All articles · 2026-09-18

Hang tags: the artwork, the hole, and the thing everyone forgets

A swing ticket is die-cut, punched and strung. Which parts of that belong in your artwork file, which belong on their own layer, and why the shape has to be a path.

A hang tag is the first physical thing a customer holds that is entirely yours. It is also a small print job with three separate operations — print, die-cut, punch — and the file you send decides how many of those go right the first time.

A tag outline with an angled top, a punch hole and rule lines: on the left a small compressed copy; on the right clean even outlines.
Left: 170 pixels, JPEG quality 62. Right: Line art mode. 5 paths, 89 nodes, one ink colour.

The cut shape is a path, and only a path

The tag’s outline — the angled shoulders, the rounded corners, whatever shape you have chosen — is made into a die. The die maker needs one closed path at the exact finished size, on its own layer, with nothing else on it. Drawing that outline as part of the artwork means somebody has to separate it again, and separating shapes by eye is how a tag comes back 2 mm short.

The hole is not artwork either

The punch position is a specification, not a drawing: a diameter and a distance from the top edge. Mark it on the cut layer and keep at least 5 mm of clear space around it. Never place text or your mark where the string will sit: a tag is looked at while it hangs, and the string covers exactly the part people put the logo on.

The punched hole and angled shoulder magnified: on the left the circle is a ragged ring of pixels; on the right a clean circle and a straight edge.
The hole and the shoulder at roughly 2.2×. A die follows this outline exactly, so a ragged one is cut ragged.

What goes on the back

  • Size, composition and care symbols if the tag carries them — check what your market legally requires before printing
  • A price area that can be a sticker rather than printed, so one print run survives a price change
  • Your website or social handle, set as real text so it stays readable at small sizes
  • Nothing in the outer 3 mm: that band is where the die lands

Board matters more than the file

A tag on thin stock feels like a receipt no matter how good the artwork is. If the tag is meant to signal quality, the weight of the board does more of that work than anything in the file. Ask for a sample pack from your printer and hold the options — this is not a decision that can be made on screen.

Tracing an existing tag gives you an editable copy of a design you liked, at the shape you already know fits. It will not tell you that the type was too small last time. Print one, hang it on a garment, and look at it from the distance a customer will.