Embroidery Information

PROCESS

See our Belt Ordering Process page for more info. After your embroidery order is processed, production begins within 24-48 hours. An embroidery design proof will be sent for your review within approximately two weeks for Standard Production orders, and sooner for Expedited and Rush Production orders. Embroidery will not begin until a design is approved.

Proofs are sent via email as a PDF file, so a valid email address is required. Changes to the embroidery design can be requested upon your review of the design, and the embroidery process will begin after your approval is received. After embroidery is completed, your order will be shipped and an email with tracking information will be sent to you.

LANGUAGES

For Japanese embroidery, names and non-Japanese words will be translated using Japanese katakana characters. Katakana is interpreted phonetically rather than literally. Most martial arts styles and other words will be translated using kanji characters which are interpreted literally. There are four different fonts available for Japanese embroidery: JP KaiTi, which is structured and narrow; Kai, which has structured and formal strokes; Gyo, which has free-flowing and connecting strokes; and Goth, which has a rectangular column structure with sharp corners. Korean is available in three different fonts: Gulim, which is rectangular with soft corners; Gungsu, which has a scripted appearance; and Dotum, which has a rectangular column structure with sharp corners. Chinese is available in the traditional Chi KaiTi font, and is also available in all of the Japanese fonts if requested in the Special Instructions box when ordering. Please clarify any difficult pronunciation of names in the Special Instructions area, otherwise we will have to make assumptions. Other languages such as Greek, Hebrew, Russian and Arabic can be embroidered but translations for these languages will need to be provided by email in text form rather than in image form.

BELT CONSTRUCTION

Thru-Belt: This is our standard embroidery method which involves using a similar color thread for both the front surface and the back (bobbin) surface. This gives the back surface of the belt a consistent color, and the text or logo is in a mirror image orientation. The embroidery on the front of the belt is sharp and unobstructed, as it is applied on top of the construction stitches of the belt. Logos and multi-color embroidery have a more imprecise look on the back. There is no guarantee for the look of the back surface of the embroidery, since the back surface is where the top thread and the bobbin thread meet and tie off. If three or more colors are used in a design, a single bobbin color may be used rather than matching bobbin color.

Front-Only: This embroidery method involves a special belt construction in which the embroidery does not show on the back surface. The construction threads of the belt will ride over the top of the embroidery on the front, giving it a unique appearance. Compared to other Front-Only embroidery techniques, this technique retains the structural integrity of the belt. Rank stripes and horizontal text will always be sewn as Thru-Belt and not Front-Back or Front-Only. Front-Only embroidery is only available for select belts, where offered.

Front-Back: This embroidery method involves a special belt construction that allows for embroidery to be placed on the front and back surfaces of the belt. The back surface embroidery may be the same as the front or it may be something completely different if you like. The back surface embroidery is included in the Front-Back cost as long as it is of equal or lesser value. The construction threads of the belt will ride over the top of the embroidery on both surfaces, creating a unique appearance. Compared to other Front-Only embroidery techniques, this technique retains the structural integrity of the belt. Use the Special Instructions box to add the back surface embroidery details. Rank stripes and horizontal text will always be sewn as Thru-Belt and not Front-Back or Front-Only. Front-Back embroidery is only available for select belts, where offered.

LOGOS

Logo embroidery, that has multiple thread colors, will be embroidered with a white (or single color) bobbin rather than matching each thread color from the front surface embroidery. The back surface of Thru-Belt embroidery, in this case, will be somewhat random in coloration but will primarily be white (or single color). If a logo has only one color, or in some cases two colors, the bobbin thread color may be matched to the front surface embroidery colors.

EMBROIDERY THREAD

Kataaro uses 100% polyester trilobal embroidery thread, with fibers sourced in USA as available. A wide variety of colors are available including metallic threads and limited time options such as neon or multi-color variagated. Two-color effects are available as Shadow and Outline embroidery, but please note that metallic thread is not available for Shadow or Outline embroidery, nor for stiff firmness belts. Shadow and Outline embroidery is not available for Border, Poom, Renshi, Striped, or Stiff firmness belts.

 

FONTS

Some fonts are better suited for embroidery than others depending on the location and size of the embroidery. Fonts with serifs and thinner elements, such as Old English or Algerian, embroider more cleanly when the font size is large. Fonts without serifs or fonts with consistent column thickness, such as Arial and Rockwell, are more suited for smaller font size embroidery. Also, consider ALL CAPS or simple fonts for vertical orientation embroidery, which will read more clearly than upper case-lower case and ornate fonts. We don't recommend Script or Edwardian fonts for vertical embroidery since these fonts are designed to connect at the base of the characters. The embroidered character size for belts will generally be up to 1 inch tall per line, but a larger font size may be possible upon request and for an additional cost.

FONT DIRECTION

The font direction (or orientation) is based on preference as well as on how the belt will be tied and worn. Our diagram shows the belt tied with the label on the right leg, where the seam edge would end up on the top of the waist and on the inside of the belt ends. This assumes the belt ends are being pulled straight down from the knot rather than flipped over. We allow about 1.5 inches of space between the end of the belt and the embroidery, and we keep the embroidery within 11 inches of the belt end to avoid the knot. For Horizontal direction, a simple font, like Arial, and ALL CAPS tends to look best. For Horizontal top-to-bottom and Horizontal bottom-to-top, you can select the same direction for each belt end or you may choose to consider that the belt ends will wing upward and try to maintain a right-side-up orientation. Vertical orientation is a good option for Asian fonts or English ALL CAPS. Script fonts don't work as well in Vertical orientation.

INSPIRATION

With so many choices, it may be difficult to decide on your martial arts embroidery. Browse our social media pages or the Gallery for examples and get the creativity flowing. You will also find videos in the Gallery explaining some of our unique products and some video reviews from our customers. Also, each embroidered product page has additional thumbnail images with embroidery examples specific to that product. A Special Instructions text box is available for making unique requests for embroidery.