The Shutter Panel
A shutter panel is composed of four key parts. The two vertical bars are called stiles and the horizontal bars are called rails. Depending on the shutter style some shutters have only two rails while others have three; the third rail is in the middle and it is called the divider rail. The most popular feature is the louver. The louver is the slat that is inside the panel. Although mostly louvers are postioned horizontally, vertical louvers are sometimes used in specialty designs. Most louvers are movable to help control light. Exterior shutters though, have fixed louvers to prevent rain from penetrating the shutters. The shape of the louver also varies by style. There is the more modern elliptical shaped louver 
which is thicker in the center and thinner on the edges. Another shape is the wedge shaped louver;
the thickness is only at one edge. These shapes are especially designed to help block out light when the louvers are closed.
Louvers come in various sizes ranging from 1 1/4" to 4 1/2". The wider the louver the more view-thru space there is between louvers when fully opened. Yet this is not the only consideration when choosing louver sizes. The size of the window often determines the louver size; considering that wider louvers leave a small window with too few louvers to look right. The fourth part is the tilt bar. The tilt bar rotates the movable louvers. It enables the louvers to move in unison changing from look-out to privacy position and everything in between. Some shutters now have hidden tilt bar mechanism.
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