Where backlit graphics go
A backlit graphic is a print made to be lit from behind. It goes into anything with lights inside and a face that takes a print: a slim lightbox on a wall, a snap-frame poster box, a restaurant menu board, a lit display in a casino or a mall, a lightbox wall or tower in a trade show booth, or one of the lightboxes in a convention center's public areas.
Unlike a poster, it's seen with light coming through it, not bouncing off it. The film and the print are made for that, which is the difference between a lightbox that glows and one that shows every lamp behind the face.
Backlit display film
We print backlit graphics on backlit display film: a translucent film made to spread light evenly, so the whole image glows instead of showing bright spots where the lamps are. Colours print rich and saturated on it.
Colour lit from behind isn't colour on a screen or on paper. Deep shadows can turn muddy, pale tints can wash out, and some brand colours shift. Keep important text on solid, high-contrast backgrounds, check the proof with that in mind, and tell us when you order if a colour has to hold — we'll talk it through before anything prints.
A print made for light from behind looks darker with the lights off. If your box is switched off for part of the day — a window display, a menu board before opening — tell us, so we can talk through how it will look both ways.
Measuring your lightbox
Every lightbox takes its own size, and the size that matters is the graphic size, not the outside of the frame. Measure these, or find them on the box's spec sheet:
- Graphic size — the full print size the box takes, edge to edge.
- Visible area — the part you can see once the frame closes. The frame covers the rest.
- How it loads — slides in from the top or side, snaps into a hinged frame, or sits behind a removable face.
- Film or fabric — boxes made for a silicone-edged fabric graphic (SEG) take a fabric print, not film. Ask us about those.
Designing for the visible area
Fill the whole graphic size with background, and keep text, logos and faces well inside the visible area — the edge of the frame is never a good place for anything people need to read. The LVCC's public-area lightboxes, for example, take a 60 × 60 inch print with 58 × 58.75 inches visible; that spec has its own page: LVCC lightbox graphics.
Lightboxes are read quickly, often in passing. One image, one message and a logo do more than a paragraph. On a menu board, give the items and their names the room, and keep the small print large enough to read from the counter.
Source: LVCC Facility Guide, July 2026 (pp. 8–9), as of October 2026. Rules change each season — confirm with your show.
Files and resolution for lightboxes
Lightboxes are often seen closer than wall graphics — a menu board from across a counter, a display from a few feet away — so photos need more pixels than a mural of the same size. Our standard for sharp even up close is 150 pixels per inch at the printed size. Seen from 3 feet, about 95 pixels per inch holds up; seen only from 8 feet and farther, about 36.
A lit print hides nothing: a soft photo looks softer with light behind it. Send logos and type as vector artwork — PDF, AI, EPS or SVG, with fonts outlined — and photos at full resolution as TIFF, PSD or a high-quality PDF. The large-format file setup guide covers resolution, bleed and colour in detail.
Restaurants, retail, casinos and trade shows
- Menu boards — backlit menus that change with the season: keep the frame and swap the print.
- Retail and malls — lightbox posters on walls, in windows and on fixtures, changed with each campaign.
- Casinos and resorts — promotions, wayfinding and venue signage in lit frames across the property. See casino and resort graphics.
- Trade show booths — lightbox walls, counters and towers, printed to the frame's spec and delivered for move-in. See trade show graphics.
- Convention centers — the LVCC's public-area lightboxes take a print to the LVCVA's spec, delivered to its Sign Shop. See LVCC lightbox graphics.
Changing the graphics
Most lightbox graphics change without tools: slide the old print out and the new one in, or open the frame, swap the print and snap it shut. Pick the prints up at the shop on W Reno Ave or have them delivered in Las Vegas, ready to load.
Boxes high on a wall, or a set of them across a property? Ask us about installation when you request your quote.
How to order
Send us a request with the graphic size and visible area of each box, how many prints and how many different designs, where the boxes are, and the date you need them, and attach your artwork if it's ready. We check each file against the box's size, send a proof and confirm the price; you approve it, pay, and we print.
Need the artwork built, or an existing design adapted to a new box size? Send what you have and we'll lay it out to the visible area for you to approve.
What moves the price
Backlit prints are quoted from the job. What changes the price:
- The graphic size and how many prints
- How many different designs, each one proofed
- Design help, if the artwork needs building or adapting to the visible area
- Delivery, or installation where you need it
- Turnaround
Questions we get
Do you print backlit graphics in Las Vegas?
Yes. We print backlit graphics on backlit display film at our shop at 4545 W Reno Ave, for lightboxes, menu boards, illuminated displays and trade show lightboxes, sized to your frame. Send your lightbox size and artwork for a quote.
What is backlit film?
A translucent print film made to be lit from behind. It spreads the light from the lamps evenly across the image, so the whole graphic glows instead of showing bright spots, and it carries rich, saturated colour.
Can I put a regular poster in a lightbox?
It will light up, but paper and ordinary films aren't made for light coming through them: the lamps can show as bright spots and colours look washed out or blotchy. Backlit film is made to spread the light, and the print is made for it.
How do I measure my lightbox for a graphic?
Measure the graphic size — the full print the box takes — and the visible area inside the frame, or find both on the box's spec sheet. Note how the print loads. Fill the graphic size with background and keep anything important well inside the visible area.
What resolution does a lightbox graphic need?
It depends how close people get. 150 pixels per inch at the printed size is sharp even up close; about 95 holds up from 3 feet and about 36 from 8 feet and farther. Vector logos and type stay sharp at any size.
Do you print the LVCC's lightbox graphics?
Yes, to the LVCVA's spec: a 60 × 60 inch print with 58 × 58.75 inches visible, delivered to the LVCVA Sign Shop. See LVCC lightbox graphics for the details.
Can you print fabric (SEG) lightbox graphics?
Ask us. Lightboxes built for a silicone-edged fabric graphic take a fabric print, not film — send us the frame's spec and we'll tell you what we can do.