What Are Cut-vinyl Signs or Cut-vinyl Lettering?

Cut-vinyl signs are just that… the lettering or design is all cut out of solid colors of vinyl and applied to a surface like a signface, window, or vehicle. Cut-vinyl is still used extensively in the sign business but full-color printed vinyl has replaced it where the design requires more finesse.

The vinyl used for cut-vinyl signs comes in rolls of a pretty wide range of colors including metallic, reflective, glow-in-the-dark, and other specialty colors / finishes. There’s even one that looks like etched glass once it’s applied! However, you cannot get gradient colors, i.e. where blue fades to white. You’re also limited to the colors available so matching a specific color may be tough.

That said, a lot can be done with cut-vinyl designs. The thing to remember is the lines are clean-cut and while you can’t get a gradient color you can have “shadows” of a sort by using two shades of the same color. For instance, a boat decal we did recently was lettering in a medium blue on top of a sparkly dark blue. The end result is the medium blue lettering with the dark blue sparkly color as an outline. We added large water drops in the dark blue sparkly vinyl shooting off the lettering – looks pretty cool! Multi-colored logos can be done – if the lines are clean – by layering or piecing different colors of vinyl together.

When ordering cut-vinyl signs it’s important to know there are different quality materials. For outdoor signs or vehicle lettering you want “cast” vinyl. It will last for at least 7-9 years outdoors on vehicles or signs. “Calendared” vinyl is fine for indoor use or short term outdoor use. It’s not as sturdy: peeling, cracking, or fading will eventually happen if used outdoors.