Lighting plays a key role in every exhibit, so have your ever considered using backlit graphics? The value of having backlit graphics in your contemporary museum exhibit is that its a great solution for providing visual emphasis.  You will discover that the graphic does retain its visual integrity, lit or unlit. Either way your graphic displays as a healthy image, with excellent density and color saturation, with lights on or off. The purpose of adding backlighting to the graphic is simply to give added attention to a graphic which requires greater emphasis. It can help to balance out the exhibit’s design or simply put an exclamation mark on an important player in the exhibit. Its like spotlighting if you will, except the light comes from behind the image.Its good to think outside of the box when designing an exhibit. Conventional thought would be to reserve lightbox use for lighting up stained-glass window or staging the appearance of a window. There are more reasons than this to make use of backlit graphics.

As you know, in the past, backlit graphics were reserved for printing only on large transparency film whose brand name is duratrans. There is another less bulky option available by printing the image onto fabric. The printing industry refers to this as backlit fabric graphics or tension graphics or soft signage. You may have heard of the term SEG graphics. This refers to the type of graphic requiring a silicone edge being sewn into it. SEG graphics are fabric graphics with silicone edges, designed to have their edges glide in to a specialty frame or light box. SEG framing is one name for the specialty framing which contains an additional channel to slide the silicone gasket into on all four sides. The biggest change from the duratrans display lightbox, is that you will no longer need a protective panel of clear acrylic plexiglass or laminate over top of the graphic. You also will not need the long fluorescent tubes of those duratrans lightboxes. Instead, you will be using perimeter lighting with woven LED lights which often
glide into their own channel behind the graphic. In the newer style of lightboxes, you’ll also find a piece of white fabric stretched in the middle, functioning as a diffusion sheet. Whereas, the duratrans has a milky white backing to the film to act as a diffusion sheet.

Benefits of the SEG graphics in the LED lightbox is that its a more earth-conscious solution. The polyester fabric the graphic is printed upon is recyclable or can be made from recycled fabric. The lack of the cover sheet or laminate, allows the image dyes to pop in brilliant color. They dyes themselves are water-based instead of being solvent based, nor do they require photochemistry to be processed. Rather, the dyes are heated up into a gas and transferred under heat compression rollers onto the receiving fabric. Once cooled, the image is permanent because its encapsulated into the fibers. The fabric image is durable and even washable. The aluminum framing of the box is recyclable, as aluminum is. Most impressive are the benefits in reduced energy consumption, both in the needs for shipping because this breaks down into a compact package; as well as those dynamo LED bulbs last significantly longer and require less electricity to run. Your client or museum’s reputation will be kept in tact as being earth-friendly and fiscally responsible. Interested in finding out more? Call 1.800.829.4562