TV shows like How It’s Made are popular in an evergreen way because there is an immense satisfaction with watching specialized artisans at work on their craft. No matter what their expertise or media is, there’s a market for craftsmanship. This same thought process then applies to why novelty academic documents are produced to the same high standard by professionals.
When looking to buy a fake college diploma, for whatever novelty purpose, a cheap, amateur attempt will never cut the mustard. Replicating the centuries-old academic tradition is far more than just pressing print on your computer to put ink to paper through a standard office laser or inkjet desktop printer. It is a legitimate and individual art form, which is why a professional producer will take as much care over novelty documents as printers do for their academic institutions.
In this article, we’ll pull back the curtain on how reputable companies blend the traditional, old-world printing techniques that academia still leans on today with the modern technology used to create high-quality prints of novelty documents.
Foundations: paper and typography
A professional replica always starts with the correct foundation, which in this instance is the choice of paper. Most leading outlets will print any novelty academic document on heavy-stock parchment paper. A standard high-quality certificate is often 160-200 gsm. An executive-level diploma is often printed on the same heavy stock that most business cards use, too, between 300-350 gsm. The texture chosen will sometimes be parchment, with a slightly mottled or antique appearance. Most production companies will opt for matte because this texture is best for fine typography, intricate seals, and metallic foil stamping: all three of which are commonly used on all academic documents.
The typography itself is also a meticulous matching process. Not only do you need the right font, but you also need the right spacing – both between the letters and the lines. Replicating an academic document often is not as simple as just selecting Times New Roman. Different institutions use different serif fonts, and traditional printing production lines maintain vast libraries of typeface styles, including Gothic, Old English, and the main serif typefaces. This means that matching centuries-old academic aesthetics can be a long-term work in progress. However, once solved, a production company has the perfect setup to create replicas to match most academic documents.
Finishing touches: seals and embossing
Crucial detailing helps make these documents look more official than just having the correct cardstock or finish on the foundation. Whether it be through applying metallic foil embossing, authentic-looking seals, or the direct application of ink to paper (rather than through a laser or inkjet printer), these elements bring a document to life and contrast strongly with the type of flat, finished product you can create at home on your desktop printer. These factors also help make the document shine and stand out, whether it’s an original or a high-quality replica.
The hallmarks of true professional production come with the textures of the document. A professional print job uses heat presses and custom dies, often with a full set of lettering to match the correct typeface, too. When you hold a document that has been crafted by a professional, you can literally feel the value of it in your hands. The feeling of the paper, the tactile nature of foil embossing, and the contrast of the seal versus the paper itself. Running your hands over this level of craftsmanship means you can feel these raised textures that just cannot be replicated on the printers people use at home.
Protect your original with a high-quality replica
So, it’s all well and good understanding what elements make a novelty document appear as professional as an original, but what are the purposes of having one in the first place? Well, if you’re the type of person who wants to display your achievements, we have to come back to the precious value of the diploma itself. If we keep our passports and birth certificates routinely in fireproof safes, why do we hang our irreplaceable, fragile original degrees on sunlit home office walls where they can fade and warp? It just doesn’t make sense. Instead, keep hold of the original document in the same place you retain your other valuables, and replace it with a replica on the wall. You can still feel the pride of displaying your academic success whilst sleeping soundly with the idea that the original is kept in the safest of places.
When mid-career professionals commission a replica document to act as if it were a stunt double on their office wall, they’re not purchasing it to deliberately deceive anyone, and it certainly isn’t fraudulent to display a replica. What they are doing is they are maintaining the quality of their difficult-to-replace original document while allowing themselves to see a document daily that reflects the pride they feel in the achievement. A reputable novelty producer will always have strict guidelines on guarding against fraudulent documents, behaviors, and users. Their order form will always have the disclaimer that their beautiful documents are solely used for personal display, film props, or protecting a real credential, rather than to misrepresent their customer in a way that can lead to gross misconduct in a workplace contract.
Honor the achievement with a professional replica
Ultimately, novelty academic documents produced to an extremely high standard require the skill of an artisanal printer, rather than one that sits solely on your desk to print your everyday Word documents. To have a document on your wall that matches the original style, detailing, and quality of an academic original means using a reputable production company that blends its specialized skills in old-world traditional methods with modern technology, which reduces the overall costs of creating each document.
Whether you’re purchasing the document to act as a permanent stand-in for your home office, as a fun, novelty gift for a close friend or family member, or even as a theatrical or TV prop, a professionally produced document will always honor and preserve the prestige of the original achievement. Having an academic replica that matches the original style will leave nobody in any doubt when they view it: it will be seen as identical to your original, giving you the confidence that you desire by displaying your achievement in the first place.