Sign
Sign generator
The Sign generator makes wall, door, shop and desk signs in wood, acrylic or both: text and a motif engraved or scored on a shaped board, letters from a second material layered on top, the word cut out on its own, letters inlaid flush in a contrasting material, a neon-look acrylic piece with glowing engraved outlines, or a paint stencil whose bridges hold the middles of the letters.
Pick any of 18 board shapes or let the board size itself around the text; add a scored, engraved or raised frame; and hang it on keyhole slots, screws, a cord or standoffs, or stand it on a slotted base.
Clear acrylic can be engraved from the back: mirror the engraving and the sign reads correctly from the front with a smooth, glossy face.
Build
How the sign is made: engraved on one sheet, letters layered on a board, the word cut out on its own, or letters inlaid in a second material.
Board
The board's outline and size.
Text
The words on the sign.
Text style
Fine-tune the lettering: capitals, slant, width, stroke weight, a curve or a full circle, and stencil bridges.
Motif
A picture with the text: flowers, hearts, a crescent, a laurel and more.
Border
A frame just inside the board's edge.
Mounting
How the sign hangs or stands.
Second material
The material of layered letters, inlays or a raised frame: mirror or coloured acrylic, or a contrasting wood.
Presets
- Welcome arch: Script on an arch with a flower and a scored frame.
- Layered name: Gold mirror letters on a birch board.
- Café hanging sign: Bold capitals and a sun in an engraved frame, on a cord.
- Office door: Clear acrylic, engraved from the back, on standoffs.
- House number: Big black acrylic numbers on a wooden plaque.
- Love on a stand: A cut-out word on a slotted base for a shelf.
- Family word: A cut-out script word for the wall.
- Walnut inlay: HOME inlaid flush in walnut on birch.
- Kids room: A cloud with a name and stars on both sides.
- Desk name plate: An engraved name that stands on a slotted base.
- Wedding welcome: Large arch with rings and a raised gold frame.
- Open sign: A ticket-shaped shop sign on a cord.
- Garden: Script cut out of a big engraved leaf.
- Pet name: A heart with a paw and the pet's name in red acrylic.
- Neon-look love: Glowing script outlines on clear acrylic, on a desk stand.
- Paint stencil: Letters cut through with bridges, for crates and walls.
- Neon-look OPEN: A shop-window OPEN sign for an LED base.
- Reception plaque: Engraved rounded plaque on standoffs for a front desk.
- Nowruz scallop: Layered Persian greeting on a scalloped board.
- Bakery banner: Hanging banner for a bakery storefront.
- Cocktail bar: Neon-style sign with stars for a bar or lounge.
Material, layers and sheet
Set your material's thickness and kerf first: the kerf is applied once to every outline and hole. Engraving is filled on its own layer, which the SVG puts first so it runs before the cuts.
Options
Build
- BuildEngraved, Layered, Cut-out word, Inlay, Neon look, Stencil
- Engraved marks one board; Layered glues letters from the second material onto it; Word cuts the letters as one piece; Inlay cuts the letters out and fills them with the second material; Neon look engraves glowing outlines on an acrylic piece cut around the letters; Stencil cuts the letters through, with bridges that hold their middles, for painting.
- MarkEngrave, Score
- Engrave fills the letters; Score traces their outlines, which is quick on a diode laser.
- Mirror for back engravingon or off
- Mirrors the marks so clear acrylic can be engraved from the back and read from the front.
- One pieceon or off
- Bridges the letters into one piece that is easy to line up; turn it off to cut every letter on its own.
- Weld0.2 to 4 mm · step 0.1 mm
- How much the letters grow so neighbours fuse into one piece.
- Backer margin2 to 40 mm · step 0.5 mm
- How far the acrylic reaches past the letters; it is cut as one solid piece around them.
Board
- ShapeRectangle, Rounded, Circle / oval, Arch, House, Heart, Cloud, Hexagon, Octagon, Shield, Star, Scalloped, Banner, Ticket, Diamond, Pill, Tag, Speech bubble
- The outline of the board.
- Fit to the texton or off
- Sizes the board around the text and motif; turn it off to set the size yourself.
- Margin4 to 120 mm · step 1 mm
- Space between the text and the board's edge.
- Width40 to 1200 mm · step 5 mm
- Width of the board.
- Height30 to 800 mm · step 5 mm
- Height of the board.
- Corner radius0 to 80 mm · step 1 mm
- Rounds the board's corners.
Text
- Texttext
- The words on the sign; press Enter for a new line.
- Fontany Letters font
- The typeface.
- Letter height5 to 300 mm · step 1 mm
- Cap height of the letters.
- Letter spacing-5 to 20 mm · step 0.1 mm
- Extra space between letters; negative values join script letters.
- Line spacing0.8 to 3 · step 0.05
- Distance between lines, as a multiple of the letter height.
- AlignLeft, Centre, Right
- How lines of different lengths line up.
- Move up or down (%)-40 to 40 · step 1
- Shifts the text and motif from the middle of the board; negative moves them up.
Text style
- LettersAs typed, ABC, abc, Abc
- Keep the text as typed, or set it in capitals, small letters or Title Case. Scripts without capitals stay as typed.
- Slant (°)-20 to 30 · step 1
- Leans the letters like italics; negative values lean them back.
- Width (%)50 to 200 · step 1
- Makes the letters narrower or wider without changing their height.
- Thicken0 to 3 mm · step 0.1 mm
- Grows every stroke, so thin and script fonts cut and engrave cleanly.
- Curve (°)-180 to 180 · step 1
- Bends the text along an arc: positive values arch it up like a rainbow, negative values curve it down like a smile.
- Round a circle0 to 2000 mm · step 1 mm
- Sets the text round a circle of this diameter, reading clockwise over the top like a badge; a long text widens the circle so it never overlaps. 0 uses Curve instead.
- Stencil bridges0 to 5 mm · step 0.1 mm
- Breaks the closed middles of letters such as O, A and B with bridges this wide, so text cut through a board keeps them. 0 turns it off.
Motif
- MotifNone, Your picture, Your text, Heart, Two hearts, Star, Stars, Sparkle, Balloon, Balloons, Crown, Wedding rings, Crescent, Crescent and star, Lantern, Mosque, Graduation cap, Baby feet, Pram, Paw, Christmas tree, Snowflake, Laurel wreath, Flame, Trophy cup, Gift, Cake, Cupcake, Flower, Butterfly, Music note, Bell, Key, House, Sun, Cloud, Infinity, Leaf, Diamond
- The picture on the sign: a built-in motif, your own picture or your own text.
- Motif picturea JPEG, PNG or WebP picture, or an SVG
- A drawing, logo or photo (JPEG, PNG or WebP) or an SVG file; it is traced here, in your browser, into outlines that are engraved, scored or cut like the other motifs.
- Picture level (%)0 to 100 · step 1
- Which parts of the picture make the motif: a low level keeps only the darkest parts, a high one takes in lighter tones too.
- Use the light partson or off
- Makes the motif from the picture's light parts, for a light drawing on a dark background.
- Motif texttext
- Words or initials used as the motif; press Enter for a new line.
- Motif fontany Letters font
- The typeface of the motif text (the same fonts as Letters).
- PositionAbove, Below, Left, Right, Both sides, Behind
- Where the motif sits: above, below or beside the text, on both sides (mirrored), or large behind it.
- Motif size8 to 600 mm · step 1 mm
- The motif's larger side.
- Gap-30 to 60 mm · step 0.5 mm
- Space between the motif and the text.
Border
- BorderNone, Score, Engrave, Raised
- Score draws a line, Engrave fills a band, Raised cuts a frame from the second material to glue on.
- Inset1 to 60 mm · step 0.5 mm
- Distance from the board's edge to the border.
- Band width1 to 40 mm · step 0.5 mm
- Width of the engraved band or raised frame.
Mounting
- MountingNone, Keyhole slots, Screw holes, Hanging cord, Standoffs, Desk stand
- Keyhole slots hide two screws; screw holes go straight through; hanging holes take a cord or chain; standoff holes suit acrylic office signs; a stand makes a desk or shelf sign.
- Hole diameter2 to 20 mm · step 0.5 mm
- Diameter of the screw, cord or standoff holes.
- Base depth30 to 200 mm · step 1 mm
- Front-to-back depth of the stand's base.
Second material
- Second materialGold mirror acrylic, Silver mirror acrylic, Rose gold mirror acrylic, Gold glitter acrylic, Clear acrylic, White acrylic, Black acrylic, Red acrylic, Pink acrylic, Blue acrylic, Green acrylic, Birch plywood 3 mm, Walnut veneer plywood 3 mm, MDF 3 mm
- The material for the contrasting parts; they are laid out on their own sheets, named for it.
- Second thickness1 to 12 mm · step 0.1 mm
- Thickness of the second material; slots that hold its parts follow it.