opened a can of worms

[chauncey]

Never realized what I have been missing as I have rarely had prints made...especially large ones.

I created this merely to see how various colors would appear in a print, so I had Cosco do it in a
8x10 glossy and a 16x20 luster, two things jumped out at me...in spite of seeing the images on a
quality, color corrected, monitor...nothing beats having a print in your hand and, bigger is better.

Problem is that, I want to begin doing them on metal and with the cost running in excess of $80...
is it feasible to do this at home?

[Shadowman]

The initial outlay of funds (new printer needed for metal) make it seem too steep, but the ink/paper/time cost constraints make doing it yourself more profitable. We had this discussion a few years ago and the cost of printing it yourself was very low, however this was based on paper costs. Have you priced metal as a support yet? Also, you eat the costs of mistakes, while Costco bears that burden when they do the job for you.

Nice image.

[Shadowman]

http://www.redrivercatalog.com/cost-...3800-3880.html

[Manfred M]

First of all you need a profileable printer (generally 8 colour or higher). Then you need the metal material to print on and finally you need to either laquer coat or a laminate coating to keep the ink from running (unlike paper, the ink is not absorbed into the paper fibre).

http://www.inkjetmetal.com/

This stuff is not easy or inexpensive to work with (get out the cotton gloves).


I know I can do metal prints on my Epson 3880, but have no interest in doing so. I've started to use the high end Hahnemuhle papers for some of my work.


http://www.hahnemuehle.com/en/index.html

[jcuknz]

Having read about sticking aluminium I have adopted a practice of turning to 'stop' and then backing off a bit.

[IzzieK]

Having read about sticking aluminium I have adopted a practice of turning to 'stop' and then backing off a bit.

John, what is sticking aluminum? is it a kind or sort of "paper" that can be used in printers? I just googled it but didn't find anything....

[rpcrowe]

John mentioned Red River Paper in a post above. Red River has metallic paper that can (supposedly be used on any inkjet printer). I bought some of it from Red River a few months ago but, have not gotten around to using it yet.

Here is a link to the Metal Photo web page on the Red River web site;

http://www.redrivercatalog.com/brows...per-metal.html

[chauncey]

I know I can do metal prints on my Epson 3880, but have no interest in doing so

Not even for curiosity?

Stopped by my local framing shop yesterday to ask pricing...20x30 frame is about $150.
I don't see the savings in not going with a metal print that needs no frame.

[Manfred M]

Not even for curiosity?

Stopped by my local framing shop yesterday to ask pricing...20x30 frame is about $150.
I don't see the savings in not going with a metal print that needs no frame.

No; not even in curiosity. I just don't see the value in it for the type of photography that I do. Similarly, I have no interest in printing canvas, which is also frameless. I just don't like the inherent lack of sharpness in the canvas prints.

A simple laminate on MDF print of a 17" x 22" print is going to run me around $25, and that's the bulk of what I do. That way there is no heartbreak when I throw them out after a couple of years and put up something else. Lots of those around the house.

I am looking at doing some and