4D Number Plates
Laser-cut 3mm or 5mm acrylic characters on a BS AU 145e plate, made in County Durham by a DVLA-registered number plate supplier. Order before 2pm on a working day with your documents approved and we make them the same day.
Choose your 4D style
Seven 4D styles are compared against 3D gel, which is not a 4D plate but is what most people are choosing between. All of them are made on the same BS AU 145e reflective plate with the same Charles Wright characters at the same size and spacing; what changes is how the characters are made and how far they stand off the plate. Prices are for a pair (front and rear) at standard car size, including VAT, before optional extras such as borders, flags or larger sizes.
| Style | How it is made | Character depth | Finish | The look | Cleaning | Best for | Price from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3D gel (not 4D — for comparison) | Polyurethane gel resin domed over printed characters | Low, rounded dome | Glossy and soft-edged | Subtle. Reads as a premium factory plate rather than an upgrade | Wipe with a damp microfibre; avoid solvents | A quiet lift on any car, and the lowest price of the four | from £39.99for a pair, inc VAT |
| 4D 3mm | Laser-cut 3mm black acrylic, bonded to the plate | 3mm, flat-topped with sharp edges | Gloss black, crisp corners | Clean and modern with a visible shadow line | All-purpose cleaner and microfibre; pressure washer on low from a distance | Motorbikes, and cars where you want depth without bulk | from £49.99for a pair, inc VAT |
| 4D 5mm | Laser-cut 5mm black acrylic, bonded to the plate | 5mm, flat-topped with sharp edges | Gloss black, crisp corners | The deepest shadow line of the four. The style most people mean by "4D" | All-purpose cleaner and microfibre; pressure washer on low from a distance | Anyone who wants the plate to be noticed | from £54.99for a pair, inc VAT |
| 4D with gel | Laser-cut 3mm acrylic with a gel dome over each character | 3mm acrylic plus the dome | Gloss with a rounded top edge | The sharp outline of 4D with the glossy curve of gel | As 4D, but keep the pressure washer well back from the domes | Anyone torn between gel and 4D | from £64.99for a pair, inc VAT |
| Outline | A 3mm laser-cut character with a thin 2mm-deep outline bonded around its edge | 3mm character plus the raised outline | Gloss black, with a fine raised border tracing each character | The most distinctive of the range; the outline catches light separately from the face | All-purpose cleaner and microfibre; keep pressure washing gentle around the outline | Anyone who wants a 4D plate that does not look like everyone else's | from £74.99for a pair, inc VAT |
| Hover | A 3mm character raised off the plate on a thinner 2mm character behind it | 5mm total, in two stepped layers | Gloss black; the character appears to float above the plate | A floating effect with a deep shadow line | All-purpose cleaner and microfibre; pressure washer on low from a distance | The deepest-looking plate without a single thick slab of acrylic | from £74.99for a pair, inc VAT |
| Shadow | A 3mm character on the plate with a thinner 2mm character stepped on top | 5mm total, stepped | Gloss black, two visible tiers | A stepped, sculpted character with light on two edges | All-purpose cleaner and microfibre; pressure washer on low from a distance | A more sculpted take on 4D | from £74.99for a pair, inc VAT |
| Retro | Acrylic characters with a pyramid profile, pointed along the centre of each stroke | Raised, peaked profile | Gloss black with a ridge down every stroke | The look of pressed plates from decades ago, made in acrylic | All-purpose cleaner and microfibre; pressure washer on low from a distance | Classic and retro-styled cars | from £64.99for a pair, inc VAT |
3D gel (not 4D — for comparison)
from £39.99 for a pair, inc VAT
- How it is made
- Polyurethane gel resin domed over printed characters
- Character depth
- Low, rounded dome
- Finish
- Glossy and soft-edged
- The look
- Subtle. Reads as a premium factory plate rather than an upgrade
- Cleaning
- Wipe with a damp microfibre; avoid solvents
- Best for
- A quiet lift on any car, and the lowest price of the four
4D 3mm
from £49.99 for a pair, inc VAT
- How it is made
- Laser-cut 3mm black acrylic, bonded to the plate
- Character depth
- 3mm, flat-topped with sharp edges
- Finish
- Gloss black, crisp corners
- The look
- Clean and modern with a visible shadow line
- Cleaning
- All-purpose cleaner and microfibre; pressure washer on low from a distance
- Best for
- Motorbikes, and cars where you want depth without bulk
4D 5mm
from £54.99 for a pair, inc VAT
- How it is made
- Laser-cut 5mm black acrylic, bonded to the plate
- Character depth
- 5mm, flat-topped with sharp edges
- Finish
- Gloss black, crisp corners
- The look
- The deepest shadow line of the four. The style most people mean by "4D"
- Cleaning
- All-purpose cleaner and microfibre; pressure washer on low from a distance
- Best for
- Anyone who wants the plate to be noticed
4D with gel
from £64.99 for a pair, inc VAT
- How it is made
- Laser-cut 3mm acrylic with a gel dome over each character
- Character depth
- 3mm acrylic plus the dome
- Finish
- Gloss with a rounded top edge
- The look
- The sharp outline of 4D with the glossy curve of gel
- Cleaning
- As 4D, but keep the pressure washer well back from the domes
- Best for
- Anyone torn between gel and 4D
Outline
from £74.99 for a pair, inc VAT
- How it is made
- A 3mm laser-cut character with a thin 2mm-deep outline bonded around its edge
- Character depth
- 3mm character plus the raised outline
- Finish
- Gloss black, with a fine raised border tracing each character
- The look
- The most distinctive of the range; the outline catches light separately from the face
- Cleaning
- All-purpose cleaner and microfibre; keep pressure washing gentle around the outline
- Best for
- Anyone who wants a 4D plate that does not look like everyone else's
Hover
from £74.99 for a pair, inc VAT
- How it is made
- A 3mm character raised off the plate on a thinner 2mm character behind it
- Character depth
- 5mm total, in two stepped layers
- Finish
- Gloss black; the character appears to float above the plate
- The look
- A floating effect with a deep shadow line
- Cleaning
- All-purpose cleaner and microfibre; pressure washer on low from a distance
- Best for
- The deepest-looking plate without a single thick slab of acrylic
Shadow
from £74.99 for a pair, inc VAT
- How it is made
- A 3mm character on the plate with a thinner 2mm character stepped on top
- Character depth
- 5mm total, stepped
- Finish
- Gloss black, two visible tiers
- The look
- A stepped, sculpted character with light on two edges
- Cleaning
- All-purpose cleaner and microfibre; pressure washer on low from a distance
- Best for
- A more sculpted take on 4D
Retro
from £64.99 for a pair, inc VAT
- How it is made
- Acrylic characters with a pyramid profile, pointed along the centre of each stroke
- Character depth
- Raised, peaked profile
- Finish
- Gloss black with a ridge down every stroke
- The look
- The look of pressed plates from decades ago, made in acrylic
- Cleaning
- All-purpose cleaner and microfibre; pressure washer on low from a distance
- Best for
- Classic and retro-styled cars
4D Motorbike Number Plates (3mm Depth)
from £32.50single rear plate, inc VAT
In the builder choose Style: 4D 3mm, then Front plate: None, then Rear size: Motorbike. The builder starts with a standard front plate, so removing it is what stops one being added to your order.
What are 4D number plates?
A 4D number plate is a standard reflective plate with the registration cut from solid black acrylic and bonded on top, instead of being printed onto the surface. The characters stand proud of the plate by the thickness of the acrylic, which is where the name comes from: the third dimension is the raised character, and "4D" is the trade name the industry settled on for the laser-cut version. It is a marketing term rather than a technical one; the naming is explained here.
Each character is cut on a laser rather than a router or a press. That is what gives the sharp corners on letters like B, R and S, where cheaper plates feather or bubble at the curves. The acrylic is bonded with a high-strength adhesive to the printed, reflective face of the plate, and the finished plate is then checked against the standard before it leaves us.
The choice between 3mm and 5mm is about the shadow. In daylight a 5mm character throws a visible shadow line onto the plate, which is the look most people picture when they say 4D. A 3mm character sits closer to the plate for a cleaner, lower-profile finish and is the only 4D depth we make for motorbikes. Gel is a different construction again: a clear resin dome over each character that catches light on its curve rather than its edge. The pictures below are our own plates, shot side-on so you can see the difference rather than take our word for it.
4D 5mm, side-on 
4D 3mm, side-on 
4D with gel, side-on 
3D gel, side-on
Are 4D plates legal in the UK?
Yes, when the finished plate meets the standard. What makes a number plate legal in the UK is not the style of the characters but whether the plate as made and fitted meets the rules on GOV.UK and the British Standard they point to, BS AU 145e. A 4D plate from a registered supplier is built to those rules from the start.
In practice that means: the plate is made by a supplier on the DVLA register and carries the standard mark and the supplier's details; the characters are the Charles Wright typeface at the prescribed size and spacing; they are a single shade of black, are not reflective, and cannot be removed; the background is reflective white at the front and reflective yellow at the rear; and there is no tint, no two-tone or shadow effect within the characters, and no pattern in the background. The permitted exceptions are the national flags and identifiers the rules allow in the left-hand margin, and the green flash for eligible zero-emission vehicles.
Cameras: the finished plate must meet the standard's readability requirements, which are written for automatic number plate recognition. Character depth is not something the standard rules out; what defeats a camera is tint, a patterned background, a non-standard font or spacing, or damage. Our guide to ANPR, infrared and BS AU 145e goes through this in detail.
MOT: raised characters on their own are not a reason to fail. Tint, the wrong font or spacing, missing or unreadable characters, damage and poor reflectivity are. A compliant 4D plate is inspected against exactly the same points as a printed one.
Enforcement, honestly: if a plate does not meet the rules, the usual roadside outcome is a £100 fixed penalty notice, and the vehicle can fail its MOT until the plate is replaced. The maximum a court can impose is £1,000, which is a ceiling rather than the norm. None of that applies to a plate that meets the standard.
Is the law about to change?
Possibly, and we would rather you heard it from us. The British Standards Institution has reviewed BS AU 145e, the standard every UK number plate is made to, and the DVLA sits on the committee that did the review. A proposed amendment, published for consultation as BSI project 2025-01059 ("BS AU 145e+A1"), includes measures intended to stop the production of number plates with raised characters. If it were adopted as drafted, plates with 3D gel or 4D characters could no longer be made to the standard.
The consultation closed on 13 December 2025. In a written answer to Parliament on 31 March 2026, the Department for Transport said the responses were being considered and that any update would be communicated by the BSI. As of the date at the top of this section, that is still the position: nothing has been adopted, BS AU 145e:2018 remains the current standard, and 4D plates remain legal to make, sell and fit.
Three things are not yet known, and we will not guess at them: when any change would take effect, how plates already fitted would be treated, and whether there would be a transition period. It is also worth knowing that the BSI publishing a revised standard is not the same as the law changing. The rules on GOV.UK point to the standard, so an amended standard would still need to be brought into force before it applied to plates on the road.
What we will do: this section is checked against the sources above every month, and the date at the top is updated when it is. If the position changes, this page will say so before anything else on the site does.
Styles and sizes
Styles: the plain 4D depths are 3mm and 5mm, with 4D with gel adding a resin dome. The layered styles build on a 3mm character: Outline adds a thin raised border around each character, Hover lifts the character on a thinner one behind it so it appears to float, and Shadow steps a thinner character on top. Retro is different again, with a pyramid profile peaked along each stroke like the pressed plates of decades ago. All of them are compared above and every one of them is available in the builder.
Sizes: a standard UK car plate is 520mm × 111mm. We also make square 4x4 rear plates and motorbike plates, all to the same standard, with the character size and spacing the rules require for each. The builder only offers combinations that are legal for the size you pick, which is why a 5mm character is not offered on a motorbike plate.
Fitting and looking after 4D plates
Fitting: 4D plates fix to the car exactly as printed plates do, with either heavy-duty sticky pads or screws with colour-matched caps. Both are in our fixing kits, and the fitting guide walks through it. The extra weight of the acrylic is small and makes no difference to either method.
Cleaning: an all-purpose cleaner and a microfibre cloth. A pressure washer is fine on a low setting from a distance; the thing to avoid is holding a high-pressure jet on the edge of a character, which over time can lift the adhesive. Never use solvents or abrasive polish on the acrylic. Our cleaning guide and the answer on jet washing have the detail.
Warranty: 36 months against manufacturing defects, which covers the plate, the print and the bond between character and plate. It does not cover damage from fitting, impact or chemicals.
What you need to order
By law, a registered supplier has to see two things before making a plate: proof that you are entitled to the registration, and proof of your name and address. For entitlement that is typically the V5C logbook, a V750 certificate of entitlement, a V778 retention document, or a fleet or lease authorisation letter. For name and address it is a recent utility bill, bank statement, council tax bill or photo-card driving licence. The full list is on our documents page, including which documents we can accept by email and which have to be posted to us as originals.
Timing: order before 2pm on a working day and have your documents approved before that cutoff, and we make and dispatch your plates the same day. Delivery is free by Royal Mail Tracked 48; a guaranteed next-day service is available at checkout. Details are on the delivery page.
Every plate we make ships with a Certificate of Legality, issued by us as the registered supplier, recording the standard the plate was made to and the documents we checked. Keep it with the vehicle paperwork.
4D number plates: your questions
Are 4D number plates legal in the UK?
Yes, when the finished plate meets BS AU 145e: made by a DVLA-registered supplier, Charles Wright characters at the prescribed size and spacing, a single shade of non-reflective, non-removable black, on a reflective white front or yellow rear background, with no tint, two-tone effect or pattern. That is how every 4D plate we make is built.
Are 4D plates being banned?
A BSI amendment that would stop the production of raised-character plates was consulted on until 13 December 2025 and is still under consideration; nothing has been adopted and BS AU 145e:2018 remains the current standard, so 4D plates remain legal to make, sell and fit. When any change would take effect and how existing plates would be treated has not been announced. This page was last checked on 8 September 2026.
Can ANPR and speed cameras read 4D plates?
A plate that meets BS AU 145e meets its readability requirements, which are written for ANPR. What stops a camera reading a plate is tint, a patterned background, a non-standard font or spacing, or damage, not the depth of the characters.
Will 4D plates pass an MOT?
Raised characters are not themselves a reason to fail. The tester checks the same things as on a printed plate: font, spacing, colour, reflectivity, legibility and damage. A compliant 4D plate passes those checks.
Should I choose 3mm or 5mm?
5mm gives the deepest shadow line and is the look most people mean by 4D. 3mm sits closer to the plate for a cleaner, lower-profile finish, and is the depth we make for motorbike plates. Both are made the same way on the same plate.
What are Outline, Hover, Shadow and Retro plates?
Layered 4D styles. Outline is a 3mm character with a thin raised outline bonded around its edge. Hover is a 3mm character raised off the plate on a thinner character behind it, so it appears to float. Shadow is the reverse: a 3mm character on the plate with a thinner character stepped on top. Retro has a pyramid profile peaked along the centre of each stroke, the look of pressed plates from decades ago. All are solid black acrylic on a BS AU 145e plate and are built to the same rules as any other 4D plate.
What is the difference between 3D gel and 4D?
3D gel characters are printed and then domed with a clear resin, so they are rounded and glossy. 4D characters are cut from solid acrylic, so they are flat-topped with sharp edges and a visible shadow. 4D with gel combines the two: a 3mm acrylic character with a gel dome on top.
Can I have a flag, a border or the green flash on a 4D plate?
The national flags and identifiers the rules allow can go in the left-hand margin, and eligible zero-emission vehicles can have the green flash. Borders are fine provided they do not encroach on the characters or the margins the standard requires. The builder only offers combinations that keep the plate compliant.
Do I need to tell my insurer about 4D plates?
A compliant number plate is not a modification to the vehicle in the way a body kit or engine change is, but insurers set their own terms. Check your policy or ask your insurer if you are unsure; the same applies to lease agreements.
How long do 4D plates last, and what is the warranty?
The acrylic is the same family of material as the plate itself and is bonded with a high-strength adhesive. We cover manufacturing defects for 36 months. Damage from fitting, impact or chemicals is not covered.
Can I fit 4D plates myself?
Yes. They fit like any other plate, with sticky pads or screws and caps from a fixing kit. Clean the mounting surface first and follow the fitting guide; if you are replacing screwed plates, reuse the existing holes.
What customers say
Read our reviews on Trustpilot·All our reviews