Printing on Metal:  All Metal Prints are not Created Equal

I have been printing on Metal for a long time, three or four years at the least.  Over the course of time, I have printed with many companies.  Some are the best in the industry, and some are the rock bottom worst.  Either way, I am always out there finding new places to print to see if their print quality is up to my standard.  Let’s face it; sometimes I just want to print something to go in my office where quality is not that important and other times I need gallery quality, resell prints.

During this Facebook Live Event, I discussed three things you need to know if you are printing on metal:

 

  1. The Sticker Shock:  The price tag of printing on metal can be shocking.  Horribly shocking!  However, consider this.  Metal Prints look great all by themselves.  They do not need frames or matting or anything really.  They stand off the wall quite a bit, and their presence is presence enough.  Before you gawk at the sticker, realize that you do not need to add anything else to make them gorgeous.  A regular 24 x 36 print with a frame and matte would cost the same (if not more) than an aluminum print.
  2. Test Print First:  Before you print your entire galleries worth of prints, be sure to test the company you will use.  Instead of taking my word, or someone else’s for that matter, find three companies you want to print on metal with.  Order the same print from all of them at 8×10.  Look at the small prints, compare their quality, hanging method, and durability and then decide.
  3. All Metal Prints are not created Equal:  I have printed with several companies, my favorites are listed below, but the worst of the worst has got to be InkDoodle.  I printed with them because they were running a promotion, three metal prints for $10 or something, it was cheap, I don’t remember exactly how much.  So I tested them out with six prints.  It took two months to receive them, and the final result was horrible.  Very thin metal, horrible ink to print application (it looked like a pointillist painting), and the corners were so sharp I nearly cut my finger when I opened the package.On the flip side of the spectrum, my favorite place to print with is Metal Mouth Prints.  The quality is superb, the presentation is incredible, and the attention to detail Ben Gasser (the head printer of Metal Mouth) puts into every print is just on point.  They are clearly at the high end of the spectrum, but reasonably so.

20% off orders over $100 @ Metal Mouth

This was not planned at all, but Ben Gasser of Metal Mouth Prints saw the live event and wanted to offer anyone on f64 Academy a 20% off coupon on all orders over $100.  Awesome deal.

Use the Code:
BlakeRudisVideo

Blake Rudis
f.64 Academy and f.64 Elite are the brainchildren of Blake Rudis. While he is a landscape photographer, he is most passionate about post-processing images in Photoshop and mentoring others.

For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
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