Designing your own sign using laser engraving can be done quite easily if you follow a few main concepts of design when planning what you want. You can begin to narrow down what you want by first determining your budget for the project. There may be additional fees to create your design if there is a lot of text. Another thing to consider is where the sign will be hanging and whether it is inside or outside.

Back engraving can be used for a more polished look and various fonts and images are available. The size of your fonts needs to be determined by who will be reading the information and from how far away. If the sign is for a building that houses senior citizens the letters will need to be larger.

Although it is easier to read text that is in upper and lower case, it is sometimes helpful to use all capital letters for a headline to get peoples attention. Signs made out of acrylic are quite sturdy and withstand the weather well but for a long lasting sign metallic signs are the best choice.

Laser engraving can be used to make hundreds of different products. Nameplates can be created for anything you would like such as names on doors, nametags, nameplates for a desk or office, name plates on helmets or souvenirs, information to be placed on a display case or a trophy.

Most laser engraving is done on some type of metal but it can also be done on plastic. When thinking of most nameplates that you have seen, the traditional silver or gold nameplate on sports trophies or display cases come to mind but it is possible to have nameplates made in a variety of colors and combinations.

Determining the size of the nameplate that you need will depend on how much information needs to be included on the nameplate which will then determine the actual size of the finished nameplate.

Screen printing was originally used in industrial technology but later moved on to be considered a type of art form. It can be used to print images on a wide assortment of materials including the ever popular t-shirt, hats, cds, glass, paper, metal, wood and many more.

Screen printing is considered the most versatile way to print images and is quite affordable.

Since screen printing is so easy and affordable, it has become quite a popular hobby and business for many do-it-yourselfers. Screen printing is used often today to mass produce images for anything from promotional items to movie posters to your favorite hat because of its low cost and the various types of printing that can be done with it.

Overlays are created using screen printing to create panels for any industrially manufactured product. They are decorative pieces that are used as the front panel on a piece of equipment.

Basically, if you take a look around your home at your microwave, stove, security systems and look at the panels that are keypads and this type of thing, you are looking at an overlay. Overlays can have colored windows, holes and come in various shapes and sizes.

They are made from a huge assortment of materials like vinyl, velvet, suede, mylar and various other materials. Overlays should be created in a clean room like environment to ensure higher production and superior quality. In these rooms certain factors like temperature, humidity and air flow can be controlled.

Stencils used in screen printing can be created in a variety of ways. Initially stencils were created by drawing the desired image onto some type of non porous material that could be attached to the screen and prevent the paint from going through. This could be done by cutting the design out of the material used and attaching to the screen or by painting it directly on the screen with a material that would dry and make it impossible for the paint to go through.

Photo emulsion has been the method of choice for the last 70 years. This method is done by creating the original image on a material such as tracing paper. It can be drawn, painted, copied or printed onto the overlay as long as the areas to be painted are opaque. The overlay is then placed over the screen and placed under a special UV light to harden the emulsion.

The areas that were not exposed to light will wash off leaving a negative stencil on the mesh.