Graphic Electronics 1-800-435-5341

Graphic Electronics, Inc.

Custom Recognition Since 1961

Home of the Citation® engraver

Close-up of a Citation engraver cutting lettering into a gold-colored metal cylinder
A Citation® engraver at work in our shop

Family-owned in Spring Valley, Illinois, since 1961, when John Barron and his son Bill started the company that developed the Citation®. The legacy continues with Bill’s son Mark and his wife, Maureen, who run the shop together today.

Call 1-800-435-5341 Email for a quote Catalogs & prices
Three name badges: a state-shaped school badge, a gold golf club badge and a brushed silver bank badge
Name badgesCitation® and full-color
Blue and gold full-color retirement plaque for a police sergeant
Retirement plaqueFull-color sublimation
Lighted recognition award with a laser-cut, full-color sublimated truck design
Recognition awardLaser-cut full-color sublimation
Sold-out concert commemorative in a lighted shadow box
Concert keepsakeLaser-made showpiece

18 Citation® engravers the world’s largest fleet, for engraving into metal.

60W laser for wood, acrylic, glass, metal and plastic, including items you send us.

Full-color sublimation for photos and logos on plaques, badges and plates.

Catalogs and price list

See our full range of plaques and name badges, with sizes, styles and 2026 prices. Open any of them below, or call us and we’ll walk you through it.

Graphic Electronics engraving material selections board showing dozens of metal and plastic colors
Our engraving material board: dozens of metal and plastic colors and finishes to choose from

Price lists by product

What we make

Choose from our catalogs, or send us your own item to personalize.

See our catalogs for pricing

Prices for every badge, plaque and award are in our 2026 catalogs and price list. Call us for a quote on anything custom.

Open the price list (PDF) All catalogs
Ten engraved and full-color name badges in green, white, gold, black and silver, with magnetic, clip and pin backs

Name badges

Engraved metal, full-color and custom shapes, with magnetic, clip or pin backs. Single badges or a whole staff.

Walnut plaque with a mounted gavel and a gold plate honoring a foundation board chairman

Plaques

Piano finish, solid walnut, alder, economy and perpetual styles.

Black plaque with a photo-engraved portrait beside the award text

Photo engraving

Portraits, signatures and logos reproduced in fine detail.

Black and gold service plaque with a sheriff’s star, county patch and 24-year wreath

Service and retirement

Years-of-service and retirement plaques with badges and emblems.

Football trophy with a perpetual nameplate base

Trophies

Custom, perpetual and team trophies for leagues and events.

Laser-etched crystal award on a black and red base

Crystal and acrylic awards

Laser-etched crystal and acrylic for clubs, teams and businesses.

Full-color newspaper article mounted on a wood plaque

Newspaper plaques

Your news story, reproduced in full color and mounted to last.

Dozens of colorful car show dash plaques for local cruise nights and shows

Car show dash plaques

Custom dash plaques for car shows, cruise nights and club events.

Full-color sublimated school musical award cut in a custom shape

Full-color sublimation

Photos, logos and artwork in full color, cut to any shape.

Walnut Maltese-cross plaque with a fire department emblem and figurine

Custom shapes

Plaques cut to any outline, like a fire department Maltese cross.

Brass plaque with more than twenty engraved portraits linked in a lineage chart

Multi-photo plaques

Dozens of portraits and names engraved on a single plaque.

Black piano finish plaque with a silver plate honoring a union president

Association and union awards

Recognition plaques for officers, members and boards.

School PTO donor plaque with gold, silver and bronze plate levels

Donor and perpetual plaques

Donor walls and perpetual plaques with plates you add to over time.

Green high school football season plaque with team photo, coaches and full roster

Team and season plaques

Rosters, team photos and season records on one plaque.

Solid alder family name sign, laser engraved and color filled with sunflowers

Gifts and keepsakes

Laser-engraved signs, family keepsakes, clocks, memento boxes, pen sets and drinkware.

Wooden urn with an engraved brass photo memorial plate

Memorials

Engraved photo plates for urns and memorial pieces.

Rosewood desk wedge with an engraved black and gold name plate

Desk markers and office items

Desk wedges, door and wall signs, name plates, gavels and business card holders.

A row of tall red, white and blue tournament trophies with gold cups on our shop counter

Tournament trophy sets

From a single award to a full set for every place and division, like these red, white and blue towers on our shop counter.

Browse more products

Hundreds more awards and gifts we can personalize. Find something you like, then call or email us with the item name.

How we engrave

Flawless reproductions of any image or artwork can be recreated on almost any material. Let your imagination be your guide.

Citation® engraving

“Anything on paper”

Our unique Citation® engraving technique has been the industry’s best method of engraving for 65 years. This trademark process still stands alone for reproducing graphics in metal with clarity and depth. We invented the Citation® engraver, and we still run the world’s largest fleet of them.

Laser engraving

Uniquely versatile, our 60W laser etches crisply into wood, acrylic, glass, metal and plastic. Pick an item from our catalogs, or ship yours to us for engraving.

Full-color sublimation

Our sublimation process embeds full-color logos, photos and artwork directly into metal and plastic, so the color becomes part of the piece.

A row of Citation engravers on the shop floor, each turning a metal cylinder
Part of our Citation® fleet in Spring Valley
The Citation scanning head reading printed text on a cylinder
The scanning head reads your original artwork

Our story

Graphic Electronics began in 1961 with a father and son. John Barron, known as JB and a well-known columnist for the NewsTribune, had the vision: he saw the connection between newspapers and engraving.

His son, Bill Barron, known as BB, was the inventor. A former military photographer with a gift for tinkering, Bill took the engraving machine of the day, a device the size of a large closet, and reinvented it as something compact and precise: the Citation®, an engraver later sold around the world. Early on, the company even made type molds for newspaper printing.

Today Bill’s son Mark runs the business with his wife, Maureen, adding laser etching and color sublimation to the Citation® work we’re known for. In 65 years, our pieces have ended up on Hollywood sets, with rock ’n’ roll bands, and even with kings.

An early Citation engraver mounted on a workbench, in black and white
An early Citation® engraver
Studio photo of the Citation II electronic engraver with its control box
The Citation® II electronic engraver

Start an order

1-800-435-5341
  1. Tell us what you need and how many.
  2. Email your logo, photo or artwork. If it can be printed, we can engrave it.
  3. Approve your proof, and we’ll make it.
Email
sales@graphicelectronics.com
Phone
1-800-435-5341 (toll-free)
(815) 664-2371 (local)
Address
430 W 1st Street
Spring Valley, IL 61362
Hours
Monday to Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm
Walk-ins welcome
Serving
Schools, businesses, organizations, clubs and families
Prefer to write it out? Use our online quote form

Request a quote online

Tell us about your order and we’ll reply with pricing and a proof. Fields marked * are required.

Have a logo, photo or artwork? Email it to sales@graphicelectronics.com after you send this form.