What Are Backlit Graphics?

Backlit graphics are one of the most effective forms of display media. They are commonly preferred by many businesses and retailers because of their ability to segregate adverts from the mishmash of visual merchandising. Not only do they stand out among other display graphics in colour saturation and brilliance, but can also be viewed from a distance even in crowded places like tradeshows and conventions.

In 1979, Kodak started offering the first ever backlit graphics called duratrans, which were created primarily for commercial use and are essentially large format transparencies. They also feature a backing of milky coating which helps to diffuse the backlighting uniformly. In the modern times, duratrans backlit film is used mostly in high traffic areas, including makeup counters, airports, fast food centres and shopping malls. The printing equipment utilised for exposing it can be either a laser image setter or a traditional enlarger, like Lambda or Lightjet. Once printed, the exposed duratrans is wet processed traditionally using conventional photochemistry in order to achieve ultra sharp and continuous tone images having crisp printing without any form of distortion. Many users prefer using a laser image setter over a traditional enlarger, because it produces a huge resolution of 4000 DPI (dots per inch).

When duratrans was in great demand already, something called the day-night prints were introduced into the market. With their distinct feature of being able to function with and without lights, day-night prints gained popularity quickly. In general, day-night prints are produced primarily with the help of digital technology. The final print is prepared using a UV direct printer (also known as a direct-to-substrate printer or flatbed printer). The inks that are used for embossing the required image harden immediately after application, which means that no back covering of acrylic is required for protecting the printed image. Since day-night prints can be viewed even without backlighting and are lightweight, they help in cutting down energy as well as shipping costs.

Gradually, backlit fabrics, which are also one of the most popular kinds of backlit graphics, came into being. The printer used for producing this particular fabrics combines the processes of dye sublimation transfer and inkjet printing in order to emboss the required images. Backlit fabrics have an eco-friendly factor associated with them, because the materials used include water based inks and recycled polyester fabrics. Besides that, they light up beautifully when placed into lightboxes equipped with a string of LED bulbs.

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