Essential Questions About Metal Prints, Answered
- What’s the Big Deal with Metal Prints?
- How Are Metal Prints Made?
- What Is the Archival Durability of Metal Prints?
- Can Metal Prints Be Used Outside?
- How Do I Choose a Printer for My Metal Prints?
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Metal prints are a fantastic way to display your best images so that they stand out and get attention. As a pro in various fields of photography, metal prints can be a good source of extra profit either as part of a photography package or as stand-alone wall art.
Seeing how much has been said about displaying your photography as metal prints, you probably have some questions about metal prints concerning the different aspects of this type of photographic art.
I’ll help answer some essential questions about metal prints I had when I first got interested in them. Keep reading for helpful information!
Table of Contents:
What’s the Big Deal with Metal Prints?
You may ask yourself questions about metal prints, such as, “What’s so special about metal prints, anyway? What’s the big deal?”
For me, part of what makes metal prints so special for displaying photography is the medium itself, the flat metal panels. With metal prints, since the thin substrate can stand all on its own, all you see is the image.
You get what makes people love these so much once you see a great image made into a large metal print—no frame needed, no matting, just the image hanging up on a wall. With the proper mount, such as one that is recessed and hidden, the panel seems to just float there right next to the wall.
How Are Metal Prints Made?
A large part of the magic of large metal prints is how they’re made. The premium online printing company Shiny Prints uses the dye sublimation printing method on ultra-high-quality aluminum panels.
For metal prints to look their best, the substrate, the metal sheet, must be flawless. ChromaLuxe aluminum panels are the industry standard for creating perfect metal prints. A printer like Shiny Prints also uses the best printers designed for this style of picture making and a formula of eco-friendly inks.
Dye sublimation refers to how the inks are applied to the metal. First, a print is made on a specialty transfer paper. This paper is mounted to the aluminum panel, and high heat and pressure are applied.
The inks turn into gas and seep into the metal; they sublimate, going directly from a gas to a solid. You can visualize the process by recalling how dry ice turns from a solid chunk to a gaseous vapor without going through the liquid stage. Dye sublimation is this same principle but in reverse.
In essence, the inks become a part of the metal, so your image is actually THE metal print, not inks on top of a surface.
What Is the Archival Durability of Metal Prints?
A fantastic by-product of dye sublimation-crafted metal prints is that these metal prints have incredible longevity. In photography and other artwork, this is known as archival quality.
Archival quality is measured in how long an image is expected to look as bright, deep, rich, vibrant, and sharp as it was when first printed. It is generally expressed in years. The archival rating of metal prints from Shiny Prints is over 65 years.
That means your grandchildren could show their young kids your images, and they will look as good as they did when you first received them.
Can Metal Prints Be Used Outside?
Metal prints have extreme water, sun, and scratch resistance, so they will last a lot longer in adverse conditions than other printing forms.
If your primary use of the metal prints you make is a permanent outside installation, such as a sign for a business, you’ll want to choose Chromaluxe EXT panels. These are also great for external artwork, such as hanging pictures on a patio wall or in an atrium.
Here is an in-depth video review I did about Shiny Prints outdoor metal prints you can see on the Photography Talk YouTube channel:
How Do I Choose a Printer for My Metal Prints?
As you can see, I really have a high opinion of our friends at Shiny Prints. Not only do they make near-perfect metal prints (it’s all they do, by the way), but they also have excellent support, such as their video guides and a blog with helpful hints.
As an example, here is a blog post explaining how to order from Shiny Prints on your smartphone.
Metal prints are an outstanding way to display your fine photography or offer others your images. Using these questions about metal prints as a brief guide, you can see the difference between seeing your images displayed as metal prints.
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