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Show Plates Step-By-Step Guide For Custom Number Plate Maker

custom show plates
Table of Contents

This guide has everything you wanna know about show plates.
So if you want to start or broaden business on show plates, you get to the right place.

What makes a cool show plate?

Material quality is the core of a show plate’s quality.

Raw material of show plates: aluminum + reflective film
Aluminum of highest pureness and standard retroreflective sheeting films are highly important to a good-quality show plates.
Because hard aluminum or low-quality reflective film will lead to show plates with low production life cycle period. And it also will make the reflective film aren’t able to stick to aluminum firmly for a long time under various weather change.

Various designs make show plates colorful.

Commonly show plate sizes can be classified into 3 group:
1. 520x110mm(EU size);
2. 6inchx12inch(USA size);
3. Custom worldwide show plates for vehicles: 500x120mm(India), 320x180mm(Tanzania) etc.

Show plates sizes
Different sizes of show plates

Based on the difference of structure, show plates can be divided into 2 types: 1-layer plate & 2-layer plate. You can check ‘How to distinguish license plate types?‘ to distinguish the different types.

Types of show plates
2 show plate types

Two designs of European show plates on cars can be usually found in European Union countries. First one is the complete blank car number plate, with yellow or white reflective film; the second one is the blank show plates with EU flag and country short code, like D for Germany, GB for Great Britain, F for France, IRL for Ireland.

Blank show plates
Blank show plate with EU flag & Complete blank

How To Process show plates?

Getting blank show plates from license plate manufacturers and finishing them with show number plates machines is the most common method for number plate machines. All you just need do is to emboss and paint the embossed fonts on show plates.

Why is it better to buy blank show plates from number plate makers?

Because in the market of the reflective film, the price of raw material differs hugely based on reflective film brands and degrees. And license plate manufacturer usually is more able to distinguish the reflective sheeting types.
And also importantly, the aluminum of license plates are commonly custom ordered from aluminum suppliers for the pureness and property features based on certain MOQ.
Thus not all common aluminum materials can be used to make car plates.

But in the show plate market, we can find some suppliers sell show plates with low-performance aluminum and reflective film, like the aluminum is too hard or too thin, the reflective film is replaced by low-quality reflective material rather than registration plate standard reflective.

The main reason is that some manufacturers didn’t choose the RIGHT raw material or didn’t process material in the RIGHT way. And usually registration number plate makers have more experience in choosing materials and processing.

Embossing & Painting Show Plates

Finish blank show plates with machines

We have known that show plates have 2 types: 1-layer & 2-layer.
Their main difference in processing is that 1-layer plate needs painting process after embossing, and 2-layer doesn’t need.
Thus they will need different machines as well.

a. To make 1-layer show plate: Embossing press + Hot stamping machine/Roller coating machine
You will need embossing press with electric power type to emboss numbers and letters on blank show plates.
Why do we need embossing press with electric power, not manual one?
Because embossing press with electric power is able to emboss plate border and fonts at one time. It will help to balance all power on the plate, thus will make plate flat after embossing.

photo of embossing press machine
Embossing press machine
Painting show plates
Painting machines

b. To make 2-layer show plate: Embossing press/Manual press
As 2-layer show plate doesn’t need painting machines, you will only need buy machines to emboss fonts.
And based on your output per day, you can choose electric or manual one.

Hand press embossing for show plate
Manual press machine

Accessories of number plate machines

1. Mold
2. Jig
3. Hot stamping foil/ hot transfer film
We have the specific page of accessories of number plate machines for your reference.

Innovation On Show Plates?

If you are a number plate maker and wanna add new designs on plates, it is a great delight that you have been here!
We have finished an article 8 Personalized License Plate Ideas You Can Use Right Now and Platzr custom license plate online design tool for you, hope it will help you to get more new ideas!
And you are warmly welcome to contact us for discussing more on show plate innovation.

Recommended Reading

Go to license plate maker 101

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Euro license plate custom company logo
Custom plate design
About license plate maker 101 questions

Guide video of license plate makers

Reference: Code of Countries / Districts

NOC Name ISO Code NOC CODE
Afghanistan AF AFG
Albania AL ALB
Algeria DZ ALG
American Samoa AS ASA
Andorra AD AND
Angola AO ANG
Anguilla AI
Antarctica AQ
Antigua and Barbuda AG ANT
Argentina AR ARG
Armenia AM ARM
Aruba AW ARU
Australia AU AUS
Austria AT AUT
Azerbaijan AZ AZE
Bahamas BS BAH
Bahrain BH BRN
Bangladesh BD BAN
Barbados BB BAR
Belarus BY BLR
Belgium BE BEL
Belize BZ BIZ
Benin BJ BEN
Bermuda BM BER
Bhutan BT BHU
Bolivia BO BOL
Bosnia and Herzegovina BA BIH
Botswana BW BOT
Bouvet Island BV
Brazil BR BRA
British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) IO
Virgin Islands, British VG IVB
Brunei Darussalam BN BRU
Bulgaria BG BUL
Burkina Faso BF BUR
Burundi BI BDI
Cambodia KH CAM
Cameroon CM CMR
Canada CA CAN
Cape Verde CV CPV
Cayman Islands KY CAY
Central African Republic CF CAF
Chad TD CHA
Chile CL CHI
Chinese Taipei TPE
Christmas Island CX
Cocos (keeling) Islands CC
Colombia CO COL
Comoros KM COM
Congo CG CGO
Cook Islands CK COK
Costa Rica CR CRC
Côte d’Ivoire CI CIV
Croatia HR CRO
Cuba CU CUB
Cyprus CY CYP
Czech Republic CZ CZE
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea KP PRK
Democratic Republic
of the Congo
CD COD
Democratic Republic
of Timor-Leste
TL TLS
Denmark DK DEN
Djibouti DJ DJI
Dominica DM DMA
Dominican Republic DO DOM
East Timor TP
Ecuador EC ECU
Egypt EG EGY
El Salvador SV ESA
Equatorial Guinea GQ GEQ
Eritrea ER ERI
Estonia EE EST
Ethiopia ET ETH
Falkland Islands (Malvinas) FK
Faroe Islands FO
Federated States of Micronesia FM FSM
Fiji FJ FIJ
Finland FI FIN
France FR FRA
France, Metropolitan FX
French Guiana GF
French Polynesia PF
French Southern Territories TF
Gabon GA GAB
Gambia GM GAM
Georgia GE GEO
Germany DE GER
Ghana GH GHA
Gibraltar GI
Greece GR GRE
Greenland GL
Grenada GD GRN
Guadeloupe GP
Guam GU GUM
Guatemala GT GUA
Guinea GN GUI
Guinea-Bissau GW GBS
Guyana GY GUY
Haiti HT HAI
Heard Island And Mcdonald Islands HM
Honduras HN HON
Hong Kong, China HK HKG
Hungary HU HUN
Iceland IS ISL
India IN IND
Indonesia ID INA
Iraq IQ IRQ
Ireland IE IRL
Islamic Republic of Iran IR IRI
Israel IL ISR
Italy IT ITA
Jamaica JM JAM
Japan JP JPN
Jordan JO JOR
Kazakhstan KZ KAZ
Kenya KE KEN
Kiribati KI KIR
Kuwait KW KUW
Kyrgyzstan KG KGZ
Lao People’s Democratic LA LAO
Latvia LV LAT
Lebanon LB LIB
Lesotho LS LES
Liberia LR LBR
Libya LY LBA
Liechtenstein LI LIE
Lithuania LT LTU
Luxembourg LU LUX
Macau MO
Madagascar MG MAD
Malawi MW MAW
Malaysia MY MAS
Maldives MV MDV
Mali ML MLI
Malta MT MLT
Marshall Islands MH MHL
Martinique MQ
Mauritania MR MTN
Mauritius MU MRI
Mayotte YT
Mexico MX MEX
Monaco MC MON
Mongolia MN MGL
Montenegro ME MNE
Montserrat MS
Morocco MA MAR
Mozambique MZ MOZ
Myanmar MM MYA
Namibia NA NAM
Nauru NR NRU
Nepal NP NEP
Netherlands NL NED
Netherlands Antilles AN
New Caledonia NC
New Zealand NZ NZL
Nicaragua NI NCA
Niger NE NIG
Nigeria NG NGR
Niue NU
Non-eea XX
Norfolk Island NF
Northern Mariana Islands MP
Norway NO NOR
Oman OM OMA
Pakistan PK PAK
Palau PW PLW
Palestine PS PLE
Panama PA PAN
Papua New Guinea PG PNG
Paraguay PY PAR
China CN CHN
Peru PE PER
Philippines PH PHI
Pitcairn PN
Poland PL POL
Portugal PT POR
Puerto Rico PR PUR
Qatar QA QAT
Republic of Korea KR KOR
Republic of Moldova MD MDA
Reunion RE
Romania RO ROU
Russian Federation RU RUS
Rwanda RW RWA
Saint Helena SH
Saint Kitts and Nevis KN SKN
Saint Lucia LC LCA
Saint Pierre And Miquelon PM
Saint Vincent And The Grenadines VC VIN
Samoa WS SAM
San Marino SM SMR
Sao Tome and Principe ST STP
Saudi Arabia SA KSA
Senegal SN SEN
Serbia RS SRB
Seychelles SC SEY
Sierra Leone SL SLE
Singapore SG SIN
Slovakia SK SVK
Slovenia SI SLO
Solomon Islands SB SOL
Somalia SO SOM
South Africa ZA RSA
South Georgia And The South Sandwich Islands GS
Spain ES ESP
Sri Lanka LK SRI
Sudan SD SUD
Suriname SR SUR
Svalbard And Jan Mayen SJ
Swaziland SZ SWZ
Sweden SE SWE
Switzerland CH SUI
Syrian Arab Republic SY SYR
Taiwan, Province Of China TW
Tajikistan TJ TJK
Thailand TH THA
The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia MK MKD
Togo TG TOG
Tokelau TK
Tonga TO TGA
Trinidad and Tobago TT TRI
Tunisia TN TUN
Turkey TR TUR
Turkmenistan TM TKM
Turks And Caicos Islands TC
Tuvalu TV TUV
Uganda UG UGA
Ukraine UA UKR
United Arab Emirates AE UAE
United Kingdom / Great Britain GB GBR
United Republic of Tanzania TZ TAN
United States Minor Outlying Islands UM
United States of America US USA
Uruguay UY URU
Uzbekistan UZ UZB
Vanuatu VU VAN
Vatican City State (The Holy See) VA
Venezuela VE VEN
Vietnam VN VIE
Virgin Islands, US VI ISV
Wallis And Futuna Islands WF
Western Sahara EH
Yemen YE YEM
Yugoslavia YU
Zaire ZR
Zambia ZM ZAM
Zimbabwe ZW ZIM
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