Marking simulator & personalised tool recommendation
Choose the material and size, upload your artwork: this first automatic preview does not replace the proof our technicians produce, for your approval, after ordering.
Your recommended tool will appear here
Preview simulator, instructions
The simulator accepts all common image formats (PNG, JPG, etc.) and vectorises your artwork automatically. But the quality of the final preview depends directly on the quality of the source file. A few pointers for a usable result:
- A line drawing (logo, silhouette, typography) gives a much better result than a photo or an image with gradients: physical marking is monochrome, and vectorisation cannot reproduce colours or shades of grey.
- Favour sharp contrast: dark artwork on a light background (or the reverse, provided you tick “Invert artwork”, see below), with no intermediate grey areas.
- Evenly thick strokes, spaced far enough apart, prevent the artwork from closing up or disappearing once scaled down to the chosen marking size.
- Avoid solid shapes containing knocked-out text or artwork (what’s called a “reverse/negative” design): depending on the material, this type of preview is hard to reproduce faithfully. Tick “Outline only” to keep only the stroke of the artwork (no fill): it’s often more elegant and lets the material show through better, especially for metal.
- Use the size slider to check the readability of your artwork at the actual marking size before validating.
How do I know if I should tick “Invert artwork”?
Look at your source artwork: if the subject to be marked is drawn in a dark colour on a light background, leave the box unticked (default setting). If it’s the opposite (light subject on a dark background), tick it. You can also simply generate a first preview and tick the box if the result comes out inverted.
Use your browser’s zoom and a ruler to match the indicated dimension with the actual size you want.
Finally, this preview does not replace the proof you approve after placing your order.