We accept digital, scanned, regular print and professional photos:

General rule of thumb: The higher the resolution, the better the print quality. If you send us a photo in any of the formats listed below and we determine that the quality is not high enough to begin with, we will notify you before making the product.

Digital photos: Please set the camera to the highest possible resolution the camera is capable of before taking the photo (at least 150 dpi). After you take the photo, download it to your computer and then upload it to our server. Large digital photos will usually work well, such as 10"x14" at at least 150 dpi. (The smaller the size photo and less resolution, the more pixelation will occur when printed). Photos at 72 dpi must be extremely large to work well (ex. 27"w x 36"h). Anything smaller is unacceptable. If we cannot work with a photo due to its size or resolution we will let you know.

Scanned photos: To obtain the best picture quality, please scan in your photos at 300 dpi or higher and save them as a .jpg. You may then upload them to our server.

Regular photos: These need to be of high quality and at least 4"x6" in order for them to work well, such as quality 35mm prints. If the picture quality is poor or blurry to begin with, that is how it will look on your item. To send your photos via regular mail, please enclose them in a protected photo mailer envelope which you can purchase at an office supply store. We are not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged photos in the mail on their way to us. You may send the package along with a money order to our mailing address at: Chocolate Malt Graphics®, P.O. Box #211, Commack, NY 11725. We will scan them in for you. All photos will be returned with your order in the same condition as we received them.

Professional Photos: If you wish to use a professional photo, you must obtain a signed photo release form from your photographer and submit it with your photograph. All photos taken by a professional are copyrighted to the photographer. We prefer you use your own photos, as professional shots are sometimes embedded with a material causing them not to scan in properly.

***We reserve the right not to reproduce any photo we deem offensive, illegal or inappropriate. The customer assumes the right as the legal owner of the photograph unless otherwise stated by a photo release form. We cannot reproduce material that is copyrighted by someone else without express written permission from the artist or photographer.***

***We will enlarge or reduce the photo as needed to fit the product. Only slight adjustments needed to make the image fit the product will be done, as well as basic color correcting if necessary. We will not do major cropping or retouching of your photos. If your image cannot fit across the product without part of the main subject being cut off (person, animal, etc.) then we will reduce the size of your photo to include the entire image and add a matching colored border as a background behind it - see an example of one of our mouse pads.***

If you would like a custom montage for any of our products, please contact us for details. You may see a sample of a montage on our Wooden Serving Tray.

Larger images work best for reproduction. The more pixels an image has, the better the quality. If you have a photo that you are unsure of, please give us a call. We may be able to offer a suggestion to help enhance the quality. We are able to do some amount of picture enlarging without the image pixelating too much. However, after a certain point, some amount of pixelation wil occur. If you submit a photo that is small, low resolution and of poor quality to begin with, that is how it will print.

Please try to keep the image size of all the photos you send to us down to about 1MB.

For tile murals in particular, we will need to see the picture first before we can determine if it will be suitable for a mural. The higher the resolution and/or larger the photo, the better the mural.

***Thumbnail size (72 dpi) pictures are unacceptable for reproduction on any item.***

Bright colors and well-lit shots reproduce best for any item.

Personalized Messages or Type

The Type box is important. This is where you include your personalized message. Please input type EXACTLY as you would like us to print it. That includes the use of small or capital letters and punctuation. We will print it the way you send it. If you do not want text, leave this box blank. Please keep the amount of text brief. 25 characters or less is generally a good rule of thumb.

Items with different personalied messages must be ordered inidividually. (Ex. - two mousepads with the same picture but different type.)

Nature of the Product

Different products may contain slight differences in texture or appearance which may appear as an imperfection, however it will in no way impede the imprinting process or diminish from the overall appearance of your gift. These are slight imperfections that come from the manufactuer and we have no control over them. However, we carefully inspect all products we receive from our suppliers for anything that is a noticeable flaw. If a product is deemed unsuitable for imprinting we will send it back. Any stock we keep has been inspected and deemed suitable for imprinting and ready to give to customers.

Picture quality may vary due to the nature of the product. For example, type on glossy surfaces has a tendancy to spread with thin, light-colored lettering on a dark background. Images imprinted onto glass may appear not as vibrant as on glossy surfaces due to the textured surface. Color photos tend to look better imprinted than black and white photos due to their vibrancy. Black ink in black and white photos and in bleed areas (even in color photos) may tend to have a greenish hue to it due to the type of product, the surface, and how the ink interacts with it while going through the heat press.

Proofs

If you are ordering a proof, we will email you one proof based on the image you send us. We do not mail proofs.

Backgrounds/Transfer Size

If we are adding a matching background to your image, unless you specifiy otherwise, we will use a color either already inherint in the picture or apply one that compliments it.

The largest size transfer we make is roughly 11"x14". The transfer will be made to fit appropriately on the item you order.