Trophies are often considered the highest honour or award in a large number of occasions, including school prize giving days, sporting events, and even for recognition of outstanding employees at the workplace. Quality engraving of trophies helps to improve their quality as well as aesthetic appeal. There are various techniques used to engrave trophies, some of which are discussed herein. These techniques differ in terms of equipment used, the cost of production and the final appearance among other factors.

Engraving Through Sublimation Sublimation is the most widely used type of engraving used on trophies and is often the standard engraving offered by engraving specialists. The great popularity of this engraving method can be partly attributed to the fact that it is the quickest and most affordable engraving technique available. Under sublimation, engravings are printed and pressed on metal plates before being attached to the trophy. Sublimation permeates the metal's polyester finish as opposed to extracting material. For this reason, sublimation is technically not considered an engraving technique. Sublimation allows for both full and single colour engraving. Engraving through sublimation gives the best results when used on light coloured trophies such as silver anodized aluminium and stock gold.

Laser Engraving Laser engraving is a highly adaptable engraving technique which offers clients a limitless choice of designs and material. It is a relatively expensive option mostly because the production process is time consuming. The cost of laser engraving is also affected by various factors, including the amount of text to be engraved, texture and depth of graphics, as well as font size and type. Under this technique, materials are extracted through the burning of imprints into the material. Laser engraving typically produces white or translucent letters. Colours such as gold and silver are often applied after laser engraving so as to highlight imprints and improve their visibility.

Computer Engraving Computer engraving employs the use of a machine that features a diamond-tipped head. The diamond -tipped head helps to scratch markings defined by a computer onto the object. Text is typed into the computer and automatically transferred onto the trophy. As such, engravings done by computer appear in the same colour as that of the trophy. Readability of engravings can be improved by filling them with a different colour. The major setback with computer engraving is that it is only suitable for flat objects and it does not support engraving of graphics.

Next time when looking to honor someone with a trophy, be sure to choose the most appropriate engraving technique, and talk with trophy and engraving professionals for more information.