Decoration Methods

At Executive Advertising, we decorate promotional products with your company logo or advertising slogan. Decorating is the act of customizing or personalizing a promotional product to display a logo or marketing message on an item. Decoration methods can consist of screen printing, heat transfer, engraving, embroidering, debossing or embossing. Different materials will require different decoration methods to achieve an adequate result for marketing.

On each product page, you will find a definition of the specific method used for that item under “Product Description.” 

Decoration Methods Defined

• Debossing
  • A method that will give you an indented impression of your logo into the item material. Commonly used for decorating leather padfolios, travel bags, wallets and silicone bracelets.

• Dye Sublimation Printing
  • Continuous-tone output technology that produces near-photographic quality color prints onto a white material.

• Embossing
  • The process of creating a three-dimensional image or design, typically accomplished with a combination of heat and pressure. This is achieved by using a metal die usually made of brass and a counter die that fit together and actually squeeze the fibers of the substrate. This pressure and a combination of heat actually "irons" while raising the level of the image higher than the substrate to make it smooth. Embossing will give your artwork a raised appearance.

• Embroidery
  • The art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn.

• Etching
  • A process in which a piece of glass is covered with a template that has a design cut out of it. The glass is then sandblasted while the portion of the item not covered by the template is protected. The template image is thus etched into the glass. Typically used with glassware, ceramics, porcelain, and crystal.

• Full Color Digital Printing
  • A method of printing artwork using a 4 color process (CMYK) that usually allows for picture image quality. In full color digital printing, our printing facilities only have to run your promotional product through the printing machines once, as opposed to screen printing machines.

• Full Color Heat Transfers
  • In this method, artwork is printed with full color CMYK onto a vinyl material that is designed to be heated (usually over 300 degrees) and adheres to the material type that it's being applied to. These are perfect for printing photographs and other complicated artwork designs.

• Heat Transfer
  • An alternative to screen printing, heat transfers are like screen printing two or more colors at one time or in the same process. Image is screened on a transfer substrate which is then laid directly on the material to be imprinted. The image is then transferred from the substrate to the material through the use of heat and pressure. Works best on cotton and cotton blends.

• Laser Engraving
  • A process in which an optically-read or stenciled artwork is engraved (burned) into a material by a laser beam. This method is permanent on decorated products.

• Molded
  • A method of shaping your logo into chocolate bars or candies.

• Pad Printing
  • This process starts with a recessed surface covered with ink. The plate is wiped clean, yet the ink remains in the recessed area of the plate. A silicone pad presses against the plate and pulls the ink out of the recesses. The pad then moves and presses directly against the product. Pad printing is excellent for imprinting small, unusually-shaped objects for which screen-printing is not practical. Used in plastics, paper, ceramics, glassware, wearables, leather and vinyl.

• Screen Printing (or Silk-Screen Printing)
  • A printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A roller or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink past the threads of the woven mesh in the open areas. We use screen printing decoration method for most of our promotional products and for clothing garments.

Want to learn more? Check out our Promotional Product Glossary!