How to Make a Large Poster Sign the Easy and Economical Way

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Sign making is a great craft to do with your Cricut. Here’s how to make a large poster sign, the easy and economical way.

There are many ways to make a sign using either adhesive vinyl, heat transfer vinyl or stencil vinyl. Here are some of the signs I have made, along with step by step directions on how to make them:

• stencilled wood sign
• reverse canvas
• heat transfer vinyl on a framed canvas
• adhesive vinyl on a sign

The above all make wonderful and beautiful signs. But perhaps you’re starting out, or don’t want a project that is too labour intensive. Maybe you want a sign that won’t be too expensive and uses too many supplies.

So how do you make a large poster sign, the easy and economical way? Maybe you want a large, poster-sized sign and it’s hard to find a canvas or wood the size you need. Plus, the larger the sign, the more expensive it would be. Here’s a really easy and cheaper way to do it.

Supplies Needed to Make a Large Poster Sign

• frame
• adhesive vinyl
• transfer tape
• cutting machine; I use my Cricut Maker

Frames can be purchased from a number of places including Ikea, the dollar store and craft stores.

Basically, you are going to apply the adhesive vinyl to the front clear panel (usually glass or plastic) of the frame. For details on how to apply adhesive vinyl, be sure to check out my post here.

You will want to disassemble the frame so that you can work with that front clear panel.

Tips for Making a Large Poster Sign

For this project, I was asked to make a sign with a particular quote.

TIP #1 – Create a Shape to Represent Your Frame
Once the layout and fonts were chosen, I needed to space it accordingly. In order to help me visualize the layout, I added a shape in the dimensions of the sign. In order to do this, I selected the square shape from the shapes menu on the left side, unlocked the bottom left corner and resized it to the size of the frame. I made the shape white in order to see it better.

Since the frame I was using was quite large, I shrank the screen size down so that I could see everything. Do this using the percentage button in the bottom left corner.

Seeing the text on the representation of the frame helped me figure out spacing and sizing.

TIP #2 – Be Sure to Weld your Text
When using a script font, I “ungroup” and overlap the letters slightly to make them appear to be connected. Once you are happy with how it looks, be sure to weld it (bottom right panel). This will ensure that it is one complete piece when the adhesive vinyl is cut. Otherwise, you will see cut lines where the letters overlap.

Welding should be the LAST thing that you do as there is no way to undo it and you will have to use the “undo” button to “unweld” it. If you’ve done a number of things after you’ve welded it, you may have to go back a bit. I find it interesting that Cricut Design Space has a way to “detach” once you’ve attached, but no option to “unweld” once you’ve welded.

TIP #3 – Break Your Graphic Down into Smaller Chunks to Cut
The entire quote is far too big for the Cricut to cut. Remember – the largest mat is 12 x 24 and the cutting capacity is actually 11.5 x 23.5. Therefore you will want to cut it down into smaller chunks. For this project, it meant cutting it into 3 separate sections.

The number of chunks you break it down to depends on how manageable the pieces will be. If you are starting out, you may find larger chunks to be challenging to handle. You may prefer smaller, easier-to-manage chunks. That said, larger chunks make it easier to keep things align and make the job quicker. Do whatever works for you.

TIP #4 – Mirror Your Image Before You Cut
Apply the vinyl on the inside of the clear panel. Since I was working with a poster-sized frame, it was a clear plastic (glass would have been more expensive and quite heavy for that size). Applying the vinyl on the inside not only protects it from curious fingers but also creates a clean and smooth surface.

In order to have it applied on the inside, you will need to mirror your image before you cut.

TIP #5 – Use a Cutting Mat to Keep Everything Straight
It is always a challenge to get something like this straight. In order to help me, I laid the clear plastic panel on top of my cutting mat which has all those handy lines on it. In order to keep it aligned, I used bulldog clips to hold it in place.

Using the measurements on the cutting mat, I was able to determine the vertical centre line. Then I simply used the horizontal lines to make sure the text was straight.

TIP #6 – Flip the Cover Sheet Around to Create a Backing
In order for the quote to be seen, it needs a background. Sure, you could cut a piece of paper the size of the frame and insert it. But remember – the frame comes with a sort of title page that is already cut to size. It’s the paper that either shows a stock picture and the dimensions on it. Just turn that paper around – the back will be blank. Typically they are white – you’ll have to cut paper to size if you want a different colour.

Now all you have to do is reassemble the frame.

See how easy it was? Now a sign this size would have been a lot of work and quite expensive. But here we created an easy and economical sign that looks great.

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