Outdoor advertising
Lightboxes with inlaid letters
A box with letters inlaid into the face: depth and texture in one clean, single structure.
At a glance
- Depth without separate letters
- Contrasting illumination
- Clean geometry
- Rigid assembly
About this solution
A lightbox with inlaid letters sits between the ordinary lightbox and 3D letters: one box, as with a lightbox, but with the light coming out only through the letters, as with lit letters. By day it reads as a panel with raised letters on a ground in the brand's colour; by night the ground disappears and the lit letters remain. It is the choice for a sign that wants the neatness of a box without the glare of a fully lit face.
The body is a box in aluminium profile or composite with an opaque face — composite or painted PVC — in which the letters are CNC-cut. Letters in diffusing acrylic are set into the openings, usually standing a few millimetres proud of the face so they read as relief by day too. Behind, the LED modules light only through the acrylic; the rest of the face stays dark. The thickness of the acrylic and the depth of the box are chosen together, so the light is even across the whole letter, with no hot spots.
What separates a good box from a poor one is the joint between letter and face: the acrylic must fit the opening exactly, with no play and no light leaking at the edge. That takes cutting the face and the letters from the same file, to tolerances of tenths of a millimetre, and a seal that keeps water out without being seen. With thin typefaces inlaying has a limit: below a certain stroke width the letter can no longer be cut and lit cleanly, and the artwork is adjusted.
It mounts like any lightbox: flat on the facade, on a fascia or on a bracket, with the power supplies inside, reachable through a panel. Being one box, installation is simpler than with separate letters, and the continuous face shields the LEDs from rain. It suits shopfronts, pharmacies, office buildings — anywhere the sign has to look orderly by day and clear by night.
Frequently asked questions
All frequently asked questionsHow is it different from an ordinary lightbox?
On an ordinary lightbox the whole face lights and the text is vinyl on it; on one with inlaid letters the face is opaque and only the letters light, being acrylic and raised. By day it looks like a panel with 3D letters, by night like lit letters. It is quieter than a fully lit face and reads more clearly from a distance.
And from separate 3D letters?
Separate letters each sit on the wall with their own cable; a lightbox with inlaid letters is one box, with one cable route and one installation. It is the right choice when the facade cannot take many holes, when the sign has many small letters, or when a coloured ground is wanted behind the text. Separate letters remain the choice for very large letters or for halo lighting.
Can it be done in any typeface?
In almost any. The limit is stroke width: an acrylic letter has to be cut, set in and lit, and below a certain stroke it no longer comes out clean. Thin or high-contrast typefaces are thickened a little or the sign is made larger; logos with fine detail are simplified. We tell you from the artwork what can be reproduced exactly.
What should I send for a quote?
The logo or text, ideally as a vector file, the width you have in mind, a photograph of the spot on the facade and, if you know them, the colour of the ground and of the letters. From those follow the size of the box, the height of the letters and whether the typeface can be inlaid as it is.
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