An engraving order is a few short lines that have to fit a small piece of metal. A ring takes one line inside the band; a pendant, a few lines a side. The customer also picks a font, and sometimes the side. Your engraver works from the order, so each line, the font and the side must arrive there exactly as chosen.
In short: the piece you stock is the variant; the engraving is custom options, with one text field per engraved line, a character limit set for the piece, and the font and position as fixed lists. It draws on our research into how hundreds of e-commerce jewelry and gift stores configure engraving.
Where engraving belongs on a Shopify product
The piece itself, in the metals, chain lengths or sizes you stock, belongs on Shopify’s variant picker (the size or metal choices your theme shows). Shopify allows up to three options and 2,048 variants per product. The engraving is free text, so it can never be a variant.
Custom options are not built into Shopify; they come from a product options app such as OptionWise, or from custom theme code. In OptionWise, each choice is saved as a Shopify line item property, a note attached to that item on the order. It appears under the piece on the order page, the packing slip and the notification email (where options appear). Rings with different text go in the cart separately; identical ones can go in as a quantity of 2.
Engraving limits by piece
About a quarter of jewelry stores offer engraving. The limit follows the surface: a curved band holds fewer characters than a flat plate.
| Piece and surface | Lines | Characters a line | Usually required? | Usually priced? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ring or bangle, inside the band | 1 | about 10–15 | Once engraving is added | A flat fee on the yes |
| Tag, charm or pendant, each side | 1–4 | about 15 | Line 1, once it is shown | A flat fee; some charge for a second side |
| Medal or plaque | up to 4 | about 30 | No | Often free |
Give each engraved line its own numbered field. Set the limit on the field and state it in the label, “Back line 1 (up to 15 characters)”. A limit counts spaces and punctuation, so “June 12, 2024” uses 13. Say which symbols you can cut, such as an ampersand, in the placeholder (the gray example text inside an empty field). Pet ID tags have their own guide: pet tag engraving.
Engraving fonts
About one in six jewelry stores offers a font. Most lists hold three to six plain names: Script, Block, Roman, Old English. Offer the fonts your machine carries as a fixed list with a default, each shown as a photo of the same word engraved on your metal.
Front, back and inside: the engraving position
About one in ten jewelry stores asks where the engraving goes, as a fixed list: Front, Back, Front and back; Inside the band; Opposite the stone, Behind the stone. If engraving a second side takes extra work, price “Front and back”.
How stores actually set up engraving
Three structures from real stores, with the names changed and prices converted to dollars.
A piece with three engraved lines:
- Personalize with engraving for just $24.99 — image swatches: Add engraving (+$24.99)
- Line 1 — text
- Line 2 — text
- Line 3 — text
- Font — dropdown: Helvetica · Times Roman · Script
A priced engraving with a stated limit:
- Would you like to add personalization for $12? — checkboxes: Yes please (+$12) · No thanks
- Engraving text (max 11 characters) — text, required
- Next, choose your font — image swatches: Script · Roman · Old English · Lucida Hand · Freestyle Script · Arial Round
Avoid its Yes and No checkboxes and always-required text; a single checkbox revealing a required text field is cleaner.
A titanium bangle, engraved inside, priced by the type of engraving:
- Add engraving to the inside of the bangle? — checkboxes: Yes
- Type of engraving — radio: Text (+$35) · Image / fingerprint / handwriting (+$87) · Text & image (+$87)
- Engraving text — text
- Engraving font — radio: Open Sans · Amiri · Dancing Script
- Engraving image — file upload
Setting up engraving in OptionWise
Create an option set (the group of custom options you build once and share across products) and assign it by tag or collection.
In OptionWise, a text field takes a maximum length and a placeholder. Any buttons, dropdown, radio, checkbox or swatch choice can reveal other fields, on one value or any of several (conditional logic). Fields the customer can’t see aren’t required and send nothing to the order. Add-on prices are fixed amounts on a value, totaled live on the page and carried through the cart, checkout and order.
A starter engraving option set
Install OptionWise, keep the pendant’s metal and chain length as variants, and add this set. Prices are examples in dollars.
| Option | Type | Values | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add engraving | Checkboxes, a single checkbox | Add engraving (+$20) | Reveals Position, Font and Check |
| Position | Buttons, required, default Front | Front; Back; Front and back (+$10) | Shown when engraving is on; controls the lines |
| Front line (up to 15 characters) | Text, required, max 15 | Shown when engraving is on and Position is Front or Front and back; placeholder: Anna & Tom | |
| Back line 1 (up to 15 characters) | Text, required, max 15 | Shown when engraving is on and Position is Back or Front and back; placeholder: June 12, 2024 | |
| Back line 2 (up to 15 characters) | Text, optional, max 15 | Shown when engraving is on and Position is Back or Front and back | |
| Font | Image swatches, required, default Script | Script, Block, Roman, Old English | Shown when engraving is on; photograph each |
| Check your engraving | Checkboxes, a single checkbox, required | I have checked my engraving | Shown when engraving is on; last |
A plain pendant is one click: unchecked, nothing else shows or is required. Checked, Position (preset to Front), the front line, Font (preset to Script) and the check show, all required. Back swaps in the back lines, back line 1 required; Front and back shows all three. A $60 pendant engraved on both sides is $90. For a ring, drop Position and keep one line of up to 12 characters.
Common engraving mistakes
- One box for every line. The engraver guesses the line breaks. Give each line its own field.
- The limit only in the label. A customer types 40 characters into a line that holds 15. Set the maximum on the field too.
- The font as free text. Customers describe a font instead of naming one. Offer a fixed list of the fonts you carry.
- No engraving check. A misspelling is found after the piece is engraved. End with a required checkbox.
Options should load with the page
On an engraved piece, the metal and the engraving are one decision to the customer, so they should arrive together. Most options apps add their fields after the page has loaded, so the engraving fields appear a moment later and push the add-to-cart button down. OptionWise’s custom options load as part of the product page, next to the variant picker, so they appear with the price and photos and nothing moves (learn more).
Frequently asked questions
How do I add an engraving text box to a Shopify product page?
Custom options are not built into Shopify, so engraving fields come from a product options app such as OptionWise, or from custom theme code. In OptionWise you add one text field per engraved line to an option set, give each a maximum length and a placeholder example, and assign the set to your engravable products by tag or collection. The text is saved as a Shopify line item property and appears on the order, the packing slip and the notification email.
How do I set a character limit on engraving text in Shopify?
Set the limit on the field and state it in the label. An OptionWise text field takes a maximum length, so a line labeled 'Back line 1 (up to 15 characters)' stops at 15. Stores set about 10 to 15 characters inside a ring, about 15 a line on a tag, charm or pendant, and up to four lines of about 30 on a medal or plaque. The limit counts spaces and punctuation.
How do I let customers choose an engraving font on Shopify?
Offer the fonts your machine carries as a fixed list with a default, usually three to six of them. In OptionWise, show them as image swatches, each a photograph of the same word engraved in that font on your own metal. The chosen font arrives on the order next to the engraving text.
Can I charge extra for engraving on Shopify?
Yes, as a fixed add-on price on the choice that adds the work: 'Add engraving' or a second side. In OptionWise, add-on prices are totaled live on the page and carried through the cart, checkout and order, where the add-on appears as its own line. The amount is per unit, so two identical pieces with the same text, added together with a quantity of 2, pay it twice.
How do I offer engraving on the front and back of a pendant?
Ask for the position as a fixed list, such as Front, Back and Front and back, and let each value reveal its own lines. In OptionWise, any buttons, dropdown, radio, checkbox or swatch choice can reveal other fields, on one value or any of several. Fields the customer can't see aren't required and send nothing to the order, so a front-only order carries no empty back lines.
How does the engraving text reach me on the order?
As line item properties, notes attached to that item on the order. OptionWise saves each line, the font, the position and any notes against the piece the customer bought, so they show on the order page in Shopify admin, on packing slips and in notification emails, with any uploaded image attached to the same item. Two pieces with different text are added to the cart separately, each with its own text.
OptionWise for engraving
OptionWise is a Shopify product options app. For engraving, it puts each engraved line with its character limit, the font and the position next to the theme’s variant picker, and saves every line to the order for the engraver. The rest of a catalog is in the jewelry guide and the gift guide.
OptionWise is free for life for stores that install today. It adds a block to your theme, with no code changes.
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