Billiam

Just curious if anyone here has seen one of these in person or actually had one made. If so, what were your impressions?

BTW, I'm not referring to the Kodak metallic paper offered by many labs. I'm talking about the process where your image is actually printed on a piece of brushed aluminum plate.

MPix offers this through the MpixPro side of their lab. Bay Photo also offers the service. There may be others but those are the only two I'm aware of. Here's the Bay Photo page which shows and describes the item better than Mpix.

http://www.bayphoto.com/bayweb/pro_metalprints.htm

EuRTSX

Interesting, first time I've heard of this, and definitely a good idea for birthdays for the SO.

I might be a guinea pig soon

wndrlst

I haven't seen them in person, but the feedback on dgrin (smugmug's forum - Bay Photo does the print fulfillment for smugmug pro) is overwhelmingly positive. I'd love to order one as a sample, but I'm not spending any more dimes until i make a couple more..

wndrlst

Doo eet, and bring it to dinner for us all to oohh & ahh...

Billiam

Digging this up because Scott Kelby got the people that did his metal prints (Imagewizards) to offer some pretty big discounts this weekend for readers of his blog.

Two 16x24 framed images for $250. They supposedly have a regular price of $237 each. The other deal is one 24x32 print for $250 (supposed regular price of $322).

http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2009/archives/7752

I have to plead ignorance on proper image file preparation for large prints of this size. With these discounts though, I just may bite.

wndrlst

Yikes, that's expensive!! My cost for a 16x24 through Bay Photo is only $100. For Imagewizards' regular price, I can get a 24x36.

I ordered a 16x16 for my bf's parents - they got it today, and his mom called flipping out. She's VERY impressed by the metal. They're ready to hang and float off the wall. I also sent a 16x24 to my dad, he wasn't flipping, but he did like it.

wndrlst

...and it seems that's more than they charge if I order without going through smugmug. $85 for a 16x24 if you order directly, although I do have color correction turned on, since I edit on a non-calibrated laptop. :/ That bumps my price up a bit.

Dan Martin

There's an artist in Toronto who has a gallery of nothing but black "prints" on metal. They're huge (like 48"x72") and very striking. His process is different though, it's more like how you print circuit boards than a traditional inkjet print. He coats the whole surface with a photosensitive material that turns black when exposed to light. The unexposed areas are sensitive to another chemical that will wash away in some sort of acid solution. His images start out as simple 35mm slides which he projects with a modified enlarger and special UV bulbs on to the metal plates.

I'd love to own one of his prints, but they're in the $10,000+ range.

Maybe one of these colour prints will tide me over.

Billiam

Hmmmm.... Even a shot from my 5D comes out to be only 182 ppi on a 16x24 print. That kind of seems like pushing the limits a bit for what these metal prints cost. Especially considering that these things are supposed to afford fairly stunning levels of detail.

wndrlst

I printed a 30x40 canvas wrap through Bay Photo from my 40D - they won't let you order something they aren't willing to back. They up-res'd it beautifully - I don't know what they use (I assume genuine fractals) but they apply whatever sharpening is necessary afterward, too. I'm truly impressed by them.

wndrlst

That sounds cool - do you have a link?

Billiam

OK, you've got me convinced to give the Bay Photo ones a try. Not only are they a lower price, I won't be under any time constraints for a discount offer.

Dan Martin

Your 5D will crank out beautiful 16x24's, have no worries. I print 16x20 all the time and even the files from my old 30D look great. Don't do anything to enlarge them, just send them the way they are and the printer will take care of the magic.

Billiam

Yeah, I figured that any pro lab of any sort is likely to have a RIP that upscales better than any piece of image editing software I own. I was just sort of thinking out loud since this Imagewizards offer was a limited time over the weekend so I wouldn't likely be able to check with them for anything I was concerned about.

BTW, I've found a few comments out there from people that have used multiple labs for these metal prints. The consensus seems to be that these Imagewizard guys are the current kings of this sort these metal prints.

wndrlst

Maybe they're worth the extra $$. I wish I were more educated about the process. I'm just trying to learn as much about the business as possible, I haven't even scratched the surface of that sort of thing! Why don't you order one of each - same image - and let us know what you think!

Zipho

I have seen a pro shooter on a nikon forum talk about this for his colourful macrop water drop shots. http://www.troylimphotography.com/Ar...39800827_TPQR9

he mentioned both imagewizards and Bay Photo so I'm not sure which one he used. but he says it really adds some pop to the colours. I just need to produce an image worthy of the process.

zguy95135

I've used the metallic paper a couple times, I'd definitely use it on anything that has very saturated colors and a lot of contrast. I did a sort of abstract landscape, a few portraits, and a high contrast b/w of downtown LA and they looked AMAZING. The paper made the windows look like they were glowing when they had ambient light shining on it.

That said, it will look terrible on anything thats low contrast or has a lot of medium gray.

stogie1020

Thread resurrection in process...

Ok, i want to print a print on metal. anyone have current info on the best place, process, price?

I am editing on a non-calibrated monitor, but the pic is the one of the scripps pier I posted a month or two back.

I saw some of the print-on-metal at an art fair and because of the inks used to embed the image on the metal sheet, they looked as though the images were lit from within. It was stunning.

Pic I want to print:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefford_e/8620861934/" title="Scripps Pier by Jefford_E, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8545/8620861934_51d17145e5_z.jpg" width="492" height="640" alt="Scripps Pier"></a>

wndrlst

I've ordered quite a few from Bay Photo, but they've pissed me off and I don't use them any more.

WHCC is my new lab, but I can't think if I've actually ordered metal from them or just standouts, books, boxes and canvas, which have all been very nice. I don't think I have. Dammit, I hate to endorse Bay, but they really do look nice. Granted, my last order took them no less than 5 shipments to get right, and I wound up having to glue on my own backings to have them ready by deadline for a show. So if you're not in a hurry, maybe you can give them a try. You can also select color management from them for a nominal fee.

Nutshell verdict:
Product (once done correctly) - A.
Service - F. G if it existed.

stogie1020

haha, "g". Thanks Wndr!