Nowadays, lighting is an integral part of decoration. Whether it is used to highlight work, draw the eye to a detail or create an atmosphere, acrylic is a very versatile material. At Atelier Plastica, we have several manufactures of Plexiglas available to enhance light diffusion. To simplify your reading, we will divide this text by the two main principles of lighting which are, backlighting or edge lighting. We will suggest the recommended acrylics for both uses.
Backlit boxes
Ideal for signs, the principle of a backlit box is very simple! It is a closed box with a camouflaged light system on the inside. The luminous area can be specific or expanded to the whole box depending on where there is opal plexiglass. This allows you to be creative!
For this use, opal white acrylic is high in demand by our customers. We have two shades of acrylic diffusers, both of which offer a different degree of light transmission. One offers 32% transmission, while the other offers 55% transmission. Light diffusion takes place directly in the material.
With the backlit box, you can distribute the LED strips so that the light is uniform from one end of the acrylic to the other. Depending on the degree of kelvin of your lighting, it is important to adjust the distance between the plastic and the light source. This way, you avoid the appearance of hot spots (light halos).
Other than regular opal acrylics, we have a few translucent colors available. For an opal plastic of great robustness, we would suggest translucent polycarbonate (lexan).
Some textured acrylics, such as prismatic lenses (K-12) can be installed in light boxes with neon’s in the industrial sector.
Edge Lightning
This lighting principle is well explained by its name: the light source is positioned on the thickness of the material, aka the edge. A molding with an LED strip system is usually installed on the periphery of the panel, but there are several ways to do it if you are resourceful! It is a technique that is mainly used with transparent or tinted acrylic.
Edge Lightning (also called Peripheral lighting) allows you to highlight an irregular area on the material. Clear plexiglass is transparent (92% light transmission), so you have to add a texture if you want the light to hit it. You can go through several methods to create your texture, either with laser engraving, sandblasting, a mat finish and even printing. The diffusion of light therefore takes place on the surface. The advantage is that it can emphasize a detail without losing the desired transparent finish of Plexiglass.
For best results, it is best to have an acrylic with a minimum thickness of 3/8 (or 9mm). Depending on the intensity of your LEDs, the light is projected up to about 10 inches onto your panel. Large formats are therefore not ideal for peripheral lighting since you risk a lack of light in the center of your piece.
Which ever type of lighting you wish to acheive, it is always possible for us to work your pieces with CNC cutting, laser cutting and table saw cutting. It is also possible to print on the material to obtain a personalized color, regardeless of the type of material. Do not heistate to contact us for more information!