Channel Letters on a Backer Panel, Lit or Non-Lit, One-Piece Sign

A backer panel sign puts your letters or logo on their own background. The 304 stainless steel letters are mounted on a panel of painted metal or acrylic, wired behind it, and the whole sign goes on the wall as one piece. The letters can be halo-lit, front-lit or not lit. Sign makers also call it a backer board or a panel sign.

This is the answer when the wall itself is the problem:

• Dark, patterned or rough walls, such as brick, tile, slatted wood or deep stucco, where halo light would be lost or letters would be hard to read. The panel gives them a smooth, even field.
• Leased spaces where the landlord wants few holes. Only the panel's mounting points go into the wall, and the wiring stays hidden behind it.
• Businesses that may move. The sign comes off the wall in one piece and goes up again at the next location.
• Brands that want a framed look, with the panel color as part of the design.

By day the sign reads as a finished plaque: the panel in your color with dimensional letters raised from its surface. At night, halo-lit letters glow onto the panel instead of the wall, so the halo looks the same whatever is behind it; front-lit letters glow on their own. One example from our recent quotes: gold back-lit metal letters on a white panel about 72 x 30 in.

Panel and letters are drawn together, so you approve the panel size, its color and the position of every letter on one drawing. Light colors are white 6500 K, neutral white 4000 K or warm white 3000 K. Indoor signs plug in through a 100-240 V adapter; outdoor signs use IP65 LED modules and a hard-wired outdoor power supply that a licensed electrician connects. The power supply and LED modules are UL / cUL listed components.

The panel mounts flush to the wall with a full-size paper template and the mounting hardware. Installation and permits are not included.

Pricing is by panel size in the estimator on this page, with non-lit versions costing less than lit ones. Send your logo or text, the wall size and a photo, and we email a drawing with a lit preview and the exact price before production.

Look at the wall first. If it is smooth, light and yours to drill, individual letters mounted straight on the wall may be all you need. If it is dark, patterned, rough, or in a space you lease or may leave, a backer panel solves those problems in one step.

Choose the panel color for contrast with the letters and for how it sits on the wall: a white or light panel behind gold or black halo letters gives the cleanest glow, while a panel matched to your brand color makes the sign read as one block.

Size the panel with a margin around the letters so it does not look crowded, and check it against the wall. Send your logo or text, the wall measurements and a photo; the drawing shows panel and letters together.