By signcraft
Posted on Friday, June 5th, 2026
The incredible precision of a laser cutter/engraver makes it a powerful tool for sign production. The laser gets used on some very creative projects and for some very mundane lettering tasks—and plenty in between.
Laser engraving/cutting equipment
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Many sign shops use a laser for cutout graphics and architectural signage. The polished edge it delivers on cut acrylic is clean and professional. Engraved graphics can provide the dimension required for ADA-compliant signage.
A laser also lets a sign shop reach into new, profitable markets—often turning existing sign customers into customers for all sorts of laser-assisted graphics. Plaques and awards are really just small signs. Short-run, laser-engraved specialty items are practical and make a profitable add-on sale.
“There are a lot of interesting materials that you can cut or engrave with the laser,” says Mike Duran of Pueblo Signs, “and a lot of ways to use them in your sign work. You can really do graphics on just about anything with the laser. Very often you just need to mention it to a sign customer to find out that they need other work that you could be doing for them.”
There’s also a large market for “identification and marking graphics,” which involves creating graphics like tags, schematics and ID plates. Much of this work is repeat orders and high-volume projects that can deliver a steady stream of profits for a sign shop.
“I don’t think most shops realize that they’re missing the boat without a laser,” says Steve Shepherd, Custom Engraving & Signs, Richmond, Virginia. “It lets you do even more work for your sign customers.
“Many people in the sign business assume you just do one thing for your customers—make their sign. You may install a set of channel letters for a large company and never ask about their name tags. You could laser engrave those and your profit margin may be 80 percent. They may have 50 employees—and it’s easy money.
“When you letter a van for an electrician, he may not get a new one for several years. In the meantime, he may need thousands of panel tags for commercial electrical panels. You can make them in seconds for $4 or $5 each, and they often order hundreds at time.
“Why let him drive away with just the truck lettering? Make him a regular customer. I think we need to see the potential value of each customer, given all the things they can possibly use you for.”
Painted acrylic cut on a Trotec laser, mounted on green edge acrylic with the look of a glass panel; secondary copy is vinyl film. “The laser is a very practical tool in a sign shop,” says Steve Shepherd of Custom Engraving & Signs. “It lets you realize more total value from each customer.” Custom Engraving & Signs, Richmond, Virginia
Laser-engraved 8-by-16-in. cherry panel used as an award plaque. Custom Engraving & Signs, Richmond, Virginia
Pictogram and text are Rowmark ADA-compliant material [www.rowmark.com] on green edge acrylic, with Braille dots. Custom Engraving & Signs, Richmond, Virginia
Identification engraving on machine parts for Rolls Royce aerospace. Custom Engraving & Signs, Richmond, Virginia
12-by-36-in. edge lit acrylic sign done on an Epilog laser. “For our Acryl-lit signs, we laser engrave a panel of ¼-in. cast acrylic, which engraves nicer than the extruded, then edge light it with a strip of colored LEDs,” says Mike Duran of Pueblo Signs. “If you go taller than this, you have to add a reflector on the top, or another strip of LEDs at the top.” Pueblo Signs, Pueblo, Colorado
Laser cut and engraved fluorescent 1/8-in. acrylic key tags with jump rings and key rings from LaserBits.com. Pueblo Signs, Pueblo, Colorado
Padlocks engraved for identification. Pueblo Signs, Pueblo, Colorado
Second surface painted 1/4-in. acrylic panel cut on an Accuris laser, with laser-cut Rowmark ADA-compliant plastic graphics and Braille dots. It’s mounted on a reclaimed pine panel that was stained using wet concrete. “We cut a lot of lettering on the laser,” says Tom Paux of Brix Design Inc., Pensacola, Florida. “You can cut lettering with the adhesive already applied, then install it anywhere.”
12-in.-wide brochure holder with laser-engraved logo on maple slab mounted on an acrylic slab. The brochure holder was cut with the laser then heated and bent. Brix Design Inc., Pensacola, Florida
Brix Design Inc., Pensacola, Florida
Two layers of Rowmark laser engravable material, 8-by-7-in. overall, cut on a Universal laser and bonded together, with Braille dots added. Robbins Sign Co., Kirkwood, New York
Schematic engraved on Rowmark laser engravable material done with Universal laser. Robbins Sign Co., Kirkwood, New York
Baseballs done with the laser’s rotary unit by Robbins Sign Co., Kirkwood, New York
This appeared in the January/February 2015 issue of SignCraft.
