Set up product customization for engraved products
Configure Chamevo for laser-engraved and CNC products like jewelry, cutting boards, glassware, and metal items with single-color designs and specialized text effects.
Engraved products β jewelry, cutting boards, glassware, awards, pens, and metal items β have unique customization requirements. Designs are typically single-color, text-heavy, and must work within tight physical constraints. This guide covers configuring Chamevo for engraving workflows.
What makes engraving different
- Single color: Engraving produces a single mark color (the engraved surface). Color pickers are often unnecessary.
- Text-focused: Most engraving products involve personalized text (names, dates, monograms) rather than images.
- Tight boundaries: Engravable areas are small and precisely defined.
- Specific fonts: Not all fonts engrave well. Thin strokes and fine serifs may not survive laser or CNC cutting.
- Vector output: Many engraving machines work best with vector (SVG) output.
Step 1: Create the product structure
- Go to Chamevo β Products and create a new product.
- Open the product in the Product Builder.
- Create a single view (most engraved products have one side).
- Set the stage dimensions to match the aspect ratio of your product (e.g., a rectangular cutting board, a circular pendant).
Add the product image
- Add an image element with a photo or illustration of the product.
- Set it as not editable and not removable.
- Set Exclude from Export so only the customer's design is in the output file.
- Position it to fill the canvas.
Step 2: Define the engravable area
- Configure the print area to match the exact engravable zone on the product.
- Set the output dimensions to match your engraving machine's requirements.
- For laser engravers that accept DPI-based rasters, set the DPI (typically 300-600).
- For CNC machines that accept vectors, you may need SVG output.
The engravable area on many products is significantly smaller than the product itself. For a cutting board, the engravable zone might be a centered rectangle. For a ring, it might be a narrow band.
Step 3: Configure text for engraving
Predefined text fields with Text Layers
For products with specific text positions (e.g., "Line 1: Name" and "Line 2: Date"), use the Text Layers module:
- In the Product Builder, add text elements at the desired positions.
- Set each text element as editable.