Yes, we sell Cups, Awards, Gifts, Medals and Trophies and plaques, both engraved and full color sublimated.

We provide engraving on all kinds of items such as musical instruments to cameras and other delicate digital items to your traditional awards and trophies.

We engrave logos!

Logos need to be in a vector line format to be engraved. If you do not have a vector format, not a problem, we can either laser engrave it or our artist can convert almost any format into the correctly needed format for engraving.

Experience that can’t be replaced:

we use different methods of engraving, depending on the material and shape of the engraved object.  Leave it to our expert to recommend: laser engraving on certain types of glass, metals and leather, diamond point engraving on soft metals, crystal and certain types of glass, hand engraving for the most precious items, etching, and of course, machine engraving for large quantities.
computerized rotary engraving for most jobs, and provides the fastest turn around especially for large corporate orders.

How to engrave: the tricks of the trade.

CNY Awards and Apparel has been in business for more than 35 years, guiding customers toward building their most precious personalized gifts.  We serve customers from all over the Upstate NY and the United States area.

How to engrave what?

Everything can be engraved, which is not to say that you will be happy with the results.  Different methods will yield different results and the most expensive methods may not be the ones you will be most happy with.  Be aware of salespeople recommending the most costly methods, this may simply be because they do not have access to more sophisticated tools.

What material are you engraving?

Wood, and titanium can only be engraved by a laser (see below).  The results of engraving glass will vary depending on the method of engraving but limitations apply depending on the material being engraved and the shape of the object.  Gold, silver and sterling silver can be engraved by hand or by machine, cannot be engraved by a laser.

Can we hold it?

This will be the first question of the engraver when looking at a consumer’s piece: if it can’t fit in the holder, then it can’t be engraved.  Different machines allow for the engraving of differently shaped objects.  Most objects can be engraved, one way or another.

Hand Engraving

Contrary to the common belief that hand engraving is done completely by hand, it requires a basic, simple machine that holds the item being engraved and guides the engraver through the fonts using strong and sturdy metal guides.  Experts at hand engraving will build their own custom guides over years and years of satisfying customer needs.

Logos

Vector line format
You need a professional vector graphics program to open the vector file. We recommend that you save the file first, then open it with the appropriate vector program (Adobe Illustrator CS4 for example or CorelDraw X4 as is our preferred software).
Double clicking on the file may prompt your computer to open the file with another program thereby changing the file’s initial format. Instead, open the program first, then open the file. Opening the file with a “raster” program like Photoshop will “rasterize” the image and the file will be of no use to anyone requiring vector line art. Opening the file with a PDF reader may change your eps file to a pdf file instead. If the vector file was requested by a third party and you do not have vector graphics program, simply forward the attached file or save the file to disc.  EPS is the preferred file format for most engraving machines.
Simply embedding a photo (jpeg for example) into a file and saving it with an .eps extension will not turn your image into a vector line graphic.

Hand Engraving Machines, computer connected

This is the best of both worlds.  An engraver can do pretty much anything on those, except engraving on titanium, wood and leather (see laser engraving). This is the preferred method of engraving jewelry and precious pieces that can not be replaced.  Leaving little room for human error, these machines are precise but slow.  Connected to a computer, they offer a wide variety of fonts.  Logos can be engraved by a computer connected hand engraving machine, but most request a vector line format (no jpeg or gif).   Not for bulk orders.

Laser Engraving

The precise power of a laser beam is most prized but is not available for everything.  This is the preferred method of engraving logos, because the vectorizing of logos required by engraving machines is not necessary (in most cases) and formats like jpeg or gif can be used as is.  The speed of the laser makes it attractive to engrave bulk orders.  It’s a good method of engraving all kinds of materials from brass to titanium, leather, wood, acrylic and glass.  Being connected to a computer, it offers a wide variety of fonts.  Most machines are limited.  Limitations include engraving silver and sterling silver objects as well as crystals and stones.

Machine Engraving

This is the prefered tool for flat pieces and logos (no hand engraver will built a logo guide for just one piece!).  Most engraving machines are limited to engraving flat pieces.  Recent to the market are a few new machines which compete with hand engraving in that it offers a better quality of engraving and is less labor intensive, therefore less expensive and more even than hand engraving.  However, most engraving machines do not handle circular or uneven objects.
These archaic looking machines allow for imperfections.  As the engraver applies pressure (unevenly) on his machine and spaces the letters and words approximately, the quality of the engraving varies with the experience, talent and sometimes fatique of the master.  This is a labor intensive tool and its outcome is often flawed by human errors and mistakes (although not always visible to the unaware eye).  This is a preferred tool of engraving for companies that look to charge more to its customers since it is more labor intensive.  It is also recommended when machine engraving is difficult because of the shape of the object (most engraving machines can only hold flat objects.  But it gives a feel of antiquity and authentic engraving.  Some say that it allows for deeper engraving and that it will last longer, but that is legend since engraving machines are more powerful and often apply more pressure and do so more evenly than humans.

We vectorize logos! We take logos from other formats (jpeg, gif, etc…) and render them in a vector line format to be engraved.

We engrave on almost all materials: from glass to gold and silver, titanium, brass, aluminum, and wood. We also engrave gifts: photo frames make for a great gift! From Zippo lighters to keychains, corporate gifts to engraved baby gifts, you want it, we have it!  We have something for any occasion! and we can create custom items just for your occassion.

Specific awards and medals for all fields: military, fire department, police, sports, music, drama, and our own Father Day favorite… his favorite beer can turned into a trophy.. always a winner always and favorite.