farwest Loc: Utah

wondering about pictures printed on metal or other type of surface materials vs framing a print. Seems frames cost more than a print.

orrie smith Loc: Kansas

I had a photo of a black bear printed on glass at fracture.com. It turned out really well, but I am having a hard time getting used to not having a frame and matting. My wife and friends say it is a great photo, and they are correct, it is just hard to get used to it.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

They can, and do. My grandson gave me a 24x30 print he made of a landscape he took. When we took it to a framer's shop, the cost was going to be over $700.00!! Instead he sent of to a place and had a metal print done with glossy finish, for $135.00. Big difference. They were having a special going on at the time, so he saved about $50.00, if I recall correctly. It looks good and graces our living room wall, at a fraction of the price of a framed print.

Brokenland

I like the idea of printing an image on metal but in monochrome as the metal could be used for a lithograph print off a printing press just like the news papers do. Also, you're right on the framing cost, I submitted a 11x14 print of one of my black and white images. The framer said it would cost 275.00 to frame. this includes the UV glass, 2 or 3 borders and the wooding frame along with a cut out area with the pictures title. I wish I was handy enough to frame my own images after hearing those prices. But there again, theres Michaels or JoAnns framing department as these are substantially less expensive.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

We could have cut the cost by having fewer mattes and going with non-glare glass instead of museum quality glass. The cost of framing prints seems awfully high.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

I love all the metal prints that I’ve done to date. If you have the means, check out cgproprints.com for very affordable prints on metal. Especially if the image you are printing has some saturated colors.
These are two that I’ve hanging in my house now, but I’ve given away a few others as gifts of different images:

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-469636-1.html
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-417645-1.html

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

I have a few larger Fracture prints in my home gallery and, in general, am pleased with the result. They really don't provide any calibration information (general comment about srgb) so I printed out a 4.7" x 6.4" Fracture test "print" (glass) then compared it to what came out of my calibrated Epson XP-15000 photo printer using premium glossy paper. I read both prints in Lab using a spectrophotometer. The biggest difference is that the glass print is much less bright so colors are subdued for less contrast. White on the print reads 94L (100L is bright white) and on the glass 68L. Please remember a difference of 1 is a just noticeable difference in Lab, so you can see the difference in brightness is huge. Grays on glass are fairly neutral and the colors are not too far off of standard so, if you are looking for pleasing color, they look fine. Glass "prints" have a very distinctive look and are very easy to hang on wallboard with the included wallboard screw (be careful not to hit any pipes behind the wall and if you are going into a 2x4 then drill a slightly smaller hole first). Try a smaller "print" to see if you like it.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

I am *not* a handy person, but I frame my own prints with standard black metal frames. I order the mats, which are custom cut and the frames from americanframe.com. When they come, I attach the print to the mat, go to Lowes and have them cut a piece of window glass to the size of the frame and then assemble the frame. It is not hard to do. Of course, if you're going to insist on museum quality glass, it is going to cost a lot just for the glass.

gmsatty Loc: Chicago IL

You can go to a crafts store and buy frames with glass and matte already cut. Some have great selections and if you catch a sale, all the better. Yes, if you want something really fancy, you will pay up for it.

drmike99 Loc: Fairfield Connecticut

I tried Fracture — a small print to test them out. It is spectacularly UNDERwhelming. It looks like an 8x10 glossy from my inkjet printer or the Walgreens lab with glass stuck on top. That’s all.

Tinkwmobile

I have framed many hundreds of pictures. I worked in a frame shop for a while and learned how to use the professional equipment. My home shop is well equipped. Share this info to let you know I have some knowledge.

Framing pictures takes time; framing material is not cheap; selection of non-glare or museum glass runs up the price (unnecessarily IMO). Purchasing metal frames (of high quality) is one way to reduce the frame costs. The fancier the mat boards the more it costs; time to cut and cost of multiple boards. I buy entire sheets of mat boards and cut my own; the learning curve might be steep for some. Buy your glass from a glass supplier vs. big box store, less cost.

I often make my own moulding using a router, it's fun and opportunity to be creative.

We have found that pictures printed on canvas and stretched on a "museum" depth (think it's 1 1/2") gives a very nice look and is ready to hang, not needed any frame. The few metal prints I have seen use a mounting system that looks fine without a frame, imo.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Those are two completely different things one can not really compare to each other!

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

Look at Canvas

Bill P

I just love guys that are always on a search for the ultimate sharpest lens, who then from using non glare glass. Kind of defeats the whole quest.

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

I recently looked into an economical solution for framing but found nothing worth writing home about. I also had a canvas and a metal done at Costco with great results.

Metal and canvas prints need no frame and IMHO look better than many frames anyway.

I have a Facebook friend who prints gorgeous Huntington Beach sunsets on canvas. I suggested he print them on metal instead (a colorful sunset would look much better on metal than on canvas), but he explained that he sells his prints, and canvas is much easier to sell than the more expensive metal.

I'm going to have more metal and canvas prints made through Costco rather than mess with frames & matte boards. They are very reasonably priced and the quality is very good.