Special File Requirements for Round Button Pins/Badges

Many customers assume that when ordering round button pins, they only need to upload a circular image file, or simply have us cut a circle out of their file. This is actually not the case.

Round button pins are not made by simply printing or applying the design directly onto the surface; there is an additional step involved.

First, a badge pin consists of two parts. The first part is the front: the raised, round section that displays the design. The second part is the back: a round metal plate with a recessed center. If you have a physical badge pin nearby, you can take a closer look at it.

The production process is as follows: first, the design is printed onto a layer of material, which is then glued onto the raised metal front plate. The excess material is folded over the edge and secured in place by the back metal plate.

You may wonder why there is excess material. This is to ensure that not too much metal is visible from the side of the badge, and also to make the whole structure more secure.

So back to our design file requirements -- this is why we add a bleed area around your badge design in the proof. This extra bleed width is the part that will be folded over to the back of the badge!

Therefore, when uploading your file, please let us know which areas you absolutely need to keep. We will add matching colors around them accordingly if there is no extra content around your design. We will also mark this out with a red circle on the proof!