Engraving & Personalization
Any metal buckle or tag is eligible for engraving.
Our buckles and tags are engraved with a diamond-tipped CNC machine, never a laser! Laser engraving is used by nearly all other collar companies - lasers are inexpensive but only burn the top surface coating of buckles. This etching often wears off the buckle in a short time. Our engraver physically removes metal and surface coating to provide a longer-lasting, professional engraving when compared to laser-etched products.
Aluminum is Soft!
While our engraving process is vastly superior to most "laser etched" products on the market, care should still be taken to protect your items, in particular aluminum buckles and tags. Aluminum is strong and lightweight, which makes it ideal for pet collars, but it is a softer metal so it can be damaged by repeated contact with materials harder than itself (concrete, tile, other metals, etc).
Prevention is Key
The easiest way to do this is to avoid hanging metal objects near your buckle/tag! Hanging tags, lights, and other gizmos that swing or rub against engraved buckles will inevitably cause premature wear and tear. Instead, fasten these items at the adjustment slide or a mini tag ring so they cannot make contact with your buckle. Similarly, if you wash your engraved item, protect it by placing it inside a garment bag or a sock so it doesn't get beat up in the washer/dryer.
Additional Protection
If you anticipate a lot of wear to your buckle or tag, a clear coat product may help prolong the life and increase legibility. Household products like clear nail polish, Mod Podge, heavy duty clear packing tape, or similar products can be applied to your tag/buckle surface - be sure to follow the directions on the product you use and wait until it is fully cured before putting it on your dog.
Engraving notes and recommendations
- Text is hand-formatted for every item - engraved items on separate orders/placed at different times may differ from one another.
- An average line length of 10-15 characters is ideal
- 3/8" buckles are not available in metal and therefore cannot be engraved.
- Small 5/8" or 3/4" buckles look best with just 2 or 3 lines. Click here for full resolution example image.
- Large 1" buckles look best with 4 or less lines. Click here for full resolution example image.
- Extra large 1.5" buckles look great with up to 8 short lines. These buckles are taller than they are wide, so multiple short lines fit much better than fewer long lines.
- An average line length of 10-15 characters is ideal
- 3/8” tags look best with 3 lines or less.
- 5/8" or 3/4" tags look best with just 4 lines or less.
- 1" tags look best with 5 lines or less.
- 1.5" tags look great with up to 8 lines.
- Thin, basic fonts work best with long lines of text or very small buckles and tags. Avoid choosing blocky, bold, or script fonts if you need a lot of information on your buckle or tag.
- Script fonts are not recommended on 5/8" buckles with more than 2 lines of text for legibility reasons.
View full resolution Font image here
Other:
- These are our professional recommendations - ultimately we will engrave what you type in the note box, so please be sure to CHECK YOUR SPELLING and avoid writing a novel :)
- There will be *no refunds or exchanges* on engraved items. All sales are final on personalized items. You may request up to 2 digital proofs for no extra charge. Please include a message in the note box at checkout, or send us an email when you place your order. Proofs will not be sent unless requested. Customer MUST approve the proof before we will proceed with the order. Proofs are not available on any Boomerang tags.
- We reserve the right to make small changes to your text for balance and legibility reasons. If we need to change anything drastically, we will send you a message first. Please be sure to check your email (and spam folder) for messages from us.
Graphics
We can engrave simple graphics on Jingle Free Tags, however they do require extra space and additional formatting considerations, so please reach out to us to inquire. Below you'll see examples of the graphics we currently have. Click here for a full resolution image.
We engrave all our items in-house with the exception of stainless tags "by Boomerang". These are engraved in California and are only available in the color and font shown - no customization or proofs are available on items marked "by Boomerang".