Raised Lettering on Diplomas — Because Your Real One Had It Too

What It Actually Feels Like

Run your finger across a premium raised business card — the kind where you can feel every letter of a name individually, where the ink has real height above the card surface. That’s the closest comparison we can give you.

Now put that on a diploma. Every line of the school name. The degree title. The body of the document. The formal institutional language. All of it sitting above the paper surface with the same depth and dimension as a raised seal — because it’s produced the same way, through the same layered UV printing process that builds height progressively with each pass.

It’s not subtle. Buyers who’ve ordered it consistently describe the same experience — they hold the diploma, they find the text with their finger, and they don’t put it down for a while.

Why Most Sites Can’t Do This

This is worth explaining honestly because it answers the question a lot of buyers have already asked themselves before finding us — why has every other site I’ve contacted said no?

The majority of diploma printers that offer any kind of raised finish use embossing powder applied with a heat gun. It’s an old technique, it’s manual, and the results are consistently inconsistent. Here’s what actually happens in that process and why it falls short:

The powder is sprinkled onto the paper and then heated to melt it into raised elements. Fine powder spills onto areas of the document beyond the text — creating sloppy lines and uneven coverage that looks noticeably off under any kind of close inspection. If the heat is applied incorrectly the paper warps or scorches. If moisture has affected the powder before application it dries in clumps rather than clean raised characters, producing uneven height across letters on the same word. Even shops that do quality control with embossing powders acknowledge it’s a tedious process — you get it as good as you can and move on, because perfection isn’t reliably achievable with that method.

Our process doesn’t work that way. UV layered printing builds raised lettering by depositing clean, precise ink layers progressively — no powder, no heat gun, no risk of scorching or warping the paper, no spillage onto surrounding areas. Each layer adds height evenly across every character simultaneously. The result is consistent, sharp, clean raised lettering across the entire document without the irregularity that powder methods produce even on a good day.

Only a small number of specialty print shops worldwide have invested in the equipment required to do this properly. We’re one of them. The difference in the finished product is not subtle.

Which Text Elements Get Raised

Real institutional diplomas varied in which text was raised and which was flat — and we match that variation accurately rather than applying everything uniformly without thinking about it.

On most diplomas the raised treatment covers the school name, degree title, body copy, and formal institutional language. Signatures are typically left flat — historically accurate because most real diplomas had pen or flat printed signatures even when surrounding text was raised. Student name treatment varies by school and era.

If you have a specific preference — every line raised, certain elements only, signatures included — tell your designer during the proof stage and it gets done the way you want it. This is a custom production process and we treat every order that way.

Available on High School and College Diplomas

Raised text is a standard upgrade option on all high school and college diploma orders — select it directly from the order form at checkout. It’s not a standard option on GED documents since raised lettering was historically uncommon on GED certificates, but if you have a specific request contact us before ordering and we’ll talk through what’s possible.

For certificates, raised text is available as a special request depending on the document. Reach out before ordering and we’ll give you an honest answer about whether it works for your specific document.

Pricing — Raised Text Options

Every diploma includes flat high-resolution printed text and seal at no extra charge. If you want the raised finish, here’s how it breaks down:

Raised Text only — +$125 Every text element on your diploma raised above the paper surface through UV layered printing. School name, degree title, body copy — all of it with real physical height you can feel.

Raised Custom Seal only — +$90 The institutional emblem and school crest pressed into the diploma with real depth. The seal upgrade without raised text.

Raised Text & Raised Custom Seal — +$180 Everything raised. Text and seal together — the complete version that matches what the most premium real institutional diplomas felt like. This is the one buyers tell us they’d pay ten times the price for.

Do You Need Raised Text, Raised Seal, or Both?

The honest answer starts with one question — what did your original diploma have?

Many real college and university diplomas from the 1970s through the 1990s had both raised text and a raised seal. If that’s what yours had, the $180 combination matches it completely and produces the most faithful replica we can make. Most buyers who’ve held the full treatment tell us it’s the best money they spent on the entire order.

Some diplomas had raised seals with flat text. Some had raised text without a traditional raised seal. A smaller number had raised text as the primary feature. We’ve documented over 3,000+ diploma layouts and in most cases we can tell you exactly what your school used before you commit to anything — just reach out before ordering and we’ll pull up what we have.

Raised text alone at $125 is the right standalone choice when your original had raised lettering without a raised seal, or when the text detail simply matters more to you than the seal finish for how you plan to display it.