How to make enamel pins without dying

Enamel pins: They’re shiny, they’re collectible, and they’re portable enough for fans to pin them on just about anything. If you’re looking for resources on how to make enamel pins, then here’s my thorough tutorial!

1. Creating the Art

First things first: you’ll have to make your art! The following tips are for making your art with enamel pins in mind.

SIZE 

It’s good practice to draw your art at at least 2x the size you plan it for, at 300 DPI. For one, you can always resize your art down, but it’s a pain to size up without pixelation or loss of quality. For two, big art allows you to cross over into other products, like having the same design on vinyl stickers.

Personally, I like to draw my art at a minimum of 5” at 300 DPI.

I recommend drawing with the same color lineart as the plating you want. E.g. use a rose-gold color if you want rose gold plating, dark nickel, etc. You can check out common plating types later in this tutorial.

COMPOSITION

Enamel pins are a unique medium that prioritizes composition, minimalism, and color palette. Make sure to keep your pins in a cohesive silhouette, rather than have a lot of cut-out areas in the middle. Manufacturers may charge you extra for cut-outs.

COLOR SELECTION

When designing enamel pins, simplify your color palette and keep it restricted to a handful of colors. This is mostly due to the minimalist aesthetic of the medium, but also, manufacturers will charge you extra for more than 5 colors in one pin.

Most manufacturers will require that you send the art to them in CMYK color format, so save your files as CMYK and watch the brightness of your blues, since CMYK eats blue for breakfast.

2. Pick a Manufacturer

Your art is ready, and now you just need a producer! There are two different kinds of manufacturers: middlemen versus overseas factories. At the time of this writing, there isn’t a way to truly order enamel pins domestically; most western companies disguise the fact that they’re middlemen.

MIDDLEMEN

Middlemen are domestic businesses that act as an agent. They accept your enamel pin order and communicate with overseas factories for you to make the enamel pins.

PROS

• Good communication
• Extra quality control check
• Works with the factory for you

CONS

• More expensive
• Longer creation time

Working with middlemen is intended to give you some protection from issues and problems with global producers, and also give you someone to easily communicate with. Within my personal experience, I haven't had great experiences with them; however, they are a solution that work for many others, and can be beginner-friendly.

Below is a list of notable middlemen at the time of this post’s writing, although I haven’t tested them all myself.

Notable middlemen: Wizard Pins, The Studio, Enamel Pin Factory*

* I do not have a good experience with this company and don’t recommend them, but have included them on this list since many know their name.

GLOBAL PRODUCERS

Alibaba is a global trade marketplace where you can commission custom products directly from factories in other countries, mainly China.

PROS

• More affordable
• Tons of options
• Faster creation time
• Ships direct from factory

CONS

• Expensive shipping
• Higher rate of shipping damage
• Larger risk of art theft

People may be reluctant to order from overseas like China or India due to rumors of art theft, but there are many manus who specify that they will never take or distribute your designs. Much of your experience will depend on which factory you choose, so do your research in this area. Rely on reviews and trusted recommendations when you make your selection. If picked properly, working with Alibaba manus can be a very smooth and easy process.

Since packages ship from overseas, you will find a slightly larger rate of flawed products in your order compared to domestic orders from shipping damage.

Below is a list of notable Alibaba producers at the time of this post’s writing, although you can find a more up-to-date version at my artist resources masterpost!

Notable Alibaba producers: Krell, Vograce

3. Pin Options

There are a lot of options when it comes to the world of making pins, so here’s a helpful little glossary/guide to what all those terms mean!

HARD VS. SOFT

Hard enamel pins have the metal lines and the paint colors on the same level, while soft enamel pins have the paint colors lower than the metal lines. As a result, hard enamel pins feel completely smooth, while soft enamel pins have slightly bumpy edges.

PLATING TYPE

Most enamel pins are made with zinc alloy, but are plated to create different metal colors. Each manu offers different colors, but the most popular options are generally:

1. Gold
2. Rose gold
3. Silver
4. Black nickel

ACCESSORY TYPE

Accessories are the clutches or fasteners that come on the rear side of your pin. Some of them may come with an extra charge. The most popular ones are generally:

1. Black rubber clutch
2. Butterfly clutch

Your manu may offer other options like heart rubber clutches or pastel clutches, so be sure to ask them for a complete list of options!

SILKSCREEN PRINTING

Silkscreen printing applies enamel paint directly to the pin's flat surface, allowing you to apply borderless color spots. Especially popular for applying blush or hair highlights to character pins. Silkscreen printing costs an extra fee.

GLITTER

Glitter is mixed into enamel for an eye-catching multicolor shine. Costs an extra fee.

PEARL

Pearl powder is mixed and swirled into enamel paint for a beautiful, marble-like shimmer. Best applied onto large areas as the pearl needs to be swirled. Costs an extra fee.

STAINED GLASS

Translucent enamel fills a cutout section, resulting in a light-catching stained glass effect. Costs an extra fee.

GLOW-IN-THE-DARK

Glow-in-the-dark pigment is added to enamel for a luminous effect in low lighting. The brightness will depend on the palette, as some colors are more luminous than others. Costs an extra fee.

RAINBOW PLATING

Rainbow plating is a special metal finish where the pins are submerged into a chemical solution and applied with electricity, called anodizing. This changes the metal into vibrant colors. Due to the process, this is only available with soft pins (recessed enamel levels). Costs an extra fee.

4. Ordering the Pins

PLANNING THE COST

Enamel pin orders are typically broken into two parts: the mold fee, and the per-unit price.

1. Mold Fee 🔨 — The mold fee is a flat fee associated with every enamel pin order. It takes a lot of start-up work to cast the mold for metalworking, and the mold fee represents that. Mold fees are anywhere from $60-$100.
2. Per-Unit Price 💎 — The per-unit price is the cost associated with the enamel pin quantity. This will be anywhere from $1 - $3 per pin, more if you have special effects added.

Due to the high startup cost associated with ordering enamel pins, you want to order a minimum of 100 for each design. 200 or more is preferred.

Please note that enamel pins are expensive to make, and not recommended for starting merch artists. The high minimum demand also makes shipping expensive ($100+), and transactions can often reach into several thousand dollars. They're beautiful to look at and fun to make, but it's safer to make them with some starting capital, like a Kickstarter or side job—or experience in ecommerce and shipping from making something more accessible, like acrylic charms and prints.

GETTING A QUOTE

To get a quote, make an account on Alibaba and click “Contact Supplier” on the listing page.

In your inquiry, include all the details of your pin, as well as your shipping address so that they can calculate the freight cost for you. Generally, order 10% more than what you plan to sell. This is your safety margin in case you receive any damaged pins.

The manu will generally respond within 1 business day with a detailed quote.

SENDING PAYMENT

If everything looks good on the quote, it’s time to send payment!

Some manus will ask for you to send payment via Paypal and take a screenshot, while others will send you an invoice using Alibaba’s system.

DIGITAL PROOFS

Shortly after sending payment (usually 1 business day), the manu will send you a digital proof of your pin that might look something like this:

Here’s the things you really want to check so that you don’t waste $200 or more:

1. Dimensions. Are the pins the right size? Are you sure you want them at that size? Take a ruler, measure it out, and imagine holding it. Tell the manu if you want any changes to the size.
2. Clutch points. Check the colored circles on the back of the pin. Those mark where your clutches will be. Are they in the correct place? Will your pin hang securely? Do you need more or less clutch points, or do they need to change position at all?
3. Clutch type. The clutch type you asked for will be beneath the clutch point diagram. In the above image, it’s a black rubber clutch. This is the standard for most enamel pins, but if you requested a butterfly clutch or something else, make sure it’s correct.
4. Color palette. This is the most important area, and a bit more detailed, so I’ll take some time on this below.

COLOR PROOFING

At the bottom of your digital proof, you’ll see rows of numbers next to a colored swatch. Each of these numbers corresponds to a Pantone Solid Colored swatch.

Back in the day, Pantone had a free online color finder that let us check the swatches. However, they decided to gate that behind a subscription (whee capitalism) so now, we'll have to use a different technique.

To check the swatches, go to encycolorpedia and type in the paint code. You might see several brands pop up, so make sure you select "Pantone / PMS."

You’ll want to check each individual swatch to make sure the color is accurate to what you want. If the swatch isn’t quite accurate, try typing in the original hex code (e.g. #298f3a) into encycolorpedia's search, and look for a similar Pantone color that ends with C. Then tell the manu which swatch you’d like to switch it to.

Be picky with the proofing step. Once the manu makes the mold, it will take a huge fee for you to switch things around since they have to recast the mold. It’s better to request changes on things that bother you now, rather than wait and receive a flawed product later.

5. Packaging the Pins

BACKING CARDS

Almost all enamel pins come with backing cards. There’s all sorts of options, from matte cards to shimmer cards to foil cards. Spend some time on the design aspect, since this will really enhance your pin and catch customers’ eyes at conventions.

For indie pins, backing cards are usually either 2.5” x 2.5” (US square) or 85mm x 55mm (European portrait).

You can get the manu to print the backing cards and attach the enamel pins for a fee, but I like to do it personally so that I can use compostable sleeves (next section).

SLEEVES

Once the pin is attached to your backing card, you’ll want to put it in a sleeve for protection. I recommend using ClearBags’ compostable PLA sleeves, which are crystal-clear, but plant-based and biodegradable.

With the sleeve in place, your pin looks absolutely pristine!

QUALITY CHECKING (SECONDS)

While every manu runs a quality check on your pins before they ship to you, they’re bound to miss things that you’d catch since you know the characters. When packaging or organizing your incoming pins, be sure to check each and every one. You don’t want to send your customer a flawed pin!

Be on the lookout for:

1. Missing fills or colors, especially in small areas
2. Small holes or bubbles in the fills
3. Scratched plating

These are considered B Grade pins, or more commonly, seconds. They are usually still very decent quality and can be sold on your shop at a discounted value (15-20% off).

You Did It!

You’re at the end of the tutorial! I wrote this post because it was difficult for me to find beginner’s resources on making enamel pins. Hopefully, it can act as a helpful starting point in your own enamel pin journey! Now go forth and make ye some shiny things.