Resin, Engraved or Loose? How Photos Live Inside a Locket

Before a trip to visit extended family in Europe, Mandy tucked photos of her two grandmothers into a little gold locket we’d made as a sample years earlier and then set aside. When she came home and told us about them (one of them was named Doris), we knew that forgotten sample needed a name. Today it’s The Doris, and those two faces are still inside, as clear as the day she put them there.

That’s the quiet promise of a locket: the photo should last as long as the love behind it. How well it keeps that promise depends on how the photo gets inside. There are three common ways to do it: sealing a printed photo under resin, laser-engraving the image into the metal, or tucking in a loose print. Here’s an honest look at all three, and why we chose the one we did. If you’re new to lockets, our complete guide to buying a locket is a good place to start.

Resin-sealed photo lockets: full color, protected for the long run

With this method, the photo is printed, sized to fit, and sealed under a clear protective resin. The resin holds the photo permanently in place and shields it from moisture, dirt and the slow wear of time.

What’s great about it: your photo stays in full color, with skin tones, a favorite sweater, the blue of a lake behind someone you love. It won’t slide around or curl at the edges, and you don’t have to think about it.

The trade-offs: it’s permanent, so you can’t swap the photo yourself. And it’s water-resistant rather than waterproof. Your locket can handle occasional moisture, but showers and swimming are hard on any metal’s shine.

Laser-engraved photo lockets: durable, but in one tone

Some lockets have the photo laser-engraved directly into the metal. The laser marks the surface in tiny dots or lines to recreate the image.

What’s great about it: there’s no paper to protect. The image is the metal, so it won’t fade or come loose.

The trade-offs: there’s no color, so the image reads more like a sketch than a photograph. High-contrast photos with clear faces engrave best, while soft, low-light or busy photos can lose detail at locket size. It’s also just as permanent as resin.

Loose printed photo inserts: easy to change, easy to lose

The traditional route: print a tiny photo, trim it to shape, and press it into the locket’s frame.

What’s great about it: it’s simple, you can do it at home, and you can change the photo whenever you like.

The trade-offs: without a seal, prints can fade, curl, pick up moisture or slip out of the frame. Trimming a photo to a third of an inch also takes patience and a very steady hand.

Which photo locket method is right for you?

Why we seal every Locket Sisters photo

We’ve made thousands of lockets, and resin is the method that does what a locket is for: it keeps a real photograph, in full color, safe for years. So every one of our lockets gets the same treatment, made by hand in our Northeast Minneapolis studio. We print and resize your photo to fit your locket, then seal it under clear resin.

We also take the worry out of the trade-offs:

Choosing the right photo: our photo preview tool lets you see your crop before you order, or you can ask our team to choose the best placement for you. Our guide to choosing the perfect photo for a locket helps too.
• Room to grow: if your locket holds two photos and you start with one, you can add a second photo later.
• Seeing the photo every day: if that’s what draws you to loose prints, an open locket gives you that, with the photo still sealed. The Henry Keychain and the Ozzie Locket Clip keep one photo on view at all times.
• Keeping it beautiful: every locket comes with a polishing cloth, and our guide to how to care for your locket covers the rest.

Whether it’s grandmothers, a best friend, a dog who waits by the door or a whole crowded family, there’s no wrong reason to keep a photo close.

Find the locket that fits your story.

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