Help: What kind of print is this?

Hi,

A while ago I was in a gallery exhibiting some photographs, and I saw some prints of flowers that looked totally amazing. Each print had some sort of transparent coating on them, almost like glass, with some visible thickness to it. The colors were extremely vibrant, much more so than typical ink-jet prints on good paper. The blacks were so deep--like pure abyssal blackness. They looked amazing. I googled for quite a while but I'm not sure what I was looking at... would it be some kind of lacquer coating? Or perhaps they really were attached to the back of real glass?

Anyone know what those prints could have been? I'm asking because I want to make a gift of a print for someone, and I think this look would be totally perfect for it.

For reference, here's the pic I wanna do up:

They may be acrylic or plexiglass prints.

Lovely shot by the way.

BasAndrews wrote in post #17405083
They may be acrylic or plexiglass prints.

Lovely shot by the way.

Thanks.... I searched a bit on acrylic prints and they do look really beautiful. I don't think that's what I saw though cause it was more like a photo print but with about 0.5mm of clear substance on top. The acrylic prints that I saw on the net are quite thick. But..... they do seem like a good option. I might check them out.

(And thanks for the second part too!)

Are you sure it's not metallic printing? I had a photo done with this process and it looked amazing compared to the regular print I had done with it. It is very shiny looking a has a glossy look to it and the colors are very vibrant.

CameraMan wrote in post #17406128
Are you sure it's not metallic printing? I had a photo done with this process and it looked amazing compared to the regular print I had done with it. It is very shiny looking a has a glossy look to it and the colors are very vibrant.

hmm, it could be. do they typically add some kind of transparent lacquer to the surface? do you have a service you recommend?

I had mine done at Adorama. I started a thread about my experience here.

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1409074

CameraMan wrote in post #17406370
I had mine done at Adorama. I started a thread about my experience here.

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1409074

cool thread--i read through most of it just now. can you describe the finish on yours?--is there some kind of transparent lacquer over the top or is it bare ink on metal?

It looks like regular paper but with a special type of ink. Maybe there is metal pigments in the ink to give it that look. I do not know to be honest with you. But it's definitely a nice process and possibly worth looking into in case I need to describe the process to someone.

CameraMan wrote in post #17406393
It looks like regular paper but with a special type of ink. Maybe there is metal pigments in the ink to give it that look. I do not know to be honest with you. But it's definitely a nice process and possibly worth looking into in case I need to describe the process to someone.

okay cool, thanks. i'lll check it out.

If you want an absolutely stunning print ready to hang this is what I would suggest this from Whitewall. It's 2mm of acrylic glass, then the photo print is bonded, then an aluminium substrate for strength. Pick the Kodak Metallic paper option for the print. Amazing. I have the test set from Whitewall with all of the products included. It sounds from your description as if the print you saw was indeed a metallic paper print. the acrylic glass prints usually have 2mm or 6mm of glass plus the print plus the aluminium substrate. As it is on aluminium the 2mm version is plenty stiff enough, but the extra thickness seems to give even more depth to the image.

Alan

BigAl007 wrote in post #17414086
If you want an absolutely stunning print ready to hang this is what I would suggest this from Whitewall. It's 2mm of acrylic glass, then the photo print is bonded, then an aluminium substrate for strength. Pick the Kodak Metallic paper option for the print. Amazing. I have the test set from Whitewall with all of the products included. It sounds from your description as if the print you saw was indeed a metallic paper print. the acrylic glass prints usually have 2mm or 6mm of glass plus the print plus the aluminium substrate. As it is on aluminium the 2mm version is plenty stiff enough, but the extra thickness seems to give even more depth to the image.

Alan

those look amazing alan! i might just do that...

and ....btw, i spotted something on their website that looks kinda like what i saw:

https://us.whitewall.c​om …n#tjn=f&t=produ​kt-details

so... this i think might have been what it was, because i remember that the thing hanging on the wall was about 1" thick, but the actual photo was nearer to the surface and coated with about 1-2mm of glassy material, but with rounded edges. i think this "resin" process was what it could have been....... sounds super crazy expensive though from their description which says it's very labor intensive. well, ...i guess if that was what it was, then that's what i want.

I think you might be a bit out on how thick you thought the product was that you saw. You suggested something about 0.5mm which is about the thickness of a sheet of 300gsm paper. The product you linked to the acrylic is 3mm so six times thicker than that. The item I linked has options at 2mm and 6mm so the first a little closer to your initial estimate. I think that choosing the metallic paper option that I pointed you to might produce a really spectacular product. I have tried to photograph some of the samples, and even just tried scanning them all, but you really cannot see the differences in finish. To get the best effect from both the Kodak metallic and Fuji Flex high gloss you really need to actually view a print, it's the way they shimer slightly as you move your eyes about that makes it special.

Alan

BigAl007 wrote in post #17414714
I think you might be a bit out on how thick you thought the product was that you saw. You suggested something about 0.5mm which is about the thickness of a sheet of 300gsm paper. The product you linked to the acrylic is 3mm so six times thicker than that. The item I linked has options at 2mm and 6mm so the first a little closer to your initial estimate. I think that choosing the metallic paper option that I pointed you to might produce a really spectacular product. I have tried to photograph some of the samples, and even just tried scanning them all, but you really cannot see the differences in finish. To get the best effect from both the Kodak metallic and Fuji Flex high gloss you really need to actually view a print, it's the way they shimer slightly as you move your eyes about that makes it special.

Alan

sorry, maybe i didn't describe it well... what i saw was about 1" in thickness, but the 1" sides were completely black and glossy. now, all the photos had black background so i dunno if it means anything. the actual photo is close to the surface, and not in the very back like what the plexy-glass prints look like. there's about 1-2mm of glassy material on top of the photo, and all the corners/edges were rounded and the were very slightly imperfect, like something melted on top and shaped around the sides, seeming as if it was hand-done.

i'm thinking it's like the resin print, but with a different backing material from maybe from a different manufacturer cause the casing/internal frame/whatever-you-call-it is different.

not sure if it was a metal print material though cause it didn't really shimmer, but was just extremely vibrant and rich, which might have just come from the resin treatment.

that said............... i think for my own photo a metal print would be awesome so that the sunset portion would seem to have a light source.

when i get this photo done up, i'll try to post a pic to show off the final product.

Maybe it was Metal Print + Acrylic?

Metallic prints are done on a metallic paper, not regular paper with a special metallic inkset. Red River makes a great metallic paper as does Kodak. I'm sure others do too.