Die cut Photo Magnets

Magically Magnetic Inc.

Make Your Own Profitable, Die cut Photo Magnets

Our in-house photo magnet die cutting service

The least expensive way of making a magnetic photo is to stick a pre-cut piece of sheet magnet on the back of a photo. We’ve got these pre-cut sheet magnets in any size you may need. If you desire the most professional look, die cutting is the way it is done. We are equipped to do this for you with any number of photos, any size photo and any special shape photo with any thickness of sheet magnet. We do not print photos. You provide us with your photos, printed professionally or by you at home on your own computer or photo processor. Send us your photos and we will adhere the sheet magnet backing, die cut the photos to the finished size and shape and then ship them to you. Please contact us for pricing.

Do it yourself die cut photo magnets.

Many photographers like to make their own photo magnets, one at a time or in small batches for their customers. These are great add-on sales and are very profitable. They can be easily made in many standard photo sizes ranging from wallet size through 3½"x5", 4"x6", 5"x7" and larger. Many photographers purchase our precut 3½"x5" or 4"x6" self-adhesive sheet magnets and just stick them to the backs of the same size photos. Doing it this way can present problems. The photos and the magnets are cut separately from one another and the sizes may not match up perfectly. The best way to produce magnetized photos with a high quality professional look is with a die cutter. Die cutters incorporate a specially shaped cutting knife made in the exact outline, size and shape of the desired finished product. This cutting knife is mounted in a wooden backing plate. The die cutting machine has a bottom-cutting surface made of a material that is hard and smooth, but will allow the knife blade of the die to cut down into it ever so slightly. The machine also has a movable upper pressure arm made of smooth strong metal. A photo to be cut is placed on the bottom-cutting surface. A special shape or size cutting die is placed on top of the photo and the movable upper pressure arm is swung over the die. The power switch is triggered and the upper arm comes down by hydraulic pressure, pressing the die down into and through the photo just enough to trim off the outside-unwanted scrap.

Die cutting machines are large and can be expensive. Small tabletop units are available that work well but only produce small passport size photos. I have searched everywhere to find a small inexpensive die cutter to precisely cut larger shapes than the small passport pictures. To fill this need, I found the Ellison tabletop die cutter. Ellison also makes special dies they call their Clearcrop dies that have transparent backs allowing you to see directly through the die back to the photo being cut. This allows you to line up the die precisely over the area of the photo you want. With these dies and the Ellison die cutter, it is easy work to make any number of die cut magnetic photos.

Here is how it is done.

As described above, die cutters work by cutting away the scrap material from around the outside of the photo. The interior photo area is the part you want to keep. This inner portion can be almost the full size of the piece you are cutting from but there must always be scrap material to cut away. You need a photo and a magnet that are slightly larger than the finished product you want. For instance, if the finished magnetic photo is to be 3½"x5", you need to start with a photo just slightly larger than the 3½"x5" finished product, maybe something like a 4"x6" photo. You’ll need adhesive sheet magnet the same size as the photo too. Adhere the magnet to the back of the photo and then place the photo with the magnet side down and the image facing up on the cutting surface of the die cutter. Next, place the 3½"x5" Clearcrop cutting die on top of the photo with the sharp edges of the cutting knife pointing down toward the photo. Visually center the cutting die on the photo by looking down through the clear plastic back of the die. The image area you see inside the die is what you will get when the die cuts through the photo and magnet. Next, in one motion, you slide the die, photo and the cutting board under the pressure head of the die cutter. Pull down on the lever, which amplifies the pressure on the cutting die, forcing it to cut down through the photo and magnet in one neat and precise cut. Slide the cutting board back out from under the pressure head and remove the cutting die. You now have a finished magnetic die cut photo, perfectly cut and perfectly shaped. Every die cut magnetic photo you make will be exactly the same size and shape as the first. Each one will be cut with precisely cut straight edges, perfect square or rounded corners and be exactly the same size as any others made with that same die. See the Ellison table top die cutters and their selection of Clearcrop dies on their web site. The machine can be seen and ordered at this link.

Ellison's Clearcrop dies are cutting dies that have transparent backs that make it easy to center the cutting die over the exact part of the picture you want. Their stock of Clearcrop dies can be seen at this link. See more Clearcrop cutting dies at this link. Here is a link to an unusual die shape that could be nice for a magnetic photo. It is a maple leaf die. At Ellison, they can even make you a special custom size or shaped die. Their machines are very good quality (costing about $395) and the dies are pretty attractively priced too (costing about $40 each) and also of very high quality. Custom dies will cost a little more. Here is a link to the Ellison site home page.

I would like to be able to buy these Ellison die cutting machines and offer them to my customers through my web site, but Ellison doesn’t do business that way. You can only buy an Ellison machine from Ellison. The same is true of their dies. I have done business with them myself in the past and highly recommend them to any of my customers.