Tutorial: Prototyping with Standard LEDS

LED relative size comparisons

Side view of an axial LED. The black strip is on the negative (GND) side.

How to connect an axial LED: angle the LED’s leads so that as much surface area as possible contacts the copper tape traces, making sure + matches the + side of your traces and – matches -. Use tape to attach each LED leg to the copper tape. You can use scotch tape, conductive fabric patches, or copper tape. If you use a conductive type of tape, be careful that the tape does not cross both copper tape traces (which would cause a short circuit).

Note that unlike our LED Circuit Stickers, the axial LEDs do not include a built-in resistor (which protects the LED from excess current and also allows multiple colors of LEDs to be used in the same circuit). We recommend using a resistor in any final version of a project.