planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

I looked at the MPix site. $33 for an 8x10 or 8x12 seems like a pretty good price. The link to the aluminum store was interesting, but until I know what a metal print would look like I don't want to spend a bunch on 5-10 sheets at a time. I'll have to look again at what my local shop charges for the same size. At one of my camera club meetings our guest speaker sold all his prints as metals (I think glossy) and were mostly landscape/waterfall. The one he showed us looked nice, but he spends like $80/print from a lab in CA - he charges a bunch too, though. I looked at my Canon Pro-100 manual and saw stuff about using the manual feed tray for thick papers (it seemed to accept paper thicker than some advertised aluminum), but it didn't say that metal was an acceptable media. I've never used manual feed though, just the rear tray. Just checked...8x10 - $25, 11x14 - $35. Maybe I'll go to my local store, 10 min from my house. If what I see is correct, they use a service called Photo Finale. Never heard of them, but the display piece they had looked nice.

Rick from NY Loc: Sarasota FL

Should be WHCC. White House Custom Color

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

I have printed (and sold) a number of aluminum-based prints and have found a small lab in northern California, Laserlight (http://laserlightprints.com/metal.php#classic ) has, IMHO, the best product. The quality of their substrate seems better than both Bay and MPIX (both of whom I tried).

And for those unaware of this kind of print - it is a dye-sublimation process where the special inks are laid onto a transfer sheet (like iron-on paper) which is in turn heat pressed to the specially coated surface of the aluminum sheet. Aluminum prints may look pricey at first glance, but since there's no need to frame or matte them that difference goes away (price out a 24x36 aluminum print on floating frame to a paper-printed 24x36 plus matting, etc). It is not a matter of using a different paper stock in a standard inkjet printer.

Thanks to the higher reflectivity of aluminum as compared to paper and its absolute flatness (no ripples or curvature) images printed on aluminum can really "pop" off the page. Of course, it also depends on the image - not everything would be suitable for this kind of printing, but for macro shots (I'm printed a couple of dozen of my images) and landscapes it can be quite effective.

Rick from NY Loc: Sarasota FL

Totally agree. I use metal prints for flower shots, various landscapes and critter shots. Good sellers and I use some personally in my home.

I also agree that the cost to print say a 30x40, while seemingly expensive, ends up as a bargain since as mentioned, there is no framing cost. The price to dry mount and custom frame a 30x40 print is undoubtedly more than the cost of the free hanging metal print itself. Out of the box and on to the wall. No additional cost. And "floating" the metal print on the wall is definitely the way to go. Makes a stunning presentation.

Of course everything has to do with the underlying image. At large sizes, the focus has to be literally perfect and the post processing needs to be well done. Any minor flaw is magnified the larger one goes in print size. A matte paper print will be more forgiving than a metal print. As they say, "garbage in, garbage out."

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

I haven't decided yet who to use, but I thought I'd try another layout. What do you think, compositionally?

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billwassmann Loc: Emerson, NJ

You don't think one of your photos in 12x18 is worth $40? I guess you don't think much of your work. I think that's not unreasonable for that size

rob7789 Loc: Florida

I have nine aluminum prints by AdoramaPix, and all look real good.

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

never thought about the "wow" factor of a bigger print...although bigger prints mean bigger $$$. I think I'll try my local camera store's service in a 14x18 size ($45). Now I need to decide which is the better crop, whether or not to remove the cobwebs and little piece sticking up at the bottom and what finish I want. I'm thinking glossy. Both files are 14x18.

A

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or B (but remove cobweb/bud?)

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Rick from NY Loc: Sarasota FL

Regarding the flower shot - To my eye, there is too much negative space in the image. Nothing in the background grabs me (pure green) and the stem and the withered buds add nothing to the shot and are a distraction.

The flower is the subject and I would suggest severely cropping in to get rid of the empty background and the unattractive stem. Hope this does not come across as overly harsh, but that is how I see it. If the file has enough mp's to allow the flower to the focal point and if it is sharp enough to handle the crop, it might work out well.

smith934 Loc: Huntsville, Alabama

I second that recommendation. Excellent prints and great service

smith934 Loc: Huntsville, Alabama

another excellent recommendation. Haven't tried their metal prints yet but they do excellent canvas, plus they are always running specials. Get on their mailing list.

smith934 Loc: Huntsville, Alabama

on 'B', I find the buds and shoot or grass blade, in the lower left to be a major distraction.

gemlenz Loc: Gilbert Arizona

:thumbup:

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

OK I'll be the second one to ask. What is a aluminum print. What are the +/- ?

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

I described what they are in my entry a few lines above yours - you know, since someone else asked - they are printed made via a dye-sublimation process to an aluminum sheet substrate, and these prints can be quite effective visually - colors kind of "pop" more due to the higher reflectivity of AL (as compared t paper) and the flatness of the sheet.