THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO LASER ENGRAVING
YOUR CUSTOM PHONE CASE
Updated with new content for 2022
January 2022
(Mobile, Consumer, Tech)
Chloe, Senior Contributor
WUDN Customer Service, and a massive Apple geek
Since the beginning, we have been focused on doing something different, not just for us, but for you. I couldn’t look at another cheap plastic phone case at the mall kiosk. First, they’re trash, but more important, there are literally millions of those cases in the world, maybe thousands just in your town. Part of our mission is making you distinctive; helping you express a little style in a world where everything is mass produced. A custom wooden case for your iPhone or Samsung Galaxy is a small thing, but for the one piece of electronics that literally never leaves your side, a bit of style can’t hurt.
Something Different for You
Your phone is boring. Your phone case is boring. Even our beautiful wooden phone cases; better, but still boring.
Your phone may not define you, but it is an important part of how the world sees you. I know you paid extra for your iPhone Xs Max or 11, and that helps to set you apart, but seriously, now you just hold the same premium phone owned by 88 Million other people in the world.
So what’s the answer to all this sameness, all this boringness? Maybe, a custom wood iPhone case laser engraved with your favorite logo, image or monogram.
Or, that Perfect Personalized Gift
Personalization is the key to the perfect gift. It's not just about the "Thing" you bought. It's about the thought you put into it. Something that captures the shared feeling, the shared experience, or just the line from the movie you both love.
Can I Customize a Real Wood Phone Case?
Can I do a cool monogram design with my initials? Can I do an image of my cat? Can I upload original artwork?
Done, done and done.
You want to keep it simple and elegant? Pick from one of our monogram styles.
Can I do a cool monogram design with my initials? Can I do an image of my cat? Can I upload original artwork?
Done, done and done.
You want to keep it simple and elegant? Pick from one of our monogram styles.
Custom Wooden iPhone Cases
Tell Me About Engraving Corporate Logos
The easiest and highest quality of all engraving projects. Most logos, even full color 3D-looking logos have a one-color variation. Ad agencies aren't dumb. They know, for every full color application, there is another where it's just too expensive or not a appropriate to print in 4 colors. Think of printed envelopes or stationary - or even embossed leather. Every company will have a clean, 1-color version of their logo.
Corporate logos usually have a vector version too. After designing your phone case in the designer, email us the vector version. They will be a file ending in .AI (Adobe Illistrator) or .EPS (Encapsulated Postscript). Vector files are a mathematically perfect version of the logo that translate into our laser software without losing any quality.
January Expedition" logo, laser engraved in Mahogany for the iPhone Xs Max.
More Logo Engraving
Take a look at this fantastic logo. Nice big blocky letters work especially well in a one-color application like laser engraving.
Small text can be challenging to laser engrave. Especially serif fonts like Times New Roman with little pointy ends. The laser beam is about 0.15 mm wide, and the tips of serif letters are smaller than 0.15 mm, so that's a problem.
What About Full Color Photos?
Laser engraving is a one-color process so full color “Images” can be great if you follow our guidelines below.
If you are into those plastic or vinyl wrapped cases with a full color picture of your prom date, no problem, here are some sites that will take good care of you:
Go Customized
| Skinit | Shutterfly
But if you are into something a little more subtle, a little more elegant, or even a little more masculine, then laser-engraved wood is the right choice.
So You’re Looking for Some Old-School Style
Then you need to convert that picture into a line drawing. There are a couple of websites that help you do that easily. Free Picture Stencil Maker is our favorite.
Just upload your image, and you get to control the type of conversion, the darkness and the sharpness of the line drawing. Pictures with some contrast between the main image and the background tend to work best. And pictures of people, as opposed to landscapes tend to work better as well.
Which means you can turn this, into this. A perfect black and white line drawing, of your picture which will look fantastic laser engraved in Mahogany.
This photograph was converted to a line drawing with Free Picture Stencil Maker. Use a website like this if you want to control the look and feel of the final image. Then download the PNG and upload it into the WUDN Custom Product Designer.
Or, we can "Desaturate" the picture for you
"Desaturate" is a cool way to say, "remove all the color".
In our case, we are desaturating your photograph with a special filter that converts the colors to grayscale, but it also adds some additional contrast around objects and borders. This creates photographs that work much better for laser engraving.
This was the original photo with a pretty complex background. Normally a one-color laser engrave like this would be tough.
In this case we will use a special Gimp desaturation filter to provide a little more contrast around the people in this photo.
Laser engraved in Mahogany on an iPhone Xs Max case.
Landscapes are More Difficult
Landscapes are more challenging. The human brain is an amazing pattern recognition computer, especially for people and faces. In this case, there are fewer very obvious objects and lots of background.
The Gimp desaturation filter will help by adding some contrast around the edges of objects like the mountains and the boat, but in the actual laser engraving, it will be pretty tough to identify the water from the mountains from the sky.
Laser engraved in Mahogany on an iPhone Xs Max case.
This one came out better than expected. Even the shadow of the boat on the water is visible.
Black-and-white line art or image files - like logos, silhouettes, line drawings and high-contrast illustrations - translate into engravings better than regular photos. If a photo is all you have, and the line drawing website isn't doing what you want, send it to us at info@shopwudn.com and we will take a look. It could be as simple as removing the background and leaving the people.
So how does it work?
The WUDN Custom Product Designer is pretty straightforward. Select your product. In this case a 6 oz. Hip Flask in Aromatic Cedar. For most all of our products , you can choose any of the standard wood options shown below.
- No waiting! You’ll have access to the design editor right after purchasing.
- No need to download any software. Personalize this item right in your browser or from your phone.
- Upload images, logos and text for your custom laser engraving.
PURCHASE: you will receive an email from Corjl with a link to personalize your product.
PERSONALIZE: your product with text and / or images, then save or approve the design.
BUILD: after approval, WUDN will build and ship your order in 2-3 business days.
What tree species should I choose?
Mahogany, Bamboo, Aromatic Cedar, Black Walnut, American Cherry, Purple Heart or Shimmering Maple
- While the black walnut is beautiful, it’s also very dark and laser engravings can be difficult to see. The other wood options including Mahogany, Bamboo or Cedar, display the engravings much more clearly.
Where can I find great images for my first custom phone case?
Any images you download from one of these sites will probably work for laser-engraving. If it's a vector file with an extension of .AI or .EPS then it will work natively in our laser software. It's its an image file with an extension like .JPG or .PNG, then just make sure it's big enough. The image should be at least 1000 pixels wide.
Make sure you have your ad block software running. These sites can be a little aggressive with the popups.
Build Complex Shapes from Simple Icons
The best Interface icons for your projects 8,000+ SVG and web font-optimal vector-based icons for web, iOS, and Android applications.
Still looking for ideas?
Use a site like Snazzy Maps to create awesome black and white map images of your hometown or favorite city. Just download the image or crop the screenshot and send it to us, we’ll do the rest.
It could be any map, but I am a fan of New York. How cool would this look laser engraved on the back of your new custom phone case.
Anything Else?
At WUDN, you can make your own iPhone or Samsung Galaxy case from scratch and give your phone a unique look. Simply use your favorite picture, logo or quote to create your very own design that will transform your phone completely.
Our slim wooden iPhone and Samsung cases are handmade from locally sourced wood and built to last through your active lifestyle. Protect your phone while making a statement. Beautiful and functional, these wood phone cases deliver old-school style.
Wooden Phone Cases Fit all the Following iPhone Models:
Wood cases for iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone Xs, iPhone Xr, iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Mini, 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13, 13 Max, 13 Pro, and 13 Pro Max, iPhone 14, 14 Max, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, 15 Max, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max.
Phone cases are not the beginning or end of the custom laser engraved world. WUDN has tons of items that can be laser engraved with images, logos and text. Mousepads, coasters, flasks, bottle openers, business card holders, and more. Browse through the custom collection and see if anything jumps out at you.
Choose Your Phone Case & Start Designing
You have questions. We have answers.
Is the phone case covered in real wood?
Yes, every case is covered in real wood, hand selected by our team for beauty and uniqueness. Wood options for most all of our cases include Mahogany, Black Walnut, American Cherry, Carmalized Bamboo, Aromatic Cedar, Purple Heart, or Shimmering Maple. .
How well will this case fit my phone?
The slim-case fits your phone perfectly. No blockage of the camera port. Sure grip textured sides to enhance your grip and easy access to all ports and buttons. Especially the world map iphone 6 case.
Does the phone case protect my screen?
Yes, our slim-cases have a slightly raised lip around the front edge to prevent your phone screen from touching surfaces when placed facedown. Of course, you should always add a glass screen protector.
Can I still use Qi wireless charging with this phone case?
Yes, WUDN slim cases do not interfere with Qi wireless charging for iPhone 8 and X models or for Samsung Galaxy phones. Just be sure to center the Qi receiver in the middle of your charging pad.
Does the phone case protect my camera?
Yes, the phone camera is recessed behind the camera cutout. Although the camera is not covered, because that would result in potato quality photos, the camera should be safe from typical drops.
Will a case protect the resale value of my phone?
Yes, keeping your phone in excellent condition goes a long way towards maintaining high resale and trade-in value. You should keep your phone in a case at all times - and always add a real glass (not plastic screen protector). As iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones get more expensive, the resale and trade-in value has been going up as well. For $25 now, you could add several hundred dollars to the value of your phone when it's time to upgrade.
Will I need a dongle for my headphones?
No, the WUDN slim cases come with a properly sized cutout for the headphone port (on iPhone 6 models) and lightning port. You will NOT need a dongle for your headphones.
Can the WUDN case be used with magnetic car and wall mounts?
WUDN cases do not come with a steel plate built in. We are looking to add that feature in the future. In the meantime, we know of many customers that have added a steel plate inside their WUDN case with great results. Here is a 4-pack of metal plates designed exactly for this purpose.
How do you make a wooden cell phone case?
We did a long form blog post about that complete with pictures and videos. Take a look: We Built a Laser Engraved Phone Case from Scratch
Should I buy more than one WUDN phone case?
Of course. We have a number of designs from cool artistic skulls to the "Sawtooth Mountains Traveler", and most of our cases are available in different wood types and species. You should have a couple of cases, at least, to change your style to match the moment. Monday through Friday in the office call for a simple, conservative case, and Fridays in the club call for something with a bit more style.
Will the wood get stained and ugly?
It could, but unlike plastic and other synthetic materials, our wood cases actually get better looking over time. We ship our cases with only one light layer of polyurethane. This means the case will age and the more you use it, the more the wood will look authentic and vintage. Some artisans actually use coffee to stain wood in beautiful mocha hues. (make sure your phone is out of the case when you decide to drop it in your coffee).
What is TPU and Why Do I Care?
WUDN Slim iPhone Cases are made from TPU (Thermoplastic Urethane). TPU is a hybrid material; a mixture between hard plastic and soft silicone. A very dense and smooth rubber, TPU cases are made to slide in and out of the pocket easily, without attracting lint. TPU cases are more durable, slightly elastic and much stronger than silicone. WUDN uses TPU case templates covered in real wood.
ARTWORK DISCLAIMER: By uploading your artwork to WUDN or the WUDN Custom Product Designer, you affirm that you are the rightful owner or have received written permission from the rightful owner, and you agree to assume any and all liability resulting from copyright or trademark infringements. WUDN reserves the right to deny any artwork that could potentially break copyright or trademark laws.
