Lightbox printing in London across fabric SEG, translucent backlit film and duratrans photographic media, each profiled for the LED panel behind it. We print the graphic, supply the frame and install on site, so the brand red on the wall matches the red on the print in the customer's hand.
Walk into either location with the frame size and a brand reference, see the lit sample wall, or call straight through.
City Images, time after time, produces high-quality, immaculate products. Big shout out to Heather who is incredibly efficient, professional and executes to perfection. Thank you, City Images!
This is an excellent printing service. They clearly do big things too, but even for smaller projects like mine they're quick, efficient, accurate, and produce high quality output. The advice and support I received from Heather was exceptional.
I worked with James on a branding installation project at MM Ilford. He managed all the client side interactions, community was quick and clear and the quality of materials were excellent. would highly recommend working with City Images
Excellent service, great quality print. I highly recommend them for business and professional usage. Sherif was very thorough and provided a smooth experience. They indeed do provide same day print and delivery service in London.
A centrally located and professional print store, with huge and great quality printers regardless of the small storefront, fun and reliable staff, and an impeccable and fast service. They punch way above their weight - highly recommended!
Perfect print on large sheet of antique mirror. We are so delighted with the final image - exceeded our expectations. Francisco (Chico) was super patient and knowledgeable and the price was good vale. Would definitely recommend.
Was attended to professionally at City Images by Heather with attention to detail all within 24 hours. Highly impressed with the way she handled the assignment and the personal touch given to the job. Will highly recommend City Images anytime.
Professional and Reliable "From start to finish, the team was professional, friendly, and efficient. They kept me updated throughout the process, and the final product was delivered ahead of schedule. Exceptional service and reliability"
Fast, reliable and great quality. Been working with this company for a number of years now, the team is very responsive and helpful. Signage is always good quality and delivered in time. Wholeheartedly recommended!
Always incredible service and quality from the team including Sherif, Francisco, and Heather. Highly recommended.
City Images, time after time, produces high-quality, immaculate products. Big shout out to Heather who is incredibly efficient, professional and executes to perfection. Thank you, City Images!
This is an excellent printing service. They clearly do big things too, but even for smaller projects like mine they're quick, efficient, accurate, and produce high quality output. The advice and support I received from Heather was exceptional.
I worked with James on a branding installation project at MM Ilford. He managed all the client side interactions, community was quick and clear and the quality of materials were excellent. would highly recommend working with City Images
Excellent service, great quality print. I highly recommend them for business and professional usage. Sherif was very thorough and provided a smooth experience. They indeed do provide same day print and delivery service in London.
A centrally located and professional print store, with huge and great quality printers regardless of the small storefront, fun and reliable staff, and an impeccable and fast service. They punch way above their weight - highly recommended!
Perfect print on large sheet of antique mirror. We are so delighted with the final image - exceeded our expectations. Francisco (Chico) was super patient and knowledgeable and the price was good vale. Would definitely recommend.
Was attended to professionally at City Images by Heather with attention to detail all within 24 hours. Highly impressed with the way she handled the assignment and the personal touch given to the job. Will highly recommend City Images anytime.
Professional and Reliable "From start to finish, the team was professional, friendly, and efficient. They kept me updated throughout the process, and the final product was delivered ahead of schedule. Exceptional service and reliability"
Fast, reliable and great quality. Been working with this company for a number of years now, the team is very responsive and helpful. Signage is always good quality and delivered in time. Wholeheartedly recommended!
Always incredible service and quality from the team including Sherif, Francisco, and Heather. Highly recommended.
Three materials cover almost every lit panel. Fabric SEG, the tension fabric lightbox route, for seamless volume, backlit film for snap-frame refreshes, duratrans for colour-critical photographic work. Each one is profiled separately for the light behind it.
The volume default. We print on dye-sublimation polyester, heat-cure the dye into the fibre, then stitch a silicone bead around the edge so the finished tension fabric lightbox panel presses into the channel of an aluminium frame for a frameless, seamless face. Fabric lightbox printing at its most practical: the finished panel is lightweight, folds flat for transport, and accepts a graphic swap in under a minute. Large panels run on the same wide-format dye-sub line as our large format printing.
A milky translucent media for snap-frame and tension lightbox systems where you want vivid colour without the SEG hardware. It carries the image on the viewing face and diffuses the LED back-light evenly across the panel. We print the film for retail window displays, restaurant menu boards, hotel lobby panels and bus-shelter style display light boxes. It is also the quickest format to refresh in a frame you already own.
A high-density translucent display film, originally a Kodak product and now the trade term for premium backlit photographic stock. Where backlit film is plenty for a graphic-led panel, duratrans holds shadow detail and true blacks that lesser films wash out. It is the spec gallery, jewellery, fashion and museum clients ask for by name, for any lit display that has to behave like a photograph. We supply it as a rigid panel: it clips into the frame, or fixes with adhesive or magnetic strips where the housing allows, so a refresh is a straight swap.
Thin-profile panels for architectural and wayfinding installs, where an LED edge lights an acrylic sheet rather than a panel behind it. The slimmest format we supply, used where the box has to sit almost flush to the wall. Graphic printed direct or applied to the face, cut to the panel size, and fitted with the mounting hardware.
A single backlit film or duratrans panel is usually ready next day from print-ready artwork. Fabric SEG panels print the same day but are left overnight for the dye-sublimation cure to dry, ready next morning. Full-system builds, where we supply the frame as well as the print, run three to five working days depending on size. Send the frame size, the channel type and a brand reference and we confirm substrate and turnaround on the call.
Single translucent film or photographic panels cut to an existing frame, from a clean print-ready PDF at 1:1 scale with 5mm bleed. File cleared, ICC-profiled against your brand reference and the LED panel temperature, strip-proofed on the actual substrate, then printed and cut for next-day collection.
Fabric SEG panels print in a day, then sit overnight while the dye-sub cure dries; the stitched silicone edge pushes into the channel next morning. New lightbox systems, where we supply and build the aluminium frame and fit the LED panel, run three to five working days. Tell us the deadline on the call and we give you a straight yes or no, not a soft promise.
Collect from 8 Avery Row in Mayfair or 23-27 King's Terrace in Camden, or book same-day London courier, quoted per drop. Next-day tracked delivery covers the UK; EU is quoted per job. For a full-system install, our own crew delivers and fits the unit at the venue.
Email post@cityimages.co.uk with the frame size, the file and the deadline, and we quote straight back. For other urgent work, see our same-day printing in London hub.
Get a quoteA lightbox is three parts: the aluminium frame, the LED panel inside it, and the printed graphic in front. The left column is the shape the finished box takes in the space; the right column is the hardware we supply to hold and light it. Panels run from A4 up to 3m by 2m and beyond, and where the brief is a new box we supply the frame and hardware too. Open any row for the plain-English detail.
The single-sided unit that mounts flat to a retail wall, edge to edge with no visible fixings. The everyday format for window graphics, brand walls and menu panels. Fabric SEG for a seamless face, film for a snap-frame refresh.
A double-sided box hung from the ceiling so both faces read from the retail floor. The default for wayfinding and over-counter promotion in shops, hotels and exhibition halls. Two graphics, one frame, one integral LED driver.
A self-standing floor unit with an integral LED, for foyers, retail spaces and exhibition stands. Single or double-sided. Ships with the printed graphic, the frame, the driver and the mounting hardware together, ready to place.
Panels are cut to the exact channel of your frame, standard or not, from A4 up to 3m by 2m and beyond. Send the internal dimensions and the channel depth if it is a SEG system, and we cut the graphic to fit rather than force it to a standard poster size.
Modular fabric SEG walls up to 3m by 2m and larger, built up from repeating frame sections for exhibition stands and full-height brand walls. Panels swap out section by section when the campaign rotates. Custom frame sizes are built to your specification, not ordered from a catalogue.
Aluminium channel frame for fabric panels, with an internal LED and integral driver. The silicone bead on the fabric edge presses into the channel for a frameless, seamless face. Single-sided wall, double-sided suspended, or freestanding floor.
Front-opening systems for paper and film inserts. The quickest format to refresh: open the frame, swap the print, close the frame. The default where the graphic changes often and the box stays put.
Thin-profile panels where an LED edge lights an acrylic sheet, for architectural and wayfinding installs that need to sit almost flush to the wall. The slimmest box we supply.
Floor units with an integral LED and double-sided ceiling-hung boxes for retail wayfinding. The frame, the LED panel, the driver and the mounting hardware ship together with the printed graphic, and an install crew if you want one.
A lightbox frame can last fifteen years; the graphic inside it does not. Most of the briefs we take are replacement panels for existing hardware. Send the frame dimensions, the channel depth if it is a SEG system, and a photo of the back of the frame with the LED panel visible. We confirm the substrate, build the colour profile for the panel temperature, and cut the new graphic to the exact size of the channel. For multi-site retail, we hold the frame spec on file. To brief a replacement panel, phone Camden on 020 7874 1900.
Illuminated display sells across retail, galleries and museums, hospitality, exhibitions, property and agencies. Each segment has its own material, frame and turnaround default, but every job runs through the same colour reference, matched to the printed brand asset, not the screen.
Restaurants, hotels, bars
Colour-critical, photographic
Window displays, brand walls, wayfinding
Stands, conferences, launches
Marketing suites, wayfinding
Multi-site, rolling campaigns
Walk in to Mayfair (8 Avery Row) or Camden (23-27 King's Terrace). Bring the frame size and a brand reference and we check the colour before we print.
A printed leaflet is viewed under reflected light. A lightbox is viewed under transmitted light, with an LED panel firing through the substrate. The pigments behave differently, and a red mixed for paper reads orange when lit. This is the difference visual merchandising teams ring us for.
A red mixed for paper, viewed by daylight, reads orange when an LED panel sits behind it. A deep navy reads black. Most print shops send the same CMYK profile to a backlit job as they would to a poster, and the lit panel ends up off the brand book by a measurable margin. The substrate matters too: translucent film, dye-sub polyester and duratrans each shift colour differently under the same light.
One ICC profile for translucent backlit film, a different one for dye-sub polyester, a different one for duratrans. Each is built against the LED temperature the panel will actually run at, not against a generic viewing booth. We send a soft proof against the lit profile, and a printed reference strip on the actual substrate before the full run prints. We hold the spec on file with the brand's printed reference alongside.
We do not match a lit panel to a monitor. We match it to the printed thing already in the customer's hand: a business card, a leaflet, a Pantone chip. The lit panel is signed off against that unlit reference. The lightbox in the window has to match the campaign in the press, the campaign in the press has to match the brand book, and all three sit next to each other in the customer's eye. That is the colour matching most printers skip.
Send the frame size, the channel type, the panel temperature if you know it, and a brand colour reference. Email post@cityimages.co.uk or walk into either location.
We send a soft proof against the lit ICC profile, and a printed reference strip on the actual substrate before the full run prints.
Film and photographic panels usually run next day, one panel at a time. Fabric prints the same day, then dries overnight while the dye-sublimation cure sets the dye into the polyester; the stitched silicone edge pushes into the channel next morning.
We supply and build the frame, then our own fitter delivers and hangs the unit at the venue, or you collect from Mayfair or Camden and fit it yourself.
A lightbox should outlive its graphic by a decade, and the panel inside should be the only thing that changes when a campaign rotates. We print on 90% FSC-approved substrates wherever the spec allows, run digital machines that leave virtually no setup waste, no plates and no chemical processing, and recycle every fabric SEG panel and translucent offcut through FirstMile with monthly reporting. City Images is committed to carbon-neutral operations by 2029. Good print does not have to cost the planet.
Read our sustainability pageEverything you need to know before briefing a lightbox. Material, frame, colour, turnaround, replacement panels. Cannot find your answer? We pick up the phone.
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Call us directlyA single backlit film or photographic panel is usually ready next day from print-ready artwork, cut to an existing frame. Fabric SEG panels print the same day but dry overnight because the silicone edge is stitched on and the dye-sublimation cure takes hours to set. New lightbox systems, where we supply and build the frame too, run three to five working days. Email post@cityimages.co.uk with the frame size and the deadline and we confirm on the call.
Duratrans is a high-density translucent display film, originally a Kodak product and now the trade term for premium backlit photographic stock. Printed on it, an image holds true blacks and shadow detail when an LED panel lights it from behind. Where thinner backlit film washes out the deepest tones, duratrans holds them, which is why galleries, jewellers, fashion brands and museums spec it by name for window lightboxes and exhibition pieces. We supply duratrans as a rigid panel that clips into the frame, or fixes with adhesive or magnetic strips where the housing allows.
Fabric panels are dye-sublimation polyester stretched into a tension SEG frame, edge to edge with no visible fixings, and they scale seamlessly to large sizes and fold flat for transport. Backlit film is a translucent media that drops into a snap-frame or tension system and is faster on small panels. Most retail and exhibition installs run on fabric; most replacement-graphic jobs run on backlit film.
Yes, and this is most of our volume. Send the frame dimensions, the channel type if it is a SEG system, and a photo of the back of the frame with the LED panel visible. We confirm the substrate, build the colour profile for the panel temperature, and cut the new graphic to fit the channel. You swap it in. No new frame, no new fitter, no new procurement cycle. For multi-site estates we hold the frame spec on file.
Yes. We supply aluminium SEG channel frames for fabric, snap-frames for paper and film, edge-lit acrylic panels, freestanding floor units, and double-sided suspended boxes. The frame and graphic ship together. For a full-system install our own crew fits the unit at the venue. Custom frame sizes are built to your specification rather than ordered from a catalogue.
Close, and closer than a screen-matched panel. Send a printed brand reference, a business card, a leaflet or a Pantone chip, plus the LED panel temperature, and we build the profile against both. The lit panel is signed off against that unlit reference, not against a monitor. This is the colour matching most printers skip, and the reason most backlit graphics drift off-brand.
Print-ready PDF at 1:1 scale at the panel dimensions. We check every piece of light box artwork against the frame spec before print, with 5mm bleed if the design runs to the edge of the channel. CMYK colour space, fonts outlined or embedded, and any Pantone references called out as spot colours. We also accept AI, EPS, PSD and TIFF. Our in-house design team can build the artwork from brand assets if you do not have a print-ready file.
Backlit film is printed on the translucent substrate on calibrated wide-format machines, with an ICC profile built specifically for transmitted light rather than reflected light. Without the lit-side profile, a brand red prints too dense and reads orange when illuminated. We profile every batch against the LED panel temperature it will sit in front of, and strip-proof on the actual film before the full run.
Fabric SEG panels, backlit film and duratrans print from A4 up to 3m by 2m and beyond on the wide-format machines. There is no restriction to standard poster sizes. Modular SEG walls build up larger still from repeating frame sections. Custom frame sizes are built to specification at Camden.
Yes. Camden dispatches nationwide, next-day tracked for most UK postcodes, with EU delivery quoted per job. Same-day London courier is available on collect-and-deliver briefs. Our own install crew works across the M25 and travels to exhibition venues elsewhere in the UK with notice. Collection from either address in central London is free: 8 Avery Row in Mayfair W1, or 23-27 King's Terrace in Camden NW1.
A backlit poster, also sold as a lightbox poster, is a graphic printed on translucent film or backlit paper, made to sit inside a lightbox frame and be lit from behind. Unlit it reads as a standard poster; lit, it gains depth, contrast and colour density. We handle the lit-panel build here and route the paper-and-film poster format to our poster printing page, which carries the backlit poster detail.
The print and frame build happen at Camden, which runs the wide-format machines, the dye-sub heat press and the frame bay. Mayfair handles the brief, the proof and the colour reference, and holds the lit sample wall where clients can compare fabric, backlit film and duratrans under identical back-light before committing. The workflow is the same across both addresses.
Two walk-in locations in Central London. Both open Monday to Friday. No appointment needed. Walk in to discuss a lit panel face-to-face with the people printing and fitting it.
Email us8 Avery Row, London W1K 4AL
Walk-in welcome. No appointment needed. Nearest stations: Bond Street, Oxford Circus, Green Park.
The walk-in counter and lit sample wall. Bring the frame size and a brand reference, compare all three substrates side by side under identical back-light, and agree the colour in person. Serves galleries, retailers, agencies and brand teams across Mayfair, Soho, Fitzrovia, Marylebone, Belgravia, St James's, Westminster, and Covent Garden.
23-27 King's Terrace, London NW1 0JP
Walk-in welcome. No appointment needed. Nearest stations: Camden Town, Mornington Crescent.
The print floor and frame workshop. Wide-format machines, the dye-sublimation heat press for fabric, the frame bay and the install crew, all at one address. The panel is printed and the frame built here before the crew delivers and fits the unit at the venue. Retailers, exhibition contractors and event organisers brief jobs face-to-face. Serves Camden Town, Kentish Town, Primrose Hill, Regent's Park, King's Cross, Bloomsbury, Islington, and Holloway.
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