Delivered Project · Print Reseller · United States
200 Logo Frames, Black Back, Magnetic Front
A US print shop ordered 200 tabletop acrylic frames with a logo base for its client, a financial advisory firm: 100 at 5×7 in and 100 at 8×10 in. We switched the clear back to black to hide the bond marks, kept the front magnetic so inserts can change, and shipped DDP by air.
- frames, 100 per size
- 200
- sizes: 5×7 and 8×10 in
- 2
- order to sample photos
- 12 days
- air, duties included
- DDP
Ordering a similar project
MOQ is 100 pieces per design. Paid samples normally take 3–5 days; sample fees are paid separately and never credited. Standard production takes 15–20 days after the sample is approved. Send your logo as a vector file and your insert sizes; Wetop responds to a complete brief within 24 hours.
Key Takeaways
- A US print shop ordered 200 tabletop acrylic frames for its client, a financial advisory firm: 100 at 5×7 in and 100 at 8×10 in, each with the client's logo printed in white on a black base.
- The client first asked for a clear back panel; we advised black because a clear back shows the bond marks, and both sizes switched to black four days after the order was placed.
- A magnetic clear front panel, held by four corner magnets, answered the client's one concern about the black back: it needed to change the printed inserts through the year.
- Two logo placements were proofed on the 178 × 50 mm and 254 × 50 mm base faces before the invoice; the client chose the centered layout on both sizes.
- Pre-production sample photos went out 12 days after the order and were approved the same day; the frames flew DDP by air about five weeks after the order, duties and customs included.
The Challenge
The order came from a print and marketing shop in the US Midwest, buying on behalf of one of its own clients, a financial advisory firm with branch offices around the country. The firm wanted tabletop frames for its offices: a printed card inside, its logo on a solid base underneath, in two sizes. The print shop would print the 5×7 in and 8×10 in cards itself; it needed the frames.
The brief arrived with a reference photo from the end client, a clear frame with no visible back, and the logo artwork. The print shop also asked for a digital proof it could show the client before anything was paid, and it wanted the frames delivered to its own door by air with nothing to clear at customs.
Three things had to be settled through a reseller in the middle: how the logo would sit on the base, whether the clear back in the reference photo would look right once built, and whether the client could still change its inserts once the frames were on desks across its offices.
Our Approach
Two placement proofs before the invoice
The day after the order details came in, we laid out the logo on both base faces, about 178 × 50 mm on the 5×7 in frame and 254 × 50 mm on the 8×10 in, in two versions. One placed a 60 mm logo 5 mm in from the lower right corner. The other centered the logo across most of the base face. We also sent photos of a frame structure we had built for an automotive brand so the client could see how the base, back and front fit together. The client chose the centered layout on both sizes the same day, and the print shop asked for the invoice.
Black back instead of clear
The reference photo showed a clear back panel. We could build it that way, and the print shop first chose to follow the reference. But on this structure the back panel is bonded to the base block across a wide face, and through clear acrylic that bond shows as visible glue marks from behind and at an angle. We told the print shop plainly that a clear back was likely to draw a quality complaint once the client saw the frames on a desk, and recommended black, the same as the earlier automotive frame. From the front nothing changes, because the printed card covers the back panel.
The client then asked two questions. Could the base be navy, its brand color? Navy is not a regular sheet color, and the custom sheet run would have needed about 300 sets to justify it, so the client stayed with black. And what exactly was being glued, because it wanted to put new inserts in the frames through the year? We sent a close photo of the bonded joint and explained the front: a clear panel held to the black back by four small corner magnets, lifted off by hand to change the card. The client approved black for both sizes four days after the order.
A vector file for the white logo
The first logo files were image files. They were fine for the placement proof and not fine for printing, because the logo could not be separated cleanly for the base. We asked for a vector file in AI or PDF format. The print shop sent the logo in black and asked for it in white, and we printed it white on the black base. Our guide to artwork files for custom acrylic lists what a print-ready logo file needs.
Sample photos, then production
We built a pre-production frame in each size with the white centered logo and sent photos 12 days after the order. The print shop approved both the same day and asked us to proceed. Production was quoted at about 15 days; the custom materials for this batch took a few days longer, and when the print shop checked in on progress we told it so and gave a completion date that week. The frames were ready 18 days after the sample approval.
Spec at a glance
The Results
The 200 frames, 100 in each size, shipped by air on DDP terms: freight, duties, taxes and delivery to the print shop's door in one price, with air tracking sent before the flight left. The air freight was the largest single line on the invoice, larger than either size of frame, which is normal for a bulky, light tabletop item flown across the Pacific. Our FOB versus DDP guide explains what a delivered quote should include.
When we followed up in September, the print shop told us its client loved the frames. It also told us a few had been damaged when the client sent them on to its offices, a second shipment after ours that the print shop said could not have been prevented. If your frames will be re-shipped to branches after delivery, tell us at the quote stage so the inner packing is chosen for that second trip, not only for the first.
Project note: The reference photo had a clear back. On a bonded frame that means visible glue marks, so both sizes went to a black back with a magnetic clear front. The client kept the look it wanted from the front and can still change its inserts by hand.
What This Means for Your Project
If you are a print shop, promotional products company or agency buying frames for a client, most of the work is getting the client's decisions made quickly and in writing. What helped here was a proof the reseller could forward as it was, a clear reason for every change we suggested, and photos of a physical sample before production.
Decide the back panel by how the frame is built. A clear back looks clean in a render. On a frame with a bonded base it shows the bond. A black or colored back hides it and costs the viewer nothing, because the insert covers it.
Choose a magnetic front if the insert will change. Four corner magnets let office staff change a printed card in seconds, with no screws or tools. Our magnetic picture frame buyer guide covers panel thickness and magnet placement.
Send the logo as a vector file from the start. An image file is enough to approve placement and not enough to print from. Sending AI or PDF with the order saves a round of questions after payment.
We build custom magnetic acrylic frames and other custom acrylic frames with printed logos from 100 pieces per design, with a paid pre-production sample before the first run.
Common Questions
Three questions buyers ask most often about a branded tabletop frame.
Why use a black back panel on a clear acrylic tabletop frame?
Because a clear back shows every bond line. On this frame the back panel is bonded to the base block across a wide face, and through clear acrylic that joint reads as a visible glue mark from behind and at an angle. A black back hides the joint completely and does not change what the viewer sees from the front, because the insert covers the back panel anyway. The buyer's client had asked for a clear back from a reference photo, then switched both sizes to black after seeing why.
Can the insert in a logo tabletop frame be changed later?
Yes, if the front is magnetic. On this build the clear front panel is held to the black back by four small magnets in the corners, so office staff lift the panel off, change the printed card, and press it back without tools. That was the end client's main question before approving the black back: it wanted to put new inserts in the frames through the year.
What logo file does a printed acrylic frame base need?
A vector file, AI or PDF, with the logo built from outlines rather than a placed picture. The first files on this order were image files, which cannot be separated cleanly for printing on the base. The buyer sent a vector version of the logo in black, and we printed it in white on the black base as the buyer instructed. A raster file is enough to approve a placement proof; it is not enough to print from.
Buying branded frames for a client?
Send the insert sizes, the quantity per size, your client's logo as a vector file, a reference photo, and the delivery address. We will proof the logo placement, recommend the back panel and front, build a paid pre-production sample, and quote DDP freight as its own line.
Paid samples in 3–5 days · Fees paid separately and never credited · Production in 15–20 days after approval · MOQ 100 pieces per design · Response within 24 hours