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The largest size we make

3 inch custom buttons

A 3 inch round pin-back button at $2.49 each, flat at every quantity. Twice the diameter of the 1.5 inch and therefore 4 times the print area, which is the part that surprises people.
Create 3 inch buttons

Price and dimensions

The 3 inch face, with its safe area marked. The disc is drawn to the same scale on every size page.

$2.49

per button, at every quantity. No tiers, no minimum.

Finished diameter
3 inches
Safe area for artwork
2.875 inches
Artwork printed and cut at
3.451 inches
Face at 300 DPI
900 pixels
Full file at 300 DPI
1035 pixels square
Print area
4x the 1.5 inch
Create 3 inch buttons

Compare with1.5 inch2.25 inch

4 times the area, not twice

This is the single most common misunderstanding about button sizes, and it works in your favour here.

A 3 inch button is twice as wide as a 1.5 inch one, so it is natural to assume it is twice the button. It is not. Area scales with the square of the diameter, so it is 4 times the printable face. Set the same design on both and it is not a bit clearer, it is a different proposition.

Against the 2.25 inch, this face is about 1.78 times the area, for $0.50 more per button, or $50.00 across 100 buttons. As with every comparison on this site, that difference does not change with quantity.

What that area buys is legibility at distance and detail in a photograph. It is the difference between a button somebody notices on a jacket at the other end of a hall and a button they have to walk over to read.

Is 3 inch the right size for you?

This size earns its price in specific situations rather than generally.

It suits

  • Photographs, especially group photos where a particular face has to be recognized.
  • More than one line of text, or a line that has to carry at a distance.
  • QR codes. This is the face that gives a code enough size and enough quiet margin to scan off a curved surface.
  • A detailed illustration, a crest, a seal or a dense logo.
  • Memorial and commemorative buttons, where the image is the point.
  • A statement piece on a jacket, a tote or a backpack, where being large is the intention.

Think twice about it for

  • A collar, a cap, a lanyard badge holder or anything with a narrow place to pin. The disc is wider than the space.
  • Lightweight fabric. A larger button is a heavier button, so a thin tee will show it more than a jacket will.
  • A design that is a single simple mark. It will look fine, but you are paying for area you are not using.
  • A small or low resolution source image. See the next section: this is the size where that starts to matter.
The 3 button sizes drawn at true relative scaleCircles at their real relative size, resting on one line. 1.5 inch is 1.5 inches across, 2.25 inch is 2.25 inches across, 3 inch is 3 inches across. Doubling the diameter quadruples the printable face, so the largest disc is drawn visibly four times the area of the smallest rather than twice its size. The dashed ring inside each face is that size's safe area for artwork. The 3 inch circle is outlined to mark it as the size this page is about.1.5 in2.25 in3 in

Read about 1.5 inchRead about 2.25 inchSee all three at true scale

Artwork for a 3 inch button

This is the size where the file, rather than the diameter, becomes the limit.
A 3 inch button and its three diametersThe printed circle is 3.451 inches across and the sheet is punched at that diameter. The finished button is 3 inches. Artwork that has to stay readable belongs inside the 2.875 inch safe circle. The hatched ring between the finished face and the cut line folds over the metal shell and crimps underneath, so nothing printed in it is visible on the finished button.Cut line3.451 inFinished face3 inSafe area2.875 inThis ring folds under the shell
Artwork sitting inside the safe circleThe same mark and two lines of type on a 3 inch button, sitting inside the 2.875 inch safe circle. Nothing reaches the ring that folds under the shell, so nothing is cut off and nothing curves away from the reader.

Inside the safe circle

The same artwork set too large, cut off at the rimA mark and two lines of type on a 3 inch button, set large enough to cross the 2.875 inch safe circle. The ends of both lines run into the ring outside the 3 inch face and are cut off at the rim, because that ring folds under the shell. The band that is still visible but already curving away from the reader is shaded.

Crossing the safe circle

Proportionally the safe area is more generous here than on the smaller sizes, which is part of why text and photos do better on this face.

Now the catch, with a real example. A 1024 pixel square image is an ordinary thing to have, and it does cover the 900 pixel face. But it falls short of the 1035 pixels the full printed circle needs, so it would have to be enlarged to reach the edge. Enlarging adds no detail that was never captured: you get a file that passes a resolution check while carrying what it started with. Vector artwork sidesteps the problem, so send a PDF if you have one.

We keep your original upload rather than a flattened preview, so a good source file stays one. If what you send is too small for this size we tell you before it is printed, and switching to a smaller button is usually the quickest fix.

Full artwork guidelines, with a 3 inch template to download

Order 3 inch buttons

$2.49 each at any quantity, made in Huntington, NY.
Create 3 inch buttonsCheck your artwork first