Full-color medallion beads look like your logo because of how they are printed. Unlike simple one color imprints, full-color printing reproduces detailed art, gradients, and even photos on the medallion disc. This guide explains how the process works, what makes a great print, and how to prepare artwork so your beads come out sharp.
What Full-Color Printing Is
A full-color medallion carries a digitally printed disc that reproduces your artwork in full color. The print uses a process that blends colors to match your design, so a logo with several shades, a gradient, or a photographic image reproduces faithfully. That is the difference between a bead that shows your real logo and a bead that only shows a single ink color.
Full-Color Versus Imprint
A basic imprint bead prints one or two flat colors, which suits a simple logo or a short line of text. A full-color medallion prints the whole design in full color with no limit on shades. Choose an imprint when your art is simple and the budget is tight. Choose full-color when your logo has multiple colors, gradients, or fine detail that a flat print would lose.
How the Process Works
The steps are straightforward. First, we take your art file and set it to the size and shape of the medallion. Next, we build a proof so you can see the printed design before production. After you approve the proof, the design is printed on the medallions and assembled onto the strands in your chosen colors. The result is a bead that carries your logo in full color, ready to hand out.
What Makes a Great Print
Print quality starts with the art file. A vector file such as EPS, AI, or PDF scales cleanly to the medallion size and keeps edges crisp. A high resolution PNG or JPG also works if it is large enough. Small, blurry, or low resolution files limit how sharp the final print can be. Our artwork guidelines cover the file types and sizes that print best, and if your art needs cleanup, our team can help.
Color Matching
To hit your exact colors, send Pantone numbers or a clear color reference. Screens and printers show color differently, so a defined color target keeps the final print true to your brand. We match the medallion print and the strand colors so the whole bead looks right together.
Best Uses for Full-Color Beads
Full-color medallions shine anywhere a logo needs to look exactly right. Krewes use them for signature crest throws, brands use them for marketing giveaways, and teams use them for detailed mascots and wordmarks. See them in action on our krewe beads, corporate event beads, and custom sports team beads pages.
Print Your Logo on Custom Beads
Send your artwork and colors and we build a proof that shows your design in full color before anything goes to production. Browse the full-color medallion beads page, call (877) 723-2348, or contact us to start.
Common Artwork Mistakes to Avoid
A few file problems slow down a print more than anything else. Very small or low resolution images cannot scale up cleanly, so the medallion looks soft. Text set too small to read at bead size gets lost, so keep wording short and bold. Tight detail and thin lines can fill in at small sizes, so simplify busy logos for the disc. Sending the largest, cleanest file you have solves most of these before they start. See our artwork guidelines for specifics.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a full-color medallion bead?
It is a bead with a digitally printed disc that reproduces your artwork in full color, including multiple shades, gradients, and even photos. It shows your real logo, not a single flat ink color.
What is the difference between full-color and imprint?
An imprint prints one or two flat colors for simple art. Full-color prints the whole design with no limit on shades, which suits logos with multiple colors, gradients, or fine detail.
What art file do you need?
A vector file such as EPS, AI, or PDF is best, or a large high resolution PNG or JPG. See our artwork guidelines, and we can clean up art that is not print ready. Call (877) 723-2348.
Can you match my exact brand colors?
Yes. Send Pantone numbers or a color reference and we match the print and the strand colors so the whole bead looks right.
