Custom Ink Online Store: Journals, Lanyards, and How to Professionally Frame a Picture

Custom Ink Online Store: Common Questions, Straight Answers

If you're planning an event or ordering company swag, you've probably searched 'custom ink online store' (or typed 'custom-ink' with a hyphen, which also brings you here). This FAQ answers the questions I hear most from clients—some of them after they've already placed an order and started panicking.

In my role coordinating custom merchandise orders for events and employee programs, I've spent 6 years on the operations side of things, handling 200+ rush orders that ranged from 'the client needs lanyards by Friday' to 'we have 36 hours before a tradeshow.' So these aren't textbook answers; they're things I've learned by making mistakes, paying for them, and writing the checklist so I don't make them again.

Here's what I'd tell a friend before hitting 'add to cart':

• What can I actually order on Custom Ink?
• Do you offer custom journals and lanyards?
• How fast can I get a rush order?
• How much should I budget for shipping?
• How do you professionally frame a picture?
• What should I double-check before approving a mockup?
• What if I need a product you don't make?

Let's go.

1. What can I actually order on Custom Ink?

The Custom Ink online store is built around custom apparel and promotional products: T-shirts, hoodies, caps, tote bags, pens, keychains, drinkware, and a growing lineup of branded extras like custom journals and lanyards. We also handle embroidered hats, bags, and some DIY kits. It's not a marketplace where random sellers drop-ship—everything goes through one design-and-order workflow.

You design your product (or upload a logo), pick your colors, approve a proof, and then the order goes into production. If you can put a logo on it, there's a good chance we either carry it or can source it. There are also fundraising and price-match programs—mention those when you request a quote. (Should mention: that sourcing part matters when you need something unusual—more on that in question 7.)

2. Is Custom Ink the same as custom printer ink?

No—the name confuses a lot of people. Custom Ink is the brand name for the online store, not a supplier of the liquid ink that goes in your printer. (Yes, we've had customers ask.) What we do is custom printing on products: screen printing, embroidery, and digital printing for your design.

So if you're looking for 'custom ink' to refill a cartridge, this isn't that. If you want a custom-printed T-shirt, hoodie, journal, or lanyard, you're in the right place.

3. Do you offer custom journals and lanyards?

Yes. Custom journals are one of the promo products I recommend most for B2B clients—they're useful, unisex, and people actually keep them. Lanyards are the same: they're practical, cost-effective, and perfect for conferences. We offer lanyards with printed or woven logo options, plus common attachment choices like badge holders and split rings.

For journals, you'll choose a cover style, binding, and print method. It's not as fast as a T-shirt, so plan for a few extra production days (or ask about rush production). Minimum quantities vary by product and decoration method, and the per-unit price on lanyards drops a lot as quantity goes up. This is one of those 'check the proof twice' products, because mistakes show up fast when your logo is on hundreds of notebooks.

4. How fast can I get a rush order?

The honest answer: it depends. In March 2024, a client called at 3:00 PM needing 250 lanyards for a conference that started 36 hours later. Normal turnaround for lanyards is about 5 business days, so this was a true emergency. We bumped the order to an express lane, the client paid $215 in rush fees on top of the $950 base cost, and we got the lanyards delivered to the hotel by noon the next day. The client's alternative was standing at their own booth with nothing to hand out—worse than any rush fee.

That's an exception, not a promise. Rush capability depends on the product, quantity, decoration method, and shipping distance. When you need something fast, tell us at the very beginning. If you know your event date when you first request a quote, we can plan production and shipping backward from that date. That's how I avoid rush fees in the first place—most of the time.

5. How much should I budget for shipping?

This is where I see people make the classic mistake. I once saved $60 by choosing standard shipping instead of expediting a set of custom posters. Then the posters didn't arrive in time, so I paid $300 for an overnight reprint. Net loss: $240 plus the stress. (Actually, the stress was the bigger cost.) Now I always recommend building a buffer. If your event is in 10 days, don't choose a 7-day shipping option and hope for the best.

Shipping cost depends on package size and weight. A custom journal usually ships as a package; a lanyard order can sometimes go as a large envelope. According to USPS pricing effective January 2025, a First-Class Mail large envelope (1 oz) is $1.50—but that rate only applies to flat mail. Once you exceed the size or thickness, you're in package territory. Source: usps.com/stamps. And remember: if the package is delivered by UPS or FedEx, it can't legally go into a residential mailbox—that's reserved for USPS mail under federal law (18 U.S. Code § 1708). So plan for a front-desk or door delivery.

6. Do you do professional picture framing?

This one comes up more than you'd expect: 'how do you professionally frame a picture?' The short answer is—we don't offer custom picture framing. That's a specialty service best left to a local frame shop or an online framer. You want someone who knows mat cutting, UV-protective glass, and acid-free mounting. (If you're framing a valuable or sentimental piece, don't trust a promo company to do it.)

What we can do is create custom printed pieces for display—posters, canvas prints, or photo gifts—and in some cases mount them to foam board. If you need the photo printed at a size that's ready to frame, that's in our wheelhouse. The actual frame? Not so much. I'd rather tell you that than send you off with a cheap frame job that ruins a good photo.

7. What should I double-check before approving a mockup?

First, verify every date. A client once approved a mockup with the previous year's conference date. We caught it after printing 500 lanyards. The fix cost us—and the client—real money. Second, make sure your logo is high-resolution (vector PDF, EPS, or SVG preferred). A low-res logo might look okay on screen but blurry when printed. Third, check product color, not just logo size. 'Black' can mean five different shades depending on the material.

Also: if your custom item makes a claim, be ready to back it up. Per FTC advertising guidelines (ftc.gov/business-guidance/advertising-marketing), claims like 'recyclable' or 'eco-friendly' must be truthful and substantiated. The FTC Green Guides are the reference here. If you're printing '100% recycled' on a custom journal, keep the documentation. And read your copy out loud—typos that spellcheck misses are a real thing. (Should mention: we also do a final review before sending every proof, but you are the last set of eyes.)

8. What if I need a product you don't make?

Here's where I get a little firm: any vendor who says 'yes, we can do that' without asking a single follow-up question should make you nervous. Over the years, I've learned that the vendor who says 'this isn't our strength, but here's who does it better' earns my trust for everything else. I'd rather work with a specialist who knows their limits than a generalist who overpromises.

So if you ask about professional framing, or a promotional item that's outside our catalog, we'll tell you. If we can source it as a one-off, we'll do that. But we won't pretend to be experts in an area we're not. That's not just honesty—it's quality control. And it's why, after 6 years and hundreds of orders, I'd rather lose one order than lose a client who thinks I gave them bad advice.