Cut blanks solve a specific shop problem: your press is great and your cutting isn't. Maybe there's no CNC table, maybe the router queue is three days deep, maybe hand-cutting fifty coroplast arrows made someone quit. Blanks let a print-capable shop order the shapes — custom-cut, unprinted, ready for the press — and keep the print work and print margin entirely in-house.

The full we-cut-you-print model: Cut Blanks for Sign Shops. This guide covers the ordering mechanics — templates, custom shapes, and specs by substrate.

Two Ways to Order Shapes

1. Download a cut template. Standard shapes — radius-corner rectangles, arrows, ovals, common sign profiles — exist as ready templates: download, confirm dimensions, order. The fastest path for the shapes that cover most blank work.

2. Supply a custom cut path. Any closed vector path (AI, EPS, PDF) cuts as drawn — mascot contours, logo shapes, slotted and holed designs, interlocking display parts. The same file rules as printed die-cut work apply: closed paths, reasonable node counts, features sized for the substrate.

Either way, blanks ship flat, free via UPS Ground, with no minimums — a shop can order twelve arrows or twelve hundred.

Substrate-by-Substrate Notes

  • Coroplast (4/6/10mm) — the volume blank; remember flute direction on stake-mounted shapes (flutes vertical for H-stakes) and specify it with the order. Event shops cutting seasonal wayfinding shapes are the classic use case: Event Wayfinding & Directional Signs
  • ACM (3mm) — the substrate most worth outsourcing cuts on: it dulls blades and punishes underpowered routers; CNC-cut ACM blanks with radius corners and drilled mounting holes arrive finish-ready
  • PVC (3mm) — clean routed edges matter most here, since PVC work is close-viewing interior work; production-cut edges beat shop-floor jigsaw edges visibly
  • Polyethylene & polystyrene — thin flexible stocks that fight straight cuts on shop equipment; ordered as blanks they arrive dimensionally true, with hole and slot patterns cut in

Spec Checklist Per Order

  1. Substrate and gauge
  2. Shape — template ID or attached vector path
  3. Finishing details — corner radii, mounting holes (position and diameter), slots
  4. Flute direction (coroplast only)
  5. Quantity — flat-stacked shipping keeps volume orders economical

Where Blanks Fit a Shop's Economics

Blanks are the surgical version of outsourcing — offload the bottleneck step, keep everything else. The cutting queue is the classic shop chokepoint: low-skill, high-time, and always behind. Moving it out frees press hours and floor staff for billable work, which is the same capacity logic as full outsourcing (Trade Printing vs. In-House Production — /reseller-guides/trade-printing-vs-in-house) applied to a single production step. Shops running recurring shaped products — seasonal kits, standing display programs — can pair blanks with the kitted-program logic: Custom Die Cutting & Kitting.

Frequently Asked Questions

What substrates come as cut blanks? Coroplast (4/6/10mm), 3mm ACM, 3mm PVC, polystyrene (.020–.060), and polyethylene (.035/.055) — all cut to standard templates or custom vector shapes.

Can blanks include mounting holes and slots? Yes — specify position and diameter with the order; holes, slots, and radius corners cut at production.

Is there a minimum blank order? No minimums — and free UPS Ground shipping applies at any quantity.

What file format do custom blank shapes need? A closed vector cut path in AI, EPS, or PDF — the same requirement as printed die-cut work.

Keep the printing. Lose the cutting. Create your trade account or request a quote.