Aluminium prints or Acrylic prints

Hi All
Am I am looking at getting Aluminium prints or Acrylic prints of my artwork? What your thoughts on them and what Lab did you use, please? Do you feel there any better than C-Type or Giclee prints for artwork?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts
Regards
Brian

I would like to know also, particular from Costco print. I trust their regular paper prints (4x6 thru poster sizes) which they do in-house, but if they farm it out to 3rd party like post-cards, the colors are inaccurate.

I use CGPro for a number of things.
Their metal prints are great, and are better than their acrylics, IMO.
I've only had one acrylic done, and compared to metals, which are clean and bright, the acrylic seemed hazy and duller.
I don't know whether it's just the acrylic process that shows that way since I've only done one from one printer.
I'll probably stick to metals from now on.

Brian20 wrote in post #19014100
Hi All
Am I am looking at getting Aluminium prints or Acrylic prints of my artwork? What your thoughts on them and what Lab did you use, please? Do you feel there any better than C-Type or Giclee prints for artwork?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts
Regards
Brian

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I get aluminum prints a lot ..... nice big ones - either 24" by 36" or 48" by 32".

Most of the acrylic prints I see have these unsightly studs on each corner of the print. . In my opinion, this completely destroys the aesthetic and makes it a no-brainer NOT to go with acrylic. . If I ever did want an acrylic print, I would try to find one without those horrible looking corner studs.


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Tom Reichner wrote in post #19016058
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I get aluminum prints a lot ..... nice big ones - either 24" by 36" or 48" by 32".

Most of the acrylic prints I see have these unsightly studs on each corner of the print. . In my opinion, this completely destroys the aesthetic and makes it a no-brainer NOT to go with acrylic. . If I ever did want an acrylic print, I would try to find one without those horrible looking corner studs.

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Just curious...does something like this get around your dislike of the studs?
https://www.artmill.co​m …2vspxZsBAcoMaAr​8pEALw_wcB

Wilt wrote in post #19016250
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Just curious...does something like this get around your dislike of the studs?
https://www.artmill.co​m …2vspxZsBAcoMaAr​8pEALw_wcB
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I suspect that you either sent the wrong link, or that the people running that site changed the image on that webpage since you visited it. . The link you provided shows a typical triptych. . Not sure that that has to do with studs vs. no studs. . The two things are entirely unrelated to one another.

Personally, I have always had a strong dislike for the triptych form of presentation ..... why some people think that a photo looks nicer when it is broken up into three pieces with the wall showing in between is beyond my comprehension.


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...that link went to acrylic prints from Artmill products! No triptych.

Specs on their acrylic prints says

SIZES Custom sizes up to 60" x 120"
PAPER Archival Photographic Paper
FINISH Glossy, Anti-Reflective or Non-Glare
MOUNTING 1/8" Glossy Acrylic, 1/8" Non-Glare Acrylic, 1/4" Glossy Acrylic, 1/4" Non-Glare Acrylic, 1/8" TruLife Acrylic
BACKING 1/8" Dibond (aluminum composite).
HANGING Wood or Aluminum Cleat System - Simple yet Secure
PRINTING Epson P-20000 Series Inkjet Printers

Not having prior experience with acrylic or metal prints, I had to Google to see what the studs looked like...yeech!

Thanks, guys that A great help! B

If you have a Sam's club membership they do a very nice job on aluminum prints. They tend to run deep sales on them periodically (30 to 50% off). Unfortunately they have removed the photo centers from the stores so it's totally an online process now.

Wilt wrote in post #19016275
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...that link went to acrylic prints from Artmill products! No triptych.
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It sure looks like a triptych to me:

Wilt wrote in post #19016275
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Not having prior experience with acrylic or metal prints, I had to Google to see what the studs looked like...yeech!
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Yeah - aren't they so nasty looking?!


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Tom Reichner wrote in post #19016323
It sure looks like a triptych to me

I completely overlooked that first photo because of all the overprinted text, and looked farther down the page for closer views of their product!
The first photo is the only triptych on their first webpage!

It's hard to beat a Fujiflex print under acrylic for presentation. Two labs that I have used for excellent results are Nevada Art Printers (they call theirs Lumachrome) and Metal and Paper (previously called West Coast Imaging). However, unless you are going to have a light directly on the print I would not go this route. If you do have a light directed towards the print they are jaw-droppingly stunning with a three dimensional quality to them that can't be beat. A number of world class landscape photographers that exhibit their work use these two labs for their acrylic prints.

Metal prints are also really nice and are more forgiving for the lighting environment. They are also more resistant to the elements and high-traffic areas. I have some of my prints in bathrooms and I use metal there. Same for hallways where you are more likely to bump a print; acrylic is more prone to scratching than metal. I use BayPhoto for my metal prints (and usually default to High Gloss for the print).

Before submitting any work to any of the above labs I would suggest you call them and ask them how they recommend you prepare your file for printing. I personally flatten my image, convert to 8-bit, delete all alpha channels, and depending on the lab, convert to aRGB or sRGB. I also will "print sharpen" the print for the specific size I am printing.