Custom and photo magnets: getting one you will still like in a year

A fridge magnet is printed small, usually somewhere between 50 × 50 mm and 90 × 60 mm, and that changes what counts as good enough for a photograph. A resolution that looks sharp on a phone screen can print soft, blocky or pixelated once it is reduced to the size of a magnet, because the file simply does not hold enough detail for the print area.

Working out the pixel dimensions you need

Print resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi), the number of printed dots packed into each inch of the finished piece. For photographic printing, 300 dpi is the standard most magnet printers work to, and it is worth calculating in pixels.

Take a common promotional size, 70 × 45 mm. At 300 dpi that works out to roughly 827 × 531 pixels. A photo taken on a modern phone camera comfortably exceeds this, but a photo saved from a website, a screenshot, or an image that has already been cropped and resized once will often fall short. Check the pixel dimensions of your file against the finished size before you send it.

Why tight crops fail first

A close crop, such as a single face filling most of a 70 × 45 mm magnet, is the version most likely to show a resolution problem, because there is nowhere for a soft or blocky area to hide. A wider shot with some background spreads the same pixel count over more visual detail, so the same file that looks fine as a landscape photo can look noticeably rougher once cropped tightly to a face or a small object.

Cropping also interacts with bleed, the printed area that extends slightly beyond the finished edge so that small variation in trimming does not leave a white line at the border. If your printer asks for 2 to 3 mm of bleed on each side, a tight crop needs to hold up right to that outer edge. Confirm the bleed allowance and the safe area, the inset zone where nothing important should sit, with your printer before you finalise a crop.

What to check before you upload

• The pixel dimensions of the file match or exceed 300 dpi at the finished magnet size.
• The crop you intend to use has been applied to the full-resolution original.
• Faces, text or any detail you want sharp sit inside the safe area, clear of the bleed edge where trimming variation occurs.
• The file has not been saved and re-saved multiple times as a compressed format, since repeated compression softens detail even when the pixel dimensions stay the same.

The artwork resolution checker works out whether your file meets the 300 dpi threshold for the size you enter, though it can only assess the numbers in the file and cannot judge whether a crop looks right, so it is worth reviewing the cropped image yourself at full size on a screen before you order.

A photo or logo printed onto a magnet sits under one of several finishes, and the finish decides more about how it looks in a year's time than the image itself. Some protective layers slow colour fade and resist scratching for years; others leave the ink exposed to sunlight and kitchen handling almost from day one. Ask your printer which construction they are quoting before you order, because the same photo printed two different ways can age very differently on the same fridge door.

Laminated prints hold up best out of direct sun

A gloss or matte lamination is a clear film bonded over the printed face, and its job is to keep UV light and handling grease off the ink underneath. A laminated magnet kept out of direct sunlight typically holds its colour for years, with gloss giving the sharpest, most saturated look and matte giving a softer finish that shows fewer fingerprints. Neither finish is fade-proof, though: it slows the damage rather than preventing it, so a laminated magnet on a wall that gets afternoon sun will still fade eventually, just more slowly than an unprotected one.

Unlaminated prints are the ones that disappoint

A print with no laminate, sometimes sold as a cheaper option, leaves the ink directly exposed to light and to whatever touches it. This is the construction behind most of the "my magnet's gone dull" complaints: sunlight bleaches the ink, and repeated handling burnishes the surface until the image looks washed out. If a lower price is quoted without mention of a laminate, ask whether one is included, because it is usually the difference between a magnet that still looks right in a year and one that does not.

Epoxy domes and yellowing

Souvenir and some photo magnets use an epoxy dome, a clear resin dome applied over a printed insert to give it a glossy, slightly raised finish. Resin formulations vary, and a magnet kept in a sunlit spot can show a yellow tinge in the clear dome well before the printed image itself fades, because it is the resin discolouring, not the ink. This is worth asking about specifically if the magnet is going somewhere bright, since it is a different failure mode from ordinary print fade and one that a standard lamination does not have.

Where it hangs matters as much as how it is made

A magnet on an interior wall or a fridge that never sees direct sun will outlast an identical one stuck beside a sunny kitchen window, regardless of finish. UV exposure is cumulative, so a spot that gets even an hour or two of direct sun each afternoon adds up over months in a way indoor lighting does not. If you want a specific answer for your own construction and finish, confirm with your printer what lamination or dome type they use and how it is expected to perform out of direct sunlight, since this varies by supplier and by the resin or film they buy in.

For more on how these layers sit together on the magnet itself, see What a Fridge Magnet Is Made Of, and Which Kind You Are Buying.

A save-the-date or wedding magnet gets ordered once, usually in the run-up to invitations going out, and it is the one custom magnet job where a print error reaches guests before anyone at the wedding notices it. Proofing and postage need more attention here than they would for a takeaway menu magnet, because there is no second batch before the date arrives.

Proofing before the run

Ask your printer for a proof that shows the actual trim size and the finish, matte or gloss lamination. Screen colour and printed colour differ, particularly on warm skin tones and the cream or ivory backgrounds common on wedding stationery, and a digital proof on a monitor will not catch this. Where the quantity justifies it, ask for a physical printed proof of one magnet before the full run and check it under ordinary room lighting.

Check names, dates and venue details against the proof word by word, because a spelling error caught after a hundred magnets have gone in the post cannot be recalled from a guest's fridge.

Posting a magnetised item

A magnet inside an envelope carries a field that can affect automated sorting equipment and other items passing through the postal system, so Royal Mail treats magnetised items as restricted mail. In practice this usually means the magnet needs its field contained, commonly by sandwiching it between two pieces of card or backing board inside the envelope. Check Royal Mail's current guidance on posting magnetised items before sending a run of them, since the rules are set by Royal Mail and not by your printer, and they can change.

A flexible magnetic sheet at 0.4 mm to 0.6 mm is thin enough to sit inside a standard envelope, but the finished thickness once lamination and any backing card are added should be checked against the current letter and large letter size and weight bands before you order in quantity.

What to check with your printer

• Whether the magnets ship loose, mounted on card, or already sleeved ready for posting
• The finished thickness once lamination and backing card are included
• Whether they can supply a physical proof for a stationery job like this
• Their turnaround time, since save-the-dates are usually needed by a fixed date

The specification questions on size and finish are covered more fully in ordering printed promotional magnets: what to specify, and it is worth checking your photo will hold up at the finished size with the artwork resolution checker before you send files to print.