How To Properly Order Your Recipe Cutting Board

Ready to order after watching the video? Click here: https://www.kustomproductsinc.com/collections/recipe-cutting-boards

When you seek out a great gift for family and friends, you’re looking for something that they’ll be sure to use and not hide in a closet, that will move them or hit home for them, and will add a personal touch that you can’t find in your basic department store. The Family Recipe Cutting Board was created with all those elements in mind, and continues to be one of the most popular products in our store for that very reason. Our Family Recipe Cutting Board involves taking your loved one’s handwritten recipe and engraving it onto a cutting board for your family to cherish either as an heirloom or to be used on a daily basis in the kitchen.

One of the most common questions we get about this item, though, is how exactly to place the order. There are many different components to ordering this item, and each is important in its own way to ensure that you’re getting exactly what you have in mind!

STEP 1: THE BASICS

The first question you need to answer is what size cutting board do you want, and what direction do you want the recipe to face?
While we can fit a majority of recipes on any size cutting board, there are times that we will suggest only purchasing the medium or large cutting boards. This could be due to the fact that your recipe is incredibly long/wide, that you’re trying to fit two recipes on the same side of the cutting board, or that the recipe’s writing will end up being too small for you to enjoyably read.

If you’re unsure as to what size we might recommend for your recipe(s), our general rule of thumb is if it is on a single or small 2 sided note card we can engrave it on any size board. Anything larger please choose a medium or large board.

You will also need to choose which direction your recipe will read on the cutting board.
There are two options: vertical and horizontal. The vertical direction stands the cutting board up with the handle at the top. We recommend this direction for recipes that are longer or have two recipes stacked one on top of the other. The horizontal direction has the cutting board with the handle at the left, in a normal position for if you were cutting vegetables on it. This direction is recommended when your recipe is wider or has two recipes side by side.

Does your recipe include either a border or sentimental image that you want included in the engraving?
Sometimes we have customers who contact us about the small hand drawn image they want included, or the order that stands out as being a classic recipe of Grandma's. If your recipe does have either an image or a border on it that you're looking to include, after you've chosen your Size and Direction, you can select to add those to the trace of your recipe.

Lastly you have the option to include additions to your order.
A proof is available if you’d like to see the traced copy of your recipe prior to its engraving to make sure that your recipe was traced correctly and looks good.

You also have the option to add a second recipe to either the front or back of your cutting board. This option is for times when, for example, you have a recipe for spaghetti and want the recipe for meatballs on the front of the cutting board as well, or you have two recipes and you just can’t decide which to include- one can be engraved on the front and the other on the back. For this second recipe on the back option, you can also choose to add your images/border here by selecting "Yes" once you've added the second recipe.

Proofs:

-Proofs are only to see what the writing will look like after it is hand traced out and to make sure there are no mistakes. This will not show you what it will look like once engraved on the cutting board.

-Any changes to the recipe after the proof is sent will be at an additional charge. Charges are based on what changes are requested.

-Proofs can add an extra 1-2 business days processing time to your order.

-Once we send your proof you will have 12 hours to approve it. We do not make exceptions to this due to how much time it takes to email customers multiple times and call them. If you do not approve your proof after the 12 hours we will move forward on the engraving of your board.

Once you’ve finished with the basics and made the purchase, it’s time to submit your recipe!

STEP 2: SUBMITTING YOUR RECIPE

This step ends up being the hardest for most customers, in that many have recipes which are old, faded and torn with blotches of past meals stained on them. It can be hard to take a quality photo of a recipe in such a condition. But there are certainly ways you can still take a great photo! Below are some of the issues customers run into when submitting their recipe:

I don’t know how to take a good photo of my recipe!

This can be the most difficult part of the process, but it doesn’t have to be! To take a good photo of your recipe and ensure that your recipe is traced correctly, your image should be in focus, with the writing clear and dark, and taken directly over/at the recipe.

Our best suggestion on how to do this is to scan your recipe. Often, the scan will darken lighter writing, and the scan itself removes any outside light so that you can get the clearest image of your recipe. If scanning your image is not a possibility, we suggest taping your recipe to a blank white page of printer paper and then taping that page to the wall in a well lit area. This allows you to take a straight on image of the recipe with no background.

In the two images above, we needed to contact the customers back and ask them to resend their recipes to us. For the image on the left, while the writing is clear, the customer did not take a picture of the image overhead, but rather, at an angle. This is not something we are able to fix when we trace your image. Therefore, the slant that you see in the photo from the recipe being taken at an angle will reflect in the engraving on the cutting board. And while this might not bother some, we always ask that photos be taken at a straight ahead angle to avoid this problem.

The image on the right has quite a few issues- the recipe itself is not in focus, the photo was taken at a slight angle, and the writing is incredibly light. We want to be sure that we keep the integrity of your recipe, so giving us your best quality of image helps us tremendously.

The writing on my recipe is too light!

If you find that your recipe looks similar to the notecard on the left and not the right, then the writing is indeed faded. This can happen over time as the recipe is used. If your recipe has writing that is faded or ends up looking light in the picture or scan that you take, there is a simple solution.

If you feel comfortable doing so, you can trace over the handwriting very carefully with a black pen to darken the writing. If you do not want to damage the original recipe, you can scan and print out a copy of your recipe, trace over the copy with pen, and send the image of the copy with darkened writing.

My recipe is on the front and back of a notecard!

If you have the front and back of a notecard recipe you’re trying to combine into one image, or you’re looking to engrave two recipes on the front of a cutting board, we will ask that you combine the two pictures into one. Why do we do this?

We want to be absolutely sure that we’re engraving your recipes exactly how you have it pictured in your head. Maybe you want more space between each recipe. Maybe you want them closer together, as shown above, because they relate to each other. Or it could be the second page of the same recipe that you want to show right under where the first page ended so it looks cohesive.

The easiest way for you to be able to do this is to use either your Paint program on the computer or Microsoft Word. With whichever program you are using, you will import both photos, decide how much space you want between the two images and crop the rest of the space out, then align them to your liking. We ask that you save your photo as a .jpg, .png, or .pdf so that they are easy to open and use.

If you do not feel comfortable combining the photos yourself, we are happy to assist you for an additional charge. We highly recommend that you also purchase a proof if you take this route, so that you can view your combined recipe prior to engraving and let us know if there are any changes in spacing you wanted to make.

Can you include the images from my recipe?

Yes we can! We are happy to include your border or image for an additional cost. This is due to the amount of time it takes to trace these images and ensure that each detail is included. You are also able to add an image to your recipe that originally wasn't there by combining the image and your recipe into a single image for the upload, and selecting "Yes!" when asked if you want to include the image from your recipe while ordering.

Can you add “Love, Mom” to the bottom of my recipe?

The most important thing to note about this product is that we are tracing the handwriting of the recipe you submit. It’s the same idea as if you were put a piece of paper over a drawing you love and trace it- doing so doesn’t mean you can suddenly draw the same image freehand. The same concept goes for your recipe- while we can intricately trace your recipe’s handwriting, we are not able to add words to the recipe in that same handwriting. If you would like a title, name or add wording to the bottom- a short “Love, Mom” or message- please write it into the recipe before sending it to us. You can do this by coping the recipe and writing the additional wording onto the copy and then sending that copy to us.

Can you remove words or move words around on my recipe?

In order to keep the cost of the boards to a reasonable price we do not currently move around the wording on the recipe or delete any words in the recipe. If you would like words removed please scratch out the words before sending us your recipe.

If you order a bamboo cutting board please be aware that there will most likely be variations in the engraving "color"

No two pieces are alike, so the board might slightly differ in color and grain pattern from board to board, or from the different bamboo slats in the board. The writing is engraved and the charring effect it has with the different bamboo is what gives it a slightly brown hue, or the burnt color. By purchasing this item, you agree that boards will be unique and have character. For some examples:

Please notice how the “color” of the engraving changes based on the slates of the bamboo. This is unpredictable as bamboo is a natural plant and there is no way to predict what the burn pattern will be while engraving.

If you purchase the bamboo cutting boards you could have variations in your boards that will make each one unique and add a rustic look.

If you do not like this look please purchase a maple board, which will have fewer variations between the wood slats, or one of our slate options.

STEP 3: WAIT IN ANTICIPATION

From the time we receive your recipe to the time that we ship your cutting board will seem like no time at all! We do our best to get our items out as quickly as possible, and though there are many steps involved in ensuring that your cutting board is just how you wanted it to be, it’s worth the wait.

We’ve had customers order recipe cutting boards for their moms and grandmas for Mother’s Day; at Christmas time to celebrate a favorite recipe made each year; to celebrate the life of someone that the family has recently lost; and even to engrave children’s drawings and “I Love You’s” for proud parents. And each time, we’ve received resounding thank you’s for taking care of their recipe and giving them something to hold on to for years to come.

If you have any additional questions on how to order please do not hesitate to reach out.

Ready to order? Follow this link and pick out a Bamboo, Maple or Slate Board:

https://www.kustomproductsinc.com/collections/recipe-cutting-boards