Recently, we’ve received a lot of inquiries from customers who sent us a sketch and expressed their desire to customize enamel pins. However, during our communications, we realized that many of them don’t fully understand the process of customizing pins.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to design, price, and order custom enamel lapel pins from a factory, even if you’re a beginner and only have a rough sketch
Step 1. Prepare Your Enamel Pins Mockup
Formats of Artwork, Jpg, png, Ai, PSD, either is fine.
Designing an enamel pin is not difficult, as there are several design tools available, such as Canva.
Canva
Canva is easy to operate and doesn’t require any technical skills. It allows you to crop images, adjust sizes, add colors, and text, which helps you complete the preliminary design of your badge.
Photoshop
If you have some Photoshop skills, that’s even better. You can use Photoshop to create the design you want. Compared to Canva, it’s more flexible and can be used to create various designs and add various colors.
A Pen With Paper
If you don’t know how to use any drawing tools, that’s okay too. You just need to draw the pattern on paper, add colors, and text. This will give you the initial design of the badge. You can then send it to your badge factory, and they will help you create the design for free.
Enamel Pin Artwork Requirements (Quick Checklist)
If you are new to custom pins, please pay attention to the following:
- The Minimum metal line width ( the separating metal line): around 0.3mm.
- Minimum Color area: You need to avoid tiny colors. The smallest area is around 0.3–0.4 mm at least.
- Text size: Try to keep important text at 5–6 pt or larger on a 1-inch pin so it stays readable.
- No gradients in enamel: soft and hard enamel are solid colors, so NO gradient colors or colors in shadow; if you need gradients, use printed pins instead.
- Simplify details: remove super thin lines and too many tiny elements – they often disappear after plating and polishing.
- Copyright. Pay attention to copyright when designing. Avoid copying others’ original brands to prevent copyright issues.
If you only have a rough sketch, you can send it to us and we’ll turn it into production‑ready enamel pin artwork for free before you order.
Step 2: Choose Badge Type: Hard Enamel Pins OR Soft Enamel Pins
Soft Enamel Pins feel on the surface, with metal lines protruding and the baked painting recessed. They are suitable for all types of badges.
Hard Enamel Pins have a smooth and bright surface. They are of high quality and suitable for 2D badge designs. They are slightly more expensive than soft enamel pins.
We make pins with Iron OR Zinc Alloy. Iron is used for products with regular shapes and no cutout designs. Zinc alloy is used for products with irregular shapes or cut-out designs.
Tell us your budget and how you’ll use the pins (resale, staff, fans), and we’ll recommend the best size and enamel type.
Step 3: Choose Lapel Pins Size
The popular pin sizes are 0.75”, 1“, 1.25”, 1.5“, 1.75” and 2”.
If your badge design is simple and has fewer colors, then a size between 0.75”-1.25″ would be sufficient. If your badge design is complex, consider a larger size to display more details. If you are unsure about the size, you can ask your badge supplier for professional advice.
Step 4: Choose Plating Color
Common lapel pins metal finishes are gold, silver, and black dye. Both baked paint badges and enamel badges can choose these plating colors.
Step 5: Choosing Pin Backs
Options include the butterfly clutch (the most common accessory), rubber backs, safety pins, magnets, U-attachments, and deluxe clutches.
Step 6: Decide on the Quantity of Enamel Pins You Want To Produce
Consider your budget and potential demand. Customizing badges requires opening a mold, so any badge design requires a mold fee for the first order.
Therefore, for small batch customization, the cost will be relatively high. We usually recommend customers to order MOQ: 100PCS/design. When you reorder this design, there will be no mold fee, making the price much lower.
Step 7:Choose Packaging Option
The standard packaging method is individual polybags. For some lapel pins retailers, they usually require backing cards + OPP bag packaging.
Generally, factories have cooperating card factories and can help you order cards.
Step 8: Choose a Factory To Produce Your Enamel Pins
- Research and contact enamel pin manufacturers.
- Request quotes and samples from potential factories.
- Consider factors like production time, quality, and cost when selecting a manufacturer.
Research and contact enamel pin manufacturers, alibaba.com , there are 10,000 suppliers here. you can browse the products and contact them to choose the proper one.
Google to search ” lapel pins manufacture”
OK, Now, there are hundreds of suppliers in front of you. But how to get the proper supplier for your design?
When you compare enamel pin manufacturers, ask the same 4 questions:
- What is the total price for my design at 100, 300, and 500 pcs?
- How long is production time and shipping time to my country?
- Can you show close‑up photos or videos of similar pins you’ve made?
- What happens if some pins arrive damaged or with defects?
You can send a simple email like this:
“Hi, I’d like to make a custom enamel pin. Size: …, quantity: …, soft or hard enamel: …, plating: ….
Could you please send a quote for 100/300/500 pcs, your standard production time, and some photos of similar pins you’ve made?”
You can request quotes and samples from potential factories, and it is FREE. Consider factors like production time, quality, and cost when selecting a manufacturer. Once you’ve decided on the design, size, quantity, and plating color, you can contact the factory to start production.
If you’re customizing pins for the first time, you may be concerned about the quality, delivery time, and their service. If you need a sample, they are also willing to send it to you.
As a pin manufacturer, here is my sincere advice: When choosing a factory, don’t just focus on the price. The price not only represents the product but also represents the value that the supplier can provide to you, such as design, professional service, stable delivery, free samples, and high quality.
Every Price has its meaning, and it’s hard to get high-quality products and good service at a low price. We have been in the industry for 15 years, and have seen too many good things and bad things in the field.
How Much Does It Cost to Make Enamel Pins?
For most soft enamel lapel pins, a typical starting order is around 100 pcs.
Depending on size, plating, and design complexity, 100 pcs usually costs about $150-$230.
Standard production time is about 10–18 days after you approve the artwork, plus shipping.
A small defect rate (for example under 3–5%) is normal in metal products; a good factory will remake or credit any serious quality issues.
If you send us your design and quantity, we can confirm an exact price and lead time for your project.
Conclusion
After reading the article, do you know how to customize the lapel pins? If you need any help on lapel pins design, or to make your own lapel pins. welcome to reach out. We are happy to add value to your business, no matter you work with us or NOT.
