What are face-lit channel letters?

Face-lit channel letters, also called Front-lit letters, use the opal white acrylic face that allows the inner LED illumination to transmit the light through the front of the letters.

It is the opposite type of backlit letters, made of opal face, aluminum or stainless steel returns, and back. And inner LEDs.

Depending on the effect of the face glow, they apply translucent color vinyl and day/night perforated vinyl on the face.

Benefits of custom Face-lit letters

Branding promotion

Face-lit letters give our brand 7*24 day and night visibility the long distance.

By the method of custom design, sizes, fonts, and lighting show your company culture to people, give a professional image to customers, and attract their trust.

Various applications

Face-lit letters are one of the best external and internal signage options, whether during the day or at night. At the same time, multiple mounting is available, too, raceway mount or directly flush mount on the wall.

Eco-friendly

Face-lit letters provide a window to express their service and products for the start-up company at a friendly budget. It is a one-time investment at the beginning because they have a 5+ year lifespan with proper care and don’t need to replace frequently; Also, inner high energy savings LEDs save the cost and protect the environment.

How to make face-lit channel letters?

To understand its practice, we first need to understand the following two concepts.

What is a trim cap on channel letters?

A trim cap is the flexible bending and forming strips to wrap on the sides of LED channel letters. The available material is acrylic, aluminum, and stainless steel.

There are two main advantages to the trim cap.

• Firstly, since trim caps have various colors, widths, and finish options, it is a great way to decorate the advertising signage;
• Secondly, they can protect all sides of channel letters and not make the light leak from the side.

What is Return on channel letters?

Return is the side of the channel letters. It welds with the back for face-lit letters while welded with the face for backlit letters.

Now, we start to introduce three main types of face-lit channel letters.

Trim cap face-lit letters

The flexible method to make a trim cap is to weld the cap with a letter return, and it can conceal the edge of the acrylic face and avoid light leaks from the side.

Trimless face-lit letters

Trimless is the opposite of the Trim cap. It is also called rimless. This type of face-lit letter didn’t weld the cap strips. The acrylic face can ultimately be shown straight and aligned to the returns. It gives a clean look but is not recommended for more giant letters as it is challenging to install

Epoxy resin Face Lit Channel Letters

In addition, except for acrylic face trimless, there is another kind of face-lit letters-Epoxy, Resin Face Lit Channel Letters.

Expoxy resin face lit letters made of specially formulated epoxy filled the channel face, making the letters diffuse the light on the front.

Below is the comparison between acrylic trimless face-lit letters and epoxy resin face-lit letters.

How do you install a face-lit letter?

1. Prepare the assembled equipment, install screws, LED Driver, a screw gun or power drill, etc.
2. Make the 1:1 scale paper mounting template on the place you want to install, then drill holes according to the template marks, including the wiring holes and install holes.
3. Remove the paper template.
4. Loose the screws on the face
5. Mount the cables through the cable holes
6. Secure the backer on the wall with studs 
7. Fix the sign face with backer
8. Assembling and lining the power cables of each letter together

Takeaway

Now, you already have the basic knowledge of face-lit channel letters. And face-lit letters are a great medium to increase your brand recognition and win the trust of potential customers.

Fonts, Size, colors, mounting method, LEDs, and production process will affect the final effect of the letters. Welcome to talk about your branding plan. FT Signage team can assist you in lighting your logo efficiently.