What it’s for
Hollow channel letters (3D, with depth) to light from inside with an LED strip. Each letter has a back, walls and a diffusing front cover that snaps on and spreads the light. The letters are joined at the back by a rail that carries the cable and screws to the wall, or each one has its own eyelets to hang it.
Ideas
- Light-up sign for a bar, a shop or an event («OPEN», «BAR ❤»).
- Illuminated name for a kid’s room or a wedding.
- Big initials or numbers to decorate a wall.
- Brand sign for a stand or a fair.
Step by step
- Choose a preset: «HOLA with rail», «BAR ❤», «Handwritten name» or «Large separate letters».
- In «Text» type the text and choose the font, the height and the spacing.
- In «Letters» adjust the depth (more depth, more even light), the wall and the back.
- In «Diffuser cover» adjust its thickness and the fit.
- In «Light and cables» enter the width of your LED strip and the cable diameter.
- In «Mounting» choose back rail or eyelets, and export: each letter, each cover and the rail come out as separate parts.
Tips
- Print the covers in white or natural PLA or PETG, 1–1.4 mm thick: they diffuse well without showing the light dots.
- The LED strip is stuck to the back of the letter following its shape; the app warns you if it doesn’t fit in some letter.
- In handwritten fonts the letters touch: lower the spacing so they look joined.
- If the rail doesn’t cross the back of every letter, move it with «Rail height».
Presets
Parameters
Text
What the sign says, in which font and at what size.
Text of the sign. It accepts letters, numbers and emojis (for example «BAR ❤»). Each character comes out as a separate part.
Font. «Rounded» has wide strokes the LED strip fits in well; «Condensed» is narrow and tall, sign style; «Handwritten» is cursive and decorative.
Height of the capital letters. It must fit your printer; the biggest letters (over 200 mm) don’t fit most.
Space between one letter and the next. In handwriting little is best (1–3 mm) so they look joined.
Letters
The hollow box of each letter: depth and thicknesses.
Distance between the back and the cover. With more depth the light spreads more evenly and the LEDs don’t show: 25–35 mm is usual.
Thickness of each letter’s side walls. 1.6 mm is sturdy; thicker lets less light through the sides.
Thickness of each letter’s back, where the LED strip is stuck and the rail is fixed.
Diffuser cap
The translucent front cover that closes the letter and diffuses the light.
Adds each letter’s diffusing front cover. Without a cover, the letter is open at the front (the light shows directly).
Thickness of the cover. 1–1.4 mm in white or natural PLA or PETG diffuses well without showing the LEDs; thicker gives less light.
Height of the cover’s lip that goes into the letter and holds it with a press fit. 3–5 mm locks well; 0 leaves it resting (it has to be glued).
Play between the cover’s lip and the letter’s wall. 0.2–0.3 mm is a firm press fit.
Light and cables
Dimensions of the LED strip and of the cable that runs from letter to letter.
Width of your LED strip (8 mm or 10 mm are the most common). If in some letter the stroke is narrower than the strip, the app warns you.
Diameter of the holes the cable goes through from one letter to another and to the rail.
Mounting
How it hangs on the wall: with a rail joining the letters or with eyelets on each one.
«Back rail» joins all the letters with a bar at the back that carries the cable and screws to the wall: everything stays aligned. «Eyelets on each letter» adds an eyelet to hang each letter separately from a screw.
Height of the rail on the letters, in % of the height, measured from the bottom. It must cross the back of every letter.
Width (height) of the back rail. Wider is sturdier and has more room for the cable.
How far the letters stand off the wall (the rail’s thickness). With 10–15 mm the escaping light lights up the wall like a halo.
Diameter of the wall screws, for the rail holes or the eyelets. 4 mm is a regular screw with a 6 mm wall plug.