- What it is
- A clear or opaque acrylic panel mounted off the wall on four barrels, so the panel appears to float and throws a soft shadow behind itself. The graphic is normally printed onto film and applied to the back of a clear panel, which puts the acrylic between the print and the world: the image is read through the panel, protected by it, and picks up the depth that makes this the default treatment for a reception wall, a directory or a meeting-room plate.
- What it is printed on
A printed self-adhesive film applied to the second surface — the reverse face — of clear acrylic, normally backed with an opaque white layer so the colours read as themselves rather than as tints of whatever the wall behind is painted. First-surface work, where the film goes on the front, is the cheaper route and it is also the one that scuffs, because there is nothing between the print and a passing shoulder. Neither the film nor the panel is a sheet the caliper table holds.
- How it feels
- Cool, hard and heavier than it looks — acrylic has a density that reads as glass in the hand until you tap it. The face is dead smooth with no print texture on it at all, because the print is on the far side. The barrels leave a shallow gap you can slide a fingertip into, and that gap is the entire reason the panel casts the shadow it is bought for.
- What it suits
- Office receptions, directories, meeting-room and wayfinding plates, clinic and showroom walls, and launch installations that have to look permanent from the first day. It suits a fixed message. It does not suit anything that changes often — the panel is drilled to a layout and a change means a new panel and new holes in the wall — and second-surface work does not suit a design that needs a matt, non-reflective face.
- Lead time
- Standard turnaround is 7–14 working days. Installation, where it applies, is scheduled on top of that.
- The common mistake
- Supplying artwork that has not been mirrored. A second-surface graphic is read through the panel, so the file has to be flipped before it prints or every word comes out backwards and the whole panel is scrap. The barrel positions are the same kind of trap: they are drilled to a layout, so a change of panel size after the wall has been drilled means a new panel and a visible set of old holes behind it.
Print idea
Acrylic standoff sign
A clear acrylic panel held off the wall on barrels, with the graphic printed on the reverse face so it is read through the panel and protected by it. The default reception-wall treatment.
Standard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
What acrylic standoff sign is
A clear or opaque acrylic panel mounted off the wall on four barrels, so the panel appears to float and throws a soft shadow behind itself. The graphic is normally printed onto film and applied to the back of a clear panel, which puts the acrylic between the print and the world: the image is read through the panel, protected by it, and picks up the depth that makes this the default treatment for a reception wall, a directory or a meeting-room plate.
A printed self-adhesive film applied to the second surface — the reverse face — of clear acrylic, normally backed with an opaque white layer so the colours read as themselves rather than as tints of whatever the wall behind is painted. First-surface work, where the film goes on the front, is the cheaper route and it is also the one that scuffs, because there is nothing between the print and a passing shoulder. Neither the film nor the panel is a sheet the caliper table holds.
- The adhesive.
- The face film.
- The ink.
- The opaque white underbase. There is no white on a mirror unless white is printed, and every transparent tint above it becomes a tint of the metal.
- The a clear acrylic panel. The film is on the far face and the graphic is read through it, which is why the file is mirrored.
The specification
Six fields, and the last one is the useful one.
The same six questions are answered for every entry in this section, in the same order, so two objects can be compared without reading two pages of prose. The mistake is stated last and stated plainly, because it is the one that costs a reprint and it is the reason this page is worth sending to a colleague.
Where this sits.
Every entry is indexed three ways, because a buyer arrives knowing the occasion, the object or the material and almost never all three.
- Application
- Material and effect
Also worth looking at
- Window and floor graphicsStandard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
- Aluminium composite panelsStandard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
- A-frame pavement signStandard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
- Life-size standeeStandard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
- SignageThe specification, and how it is quoted
- Every print idea, indexed three waysThe section index
- The materials libraryCaliper, weight and what each finish costs
Send the specification for this, and it comes back quoted.
Every job is quoted from its specification — stock, quantity, sides, finish, size and deadline.
- Quantity
- Stock — or the feel you want, if you do not know the stock
- Sides printed
- Finish
- Flat and finished size
- The deadline
Artwork is welcome but not required to start. Email sales@ezprint.com.sg if you would rather attach files.