coated Metals, Composites, Fiber Glass, Glass, Laminated Plastics, Leather, Mat Board, Nylon, Plastic, Stone, Veneer, Wood and more.

Ordering

 Our Order Form has charts to calculate Shipping Rates and is available as a Adobe PDF file. You will need Adobe Reader or a program that will open the PDF file to view and print the forms.

Touch Of Wood accepts checks, money orders or bank checks, Visa, Master Card and Discover credit cards. Make checks payable to Touch Of Wood.

Materials to be engraved must be accompanied by clear, detailed instructions for engraving.

In order to provide you with the best result, please follow these instructions for your engraving order. Accurate and complete instructions are necessary to us so we may process your order.

Our only question now is, "How may we help you?"

E-mail any questions, concerns or suggestions you have to; touchofwood@touchofwood.com

I accept walk in orders or mail your order to;
Touch Of Wood, 662 Center St., Manchester, CT 06040

We will be happy to quote your project free.