Clear Acrylic

This extruded clear acrylic sheet is the highest quality continuously manufactured acrylic on the market and is an extremely versatile material. It offers excellent optical clarity and is virtually distortion free so it's well suited for high quality applications such as backlit sign faces and graphics. Reverse printing on the back side of acrylic with a white underprint creates a finished print with a luminous quality that is impossible to produce by any other method. This is a popular option for printing high quality photographs that typically mount on the wall using standoffs, or with a 40% density of white, it's a high quality rigid backlit graphic.

It comes in a range of thicknesses to suite different needs, and is weather resistant and dimensionally stable, so it can be used outdoors and will not deteriorate with exposure to sun, cold or salt water spray. Acrylic is more impact resistant than glass, and if subjected to impact beyond it's limits, breaks into comparatively larger pieces, rather than shattering into small slivers. Available up to 48” x 96”. Larger sizes are available by special order.

Indoor longevity of 5-25 years, outdoor longevity of 1-2 years.

Favorite Features

The clarity of acrylic allows for printing on the back side to be viewed from the front. It looks like glass, but is half the weight.

Drawbacks

It's more flexible than glass, so larger, thinner sizes can be more difficult to keep flat. It expands and contracts at a rate of .002" for each degree of temperature change. This means a 48" sheet can expand and contract as much a 3/16" when used outdoors, so mounting must allow for this. It can also expand in high humidity. 

Best Applications

High-end photo prints. Backlit graphics that require a rigid graphic. Indoor or outdoor graphics and signs where the image is printed on the back side and viewed from the front to prevent tampering, such as for museum exhibits, amusement parts, etc.