Text input rules

Allowed value and Text transform — control which characters customers can enter and how the capitalization of their input is normalized.

Two settings, both available only on Text and Textarea. Limits control how much a customer can enter; these settings control what they can enter and how the submitted text is formatted.

They are especially useful for engraving, embroidery, and printing, where production may support only certain characters or where inconsistent capitalization can cause problems.

Allowed value

Restricts which characters the field accepts.

Tab	Advanced
Default	Default — anything is accepted
Available on	Text, Textarea

Choice	Accepts	Blocks
Default	Anything the customer can type	Nothing
Letters	Letters only	Digits, punctuation, symbols
Letters & numbers	Letters and digits	Punctuation and symbols

How it behaves

• The restriction is applied as the customer types. Blocked characters simply do not appear in the field.

• Spaces are still allowed, so multi-word entries work with all three settings.

• The setting controls character types, not language. Letters does not mean “English letters only.”

When to use it

Situation	Setting
Engraving on a machine that cannot cut symbols	Letters & numbers
A name to embroider	Letters
A gift message	Default — people want commas and full stops
A reference or order code	Letters & numbers

Explain the restriction in Help text. A customer who types an apostrophe into a Letters field will see nothing happen, with no explanation. Something like Letters only — no punctuation makes the restriction clear.

Be conservative with Letters. It blocks digits, so entries such as Flat 3B and Team 2024 cannot be entered. If your actual requirement is “no emoji or symbols,” Letters & numbers is usually the better choice.

Text transform

Normalises the capitalisation of what the customer typed.

Tab	Advanced
Default	Default — submitted exactly as typed
Available on	Text, Textarea

Choice	Input	Result
Default	john SMITH	john SMITH
UPPERCASE	john SMITH	JOHN SMITH
lowercase	john SMITH	john smith
Sentence	john SMITH	John smith
Capitalized	john SMITH	John Smith

How it behaves

• The transform is applied as the customer enters their text, so the value saved to the order is already normalized. You do not need to tidy it up before production.

• Sentence capitalizes the first letter and converts the rest to lowercase, which works well for messages.

• Capitalized capitalizes the first letter of each word, which works well for names.

When to use it

Situation	Setting
Names to engrave in one consistent style	Capitalized
Initials or a monogram	UPPERCASE
A stamped label in a lowercase typeface	lowercase
A gift message in the customer's own words	Default
Team names on a jersey, printed in caps	UPPERCASE

Capitalized works by word boundaries, so unusual capitalization is flattened. For example, McDonald becomes Mcdonald and iPhone becomes Iphone. If your customers may enter names or terms with intentional capitalization like these, use Default and let a human review the order.

Using both together

They are independent and combine cleanly. A typical engraving field:

Setting	Value	Why
Max character	15	What physically fits
Character counter	Show	So they can see the limit closing in
Allowed value	Letters & numbers	The machine cannot cut symbols
Text transform	Capitalized	Every engraving looks the same
Help text	Up to 15 letters and numbers. Engraved items cannot be returned.	No surprises

Allowed value and Text transform, both on the Advanced tab.

Notes

• The Personalizer live preview displays the transformed text, so what the customer sees on the product photo matches the value that will be produced. See Text layers.

• Neither setting affects the option’s Label, Name, or Help text — they apply only to the customer’s input.

• Neither setting applies to other option types. For example, a dropdown’s values are predefined by you, so there is nothing for the customer to restrict or normalize.