Window lettering

Glass is the cheapest advertising surface you own — it is already there. The only question is how much you want to cover, and whether you still want to look out from inside. Window lettering, window graphics, shopfront lettering: it is the same principle every time, with three kinds of film that each give a different answer.

Three films, three answers

Opaque window film

Solid, non-transparent film. Maximum colour strength and the sharpest image. You can no longer see through it, in either direction. The choice for part of a shop window, a partition or a blind glazed section. It is cut from coloured film when it comes to letters and logos, or printed when there is imagery in it.

One-way vision

Perforated film with thousands of small holes. From outside people see a full image; from inside you simply look out. This is the film that lets you print a whole shop window without making your shop dark. It is also the classic solution for meeting rooms that look out onto a busy street.

Watch one thing: one-way vision works on a difference in light. During the day, with more light outside than in, the effect holds. In the evening with the lighting on it reverses and people look in from outside. For a late-night shop or a lit showroom that is a reason to choose differently.

Frosted and etched glass film

A frosted-glass effect. It takes away the view in but lets light through. It can be cut out with your logo or a pattern, which gives a crisp, high-quality result. The most common solution for meeting rooms, washrooms and glazed façades at street level. Sandblast film and etched glass film are other names for the same application.

On glass doors and fully glazed walls a band of frosted film is more than a nicety, it is a safety measure: people walk into glass they cannot see.

Why the price varies

Two shop windows of the same size can be far apart in price, and it is rarely the film itself.

• Cut or printed. Individual letters and a logo in cut film is different work from a full printed surface with imagery. With cut work it is mainly the number of separate elements that counts, because every piece has to be positioned on its own.
• Access. A shop window at street level is half an hour of work. The same area on the first floor calls for a ladder or an access platform, and that weighs more heavily than the material.
• Applied inside or outside. Applying on the inside protects the film, but calls for mirrored printing and is not possible on every type of glazing.
• Removing what is already there. Old film that has spent years in the sun comes off in pieces. That is often more work than the application itself.
• The service life of the film. A three-month promotion does not need film built to last seven years.

We work that out on the basis of what actually has to happen. Ask us to come and measure up, and you will know where you stand before anything is ordered.

How long it lasts

In normal use and correctly applied, quality film lasts five to seven years. South-facing windows take the worst of it; film fades faster there. Clean with water and a soft cloth, and use no abrasives or pressure washers — the print is on the outside.

What we do

We come and measure up, produce a scale proposal so you can see what you are getting, cut or print in-house in Olen, and fit with our own people. One supplier, so no argument afterwards about who is responsible if there is a bubble in it.

One condition that often gets forgotten: the surface must be clean and smooth. Film will not bond to weathered, scratched or dirty glass, and you only see that weeks later.