Type the Text
Enter up to 32 characters. Single words (a name, a room number, a building label) read best at a glance — that is what door signs are for. Longer than ~16 characters and the plate gets long enough that you may need to split it across two lines manually, or move to a wall sign that can take the width.
Spaces, numbers, and most punctuation render fine. Emoji, accented characters, and non-Latin scripts depend on the chosen font — not all five fonts cover the full Unicode range.
Pick a Font
Five built-in fonts cover most use cases:
Helvetiker
Clean modern sans. The default and the right choice for office signs.
Optimer
Transitional serif. Good for traditional door signs and house numbers.
Gentilis
Humanist serif. Friendly without being playful — reads as "boutique".
Droid Serif
Readable at small sizes. Use for room labels under 60 mm tall.
Letter Geometry
- Letter Height — 30–60 mm for a desk plate, 80–120 mm for a wall sign visible from across a room.
- Letter Depth — 4–8 mm. Substantial without wasting filament. Below 3 mm and embossed letters look cardboard-thin.
- Plate Margin — 8–15 mm of frame around the text. Less than 8 mm and the corners crack on impact; more than 15 mm wastes material.
Pick a Backplate Style
Emboss
Letters stand proud of a flat backplate. Easy to dual-extrude in two colours: print the plate body in one filament, swap to a contrast colour at the layer the letters start. Looks professional out of the printer with no post-processing.
Deboss
Letters are sunk into the plate. Brush black acrylic into the recesses, wipe the surface clean — instant two-tone effect with one filament.
None
Floating letters with no backplate. Great for scrapbook letters or wreath decorations but harder to print — brittle, needs a brim.
Mounting
Pick the hole pattern that matches how the sign will be installed:
- 2 corners — horizontal hang, screw at each top corner. Keeps the sign flat against the wall.
- 4 corners — for heavier plates or windy outdoor positions. All four screws share the load.
- Keyhole — cleanest for wall mounting. One screw in the wall, slip the plate over the head, slide down to lock. No visible hardware.
Set Hole Diameter to your screw size + 0.5 mm tolerance. M3 = 3.5 mm, M4 = 4.5 mm, #6 wood screw = 4.5 mm.
Pro Tip — Print Flat
Always print the backplate face-down on the bed. The flat back becomes a perfectly smooth surface, the embossed/debossed letters get the printer's best detail (which is on the upward-facing layers), and you avoid supports entirely.
Pairs Well With…
- CAD Mode — generate matching M4 bolts or wall-anchor sleeves to install the plate.
- Wall Panel Generator — combine a tessellated panel and a nameplate for a coordinated office-wall set.
- Build Plate Packer — running ten signs for an apartment block? Pack them all on one plate.