Duratrans Printing in New York

Velement produces backlit Duratrans prints for lightboxes and illuminated displays across New York. Printed dense for transmitted light, sized to your frame, and supplied ready to fit or installed by our own teams.

Backlit prints for menu boards, theaters, transit and station displays, retail lightboxes and exhibits in NYC and the tri-state area.

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Backlit Prints That Still Look Right When Lit

The live page already makes the correct argument and it is worth keeping: when the sun goes down, an ordinary sign disappears and a backlit one does not. In a city where a large share of foot traffic happens after dark, that is most of the reason Duratrans exists.

What the page does not currently say is the part that matters when you are buying one. A print destined for a lightbox has to be prepared differently from a print destined for a wall. Light passing through an image brightens it and flattens the shadows, so a file that looks correct on screen or as a normal print comes out pale and washed out once it is lit from behind. Duratrans prints are produced denser than a reflective print for exactly that reason, and getting that judgment right is the whole craft of the product.

Velement brings 30 years of signage and graphics experience to Duratrans printing in New York. We print in our own facility, we prepare files for transmitted light rather than reflected light, and we size the print to the actual aperture of your frame rather than to the outside dimension someone measured with a tape.

What Is Duratrans?

Duratrans is a Kodak brand name for backlit display material, and over the years it has become the trade’s general word for any large-format translucent print made to be lit from behind. So when a landlord, a theater or a lightbox manufacturer asks for “a Duratrans”, they usually mean a backlit print that fits their frame, not that specific product by name.

That matters commercially, because the two are priced differently. If your specification genuinely calls for photographic Duratrans display material, say so and we will quote it. If what you need is a backlit print that fits a lightbox and holds up under continuous illumination, that is the same job at a different price. We will tell you which you are asking for rather than quoting one and supplying the other.

Our Duratrans Printing Services

Lightbox and Display Prints

Backlit prints are produced to the visible aperture of your existing lightbox, with the extra margin the frame grips need so nothing important is trapped under the edge.

Menu Board Prints

Restaurant and quick-service menu panels, produced as sets and reprinted when prices or items change, matched so the whole run looks like one board.

Theater and Cinema Displays

Poster-case and lobby displays at standard and custom sizes, produced to a release date.

Transit, Station and Bus Shelter Prints

High-traffic public displays where the print is lit for sixteen hours a day and read by people in motion.

Window and Storefront Backlit Displays

Illuminated window displays that carry the message after closing time, when the store is shut and the sidewalk is still busy.

Exhibit and Museum Panels

Interpretive and display panels where color accuracy and even illumination matter more than anywhere else.

Double-Sided Backlit Prints

Two images back to back in one panel for double-sided and projecting lightboxes, with the layer between them that stops one image ghosting into the other.

Duratrans Replacement and Reprints

A new print for a lightbox you already own. Send the frame dimensions and the artwork and we will match the fit.

What Makes a Backlit Print Work

This is the expertise section and the reason to use a print house rather than upload a file to a website. Every point here is a real failure mode we are asked to correct.

Density for transmitted light: the print is produced darker than a reflective print, because light coming through it will lift the whole image. Send the same file to a normal printer and it will come out pale in the box.
Shadow detail: backlighting flattens dark areas first, so shadows need holding deliberately or the image loses its depth the moment it is switched on.
Aperture, not outside size: the frame covers an edge of the print. We work to the visible opening and add the margin the grips need, which is why we ask for both dimensions.
Even illumination: an LED panel and a fluorescent tube box light very differently. A print that looks even in one can show banding or hot spots in the other, so it helps to know what is behind it.
Diffusion: where a box lights unevenly, a diffusion layer evens it out rather than leaving the print to fight the hardware.
Double-sided separation: two images in one panel need an opaque layer between them, or each one ghosts faintly through the other.
Color proofing under backlight: a proof judged on a desk tells you very little. Proofs for this product should be assessed, which is how the finished print will be seen.

Duratrans and Other Backlit Options

Buyers use several words for this product and a few of them mean different things. This table sorts it out and sends anyone in the wrong place to the right page.

Option	What it is	Best for
Duratrans / backlit display print	A translucent print made to be lit from behind	Lightboxes, menu boards, theater cases, transit displays
Translucent vinyl	Printed translucent film, often applied to an acrylic face	Sign faces and fascias where the graphic is bonded rather than slotted in
Fabric lightbox graphic	Printed tension fabric held in a frame with a silicone edge	Large modern lightboxes, retail and exhibition, packs and travels flat
Printed acrylic face	Printed or applied graphics on the acrylic panel itself	Permanent illuminated signage rather than a changeable display
Light box, the cabinet	The illuminated frame the print goes into	A different product entirely. See the note below.

Duratrans Signs by Sector

Restaurants and quick service. Menu boards, the single largest use of this product. Reprinted whenever prices or items change, and matched so the whole board set looks like one piece.
Theaters and cinemas. Poster cases, lobby and box office displays, produced to a release date that does not move.
Transit, stations and bus shelters. Public information and advertising displays lit continuously and read by people walking past at speed.
Retail and storefronts. Illuminated window and in-store displays that keep working after the store closes.
Museums, galleries and exhibits. Interpretive panels and display graphics where color fidelity and even lighting are the whole point.
Hotels and hospitality. Directional, promotional and amenity displays in lobbies and corridors.
Healthcare and corporate. Information and wayfinding panels in illuminated frames, plus tourist and visitor information displays.

From Frame Size to Fitted Print

Frame and light details. Outside dimension, visible aperture, and what is behind the panel. Those three things decide the print size and the density.
Artwork review. Files checked for resolution at the finished size and prepared for transmitted light rather than reflected light.
Specification. Material, density, single or double-sided, and diffusion where the box needs it.
Proof where it matters. On critical color work, a proof is assessed rather than flat, because that is how it will be seen.
Printing. Produced in our own facility, with density checked through the run rather than only at the start.
Trimming and finishing. Cut to the aperture plus the grip margin, and packed flat or rolled according to size.
Delivery or installation. Shipped ready to fit, or fitted by our own teams where access or height makes that the sensible answer.

Why Businesses Choose Velement for Duratrans Printing

We print for backlight, not for a wall

Density and shadow detail set for transmitted light, which is why our prints do not come out pale in the box.

We work to the aperture

The print is sized to the visible opening plus the grip margin, so nothing important disappears under the frame.

We ask what is behind it

LED panel or fluorescent tube changes how a print reads, and diffusion is specified where the box needs it.

30 years in signage and graphics

We also make lightboxes and illuminated signage, so the print is specified by people who know the hardware it is going into.

Printed in-house

No third party between the file and the print, so density decisions are not delegated and the timeline is ours to hold.

Reprints that match

Menu and display sets reprinted months apart still match the panels already in place.

Duratrans Printing – Frequently Asked Questions:

What is Duratrans?

Duratrans is a Kodak brand name for backlit display material, and the trade now uses it as a general term for any large-format translucent print made to be lit from behind. If someone has asked you for a Duratrans, they almost certainly mean a backlit print that fits their lightbox.

What is the difference between Duratrans and a normal print?

A normal print is made to be seen with light falling on it. A Duratrans is made to be seen with light coming through it, which brightens the image and flattens the shadows. So a backlit print is produced denser than a reflective one. Send an ordinary print file to a lightbox and it will look washed out.

What size should my Duratrans print be?

Work from the visible aperture of the frame, not the outside dimension, then add the margin the frame grips need. Send us both measurements and we will size it so nothing important sits under the edge.

Can you reprint the graphic for a lightbox I already have?

Yes, and it is a large part of what we do. Send the frame dimensions, the visible opening and the artwork, and tell us whether the box is LED or fluorescent if you know.

Can Duratrans prints be double-sided?

Yes. Two images in one panel with an opaque layer between them so neither ghosts through the other. Standard for projecting and double-sided lightboxes.

Do Duratrans prints fade?

Any print under continuous illumination will change over a long enough period, and how long depends on the material and the light source. Tell us how long the display needs to hold up and we will specify for it rather than leaving you to find out.

Do you supply the lightbox as well as the print?

Yes. We make custom light boxes as well as the prints that go in them, so a new installation can come from one supplier and a replacement print can be matched to hardware you already own.

How quickly can you produce a Duratrans print?

It depends on size, quantity and whether a lit proof is needed. Menu and theater work is usually driven by a fixed date, so tell us the deadline when you enquire and we will confirm it before you commit.

Which areas do you cover?

All five boroughs of New York City, plus Long Island, Westchester, northern New Jersey and Connecticut, from our facility in Hicksville, NY.