5 easy steps – Please watch our video:

•   Prepare your artwork - see artwork specs and tips BELOW
• Determine your Detail Level and Size/Shape of your die appropriate for your artwork
•  Place your order
•   Email your artwork to shop@nostalgicimpressions.com
• Await our confirmation with our comments

·         Orders are not final until you receive our re-confirmation and you have approved your final proof

We do it the old fashioned way! Our Custom Wax Seals are hand to machine rotary engraved   with excellent detail, creating rich impressions in your finished Custom Wax Seal! We offer our 25 years of engraving experience-each design is hand templated and then transferred to our engraving machine. Our Engravers are truly artisans, not just engravers, and they hand control the engraving to achieve the best result in the metal for a dimensional look that translates well into wax. Therefore, the level of detail in your artwork translates directly to the time it takes to engrave each stamp, which sometimes can take well over an hour for intricate artwork, in addition to the prep work involved. Therefore, high detail artwork has a higher cost than low detail artwork, and is simply a function of the artwork that you provide.

 You will find that if there are any issues with your artwork or improvements are needed, that we will take our time to make these recommendations to you, rather than just engraving artwork that may not be what you ultimately had hoped for. Therefore our process may not be the fastest, but it will result in a superior product.

 Over the years we have created many beautiful custom stamps for a great variety of clients- from  all types of individuals & professionals to corporate giants, movie studios, TV producers, retail stores and more.

***In rare circumstances some of the artworks on the largest die may be such high detail that your art may be subject to an additional fee based on unusual engraving time.

Please find a template here of all the die sizes we offer. Please view this document at 100% in Adobe pdf. When printing, do not shrink to fit.. This will give you an indication of what the actual die size will look like.

 
For multiple wax seal stamps (2-10 pcs) of the same artwork, we can offer some savings as the prep time is done only once. Please send us your artwork for a quotation.

 For orders of 10 pcs or more of the same design it may be possible to digitize your art, the cost of which will reduce the overall cost of your stamp. However, it typically is not feasible unless it is at least 10 stamps or more. Please request a quotation and send along your artwork.

For corporate design orders of 200 or more stamps, it may be possible to produce your design through a different process, creating a custom die at a substantially reduced cost per seal. However, there are certain limitations to die size and artwork specs. Please feel free to contact us for a specific quote.

We offer Wood Handles in a variety of options, including Brown, Black and Natural. All Custom Wax Seals are packed in a special Pillow style box with instructions for use.

Our normal Production time is 5-7 Business Days from the approval of your artwork. A Rush Fee can expedite this process to reduce the time frame to 3-4 Business Days. Please place any orders for Custom Stamps with Rush Fees separately from other product orders, if possible. We are not able to turn around Custom Logo artwork faster than the above timeline, sorry.

A $25 Rush Fee Service is available to expedite your order. If you are placing an order with a Rush Fee, please select this item separately and place in your cart.

•  Black and White Line Art- black areas will be engraved
• 6X6" Printable file-300 DPI Minimum size
• No shadings or color 
•  No 3-dimensional art
• No border unless it is part of the design and you wish the border to be engraved-Please note borders will reduce the overall size of your engraving.
• File format: .ai, .eps, .pdf preferred or jpeg. No Word files please.
•   We do not reproduce copyrighted, trademarked or licensed art without written permission.
•  Please do NOT reverse art-we will do so in the engraving process.
• Pricing shown above assumes your Artwork is camera ready- sorry, we cannot create or alter artwork without additional fees.
• If your artwork is deemed unsuitable, you may send one free revision only per order.

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Please place your order online and record your Order Number when placing your order.  Then, just  email your artwork to shop@nostalgicimpressions.com referencing "Artwork Order #..." in the subject line as demonstrated in our video. Sorry, our system does not provide an upload function.

 If your artwork requires redesign or alteration, we can offer our design services for a fee, billable in 15 minute increments at $15. If your artwork requires a revision, you will have the option of redesigning the artwork yourself (one revision per order) or we will offer our redesign services. We will quote you a price and time frame for these design services, if we deem the artwork suitable for redesign.

Creation of new artwork:  If you wish us to design your artwork based on photographs or other type of materials for which you do not have black and white line art, please email your request to us: shop@nostalgicimpressions.com- Subject line: Design Service Request. Please attach your image or artwork (as a separate file) and we will be happy to provide a quote for our professional design services, if your art is suitable.

The cost of your wax seal stamp is dictated mostly by your artwork, as this closely relates to the time it takes for templating and engraving your stamp. More detail=more time on the engraving machine=more cost.

 When selecting your Detail Level, please use these tips- not to worry, if you are not sure, please select the detail level you think it will into and we will advise you when we review your artwork.

 LOW DETAIL LEVEL:

• Artwork should be simple, small shapes or lettering.

• If lettering or words is used for low detail, generally it should be no more than 3-4 letters at the most

• Design needs to be bold and clean, no tight spaces between details as they will close up at actual size. The simpler and  bolder the design, the easier it will read at actual size.

• Borders are not recommended on low detail artwork as it reduces the size of the design. One border maybe included if it is a simple line border that is not too thick and doesn’t over load the design.

Examples:

         

MEDIUM  DETAIL LEVEL:

Medium Detail:

• Artwork can be more complex than low detail but shouldn’t be considered intricate.

• Some Wording can be added  but not lots of wording in small text areas

• Basic Borders can be included but not if they are considered intricate or decorative

• If your artwork has several elements, or a lot of engraving areas it would not be considered medium detail. If your design is more than 40-50% black, the engraving time alone will require high detail.

Example:

High Detail:

• Artwork can be intricate or have a lot of black areas to be engraved..

• Wording can be included, however, be cautious that it can still be read at actual size.

• Intricate or decorative borders can be used.

• Artwork with lots of intricate detail must be designed so that the detail does not get lost when the art is shrunk down to size. Therefore, include plenty of spaces between fine details.

Example:

Good Artwork=Good Results

  Your artwork will be used exactly as you provide. Your artwork is taken as is and shrunk to size to fit the die.  

Artwork Tips and Hints:

With over 20 years of engraving experience we have produced many beautiful and detailed engravings over the years. However, the result of the engraving is closely related to the artwork that is provided - too many details too close together and negative engraving areas may render your artwork unusable. This is especially true of highly detailed artwork.

In  high detail, intricate artwork  the outcome is very dependent on the detail in your art and how these details relate to each other…..  Therefore it is recommended that you take the following steps to ensure that you will be happy with the results.

The most important step you can do is to shrink down your artwork to the approximate engraving area- please find a template here of all the die sizes we offer. Please view this document at 100% in Adobe and Print-do not shrink to fit.. This will give you an indication of what the actual die size will look like. Remember that when you view artwork in a large size on your screen it will look much different than artwork that is shrunk down to fit a 1” die.  

This will make problem areas more obvious to you:

·         Are words and letters large enough to be legible?

·         Are small details still visible or did they shrink together to form one solid area? In many cases this may not be a problem and will not effect the overall look of your engraving- however if a specific detail is important to you, you will want to change its appearance first.

·         If you have thin down strokes in your font you may want to decide if they are visible enough to you-if not you may want to thicken the lines a bit.

·         Is the overall size of the engraving suitable for your purposes?

·         Please be sure there are no negative engraving areas in your art- that means white spaces within black spaces- We engrave black areas in your art, but we cannot engrave white spaces that are within black areas.

·         Remember that your wax seal stamp has to make a clear impression in wax. Therefore, good artwork with clear clean lines (not too thin) and a reasonable amount of detail will make a better impression than a high detail artwork that is too intricate or not designed properly to deliver good results.