How Long Does It Take to Get a Trophy Engraved?

The actual engraving process, using a laser engraver, takes only seconds. Depending on the laser engraver used, the average trophy plate takes less than a minute to engrave and cut to size. The process is actually very fast and very precise.

However, when you add in the time to set up the artwork for the print job, the process lengthens. The laser engraver needs to be instructed where to print the trophy plate, what size to make it, what text needs to be engraved, what font to use, what size font to use, and whether or not any font effects like bold or italics need to be used. The font, size and effects can change, line to line and sometimes even word to word. Once all the trophy plate specifications are set up, the trophy plate print job can be sent to the laser engraver where it is printed.

In addition, time needs to be taken on a regular basis to adjust the laser engraving machine, clean the precision optics, and other routine maintenance to ensure that the equipment performs properly.

Depending on the volume of trophy plates needed to be engraved with the laser, the time it takes from receiving instructions to create a trophy plate and the final piece itself can be extended by the backlog of work. In some trophy manufacturing companies, the backlog could be days. So, even though it only takes seconds for an individual trophy plate to be engraved, the entire process could be much longer.

At QuickTrophy, we have multiple laser engraving machines and run them from dawn to dusk. Our normal workflow is to process all orders the day we receive them or by the next business day. So, the production time for an individual trophy plate is very short. The time it takes from when we receive an order to the time the trophy plates are engraved to the time the finished trophies are boxed and shipped out the door is measured in hours, not days.