MATERIALS & FINISHES

Custom Metal Gift Materials and Finishes: Plating, Enamel and Printing

We work with a wide range of metals, PVC and acrylic to create high-quality custom promotional gifts, lapel pins, challenge coins, medals, keychains and more.From plating and enamel filling to non-metal coatings, printing and laser engraving, we offer a full finishing stack under one roof.The right combination of materials and finishes brings your design to life, improves durability and helps your custom gifts make a lasting impression.

Materials ｜ Texture ｜ Plating ｜ Non-Metal Coating ｜ Enamel Filling ｜ Printing & Laser ｜ Combination Rules ｜ Choose ｜FAQ

Custom promotional gifts since 2010

In-house design team, artwork and mold drawings never sent out

30,000+ pieces a day, every stage on one factory site

100% inspection before shipment, with photo and video confirmation

MATERIALS

Materials: Metals, PVC and Acrylic

We use a variety of metals and non-metal materials to suit different budgets, functions and design styles. Each material has its own characteristics in weight, strength, finish and typical applications.

Table 1: Main metals

Metal	Density	Native color	Forming	Products we run on it	Why buyers pick it
Zinc alloy (Zamak 3)	6.7 g/cm³	Off-white grey	Die casting	Lapel pins, challenge coins, badges, keychains, bottle openers	Strongest 3D relief and cut-out detail; does not rust; wall thickness 2mm and up; mold cost higher than stamping
Brass	8.9 g/cm³	Yellow gold	Stamping and cutting	Challenge coins, medals, belt buckles, bookmarks	Densest of the four and the fewest pinholes; takes a bitten edge; over 3mm needs two pressings and costs more
Iron	7.8 g/cm³	Grey-white	Stamping and cutting	Keychains, badges, bottle openers, luggage tags, bookmarks	Lowest metal cost; rusts, so it needs plating or paint; over 4mm is hard to press
Aluminum	2.7 g/cm³	Silver-white	Stamping and cutting	Medals, luggage tags, bookmarks, coasters	Lightest of the four; the only one that takes anodizing

Table 2: Other materials

Material	Products we run it on	Forming
Stainless steel	Dog tags, bottle openers, keychains, bookmarks, luggage tags	Stamping and etching
Zinc-magnesium alloy	3D fridge magnets	Die casting and color spray
Lead-tin alloy	3D wine stoppers, sculpted charms	Centrifugal casting (longest lead time of all our categories)
Soft PVC	Keychain charms, fridge magnets, PVC badges, luggage tags	Injection molding
Acrylic	Medals, charms, fridge magnets, badge inserts	Cutting, then UV print or lamination
Wood	Combined medals, coasters, bookmarks	Laminated with a metal face
Rubber	Soft magnets, rubber clips, coasters	Molding
Crystal glass	Trophies, commemorative pieces	To be confirmed

Beyond the four metals, we run the materials above. They do not need the same depth of explanation, but they are listed so you can confirm that the product you have in mind is one we take on. Twelve material families come through our lines, and the difference is the forming route. Metal parts run through die casting or stamping. Everything else runs through injection, cutting, lamination or molding.
The finishing sections below follow metal parts, because plating and enamel filling are lines that all metal products share. Finishing routes for the non-metal materials, which are UV printing, color spray and lamination, appear in the sections where they belong.

The Finishing Stack: Every Post-Casting Process

A die casting or a stamping is only a blank. What decides the look, the feel and the service life is the stack of processes that follows. We group them into six families. Each family changes a different thing, from the mechanical texture at the bottom to the printing and laser marking at the top.

Table 3: The six finishing families

Texture and mechanical finishing

What it changes:Roughness, edge feel, base sheen
Options:Polishing, sandblasting, EDM texture, sprayed imitation sand

Plating

What it changes:Color, gloss, tarnish and wear resistance
Options:14 colors across four families, plus mirror plating and rainbow vacuum

Non-metal coating

What it changes:Color with no metallic sheen
Options:Electrophoresis, color spray, anodizing, barrel plating

Enamel filling

What it changes:Color inside the recesses
Options:Soft enamel, imitation hard enamel, glass enamel, translucent enamel, glitter, glow paint

Printing

What it changes:Gradients and photographic artwork
Options:UV print, color porcelain, photodome sticker, offset, silkscreen

Laser engraving

What it changes:Permanent marking on metal
Options:Laser marking

These six families are a pool, not a checklist. A soft enamel pin usually runs polish, plate and fill. An anodized aluminum luggage tag may run only sandblast and anodize. An antique bronze coin runs polish, antique plating and a local highlight wipe. Selection means picking the few families your product needs and confirming they do not conflict.

Texture and Mechanical Finishing

This is the bottom family and the one buyers overlook most. Polishing is not only for looks. If the surface is not prepared, the plating layer will not grip, and it will lift after a period in use. What happens in this family decides whether the families above it hold.

Table 4: Texture and mechanical processes

Process	How we run it	Result	Where it fits
Polishing	Wet bench polisher with taro wheel, sand belt, hemp wheel, nylon wheel and polishing wax; edges and faces run separately	Smooth edge, even surface, and the adhesion base every plating job needs	All metal parts, before plating
Sandblasting	Abrasive blasting ahead of plating	Matte, even, satin sheen	Large flat faces
EDM texture	Spark machine cuts discharge grain into the mold, levels 1 to 7, most jobs at level 3 or 5	Identical grain on every piece in the batch	Matte finishes that need batch consistency; no extra charge
Sprayed imitation sand	Sprayed directly, or applied by syringe over a color area	Matte softer than EDM, sitting inside the color	Color fields that should not reflect

Sandblasting and EDM texture are worth separating. Sandblasting is done on the finished part, so the feel varies slightly from piece to piece. EDM texture is cut into the mold, so every piece in the batch carries the identical grain. If your program needs batch consistency, specify EDM.

Plating: 14 Colors in Four Families

Plating is the largest section on this page because it supplies the final color for most metal gifts. Our 14 standard plating colors fall into four families. The difference between families is not only depth of shade but how the surface reflects light. Shiny tones reflect sharply. Matte tones stay soft. Antique tones keep dark in the recess and bright on the raised areas.

Shiny Finish

Matte Finish

Antique

Special effect

Table 5: 14 plating colors in four families

Family	Colors	Character	Typical use
Shiny	Shiny gold, shiny silver (nickel), shiny copper, rose gold	High gloss, sharp highlights	Awards, pins and coins that should read as new metal
Matte and pearl	Matte gold (pearl gold), matte silver (pearl silver), matte copper, matte rose gold, black nickel (gun black), matte black	Low reflection, soft	Modern brand work, formal occasions, restrained packaging
Antique	Antique bronze (antique gold), antique tin (antique silver), antique copper	Dark recesses, bright raised areas	Military and commemorative coins, anniversary programs
Special effect	Rainbow (vacuum plating)	Graduated rainbow, not a flat color	Collector coins, limited editions

Rules worth knowing before you specify:

Cost runs plating above electrophoresis, and electrophoresis above color spray. Antique color follows the same order. An antique tone can be plated or produced by the cheaper electrophoresis route. Plated antique keeps a cleaner recess, with less black in the low areas, and costs more.
The most common two-tone combination is gold with nickel. Shiny with matte also works and gives a stronger contrast. Shiny with antique on the same piece carries a high reject rate and we generally advise against it. The two reflective behaviors fight each other and the wipe is hard to control at the boundary.
Mirror plating is plated first and stamped after, giving bright recesses and the option of a matte raised face. This process applies to brass and iron only. Zinc alloy cannot take it.
Barrel plating costs less and leaves a rougher surface. We use it on high-volume orders with lower cosmetic requirements. Fine multi-color enamel does not work over barrel plating, because the color boundary will not stay clean.
For skin-contact products, specify a nickel-free tone. On badges, dog tags and keychains, buyers with nickel sensitivity requirements should say so at order stage and we will schedule the nickel-free tones.

Electrophoresis, Color Spray and Anodizing

Plating covers most requests, not all of them. When the color you need has no matching plating tone, or when you want a flat color with no metallic reflection at all, this family takes over. Its advantage is a wider color range at a lower cost than plating.

Table 6: Non-metal coating routes compared

Route	Cost against plating	Surface	Color range	Materials
Plating	Highest	Metallic gloss, sharp reflection	The 14 colors above	All metals
Electrophoresis	Below plating	Softer gloss, strong antique contrast	Antique gold, antique bronze, antique copper, antique tin, matte black, gloss black	All metals; matte black usually runs here
Color spray	Lowest	No metallic gloss, flat matte	Any Pantone shade	All metals, wherever plating and electrophoresis cannot reach the color
Anodizing	Close to plating	Colored with a metallic gloss	Wide range	Aluminum only
Barrel plating	Lowest	Rough, uneven	Single color only	High-volume, lower-specification orders

The electrophoresis route for antique color deserves one line. Parts are blackened first and swept afterward. Recesses the wheel cannot reach keep their black, and that is where the antique depth comes from. Matte black usually runs on this line rather than in a plating tank, because electrophoresis lays an even matte more easily.

Enamel Filling: Six Methods

Enamel filling puts color into the recesses of the metal. This is the section buyers mix up most. All six methods are called color filling, yet the process direction, the finished feel, the minimum width and the price all differ. The single most important point is that soft enamel and imitation hard enamel run in opposite directions.

Table 7: Six enamel filling methods

Method	Consistency	Process order	Finished surface	Minimum fill width	Notes
Soft enamel	Thin, flows well	Plate first, fill second	Color sits below the metal lines with a slight dip; relief under the finger	0.3mm	The default for most pin and coin work
Imitation hard enamel	Thick	Fill, polish, then plate (reverse order)	Color level with the metal edge, flat to the touch	0.5mm	Fuller color; higher price and longer lead time
Glass enamel, solid	Thick, flows less than soft enamel	Plate first, fill second	Smooth, with a glass-like sheen	0.5mm	Higher curing temperature
Translucent enamel	Thick	Plate first, fill second	Semi-transparent, metal visible underneath	0.5mm	On cut-out areas the back must be taped with high-temperature tape, or color bleeds to the reverse
Glitter	Applied over soft enamel	Scatter while the enamel is half dry, then bake fully	Iridescent or single-color flakes	—	An epoxy (AP) top coat can be added over the surface
Glow paint	Applied over soft enamel	Add after the enamel is fully cured	Green glow in the dark	—	The glow tone is always greenish

The difference between soft and imitation hard enamel is the direction of the process. Soft enamel is plated first and filled second. Color stays in the recess, the metal lines stand proud, and your finger finds the relief. Imitation hard enamel is filled first, polished, then plated. Metal and color finish on one plane, the surface is flat, the color reads fuller, and both price and lead time move up. Which one you want changes the quote and the schedule, so settle it before the order.

Two options stack on top of the fill. You can spray imitation sand over a color area for a matte softer than EDM. You can also seal a finished fill or print with an epoxy top coat, which is common over glitter. We confirm color numbers with you in writing before filling starts, and the inspection points around that sit on our quality control page.

Printing and Laser Engraving

Enamel filling handles color blocks. Printing handles gradients and photographic artwork. The five printing methods are not interchangeable. A wrong choice does not lower the quality slightly, it makes the artwork impossible to run. Two questions settle it: does your artwork need a gradient, and is the surface flat or in 3D relief.

Opener Custom Upgrade Options Enamel to UV printing

UV printing carries one hard limit. It can print onto a 3D surface, but the height difference has to stay within 7mm. Beyond that the print head cannot hold focus and the image goes soft.

Laser engraving is the sixth marking method and uses no ink. A laser burns the pattern into the metal. The mark is permanent and does not fade, which suits serial numbers, anniversary dates and personal names.

Table 8: Five printing methods

Method	Flat or 3D	Base requirement	Detail	Gradients	Cost	Durability note
UV printing	Flat and 3D	Direct on metal, or onto a painted surface	Four-color; very fine artwork may blur	Yes	Low setup cost	Slight grain on the surface; registration is not exact
Color porcelain	Flat only	Needs a solid glass enamel or imitation hard enamel base	Four-color	Yes	Low setup cost	Reads slightly faded
Photodome sticker	Flat only	Needs a metal border for registration	Fine print quality	Yes	Low unit cost, plus a plate fee	Edges lift and the paper yellows over time
Offset printing	Flat only	Direct onto sheet metal, usually sealed with epoxy; can be laminated to zinc alloy	High print quality	Yes	Above sticker, plus a plate fee	Strongest on iron, aluminum and brass sheet
Silkscreen	Flat only	Direct on metal	Very fine detail, tightest registration	No (spot color only)	Priced by color count, plus a screen fee	Cost rises with each added color

Combination Rules: What Works and What to Avoid

This is the table to read first. Every section above covers a single option, but a real project always combines several processes on one product, and almost every problem comes from the combination rather than from an individual process. These rules come from reject rates on our own line.

Table 9: Combination rules

Combination	Verdict	Reason
Shiny and antique on one piece	Not advised	High reject rate; the two reflective behaviors fight each other and the wipe is hard to control at the boundary
Shiny with shiny (gold with nickel)	Works	The most common two-tone combination on our line
Antique with antique	Works	Consistent depth of contrast, easy to control
Plating then color spray	Works	Plate the base, then spray the large color field
Translucent enamel over a cut-out	Needs special handling	The back must be taped with high-temperature tape, or color bleeds to the reverse
Barrel plating with multi-color fill	Not advised	The rough surface will not hold a clean color boundary
Mirror plating	Brass and iron only	Plated first and stamped after; zinc alloy cannot take it
Soft enamel below 0.3mm fill width	Not manufacturable	The fill channel is too narrow to hold color
Imitation hard enamel below 0.5mm fill width	Not manufacturable	Polishing would cut through the color
Photodome sticker in long-term outdoor use	Plan a replacement cycle	Edges lift and the paper yellows; offset printing with epoxy lasts longer
UV printing over deep relief	Keep within 7mm	Beyond that the print head cannot hold focus

Far more combinations work than fail. A small number of conflicts will take a whole batch down, though. Send us your design and we will flag any conflict before we quote.

Choosing Materials and Finishes for Your Program

Everything above is a menu. This section is the selection. The table works backward from the type of program. If yours is not listed, send us the use, the quantity, the budget and the target date, and we will advise.

Table 10: Material and finish selection by program type

Program type	Material	Finish	Why
Road race or marathon medals	Zinc alloy or brass	Antique gold or shiny gold, with soft or imitation hard enamel	Medals carry ceremony; antique gold gives depth, and imitation hard enamel keeps large color fields flat
Military or unit challenge coins	Brass	Antique bronze or antique copper, two-tone with a shiny edge	Antique tones hold dark in the recess, which reads as relief
Staff or club lapel pins	Zinc alloy	Shiny gold or shiny silver, with soft enamel	Clean and direct, at a favorable combination of cost and lead time
High-volume budget keychains	Iron or soft PVC	Barrel plating or color spray	Iron carries the lowest metal cost, and barrel plating cuts the price further at volume
Lightweight luggage tags or bookmarks	Aluminum or stainless steel	Anodizing, polishing or laser	Aluminum is the lightest option and takes anodized color; stainless steel resists scratching
Retail fridge magnets	Soft PVC, zinc-magnesium alloy or acrylic	Color spray or UV printing	Soft PVC and zinc-magnesium alloy hold sculpted shapes; acrylic costs less per piece than zinc alloy
Awards and commemorative pieces	Crystal glass or brass	Polishing with laser engraving	Needs transparency or weight, and a mark that stays
Natural or eco brief	Wood with a metal face	Polishing with laser engraving	A laminated structure delivers both the texture and the theme

Materials and Finishes FAQ

Start with one question: does the piece need 3D relief? If it does, or if it needs cut-outs and a sense of thickness, choose zinc alloy die casting. If the design is mostly flat and sheet cost matters most, choose brass, iron or aluminum stamping. Aluminum is the lightest, brass has the fewest pinholes, and iron carries the lowest metal cost, though it must be plated or painted against rust.

It comes down to whether you want the surface dipped or flat. Soft enamel is plated first and filled second, so color sits below the metal lines and your finger finds the relief, at a better cost and lead time. Imitation hard enamel is filled, polished and then plated, so metal and color finish on one plane with fuller color, at a higher price and longer lead time. The minimum fill widths differ too: 0.3mm for soft enamel, 0.5mm for imitation hard enamel.

We run 14 standard plating colors across shiny, matte, antique and special-effect families. Plating tones are a fixed palette and cannot be mixed to an arbitrary Pantone number. If you need an exact Pantone match, use color spray. Color spray reaches any Pantone shade, at the cost of losing the metallic gloss.

Yes, and we produce two-tone plating regularly. The most common combination is gold with nickel, and shiny with matte also works. Shiny with antique carries a high reject rate and we generally advise against it. If you need it, allow time for a sample round.

Cost runs plating above electrophoresis, and electrophoresis above color spray. Plating gives a metallic gloss with sharp reflection, from a fixed palette of 14 colors. Electrophoresis gives a softer gloss with strong antique contrast, and matte black usually runs on this line. Color spray gives a flat matte with no metallic gloss, but the widest color range, reaching any Pantone shade.

Yes, depending on the artwork and the surface. For gradients and photographic detail, use UV printing, offset printing or a photodome sticker. UV printing can go onto a 3D surface, as long as the height difference stays within 7mm. Silkscreen holds the tightest registration and the finest lines, but it prints spot colors only and cannot produce a gradient.

Non-metal parts do not run through plating or enamel filling. Soft PVC and zinc-magnesium alloy are mainly color sprayed, acrylic takes UV printing or lamination, and wood is usually laminated to a metal face and then polished and laser marked. They can be produced on the same order as metal parts.

The standard minimum is 100 pieces per design, with some variation by category, confirmed at quotation stage. Sampling takes 7-10 days, and the sample charge is quoted against the specific process and size.

Once the sample is approved, bulk production runs 15-18 days. The more processes involved, and the more plating and enamel colors there are, the further back the slot falls. Final timing is confirmed when the order is placed.

That is workable. Our in-house design team redraws photographs, sketches and verbal briefs into vector artwork that can hold a mold. The detailed manufacturability rules, including minimum line width and minimum hole size, are set out on our custom artwork service page.

If the goods do not match the approved sample, raise it within the agreed window after receipt, with photographs or video. We check against the approved sample and arrange rework or replacement according to where the fault sits. The inspection points and the handling route are on our quality control page.

Start Your Order

Send us your artwork, your material requirements and your target quantity. We do two things first: confirm that the material and finish combination does not conflict, and return a quotation with a sampling plan. With complete information, a detailed quote goes out within 12 hours.

Talk to Our Team