Benefits of a High Quality Metal Print
- Why You Should Print Your Images on Metal
- Metallic Canvas Prints Are a Thing - and They’re Beautiful
I pretty much haven’t stopped talking about hanging up photography around my house for the past few weeks. You could say I’m on a rampage. But really, what better way to show off something that you’re proud of?
One type of print that I use pretty frequently in my home, and in the homes of my clients, is a metal print. I get a lot of questions about why I use a metal print over more traditional types of prints, like canvas, especially in a home environment where people are afraid a metal print may look too modern.
But to me, metal print benefits far outweigh any detriments of choosing this type of artform, especially if you specifically purchase a high-quality metal print.
So, I’m going to walk you through all of the benefits of a metal print in this article. For brevity, I’m going to be using an ArtBeat Studios metal print as an example since I purchase most of my metal prints from ArtBeat.
Your Metal Print Will Last a Lifetime
When I say that your metal print will last a lifetime, I’m serious. Unlike traditional prints, metal prints are incredibly fade resistant.
ArtBeat Studios has an HD metal print that uses Chromaluxe aluminum, which lasts for at least 65 years before it begins to fade whatsoever.
So, you aren’t just buying a metal print for yourself, you’re buying a metal print for your children and grandchildren too.
Metal Prints Are Scratch-Resistant
If you’ve ever had a child tear through a canvas print, you know how frustrating it is. More traditional prints, like canvas, are not scratch-resistant, which means that they also aren’t move-resistant, pet-resistant, or child-resistant.
A metal print, on the other hand, is scratch-resistant thanks to the printing process. The ink is actually put under the exterior layer of the aluminum, so you don’t need to worry about banging it up.
What Other Print Can You Clean?
I was recently helping my mother clean out her home. I got my love of photography from my mother, so she also has a ton of prints hanging up around her home (some of which have been there since my childhood). But, all of these prints are canvas prints.
I cannot describe exactly how disgusting it was to try and clean decades of dirt off of these prints. Of course, it never would have gotten so bad if she had tried to upkeep them over the years, but cleaning canvas is much, much more difficult than cleaning metal.
With my metal prints, all I have to do is take a slightly damp cloth to them once every couple of weeks and it keeps them looking as new as the day I bought them. I’ll never have decades of dust buildup on them, which makes the initial investment 100% worth it to me.
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Metal Prints Are Not Heavy
One common misconception I hear about metal prints all the time is that people think they are too heavy to move. But, on the contrary, each one of my metal prints weighs less than 10 lbs because aluminum is an incredibly lightweight metal.
Additionally, the whole print does not need to be made of metal. With ArtBeat Studios, you can choose what sort of wall mount you want on the back of your aluminum. They have options ranging from natural wood to silver aluminum, as shown above.
Metal Prints Work in Every Climate
One thing that many people who have been reading PhotographyTalk for many years know is that I live in southern California. If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, then you know we have had an especially warm past few years. You could define the weather here as “blistering” and I wouldn’t fault you for it.
Some people assume that metal prints don’t work in incredibly warm climates, but the total opposite is actually true. Aluminum not only holds up just fine in heat, but is fire-retardant. This means that your ArtBeat Studios metal print can actually hold up in the event of nearly any disaster, from floods to fires.
Metal Prints Can Fit Any Aesthetic
I talked a little bit about this common misconception about buying a metal print in the intro. People tend to think that metal prints won’t work in homes or more traditional environments because the metal prints they’ve seen before were in very modern atmospheres.
But, this really just depends upon how you frame them. For instance, you can opt for an ArtBeat Studios metal print that comes with a recessed mount, which makes the metal print look like it’s floating on your wall, if you have a more modern home. But, on the other hand, you can place your metal print into a traditional wooden frame if you want it to blend into your house as well.
