AI Sign Designer Guide

The AI Sign Designer converts customer-uploaded images into vector SVG outlines for sign production. Customers upload a PNG, JPEG, WebP, SVG, or PDF, and the AI generates a clean SVG file they can immediately use to configure and purchase a sign.

This is different from a custom design form submission. With AI Sign Designer, customers get an instant result that they can buy. Without it (or when credits run out), customers submit a request that you process manually later.

What you receive per AI Sign Design conversion

Each successful conversion produces:

• The original uploaded file

• A vector SVG outline ready for sign configuration

• An EPS file, when EPS generation is enabled for the customiser

• An Illustrator-compatible PDF (saved with an .ai filename), when AI generation is enabled for the customiser

The SVG appears immediately in the customiser. Customers can then adjust colours, sizes, and other options before adding to cart. EPS and Illustrator-compatible PDF files are generated in the background from the SVG and appear on the AI design files page in the admin once ready, so they’re available for your production team without any extra steps. See How to enable SVG, EPS, and Illustrator-compatible PDF files for manufacturing to turn the extra formats on.

Supported upload formats

Customers and admins can upload PNG, JPEG, WebP, SVG, and PDF files. Images and SVGs can be up to 5MB; PDFs can be up to 25MB, since brand-guide PDFs are often larger.

For a PDF, the first page is converted to an image and then processed by the AI, so the result matches the first page of the file. If your design isn’t on the first page, save that page as its own PDF or export it as a PNG before uploading.

Supported Sign Types and Pricing Models

AI Sign Designer works with the following sign types and pricing models:

• Neon signs — Frame Fit or Material Length (Advanced Letter) pricing

• Channel Letter signs — Acrylic — Frame Fit or Material Length pricing

• Channel Letter signs — Metal — Frame Fit or Material Length pricing

• Metal cut-out signs — Frame Fit pricing. AI Sign Designer produces a stencil-style SVG that defines the cut-out shape. The generated silhouette can either be subtracted from a chosen panel shape (Mode A) or used as the entire panel outline (Mode B).

Fixed Width (Simple Letter) pricing is not supported. If your customiser uses the Simple Letter model, you’ll need to switch to Frame Fit or Material Length before enabling AI Sign Designer.

In the admin, eligible product types show an “AI Sign Designer” badge, and eligible pricing models show an “AI Sign Designer Compatible” badge — so you can tell at a glance whether your setup qualifies.

Sign Dimensions for Material Length

When using Material Length pricing, you need to configure two things in the Sign Dimensions card (visible in the admin under Custom Designs):

Default sign size

Set the Default width and Default height — this is the starting size for the base (1×) size tier. The uploaded design is fitted within these dimensions while keeping its original proportions. A wide logo will fill the width and leave space above and below; a tall logo will fill the height instead.

Larger size tiers scale up from this default. For example, if your default is 50 cm wide, a 1.5× tier produces a 75 cm wide sign with proportional height.

The admin shows a visual preview of how different logo shapes fit within your configured dimensions — use it to check that your defaults work for typical uploads.

Minimum production height

The smallest allowable height for the finished sign. If a customer’s design is shorter than this at their selected size, they’ll be blocked from adding to cart and prompted to choose a larger size.

Set this based on your manufacturing method. The admin provides a reference table:

• Neon / LED neon — 5–6 cm (tube bend radius)

• Channel letters — 8–10 cm (return depth + LED clearance)

• Flat cut metal / acrylic — 3–5 cm (structural integrity)

• 3D / built-up letters — 6–8 cm (fabrication depth)

Frame Fit customisers don’t need this configuration — they use their own initial sign dimensions and minimum size constraints that are already part of the Frame Fit setup.

How Pricing Works for AI Designs

The pricing model your customiser uses determines how AI designs are priced:

Frame Fit — Prices based on the sign’s total area (width × height). The AI design fills the frame, and the area determines the price. This is the same area-based calculation used for text-based Frame Fit signs.

Material Length (Advanced Letter) — Measures the actual SVG paths in the AI-generated design and prices based on total material length, just like it does for typed text. The system traces every outline in the converted SVG and multiplies by your cost per centimetre. Complex designs with more detail cost more; simple designs cost less.

In both models, size tiers scale up from the default sign size. Each tier multiplies the base dimensions, and pricing adjusts accordingly — larger tiers use the pricing rules for that size boundary.

For full details on configuring Material Length pricing, see Pricing - Advanced Letter Model.

How UV Print Works for AI Sign Designer

For AI logo uploads, UV print is treated as preserved print data rather than a customer-facing colour palette.

• The AI-generated SVG keeps the original fill colour for each printed face shape.

• Sign Customiser does not remap those artwork fills to your configured UV palette.

• Tube and glow colours are still constrained to your supported LED tube colours, so the illuminated parts stay manufacturable.

• UV palette entries are still useful for merchant-managed manual UV presets and older neon face setups. Their purpose is to support deliberate customer-facing preset choices when you want them visible. They are not used to recolour AI artwork.

• If AI Sign Designer is your main UV workflow, we recommend hiding manual UV print options from the normal neon editor and leaving UV configuration in the background.

When Sign Customiser needs to show a preserved artwork colour in admin or order data, it will display it as Custom UV (#HEX) so it is clear that the value came from the uploaded design rather than a merchant palette option.

In short:

• UV palette swatches = optional manual presets

• Preserved AI artwork colours = actual printed face data

How Credits Work

When AI credits are available, each successful AI Sign Designer conversion uses one AI credit. Failed conversions do not use AI credits.

Current ladder plans include Free Monthly Credits each month. These credits reset on your monthly billing anniversary and do not roll over. Yearly plans receive the same monthly allowance as the equivalent monthly plan.

Your monthly allowance depends on your plan:

• Seed: 15 Free Monthly Credits

• Growth 10: 30 Free Monthly Credits

• Growth 20: 60 Free Monthly Credits

• Growth 30: 90 Free Monthly Credits

• Growth 40: 120 Free Monthly Credits

• Growth 50: 150 Free Monthly Credits

• Ultimate: 180 Free Monthly Credits

For an open cycle, the revised allowance starts at the next monthly reset. An eligible upgrade can apply the larger allowance immediately.

Sign Customiser uses Free Monthly Credits before AI purchased credits. AI purchased credits never expire.

Current pricing for AI purchased credits

• 40 AI purchased credits: $10.00 USD at $0.25 per credit

• 120 AI purchased credits: $25.00 USD at about $0.21 per credit, save 17%

• 400 AI purchased credits: $75.00 USD at about $0.19 per credit, save 25%

Checking Your Balance

For Shopify, select Subscription/Credit. For Universal, select Billing. If the page lists multiple Stores, select Manage subscription for the Store.

The Your Subscription page shows the AI credits card. This card shows Free Monthly Credits and AI purchased credits separately. It also shows the Free Monthly Credits reset date when available.

Select Transaction history to see each credit grant, purchase, and use.

Low Balance Warning

Sign Customiser sends a low-balance email when you have no Free Monthly Credits and one to four AI purchased credits. It sends this email at most once in each Free Monthly Credits cycle.

Sign Customiser does not send this warning when your total balance is zero.

What Happens When Credits Run Out

When your balance hits zero, the AI Sign Designer stops working. The experience differs for admin dashboard versus customer-facing customisers.

In the admin dashboard:

The AI Converter card blocks uploads with the message “You have no credits remaining. Purchase more to continue.”

For customers:

If no AI credits are available when the customer starts an AI design, Sign Customiser shows the configured fallback form. Customers use this form to send a design request to your team.

Each new fallback request includes the customer’s required email address.

This is a key distinction: with AI Sign Designer, customers get an instant SVG they can purchase. With the fallback form, they submit a request that requires your manual intervention.

If no fallback form is configured, customers see a “Credits Required” screen with no way to proceed.

Configuring the Fallback Form

The fallback form is set in your customiser’s Custom Design settings. When AI Designer type is set to “LIVE”, you must select a fallback form.

Requirements:

• The form must contain a required Email field.

• The form must contain a File Upload field.

• The form must already exist before you can select it.

New forms include the required Email field. The merchant admin does not let you remove this field or make it optional.

Fallback requests appear under Quotes. The Form Type determines whether each request appears as a Form submission or Quote request. Each request uses the fallback form’s label.

To create a custom form, see Custom Design Forms

To add fields to your form, see Add and Edit Custom Form Field Options

Using AI Sign Designer in the Admin Dashboard

The AI Converter card lets you use the same AI Sign Designer for conversions in the admin. This is especially useful for companies that just want to take advantage of the AI image processing, reducing the time it normally takes to convert an image into a scalable sign design from hours to a couple of minutes.

Upload an image or PDF (PNG, JPEG, WebP, or SVG up to 5MB; PDF up to 25MB). For a PDF, the first page is used. Processing typically takes 30-60 seconds. Complex images may take 2-3 minutes.

Each test uses one credit. Failed conversions do not consume credits.

Purchasing Credits

For Shopify, select Subscription/Credit. For Universal, select Billing. If the page lists multiple Stores, select Manage subscription for the Store.

On the Your Subscription page, select Purchase AI credits. Select a package and complete the payment.

For Shopify Stores: The charge appears on your Shopify invoice.

For Universal Stores: Stripe processes the payment and creates a paid invoice for each purchase. To see invoices, select View invoices under Your Current Plan. See How to View Invoices for instructions.

AI purchased credits appear in your balance after Sign Customiser confirms the payment.

Processing Time

Most images complete in 30-60 seconds. Some may take up to 2-3 minutes depending on complexity.

Customers can wait for the result or provide an email address to receive a notification when their design is ready.

Platform Support

AI Sign Designer works on Shopify, WordPress, Wix and standalone embeds. Credits are shared across all platforms for Universal, Shopify store credits purchased can only be used for that store.