Retro-reflective material is made by applying a mono-layer of transparent glass beads to a tacky coating formed on a carrier sheet, coating exposed parts of the beads with a reflective material such as aluminium, and embedding the reflectively coated parts of the beads in an adhesive coating on a backing member. The carrier sheet is then stripped off. The thickness of the adhesive coating on the backing member is less than the typical diameter of the beads, and the thickness of the tacky coating on the carrier sheet is less than that of the adhesive on the backing member. In some cases screens or stencils are interposed between the carrier sheet and the backing member. Products resulting from these processes are described.