Design a Patch — the Patch Builder, step by step

1Open the builder

Click Design in the top nav to open the Patch Builder. You'll see three areas: the numbered steps panel on the left, the canvas in the middle (your patch, with a live cut-line preview), and the toolbar across the top.

First time in? A short welcome tour points out each area. You can reopen it anytime from Settings.

2① Process — how it's made

Choose the fabrication method first, because it drives your materials, the preview, and the export files:

• UV Printed — full-color artwork printed on the patch surface.
• Laser Engraved — the design is burned into the material; the preview recolors to the material's engrave color so you see the real result.

3② Artwork — add your design

Open Artwork and upload a PNG, JPG, or SVG (up to 20 MB). SVG vector art gives the crispest result, especially for engraving.

Two clean-up tools live here: Background Removal knocks out a white or busy background right in your browser, and Vectorize for Engraving turns a photo or logo into a clean engrave-ready outline with a live threshold slider. See the Artwork & Uploads guide for details.

4③ Material & shape

Open Material & shape and set three things:

• Material — pick a leather/leatherette colorway, a vinyl, or a dual/tri-layer acrylic. The patch preview updates to that material instantly.
• Size — choose a common preset (Cap Front, Name Tag, Chest, etc.) or type an exact width and height in inches.
• Cut shape — 20+ shapes (rectangle, rounded square, circle, oval, hexagon, shield, banner, badge…) plus Custom Contour, which traces the exact outline of your artwork for a die-cut look. Set the border style too (merrowed, hot-cut, laser, or none).

5④ Text & shapes

Open Text & shapes to add lettering and elements. For a curved label, use the Arc Text controls: type your text, set the arc radius, choose the flip direction, and add it — you can adjust the curve after it's placed. Straight text, basic shapes, and lines are here too.

Select any object to fine-tune it (color, size, position, rotation) in the properties panel. Double-click text to edit it.

6⑤ Layers

Open Layers to see every object stacked in order. Drag to reorder, click the eye to hide/show, and click the lock to freeze an object so you don't move it by accident.

On dual/tri-layer acrylic, the Layers panel is also where you assign which artwork piece engraves to which bonded color — the Top / Mid / Deep swatches. More on that in the Materials & Effects guide.

7Use the toolbar

Across the top you have: the design name, Save (Ctrl+S), New (Ctrl+N), Save as variant, undo/redo (up to 50 steps — Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z), a zoom control, and the live $ price chip.

Two buttons finish the job: Preview on hat saves your design and jumps to the Hat Builder, and Export ▾ opens the production file options.

Keep going

Ready to show a customer? Head to the Hat Mockups & Client Proofs guide. Ready to produce? See Exporting Production Files.

Need blank hats and patch materials to go with your designs? Shop them at https://makerfoundryco.com.