Here are the best reasons to add your logo or message to a cap. 

Everyone can wear them.

No need to mess with sizes (most of the time).

Lightweight and portable.

Feels more extravagant than a t-shirt giveaway.

 

 Let's dig right into custom hats! 

 

 Two super-important facts to remember when you customize hats: 

1. A hat's surface isn't flat.

2. The area to embellish on a cap is a small.

 

We want your custom embroidery caps to be something you're proud to wear and to give to others to wear. Unless you're buying thousands of caps and have a few months to wait, chances are you'll be embroidering your logo or message on a finished cap.

 

This is where the "flat surface" and "small space" enter the conversation.

 

If you were going to draw a picture or write a note, you'd grab a pencil, a piece of paper, and look for a flat surface. Writing on a flat surface will likely make your message clearer and more legible.

 

Recognizing that our cap is not flat, we want to minimize illegibility issues that are more likely to occur because we are working on a curved surface.

 

The areas that we can embroider on a cap are small.

Most common area to add a logo or message is the front:

Average Max size is 4" x 2" (width by height).

This is what 4" x 2" area looks like on a cap.

 

It seems small when thinking of just the dimensions, but when

seen in real life the size is appropriate.

 

Before we can embroider onto the cap. We need to hold the cap as tightly in place as possible. We use a specialized frame that works specifically with our machines for this purpose.

 

Cap secured in the specialized frame

 

Although the cap has been assembled on the frame correctly, there are parts that can't be secured tightly.  

 

Looking at the picture below, notice the center of the cap at the base of the cap where the crown meets the bill.  You can see the areas that begin to pucker.

 

Front of the cap with frame

 

This area and the front center seam of the cap are the danger zones.  For best results, it's important to limit small text that's located near the bill of the cap.  When logos include small text positioned at the bottom of a design, it is necessary to reduce the overall height to 4" x 1.8".

 

Small details and thin lines that are positioned on or near the center seam can create legibility issues.  In this area, we'd strongly advise against the use of thin outlines that surround small objects (text or images).

 

Once we have the caps secured into their frames, they are locked in place onto the embroidery machine.

 

 

 

 

Four hat customization tips

1.Understand physical limitations.

2.Be brief & make it bold.

3.Avoid small text.

4.Use additional locations, if extra space is needed.  However, keep in mind it does cost more.

 

Dos and don'ts for getting the best quality and best priced embroidered hat:  

Example 1 - Front of Cap

(left) Original "boltprinting & embroidery" company name embroidered on front of hat

= design is too detailed for a clean quality embroidery.

ltprinting & embroidery" is cleaner and better for(right) Simplified version of "bo embroidery.