print format - acrylic or metal.. or other?
Discussion
Hi,
I'm looking to get 3-4 fairly large prints done for walls in my home, I don't want the regular paper stock print and frame format and have seen examples on the interwebs of aluminium and acrylic printing but not seen anything in the flesh so to speak. I don't live anywhere near a place that I can see these in real life but they look great, I was wondering which of the two gives the best bang for your buck?
The images I will be printing will be my own landscape images and are reasonably high resolution.
Any pointers on this would be very welcome :-)
I'm looking to get 3-4 fairly large prints done for walls in my home, I don't want the regular paper stock print and frame format and have seen examples on the interwebs of aluminium and acrylic printing but not seen anything in the flesh so to speak. I don't live anywhere near a place that I can see these in real life but they look great, I was wondering which of the two gives the best bang for your buck?
The images I will be printing will be my own landscape images and are reasonably high resolution.
Any pointers on this would be very welcome :-)
The print method/medium would probably be UV digital.
The sheet cost of aluminium/acrylic is pretty comparable and not particularly cheap, are you basing these substrates on the desire to achieve a certain finish? Once the UV print is laid down the substrate becomes secondary unless you have unprinted areas where you want it to show through.
Unless you are after a particular effect, it would be a lot more cost effectiveto UV print onto white Foamex (trade name for foam board/PVC board), which comes in 5mm,6mm,8mm,10mm thickness. That should give the frameless board effect you want at a much lower cost than the two substrates above.
The sheet cost of aluminium/acrylic is pretty comparable and not particularly cheap, are you basing these substrates on the desire to achieve a certain finish? Once the UV print is laid down the substrate becomes secondary unless you have unprinted areas where you want it to show through.
Unless you are after a particular effect, it would be a lot more cost effectiveto UV print onto white Foamex (trade name for foam board/PVC board), which comes in 5mm,6mm,8mm,10mm thickness. That should give the frameless board effect you want at a much lower cost than the two substrates above.
Thanks for your quick reply.
A few things...I'm led to believe, that images on the two material formats I mention above tend to have a little more "pop" to them in terms of colours and so forth standing out. I'm also keen on the material finish... glossy etc. Perhaps a more upmarket finish also?
A few things...I'm led to believe, that images on the two material formats I mention above tend to have a little more "pop" to them in terms of colours and so forth standing out. I'm also keen on the material finish... glossy etc. Perhaps a more upmarket finish also?
I would recommend seeking out a local custom printing/signage company and outlining what you are after, if you swing by their premises, they almost definately have a few examples of UV print on various materials they can show you and run through.
It's difficult for me to advise specifically beyond that, as print is so subjective!
It's difficult for me to advise specifically beyond that, as print is so subjective!
A friend of mine has a woodland scene printed on aluminium, the brightest points have no, or very little paint, where the shards of sunlight in the image are coming through the trees. When yer actual sun hits the picture in his study the transformation from what is an ok/nice picture into an almost 3d masterpiece is amazing. Worth exploring I'd say
checkmate91 said:
A friend of mine has a woodland scene printed on aluminium, the brightest points have no, or very little paint, where the shards of sunlight in the image are coming through the trees. When yer actual sun hits the picture in his study the transformation from what is an ok/nice picture into an almost 3d masterpiece is amazing. Worth exploring I'd say
Aluminium prints can have a really nice effect with the right image. I have an aluminium print of this one and for that image it works really well the way it catches and reflects the light. Not all images wouldn't suit it so well though.
NZ South Coast by Ben, on FlickrThe acrylic prints I've had (from cheap online print outfits, specialised shops may be different) were basically just a regular print under clear perspex, nothing wrong with them but more about protecting the print to display in a bathroom or outside than any particular visual effect.
Canvas prints are another option than can look nice, they stand out from the wall a bit as the canvas wraps around the frame.
Canute said:
Hi,
I don't live anywhere near a place that I can see these in real life but they look great,
Whereabouts in the UK are you based?I don't live anywhere near a place that I can see these in real life but they look great,
If anywhere near North West London, these guys are able to print on pretty much anything you want.
They do different acrylic, foam board, aluminium, even other stuff like slate table tops.
It's a really small operation, but the guy running it is a real enthusiast and does a good job. Better if you could go and see them though to get an idea of the products and your requirements.
[quote=C&C]
Whereabouts in the UK are you based?
If anywhere near North West London, these guys are able to print on pretty much anything you want.
They do different acrylic, foam board, aluminium, even other stuff like slate table tops.
It's a really small operation, but the guy running it is a real enthusiast and does a good job. Better if you could go and see them though to get an idea of the products and your requirements.
[/quote]
:-)
I'm not in the UK, I live in the middle of the Swedish countryside.
Thanks, I will look at these and the others given in this thread though.
Whereabouts in the UK are you based?
If anywhere near North West London, these guys are able to print on pretty much anything you want.
They do different acrylic, foam board, aluminium, even other stuff like slate table tops.
It's a really small operation, but the guy running it is a real enthusiast and does a good job. Better if you could go and see them though to get an idea of the products and your requirements.
[/quote]
:-)
I'm not in the UK, I live in the middle of the Swedish countryside.
Thanks, I will look at these and the others given in this thread though.
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