Getting started, step by step

Getting started with SignFlex3D

Everything in this part is included in the Basic plan and is done in the Simpleview. Seeing the sign in 3D is free and needs no account: you only need an account to download.

The screen

On the left, the panel where everything is set. In the middle, the column with the systems (1st and 2nd generation, CNC, laser, channel letters). On the right, your sign in 3D. The download button is always at the bottom of the panel.

1. 1Where your drawing comes from. Upload an SVG, type a word or draw it in the workshop.
2. 2Which system you are making. It is the first thing to decide.
3. 3The settings. Size, channel, base. They open and close by section.
4. 4Your sign in 3D. Turn it, zoom in and light it up. At the top, Dimensions y Print bed.
5. 5Download. Always at the end of the panel.

The golden rule: the drawing decides the channel

The generator puts the channel around every line of your drawing. That is why what you upload has to be different depending on what you are making:

Step 1 · Prepare your file

The generator reads SVG. Depending on where you come from:

1. If you come from CorelDRAW

   Export as SVG. Corel saves the size in millimetres and it opens in the generator at the exact size.

   For neon: draw each letter with a line with no fill, or use a single-stroke font (engraving fonts, called single line o stick). Do not use «Convert to curves» on a normal font or «Convert outline to object»: both leave you with a filled letter.

   The line width you have in Corel does not matter: the generator uses the centre of the line. The channel width is set in the generator.

2. If you come from Illustrator

   File → Save As → SVG o Export As → SVG: both work. The generator recognises Illustrator files and opens them at their real size.

   For neon: strokes with no fill, or a single-stroke font. Do not use «Create Outlines» on text or «Outline Stroke»: they turn the line into a filled shape.

3. If you come from the sign workshop

   It is the easiest. In the workshop you press Send to generator ▾, choose the destination (Neonflex, CNC or laser, Channel letters) and it arrives ready. For neon, use the fonts in the Neon flexgroup, which are single-stroke, or trace any font you like.

4. If it is just a word

   Press Type text in the generator itself. The fonts are already prepared for each system.

Step 2 · Choose the system

Choose the machine you have. It changes which controls appear and which file you take away: 3D printer with solid hose → 1st generation; 3D printer with separate strip and rubber → 2nd generation; router → CNC; laser → laser cutting; letters with volume → channel letters.

Step 3 · Set the right sizes

1. Measure your hose with calipers

   This is where 90 % of the problems are. Measure the hose you bought and enter those numbers, not the catalogue ones: two «6 mm» hoses can measure 6.0 and 6.5. The channel width has to be a hair wider than the hose, so it goes in without forcing and does not wobble.

   

2. The size of the sign: what are you measuring?

   In Size, under the width, there is a selector with two options:

   Measures the drawing: the width is that of your line. The walls and base grow outwards, so the piece comes out a few millimetres bigger.
   Measures the finished piece: the whole sign, on the outside, measures exactly what you enter. If your client asked for «80 cm wide», choose this one.

   

3. Dimensions

   Press Dimensions, above the 3D, to see the real corner-to-corner sizes: in white the printed piece and in orange your drawing, plus the size of each letter. Below you can type the size you want: with the lock closed, width and height change together; open, you can stretch just one.

   

Step 4 · Check it in 3D and on your bed

1. Turn it and light it up

   Turn the sign, zoom in on the channel and press the light bulb at the top right to light it up. Off, you judge the piece; on, you judge the sign your client will see.

   

2. Does it fit your printer?

   Press the tab Print bed and choose your machine: you see the piece on your bed, whether it fits, the weight and the time.

   

3. If it does not fit, cut it

   Open Cut (the scissors) and press Suggest cuts. They appear as planes you move with the orange handle and rotate with the green ones. Each piece says whether it fits on your bed, and the joints have dovetails to glue them. In Print bed, Distribute places them on several beds.

   

Step 5 · Download and open it in your slicer

1. Download STL

   The button is at the bottom of the panel. If you cut the sign, the pieces come out already separated in the same file. Before the button, the material list tells you how much hose and filament you need.

2. In the slicer, do not scale

   In Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, Cura or PrusaSlicer the scale has to be at 100 %. If you enlarge the piece in the slicer, the channel gets bigger too and the hose wobbles. The size is always changed in the generator.

Projects and presets: not the same thing

Common problems

1. Channel width and depth

   The channel has to be a hair wider than the neon flex so it goes in without forcing and does not rattle. The factory values —6.2 × 10 mm— are for an ordinary 6 × 11 neon flex.

2. Diffuser cap, yes or no? (Expert plan)

   Without a cap you see the tube as it is. With one, the light spreads and the LED dotting disappears. There are three ways to fit it and each assembles differently:

   The internal one is flat, so it can be laser cut from acrylic instead of printed — it diffuses far better than PLA and shows no layer lines.

3. How the ends finish

   How the channel closes where the stroke ends.

4. Wiring, mounts and ties

   Where the cable runs from one letter to the next without showing, how it hangs on the wall, and where to put ties so the loose parts of a letter do not come away when you lift it off the bed.

5. Does it fit your printer?

   Press the tab Print bed, above the 3D view, and choose your machine: you see the piece on the bed, whether it fits, the weight and the time. If it doesn't fit, with the icon Cut you drag a plane and the sign comes out split where you say, already separated in the file.

6. Hide the cables at the back (Expert plan)

   In the icon Cap you'll find the back cover: a tray that closes the sign at the back so the wiring can't be seen.

1. The channel goes wider and shallower

   And that is not a whim: the wall only has to grip the foot of the silicone, not wrap a whole tube. Factory values, 8 × 6.5 mm.

2. Turn on the retaining lip

   It is a small step inside the wall that locks the silicone in so it does not pop out. Without it the silicone lifts over time, especially on curves.

3. Check the fit in the warning

   The generator tells you how far the silicone goes into the channel and how much sticks out. If it says it sits sunken, the wall is blocking its light and the sign will look dead from the side: reduce the channel depth.

4. The rest is the same as 1st gen

   Ends, wiring, anchors, bridges, back cover and the cut for the bed work the same.

What the Expert plan adds

Everything in part 1 still applies. At the top of the panel switch to the Complete view to see all the settings. Anything with a crown is from the Expert plan; it also shows in the Simple view, so you know it exists, and you can try it in 3D with any plan.

1. Diffuser cap

   In the icon Cap. The light spreads and the LED dots disappear. There are three types: internal (flat, it can be cut in acrylic), outer (with a skirt on the outside) and with walls.

   With a cap, Download STL (sign + cap) downloads both pieces together, 15 mm apart and ready for the bed. Cap only downloads it alone; with the inner one, Cap outline (SVG) gives you the outline for the laser, with the cut width already taken off. The Separate pieces slider separates the cap in 3D; if it covers the dimensions, drag it by its handle ⠿ (double-click puts it back).

   

2. Wall finish and smoothing

   In Neon channel: Straight (the strongest), Rounded, Bevel y Curved. The last three use less filament and give a finer finish. Smooth inner corners rounds only the corners of the channel, never the base or the ends.

   A large smoothing needs a thick wall: if it is more than twice the wall thickness, a warning appears. The «i» next to the control explains it.

   

3. Four types of mounts

   In the icon Mounts: Keyhole y Circle (Basic), Countersunk y Counterbore (Expert). Press + add and place them in the plan view. Each mount can have its own type: select one in the list and change the card; if none is selected, they all change.

   

   In Other formats and templates you have the holes in DXF for the CNC and an SVG template at real size to print and drill.

4. Hidden wiring

   Cable passes, tunnels between walls and conduits with their covers, so the cable goes from one letter to another without showing. The back cover closes the sign at the back.

5. All the pieces in one STL

   Sign and separate pieces downloads everything together and already separated: cut pieces, cap, back cover and covers. It goes into the slicer in one go.

6. Presets

   Save your workshop settings —your hose, your walls, your base— and apply them to any drawing with one click. They can be exported and imported to move them to another computer.

The sign workshop · draw, trace or type

It's your drawing table, free and with no account. It looks like CorelDRAW or Illustrator, but with just what you need for signs: no other program needed.

1. Trace a photo

   Tool Image: drag the photo in, set its real width in millimetres and lower its opacity. With the B-curve you trace along the centre of the stroke: a click places points, a double click finishes. With Shape you touch up the points afterwards.

2. Typing: first, what it's for

   Tool Text. At the top of the panel you choose Neon flex, CNC o 3D letters, and only the fonts that work show up:

   Neon flex: the single-stroke ones, where the line is the neon. 3D letters: the filled ones —10 included that work in any browser, and in Chrome or Edge also every font on your computer with «Use my fonts»—. CNC: both; with a filled one, the letter is the cut and the groove is proposed automatically.

3. Trace a font for neon flex

   Neon needs its own curves, so a font isn't used as it is: it's traced. In Neon flex, choose one from the group «For tracing (not sent)». It shows as a grey dotted, locked guide ; you trace over it with the B-curve or press «Propose a line to trace» to get a draft you then smooth with Shape. The guide is never sent.

4. Vectorize an image

   Upload a logo or a drawing and press «Use as outline» (for channel letters or the CNC cut) or «Use as strokes» (the neon line). Always check the result with Shape before sending it.

5. Shapes and rounded corners

   Rectangle, ellipse, polygon and line; with Shift, proportional. With the tool Shape, dragging a corner of a rectangle rounds them all. «To curves» turns it into a normal stroke.

6. LED runs

   With the strip icon: you say how often your neon can be cut (1 cm, 2.5 cm…) and it marks on the drawing where each cut falls, how long each run is and whether it's too long or too short.

7. Save and send

   With an account, the floppy disk saves the project with a name and the folder shows them. When you're done, Send to the generator ▾ and choose the destination: Neon flex (the line), CNC or laser (the groove and its outline) or 3D letters (the filled letters and the closed shapes). The generator opens already in that system.

CNC and laser · the sign on a sheet

Nothing is printed here: the generator gives you an SVG in millimetres for the router or the laser. Your drawing can be a centre line or a filled letter: with the «My SVG is an outline»checkbox, the letter is the cut and the groove goes through the centre. If you do not have the machine, any shop with a CNC or laser cuts it with that file.

1. Sheet material and thickness

   Opal acrylic, clear acrylic, foamed PVC or MDF. If you are unsure, opal acrylic: it works by day and by night and hides the milling.

2. The cutter sets the measurements

   The neon flex cutter is 6 mm in diameter and goes down 4,2 mm. In a 6 mm sheet that leaves 1.8 mm of material under the groove, and that millimetre and a bit is what does the trick: light passes through it and the stroke reads as lit from the front.

3. Cutting the outline

   The CNC also cuts the panel out following the shape of the text. The outer and inner margins are separate on purpose: on an O, the outer one fattens the sign and the inner one decides how much material is left in the eye before it opens up.

4. Is your sign a filled font? Use its outline

   If your SVG is filled letters (a font converted to curves), tick «My SVG is an outline»: the outline of the letter is the cut and the program works out the groove along the centre. If you'd rather draw the groove yourself, press «Draw the groove myself in the workshop»: the workshop opens with your letter in the background, you draw it with the B-curve and it comes back to the generator already in CNC.

   From the workshop you can also type directly with a filled font (see the workshop) and send to CNC or laser: if the groove is missing, it proposes it along the centre of your letters.

1. Decide how the neon flex will sit

   Mark — the sheet stays whole. The laser drops its power and cuts only the protective paper, the width of the neon flex. You peel that strip of paper off and stick the neon flex on top. It is the fastest way and does not weaken the panel.

   Cut through — the opening goes all the way and the neon flex press-fits into it, sitting flush inside the acrylic. It looks better and lasts longer, but it needs a thick sheet.

   You can see the difference in the 3D view: with mark the neon flex rests on top; with cut through it sits inside.

2. If you cut through, set the grip

   The opening has to come out slightly narrower than the neon flex so it holds. Between 0.2 and 0.4 mm it grips without having to force it. With no grip it falls out on its own; with more than 1 mm you have to push it in hard and the acrylic can crack at the edge.

   The generator also subtracts what the laser itself burns away, which would otherwise eat the whole grip you asked for.

3. The tabs, if you cut through

   If the groove goes all the way through, any closed stroke drops its island: the O loses its centre and it falls onto the table halfway through the cut. That is why small uncut pieces are left every so many millimetres, and snapped off by hand at the end.

4. Filled letters, same as in CNC

   The checkbox «My SVG is an outline» and the workshop work the same as in CNC: the filled letter is the cut and the neon line runs along its centre.

1. Put in the filled letter

   Three ways: Upload SVG with the letter in curves; Type text, which already has filled fonts and lets you load your own .ttf; or type it in the workshop choosing «3D letters» and send it with Send ▾ → 3D letters.

2. Choose the kind of face

   Acrylic face: the face is cut separately and it's the one that spreads the light best. Printed face: everything comes out of the printer. Below, each model shows its cross-section in a drawing; tap the «i» to read how it's assembled.

   With the Basic plan you get Acrylic with notch y Acrylic, hollow back; the other models are on the Expert plan.

3. Adjust the box

   Depth (how deep the letter is), wall thickness and the thickness of the acrylic or the printed face. If a stroke of your letter is too thin for the wall, the warning tells you how many millimetres it eats and where it will close up.

4. Colours and stripes

   In Colours you choose the face colour and the wall colour. With «Striped walls» the wall comes out in bands, and it tells you the exact height to pause the printer and change filament.

5. Indirect light (halo), with pins

   The model Indirect light is a single printed piece, face included, hollow and open at the back: the LED goes inside and the light shines towards the wall. It's shown face down, as it's printed, so you can place the pins: columns that hang from the face on the inside with a blind hole for the screw. With the icon Pins you press «+ add» and drag each one in the 3D view.

6. Check the bed and download

   The tab Print bed tells you whether it fits, how much it weighs and how long it takes. Download STL downloads the letter; Sign and separate pieces, all the pieces separated; and Acrylic face to cut (SVG), the exact outline for the laser or the CNC.

Spacers, pins and how to install

So the letter stands off the wall —and on the indirect-light one, so the halo shows—. It all opens in its own screen, with the pieces fitting together in an animation.

1. Pin and male (indirect-light letters)

   In the panel Pins, press «Spacers: male and female». There you adjust the pin that goes inside the letter (diameter, hole and height) and the male that screws to the wall: as a bracket, the strongest, or as a flange, a round plate. You choose the gap to the wall, how far it goes in, the clearance, the plate thickness and the holes. Press ▶ Fit together to see them assemble.

   You download one male: in the slicer you repeat it as many times as the letter has pins.

2. The installation template

   Installation template (SVG 1:1) gives you the letter seen from the front, at real size, with every pin and a red cross where to drill. Each male is already rotated to stay hidden behind the letter. Print it at 100 % —it has a 100 mm ruler to check—, tape it to the wall, drill, screw in the males and hang the letter.

3. Ball spacer (for any sign)

   The icon Spacers opens the ball snap: a pin with a ball that screws to the wall and a slotted socket that's glued to the letter. The ball snaps in and stays held. You adjust the ball, the retention, the plate, the socket and «Taller socket» to stand it further off the wall. Here you do need both pieces: Both .stl.

Light boxes · double or single-sided

A printed ring with the LED strip inside and an acrylic face —or one printed in translucent filament— on one or both sides. It has its own page: Light boxes.

1. Choose shape and size

   Round, square o rectangle with rounded corners. You set the width (or diameter), the height, the depth of the ring and the wall thickness.

2. Double or single sided

   Double sided: it comes off the wall with an arm. The base screws to the wall and the ring is fitted by sliding it down a dovetail; the cable runs inside the arm. Single sided: it has a closed back and hangs from the ceiling (two eyelets on top) or flat on the wall (two keyholes at the back).

3. The face and how it's held

   Acrylic, whatever thickness you have, or printed in translucent. It rests on the edge of the ring and is held by a lid that covers it from the outside, like a jar lid: it clicks into a small groove in the ring and comes off with a spatula through the notch at the bottom.

4. Two-colour text

   Type the text and choose the font. With the printed face, the text comes out as a separate piece of the same thickness: on multi-colour printers you load both and give each its filament. With acrylic, the text goes in the SVG to engrave it or cut it in vinyl. On double-sided boxes, the back one comes out mirrored so it reads correctly.

5. Your logo, in several colours

   Press Preview your logo and upload it. As SVG, each fill colour comes out as a piece inlaid in the translucent face; as PNG or JPG it is preview only, to show it. Prepare the SVG with flat colours, text as curves, no gradients and details of 0.8 mm or more: if something will not work, the page warns you. Colours you untick stay the colour of the face. Download Face and colours aligned: a ZIP with one STL per colour in the same coordinates; drag them together into the slicer as a single object and give each part its filament.

6. No multicolour printer: raised

   In The face, choose Raised: the logo and text are printed on top of the face, as high as you set. Download Face with the relief in one piece, add a pause in the slicer at the height the page shows, change the filament and carry on.

7. Presets and projects

   In Projects and presets, a preset saves the sizes in your browser to repeat the same light box. A project is saved to your account with everything, including the logo, and you open it from any computer or from your account.

8. Switch it on and download

   Switch on shows how it will look at night and Separate pieces opens the exploded view. It tells you the filament and whether the ring fits your bed. You download all the pieces together or separately, each already in its print position and with no supports.

The STL quoter · free and without an account

It works for any printed piece, not just signs. Upload an STL and it tells you how much it weighs, how long it takes, how much it costs you and what to sell it for. The file does not leave your computer: the calculation is done in your browser. It is in STL quote.

1. Upload your STLs

   Drag them into the box at the top left. You can add several pieces in the same quote.

2. Say how you will print it

   Copies, scale, material, infill, walls and your type of printer.

3. Set your prices once

   Currency, spool price, your hourly rate, electricity and your printer's consumption, wear and the multiplier you use to get the selling price. They are saved in your browser and are the same ones the generator's quote uses.

4. Read the result

   Sizes, volume, filament and time; then each cost separately, what it costs you and the free suggested selling price. It is an estimate: your slicer with your profile gives you the exact grams and time.

So which one do I pick?

1. I have a 3D printer

   1st or 2nd generation, depending on the neon flex you buy. If your neon flex is a solid tube, first. If it is two pieces —strip and silicone apart—, second.

2. I have a CNC router

   2nd generation for CNC. Sheet, milled groove and cut-out outline.

3. I have a CO2 laser

   Laser cutting. Mark if you want to go fast and stick it on top; cut through if you want the neon flex flush inside the acrylic.

4. I want a round or square illuminated sign

   Light boxes. Double-sided with an arm to the wall or single-sided and hung, with an acrylic or printed face.

5. I want letters with volume

   3D letters. With an acrylic face if you have somewhere to cut it; with a printed or indirect-light face if everything comes out of your printer.

6. I have no machine at all

   Design it anyway and take the file to a shop. Any 3D printing service prints an STL; any shop with a CNC or a laser cuts an SVG. The 3D view is free, so you can show the client the result before spending anything.

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