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A summary of sign blogs with links to related articles for our business sign customers.
Marquee signs are used for community centers, theaters, church signs, school signs, business signs and sidewalk signs. Marquee signs display messages with changeable letters that typically slide into grooved tracking. Each changeable letter is screen printed onto plastic and is available in different sizes, gauges and styles. Select the right size letters for your marquee or your message could end up going completely wrong!
It is very important for sign letters to fit snug into the sign track or they will fall out or blow away. Panel height and thickness are the most significant characteristics to ensure the letters slide and fit properly onto your marquee sign. I can't stress enough how important it is that you measure the panel height and panel thickness.
Here is what you need to measure:
Panel Height - The panel height is the outside measurement of the plastic from its top to bottom.
Character Height - The character height is the measurement of the printed character on the plastic panel. Measure from the top of the character to its bottom. Do not include any margins or brand markings in the measurement.
Width Ratio - The width ratio is helpful to determine the font style. Some letter styles are condensed so you can fit more characters on a line. Other letter styles are wider so they are easier to read. Each font style has its own width ratio. The ratio is the proportion of the character's width (measured from left to right) to its height (measured from top to bottom.) It will make more sense to measure an 'N' or 'R, not a 'W' or "I'. The width ratio is expressed as a proportion such as 3:5 or 1:1.
Panel Thickness - There are three main sizes when it comes to the thickness of your changeable letters; 1/32" (30 mil), 1/16" (60 mil), and 1/12" (80 mil). These are more commonly known as flexible, semi-rigid and rigid. 30 mil is about the thickness of a playing card and can be bent over from head to toe without breaking. 80 mil is a thick, rigid letter that has very little flexibility to it. The 60 mil is in between and is semi-rigid.
Changeable letters fit into a track. There are two basic styles; tracking for thin letters and tracking for thick letters. Marquee signs tracked for thin letters can only use 30 mil sign letters. Marquee signs tracked for thick letters can use 80 mil or 60 mil sign letters but not the 30 mil sign letters.
Communicating your letter requirements to a manufacture is just as important as knowing which dimensions to measure so your order is delivered mistake free. Describe your letter requirements with a manufacturer using the measurements because each manufacturer has different naming conventions.
Posted: January 27, 2014
How many letters do I need for my directory? Deciding on which directory board letter kits to buy can be tough, especially when it's not known for sure what the sign is going to say
Posted: February 15, 2013
Small sign shops have always been asked to be a 'jack of all trades' and digital signage is no exception. We will need to not only know the design and marketing abilities of LED signs, but also the software and hardware technologies involved
Posted: March 22, 2013
When planning a marquee sign, you need to first consider the viewing distance of your audience. This will affect both your budget and the size of your sign. As a rule of thumb, for every one inch of sign letter height, a customer can read the sign message from 10 feet away. For example, a 6 inch marquee sign letter can be read from 60 feet away. For passing motorists, you will want a little taller sign letter for the same effect.
Posted: March 5, 2015
Even though LED signs are showing up everywhere, many people still love the old school feel of a letter board with push in letters. Getting enough numbers, periods or dollar signs can sometimes be tough when you're making a board for records or prices.
Posted: November 24, 2014
Banner Board letters from yesteryear are getting harder and harder to find. The letters below are plastic and have plastic clips on the back to attach to the metal board. The boards look similar to the inner copy boards used with metal church letters, but the letters are much different.
Posted: June 23, 2015
Pronto Sign Letters were used on Zion Lutheran Church marquee sign to announce their service hours in Wisconsin. The eight inch tall letters can be easily read from 150 feet away. Pronto sign letters are available in six different sign fonts. The ADM style shown here are the widest and easiest to read. It is best to use big wide letters if your marquee is set back from the road and motorist are passing at a high rate of speed.
Posted: February 21, 2014
We are often called by churches all over the United States looking for a replacement board that works with their metal letters from many moons ago. Often times, the person in charge of changing the church marquee sign is left with the task of finding new sign letters and refurbishing the sign board. But because it an existing marquee sign, the previous church committee person had not left information as to where you can buy sign letters.
Posted: April 4, 2013
You never seem to have enough characters for a changeable letter marquee sign. Most character assortments provide more vowels and primary consonants than the lesser used alphabet. But if they give you more of one character it is at the expense of another. Most sign writers resort to being creative and turning their P's upside down for B's, or add some black tape to an F to make an E.
Posted: February 27, 2015
Theater Marquee Letters are great for old style marquees that are set up with Slotted Tracks. We offer Slotted Theater Marquee Letters, Slotted Marquee Sign Track and the Change Pole Arms for Theater Marquee Letters. No more scary ladders!
