AI concepts are built for screens. They render in full colour, with gradient, shading, and photographic detail — a laser doesn't work that way.

Laser cutting and engraving read a design as a series of clean vector lines and single tones. There's no blending between shades, no soft edges, no colour depth. A design that looks finished on screen often needs to be redrawn entirely before it can be cut or engraved.

This is the gap AI-generated concepts create, and it's the reason we review every one individually before starting any work.

Good starting points:

• Clear silhouettes and simple shapes
• Names, dates, and short text laid out cleanly
• Single-colour icons or motifs with defined edges
• Line art with minimal internal detail

Needs redrawing before it can be produced:

• Photorealistic or heavily shaded renders
• Multiple overlapping colours or gradients
• Fine detail smaller than a few millimetres
• Busy compositions with more than one focal point

Most AI concepts fall somewhere in the second group. That doesn't mean we can't use them — it means we adapt them first.

1. Send your concept. Already ordered? Attach the image to your order notes at checkout. Not ordered yet? Email it to info@etchnshine.com first and we'll confirm feasibility and cost before you buy.
2. We review it. Every submission is assessed individually against what will actually cut or engrave well — within 3 working days.
3. If artwork needs building, we send a payment link. A flat £10 covers converting the concept into laser-ready artwork. This link is only sent after we've reviewed the design and confirmed it's needed — nothing is charged automatically.
4. We send you the adapted design. Once the fee is paid, we build the artwork and share it with you before production. Nothing is engraved without your sign-off.
5. Production begins. Once you've approved the adapted design, your order moves into production and follows the standard dispatch timeline from that point.

AI concept design fee: £10, flat, per design.

This covers redrawing your concept into artwork the laser can use — simplifying detail, converting to clean lines, and sizing it correctly for your item. It applies whenever we're building new artwork from an AI-generated image.

It doesn't apply to:

• Text-only personalisation (names, dates, short messages)
• Designs already listed as standard options on the product page

One round of adaptation is included in the fee. Further rounds may carry an additional cost — see Revisions below.

We'll share the adapted design with you before it goes to production. If it needs adjusting — resizing an element, tweaking a line weight, nudging the layout — let us know and we'll make the change at no extra cost.

Reworking the brief itself — swapping the composition, adding new elements, or changing the overall style — counts as new design work and may carry a further fee. We'll always confirm this with you first.

Straightforward adaptations don't affect your dispatch date. Designs that need building from scratch may add up to 3 working days to production, since the artwork has to exist before it goes near the laser. We'll confirm your revised dispatch date once the design is approved.

We can't reproduce copyrighted characters, brand logos, or trademarked designs — including versions generated or altered by AI. This applies even if the concept looks sufficiently different from the original; many AI tools recreate recognisable characters closely enough to carry the same risk.

If your concept includes one, we'll let you know and suggest an alternative that captures the same idea without the infringement risk. We reserve the right to decline any design on this basis.

This is guidance, not legal advice. For anything with legal implications — particularly around copyright — seek appropriate advice.

The artwork we build from your concept is created for your order. It isn't supplied as a separate file, and we don't produce it for resale or use outside your Etch 'N' Shine order.

If you'd like to reorder the same design later, let us know — we'll already have the file on record.

If we determine your concept isn't feasible before any design work begins, you won't be charged.

Once the design fee has been paid and work has started, it's non-refundable — the fee covers the time spent building the artwork, whether or not the final order proceeds.

Will my cake topper look exactly like the AI image?

Not always. We adapt the concept into something that will actually cut well, and you'll see it before we proceed.

What if I don't want to pay the design fee?

No problem. Let us know and we'll either work from a simpler brief or point you to one of our existing designs instead.

Does this apply to products other than cake toppers?

The same process applies to any personalised item where a customer submits an AI-generated concept.