There are lots of methods used in sign making and over recent years more are being discovered. Some of these different techniques include:

- Engraving - This is one of the more basic forms tending to be used on wood and metal. There are computer systems that can engrave what ever shape you plan for it to, but traditional methods are still used. The traditional methods consist of burning and carving, the more modern ways of engraving use laser technology mainly in stead of the original etchers. The traditional ways of sign making give your sign an older look rather than the modern, shiny look that other methods will give you. Laser engraving machines are more precise than the all other methods, some are that advanced its possible to have a photographic image engraved onto a metal surface.

- Printing - This is where the sector has developed greatly, where in the past it was only possible to make signs on material such as wood, paper and metal there are now printers that print images and text onto a variety of materials including vinyl. The machines use specialist ink so it sets on the different materials, these machines can even out line images to be cut by another machine so the route for the image or text is already on the material before cutting. They can also print onto foam core materials that consist of foam with layers of either paper or card board on the outer. The foam material is easier to print on as the paper or cardboard absorb the ink very quickly and are less likely to run.

- 3D Graphics - These kinds of signs are used a lot in places such as hospitals, schools and offices they are signs that are made of a variety of materials and have a high resilience. They tend to have an image and text, have a matte finish for easy visibility and often raised writing or image to make it more prominent. The machine used for this has to print the text and image onto the material then have the ability to heat and raise the image or text to increase visibility.

There is a great variety of sign making machines all providing a totally different look and effect. That is why its important to decide what kind of affect you would like your sign to have, this will help you decide where to take your piece as you will need to use a machine that is right for your requirements.