Glossary of Terms

• Acrylic - Tough unsplinterable plastic material, much lighter than glass. It is easy to fabricate and has a long outdoor life. Used extensively for lightbox panels and fabricated letters.
  
• Aluminium - White metal, not tarnished by air. Used due to its lightness and ease. Can be cut, welded and fabricated to make letters, shapes, lightboxes and structures. Finishes include anodised, painted, powder coated, polished or linished.
  
• Aluminium Composite Material - A core of plastic material sandwiched between 2 sheets of aluminium. Ideal for pylon signs, fascias and canopies.
  
• Air brushing - Fine spray painting, used in murals etc.
  
• Back lite - Light is coming from the back of signage as opposed to the front, often creating a 'halo' effect.
  
• Banner - Vinyl, non rip material which is decorated with vinyl letters or sign written. Usually hung by ropes or fixed to a wall.
  
• Brass - Yellow alloy of copper & zinc. Used for plaques and letters often in a polished or linished finish. Needs to be clear coated to help prevent tarnishing.
  
• Channel letters - Raised sides to letters or shapes often with neon tubing running in the middle of channel.
  
• Chrome plating - Coat with silver by electrolysis. Usually satin or polished.
  
• Colorbond - Precoated metal sheet, most common in roofing but available in flat white sheets for signwriting.
  
• Copper - Metal with peculiar brownish pink colour. Not very common in signage as its difficult to work with and expensive.
  
• Corflute – Twin wall polypropylene sheet, in a variety of sizes thickness and colors. Ideal for displays or temporary signs and can be screenprinted or have vinyl graphics applied.
  
• Directory - List of tenants or inhabitants of a building. Directory - List of tenants or inhabitants of a building.
  
• Engraving - Graphics and text produced by using a high speed cutting tool to engrave into various materials. Often a colour is applied to engraving. Materials include brass, aluminium and MDF.
  
• Etching - Graphics produced by acid eating the surface of the material. Often a colour is applied to etching. Materials include brass, mild steel, stainless steel and copper.
  
• Fabricated Letters - Letters and shapes fabricated to be 3 Demensional, ie., have sides. Aluminium and acrylic are most common materials but other materials can be used, ie., stainless steel or brass. Often internally illuminated by neon or LED’s.
  
• Flex-face - An alternative to acrylic panels for a lightbox. One piece of translucent material similar to a banner is stretched over the lightbox face which means no joins or breakages. Ideally suited to large signs.
  
• Foamed PVC - Light weight PVC material that can be printed, fabricated or formed. Ideal for displays and signs and is available from 2mm to 10mm, white and colors.
  
• Galvanising – Coating of metal alloy by electrolysis to protect from rust.
  
• Halo Lite - Light spilling out from behind letters to create a silhouette look.
  
• H.T. Cable - High voltage silicon sheathed cable used for neon tubing in accordance to Australian Standards.
  
• Intra cut - A negative letter or shape is cut from a piece of material and a positive letter cut from another a piece of material to fit neatly into the negative. Usually back lit.
  
• Illuminated - Lit. Internally: ie., lightbox, or externally: ie., flood lights
  
• Large format printing - A computer generated digital printing process onto paper, vinyl or banner material. Ideal for full short run colour graphics like photos etc., where screen printing is too costly. Most common machines print up to 1300mm wide but some larger machines up to 5m are in use.
  
• Laser cutting - Computer driven method of cutting using high pressure gases. Materials include acrylic, MDF, mild steel, stainless steel and aluminium.
  
• LED – Light Emitting Diode, used to illuminate letters & logos. Low voltage and low power consumption. Excellent in areas where space is an issue.
  
• Lightbox - Fabricated box, usually of aluminium, containing lights to illuminate panel or lettering.
  
• Linish - Brush finish, a grain or lines across material: ie., stainless steel.
• Lumicryl – A solid block of illuminating acrylic, custom made to your font, logo or shape, which can be Face lit, Side lit or Halo lit.
  
• Mask and spray - Reference to blocking out an area while another area is painted.
  
• MDF - Precision made wood based material with a very fine homogeneous structure. Made from unreaformaldhyde resin-bonded wood fibre. Not suitable for external usage.
  
• Mild steel - Tough alloy of iron, not readily tempered. Used mainly for structural components for its strength.
  
• Moulding - A method of forming 3 dimensional letters from acrylic using a heating process and moulds. Cost affective on large quantities.
  
• Neon - Illuminated tube giving a glow when electricity is passed through either neon or argon gas in a low pressure glass tube.
  
• Opaque - Not transmitting light.
  
• Open Channel Letters – Fabricated aluminium letters that are open on the face, so the neon or LED lighting is exposed.
  
• Pin fix - Pins or spacers are used to mount a sign of a surface by the desired amount.
  
• Pole sign/Pylon Sign - Free standing pole or poles supporting sign components, ie., lightboxes or other non-illuminated panels. Usually requiring concrete footing and a steel structure.
  
• Polish - Mirror finish ie., Bright Annealed (BA) stainless steel or brass.
  
• Polycarbonate - A softer therefore stronger plastic than acrylic. Often used in building glazing and sign panels.
  
• Powder coat - A coloured powder applied electrostatically to metal then baked at around 200 c.
  
• Reception sign - Usually fixed to a wall behind reception desk.
  
• Routing - Computer driven method of cutting or engraving using a high speed spinning tool. Materials include aluminium, brass and MDF.
  
• Screen printing - Method of producing graphics onto material by pushing ink through fine mesh with unwanted areas blocked out. Best suited to large quantities of the same print due to set up costs.
  
• Signwriting - Brush, paint and a skilled tradesperson.
  
• Stainless steel - Chromium steel alloy immune to rust or corrosion. Available in linished, polished or plain finishes. Difficult to work with but is often used in fabricated letters or plaques.
  
• Suspended - Hung from roof or ceiling by means of wire or solid dropper.
  
• Transformer – Used to change output voltage. For neon signs to change the input voltage of 240v to an output voltage of up to 15,000v.
  • For LED’s from 240v to an output of 12v.
• Translucent - Allowing light to pass through.
  
• Water-jet cutting - Computer driven method of cutting uses high pressure water with an abrasive. Materials include aluminium, glass, granite, brass, copper.
  
• Weathertex - An exterior-grade wood fibre building board with a factory-applied primer coating on all surfaces.
  
• Vinyl/SAV - Self adhesive vinyl, a material which is now the back bone of the sign industry. The material is fed off the roll into a cutter/plotter which cuts letters and graphics. Can be printed onto for murals etc.