This post is part of a series on the benefits of shorter cut lengths when choosing LED modules for a project. We’ll explore the perks for design, engineering, and purchasing teams.

This post’s focus is the advantages an LED module with a small cut length (about 2.5″ or less) provides to a fixture manufacturer’s product design team. The ability to cut an LED module down to a single inch provides product design teams the freedom to create fixtures with a more streamlined prototyping system. The versatility and availability of cuttable modules make rapid prototyping easier. Being able to experiment and test ideas in real-time with modules already in stock can fast-track the creative process.

You can also prototype and spec with higher fidelity to your vision. Cuttability reduces the expense of custom solutions and the complication and risk of jimmy-rigged, lower resolution options. Sometimes you need to be able to design with possibilities beyond 5.5-inch segments.

Cuttable modules work well with a wide variety of fixtures. Flexible LED tapes excel in round pendants, decorative fixtures, edgelit applications, cove lighting, and linear fixtures. Rigid cuttable boards take the headache out of designing for drums – you can simply cut and place as needed to fill large areas of light. You can specify any length fixture without ordering a custom board.

Reducing usage of custom boards allows designers to meet company needs for designing to UL and ETL requirements. You can use the same board for multiple fixtures and reduce the headache of new listings for custom LED boards.

As mentioned in the post on engineering benefits, there are projects that require custom boards. Tight pitch can be a limitation of cuttable boards for some applications. With pixelation as a top concern for design teams, the feasibility of a board with a small cut length will depend on the optics and goals of the fixture, but as a whole, integrating cuttable modules into more projects can provide exciting flexibility for designers.