How to make pin-back buttons at home

Pin-back buttons (badges, in the UK) are a printed paper circle pressed between a metal shell and a clear film, with a pin on the back. With a button maker you can make them at home, a few at a time or hundreds for a shop or an event.

What do you need to make buttons at home?

A button maker with a die for your size, the button parts that go with it, a way to cut circles and ordinary printer paper.

• A button maker and the die (the mould) for your size. Each die makes one size; 1”, 1¼”, 1½”, 1¾”, 2¼”, 2½”, 3” and 3½” are common.
• Button parts for that size: metal shells, clear film (often called mylar), and backs, with a pin, a magnet or a bottle opener.
• A way to cut circles: a circle cutter or punch made for your size is quickest. Scissors are fine for a handful.
• Ordinary printer paper. Around 80–100 gsm (20–24 lb) works best. Thick photo paper or card can make the press hard to close or tear the film.

How big should you print the circles?

Bigger than the button. The paper circle’s edge wraps around the side of the shell, so a 2¼” button needs a 2⅝” circle of paper, for example. These are the cut sizes the free templates use, with how many circles fit on a sheet and how big an image needs to be for a sharp print:

Button	Cut circle	On A4	On US Letter	Image at 300 ppi
1”	1.31” (33.3 mm)	45	44	about 390 px
1¼”	1.63” (41.4 mm)	28	28	about 490 px
1½”	1.84” (46.7 mm)	24	21	about 550 px
1¾”	2.15” (54.6 mm)	15	15	about 650 px
2¼”	2⅝” (66.7 mm)	12	12	about 790 px
2½”	2.9” (73.7 mm)	8	8	about 870 px
3”	3.44” (87.3 mm)	6	6	about 1030 px
3½”	3.94” (100 mm)	5	4	about 1180 px

Cut sizes vary a little between makers of button machines, such as American Button Machines, Tecre and Badge-A-Minit, so check your machine’s instructions. If your press came with a size, use that. Each template page has the PDF, a PNG for Canva and an SVG cut file for that size.

Design it

A button design has three zones, and the templates mark all of them:

• The face: what shows on the front. Keep faces, words and logos inside the green dotted line, a little in from the edge of the face.
• The edge: the ring between the face and the cut line wraps around the side. Carry the background colour or pattern out to the cut line, so no white shows on the side.
• The cut line: the outer circle, where you cut.

For a sharp print, use images of about 300 pixels per inch at the cut size. A 2⅝” circle needs an image about 790 pixels across.

Designing in Canva? Download the template’s PNG, put it on top of your design to see where the circles fall, and hide it before you download your design.

Print it

• Print at 100% or “Actual size”, never “Fit to page”, or the circles come out too small for your cutter and press.
• Turn borderless printing off.
• Print one sheet first and measure a circle with a ruler. If it’s not the right size, or the circles are off-centre, see why prints don’t line up with your cutter.

Cut and press

Cut out each circle on the line. Then press it, following your machine’s instructions. Most hand presses work in two steps:

1. Put a shell in the first die, then your circle face up, then a clear film on top, and press.
2. Put a back in the second die, move the first part over it (many machines slide or turn the dies), and press again.

The paper’s edge wraps around the shell on the first press, which is why the design needs to carry on past the face.

Why didn’t my button come out right?

Most problems come from the paper circle: its size, its thickness, or ink that hadn’t dried. Find what you see below.

• White shows on the side of the button. The background stops at the face instead of carrying on to the cut line. Extend the colour or pattern right out to the cut line.
• The design is off-centre. The circle was cut off-centre, usually because the page was scaled when it printed or the printer prints slightly out of position. Measure a printed circle against the table above, and see why prints don’t line up with your cutter.
• The edge is creased or wrinkled. The circle is too big for your die, often from a template meant for another make of machine. Use the cut size from your machine’s instructions.
• The button comes apart, or the edge of the paper shows. The circle is too small to wrap far enough round the shell for the back to hold it. Check you printed at 100%, then measure the circle.
• The press won’t close, or the film tears. The paper is too thick. Go back to 80–100 gsm printer paper rather than card or photo paper.
• The print smudges under the film. Inkjet ink was still wet. Leave printed sheets to dry for a few minutes before you cut and press them.

Making lots of buttons

Laying out a sheet in a design app works for one design, but it gets slow with many designs in different quantities. In MagLab, you drop in your designs, set how many of each you need and press Auto-fill. It fills every circle in one click, adds sheets as needed, and prints them at exact size. Every button size above is built in, and for name badges you can paste a list of names to put one on each button.