So, you're interested in
personalized wall letters to make a statement on your wall!
Maybe you’d like to post
a favorite quote or saying in your home.  |
| Personalized Wall Letters in a Home |
Maybe you need wall letters for a more official purpose...a company mission statement, an inspirational quote, or to post up the name of a conference room.
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| Personalized Wall Letters in a Business |
If you're affiliated with a museum or gallery you might need personalized wall letters to label an exhibit or to convey information about an artist or topic.
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| Personalized Wall Letters in an Art Gallery |
You may have noticed that libraries use personalized wall letters in many different ways including adding quotes by famous authors to their walls.
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| Personalized Wall Letters in a Library |
Personalized Wall Letters ... So Many Options
Personalized wall letters can be made in a variety of materials: wood, metal, plastic, fiberglass and vinyl. For the purposes of this article we're going to focus on vinyl lettering. Of all the materials listed above for personalized wall letters, the most common one is vinyl. This is due to the fact that vinyl is relatively inexpensive, can be installed by non-professionals, and it has a practical "painted on" look once applied to a wall or surface. But don't confuse "practical" with "boring". With thousands of fonts and graphics available you can inject an infinite amount of interest and personality into any wall lettering project.
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| This is a small sample of the many fonts available |
Vinyl Lettering Characteristics
- Letters are like thin stickers (roughly the thickness of 2 coats of paint)
- Standard vinyl comes in two finishes: Glossy & Matte
- Letters are self-adhesive, arrive ready to apply
- Easily removed from the wall when the time comes
- One-time use (when removed from wall letters can stretch/tear)
- Won't damage walls
- 10+ year lifespan indoors / 5+ years lifespan outdoors
- Stick to nearly any smooth non-porous surface: latex painted walls, glass, metal, smooth ceramics, plastic, fiberglass, etc.
Vinyl Lettering Components
Lettering arrives in a sheet or strip. In the following photo the sheet has been purposely separated into the 3 component layers to illustrate how they work together. The product consists of (1) thick Backing Paper (2) the Individually Cut Letters (3) and Transfer Tape laid over the top.
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| Personalized Wall Letter Components |
Notice that the letters are individually cut, yet they come arranged on a sheet. Because the letters are separate from each other, you're able to cut the the phrase between words or even letters without damaging anything. This gives you the flexibility to arrange everything on the wall however you wish.
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| Personalized Wall Letters Can Be Cut Apart |
The vinyl's finish is an important consideration when you're thinking about vinyl for interior latex painted walls. The vast majority of interior walls have paint finishes that are either flat, eggshell, satin, and sometimes semi-gloss. Standard vinyl comes in two finishes, matte or glossy. If you were to put glossy vinyl on a non-glossy wall finish, there would be two problems:
(1) your eye will see the glossy finish of the lettering and immediately classify the lettering as a sticker. You can say “goodbye” to the painted-on look.
(2) Glossy vinyls are not made for use on latex painted walls. They have a stronger adhesive intended for outdoor use on metal, glass, fiberglass, plastic, etc. Because of this stronger adhesive they can rip latex paint off the wall if/when the letters are removed.
What to Look for When Purchasing
If you're putting your lettering on latex painted walls then you need to be sure you're getting matte finished vinyl. The adhesive on matte finished vinyl is called "semi-permanent" and it's made to be applied to and removed from latex painted walls without damaging them. Additionally with matte finished vinyl the finish of the lettering blends right in with the (usually) non-glossy finish of the wall and you get that coveted "painted-on" look.
Another important consideration is are the letters individually cut or are they printed on a single transparent sheet of vinyl? If your goal is to have lettering on the wall that looks like it's painted on, then having words printed on transparent vinyl and stuck to the wall is not a good solution. There isn't a transparent vinyl sold today that can't be detected by your eye when applied to a painted wall. The moment your eye discerns the transparency that the words are printed on, you immediately recognize it as a sheet that is stuck to the wall as opposed to letters that appear painted on the wall. And for most situations the “painted on” look is the goal.
*** It’s important to understand that while the letters are individually cut, that doesn’t mean they’re installed one letter at a time. As you’ll see in the next step, you apply individually cut letters all at the same time.
Installation: You Can Do It!
Are you thinking that personalized wall letter installation should be "left to the professionals"? Think again! As mentioned earlier, anyone can install vinyl lettering. It's as simple as taping your lettering in place, removing the backing paper, then pressing the lettering to the wall. The final step is to peel the mask off leaving the lettering behind.
Vinyl Lettering Removal
As mentioned above matte finished vinyl is made to be removed. Indoors, it will stay on the wall indefinitely, but when you're ready to remove it from the wall it's as simple as getting an edge of a letter up and between your fingers, and then peeling the letter off the wall like you would a sticker. Each letter will generally come off intact but they will sometimes stretch and tear and they're not intended to be used again once removed. Often you can get started peeling the lettering off by getting your fingernail under the edge of a letter and peeling up and away. If this doesn't work easily then you can use an Xacto-type blade to get the edge peeled up until you can grab it.
Personalized Wall Letters - Powerful Design Tools
Since our focus is on custom-made words and phrases, it's important that you have access to the right tools to enable you to easily create and visualize how the wording will look on your wall. With recent advances in technology, design tools that were once only available to interior designers and sign makers are now available to everyone. Free tools now exist that allow you to see your lettering in specific fonts and colors and show the exact dimensions of the layout.
Going one step further, you can now design your personalized wall letters in a virtual space that shows you exactly how your layout will look on the real wall before you make a decision to purchase. Getting the wrong sized letters for your wall is no longer a major concern.
Personalized Wall Letters - An Ideal Solution
Personalized wall letters are a great way to convey a message or make a statement within your home, business, school, church, library or gallery. With their subtle, painted-on look they can easily convey a message without being distracting. A plethora of fonts, colors and graphics make it easy to create the look and personality that you want for any given situation. The fact that they're relatively inexpensive and easy to apply and remove make them an ideal solution for people of any skill level.
If you’d like to find personalized wall letters sold at affordable rates with many font & color options click here.
Are you thinking that personalized wall letter installation should be "left to the professionals"? Think again! As mentioned earlier, anyone can install vinyl lettering. It's as simple as taping your lettering in place, removing the backing paper, then pressing the lettering to the wall. The final step is to peel the mask off leaving the lettering behind.
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| The 4 Simple Steps to Apply Personalized Wall Letters |
Vinyl Lettering Removal
As mentioned above matte finished vinyl is made to be removed. Indoors, it will stay on the wall indefinitely, but when you're ready to remove it from the wall it's as simple as getting an edge of a letter up and between your fingers, and then peeling the letter off the wall like you would a sticker. Each letter will generally come off intact but they will sometimes stretch and tear and they're not intended to be used again once removed. Often you can get started peeling the lettering off by getting your fingernail under the edge of a letter and peeling up and away. If this doesn't work easily then you can use an Xacto-type blade to get the edge peeled up until you can grab it.
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| Personalized Wall Letter Removal - Get it Started with Your Fingernail or an Xacto-Type Blade, then Peel it Off |
Personalized Wall Letters - Powerful Design Tools
Since our focus is on custom-made words and phrases, it's important that you have access to the right tools to enable you to easily create and visualize how the wording will look on your wall. With recent advances in technology, design tools that were once only available to interior designers and sign makers are now available to everyone. Free tools now exist that allow you to see your lettering in specific fonts and colors and show the exact dimensions of the layout.
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| Personalized Wall Letter Preview with Dimensions |
Going one step further, you can now design your personalized wall letters in a virtual space that shows you exactly how your layout will look on the real wall before you make a decision to purchase. Getting the wrong sized letters for your wall is no longer a major concern.
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| Personalized Wall Letters Can Be Designed To Scale on a Virtual Wall |
Personalized Wall Letters - An Ideal Solution
Personalized wall letters are a great way to convey a message or make a statement within your home, business, school, church, library or gallery. With their subtle, painted-on look they can easily convey a message without being distracting. A plethora of fonts, colors and graphics make it easy to create the look and personality that you want for any given situation. The fact that they're relatively inexpensive and easy to apply and remove make them an ideal solution for people of any skill level.
If you’d like to find personalized wall letters sold at affordable rates with many font & color options click here.
