signcraft

The old sign painter was not one to throw things away because “you never know when you might need ‘em.” That included off-cuts… Read More

Ken Tamashiro invested a lot of time learning Photoshop, and particularly in creating the look of gold or silver leaf dimensional graphics. He… Read More

I sometimes use cedar planks for a background to mount a sign face on, or use cedar trim on a sign. For years… Read More

I did window splashes and window signs for over 20 years, and the first step is getting the glass really clean. The very… Read More

When gluing acrylic, as when you’re replacing channel letter faces, don’t use hypo #25 bottles. They clog very easily and it’s difficult to… Read More

If you are getting old and decrepit like me, it gets harder to see the lines on cut vinyl, especially white material. This… Read More

I carry my smartphone in a plastic Ziploc bag. Even when wearing nitrile gloves I can still use the interface (the biometric fingerprint… Read More

Here’s a cool thing to do that customers really get a kick out of: Make them a miniature version of their sign. We… Read More

Most signs get removed or moved sooner or later, yet hardly anyone thinks of sign removal and/or relocation. For example, if cheap materials… Read More

When doing V-carving in wood, don’t assume that the piece is perfectly flat. Even a small difference in thickness from one side to… Read More

Router-cutting PVC leaves a raw edge that is more porous than the smooth face of the PVC board. To solve this, I seal… Read More

My trusty Roland VS-540 printer uses Eco Sol Max ink, and I’ve discovered that when it comes to laminating these prints, you must… Read More

Most sign businesses build their pricing around an hourly shop rate. Ideally that number is based on an accurate, current assessment of their… Read More

Shane Durnford—who now goes by Jayce Fox—has always specialized in designing, carving and building exceptionally beautiful signs. Looking back through past articles in… Read More

There are some comments that sign customers make that should put any sign maker on alert. Mike Jackson has spent decades in the… Read More

Back in 1990, SignCraft interviewed a young up-and-coming sign painter who was living in North Florida. Sam Pitino was 22, full of enthusiasm… Read More

England’s roads connect one small town after another, and in years past, many of those towns had a signpainter or two. They provided… Read More

Ian McLellan’s roots are in the printing business, but getting into trade show displays eventually led him to the sign business. He has… Read More

Download Ian McLellan’s classic teak images today for free! Choose from the Photoshop files or TIFF files, which are smaller and will download… Read More