Printing astro images on acrylic and aluminium

[RickS]

Has anybody had an astro image printed on acrylic (face mounted) or on metal, e.g. Chromaluxe? I'd be interested to hear how it worked out if you did. I'm looking at options for printing a large Veil mosaic :D

Edit: also interested in results on canvas.

Thanks,
Rick.

[strongmanmike]

On canvas can look good, I gave Angie a 700mm X 700mm canvas Omega Cen for her 50th, she loved it :thumbsup:

I'm actually pretty excited to see what you do Rick...oooooh squeeel

Mike

[RickS]

Hmmm... I wouldn't have thought that canvas would be good for fine detail but perhaps I'm wrong? It's certainly more reasonably priced.



Careful you don't get Lewis excited again ;)

[strongmanmike]

Just posted a photo of the canvas work



Did I get him excited..? did I? What about? :)

[RickS]

Looks great, Mike.



Last time you squealed he went all dueling banjos :eyepop:

[LewisM]

This time I come armed and wearing a chastity belt...

[RickS]

:eyepop: x 2

[Slawomir]

Hi Rick, I am getting one of my latest images printed on acrylic (A3) in one of the places in South Bank. It will be ready on the 12th of January, so when I get it I will let you know how it came out. I was not recommended to use canvas for my astro image.

Happy New Year
Slawomir

[RickS]

Thanks, Slawomir. I look forward to your report!

Cheers,
Rick.

[rogerg]

I regularly print astro pics on to canvas but haven't yet had the opportunity to do acrylic face-mounted or aluminium other than acrylic photo blocks.

Canvas varies considerably between suppliers. Quality and texture of the canvas can make the result quite different. The canvas I have mine printed on is reasonably textured especially in comparison to canvas such as the cheap stuff Officeworks uses (may as well be paper its' so un-textured). Canvas has the advantage that it hides poor resolution due to the texture in the canvas. This can be very useful for astro pics where sometimes we struggle for resolution.

Acrylic and aluminium are usually glossy prints where any resolution issue or other blemish is much more visible. The glossy look with high saturation does work well for astro prints though, and acrylic photo blocks really work well as a result (they are also small which helps).

[RickS]

Ta, Roger.

This is the image at half res (5236x6676): http://astrob.in/full/143114/0/?real=&mod=None

And this is a 1:1 crop: http://astrob.in/full/143123/0/?real=&mod=None

How do you think it would go on good quality canvas? It has to be really big too, since Mike has thrown down the gauntlet :lol:

Thanks,
Rick.

[rogerg]

There's no reason it wouldn't look good on canvas. My work PC screen shows it as somewhat lower contrast than I'd do on canvas but my screen here isn't calibrated.

Given the resolution is not a problem there's no doubt it'd look spectacular and probably better on acrylic ... but if you want big acrylic would be $$$$$$ expensive :)

[RickS]

Great, thanks Roger. I'll probably go for a largish acrylic this time. What's a few more dollars tipped into the money pit that is astro imaging? ;)

[Andy01]

Rick, check out these guys, their metal prints are gobsmakking!
Worth a look - http://www.print2metal.com

Canvas is nice, but it's a more matt finish, even though most are laminated with a protective gloss lacquer.

I use gloss finish fujiflex for my appa award prints and they look amazing!
http://www.cpldigital.com.au/printing-services/photographic_printing.html

Acrylic looks great but it scratches very easily and is heavy to mount on the wall.

Cheers
Andy

[RickS]

Thanks for the suggestions, Andy. I'll take a look at those.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Slawomir]

Today I picked up my order: 9mp image of the Carina Nebula printed by ProLab (A3 metallic print, mount acrylic) and to my eye it looks very good; I think I will ask them to also print the Tarantula Nebula.

As Andy mentioned, A3 is relatively heavy, I am not planning to do tests regarding its resistance to scratching... :)

[RickS]

Thanks, Slawomir. I'd be interested to see how it turned out some time.

I have done a few prints of the Veil on metallic paper - a couple of A3 (one of which I had framed for a friend) and a 30x32". They all look fantastic. Next I have to make a decision on acrylic vs aluminium. I might do a couple of small test images on each and see what I like before I make the big investment.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Slawomir]

I hanged the photo on the wall in Banjarong Thai restaurant on Park Rd :)

[RickS]

I'll come over and had a look when I get a chance, Slawomir!

[allan gould]

Rick
There is a photographer that I saw last weekend at the south bank market in Brisbane that had 36"x24" acrylic photos for sale and they looked very nice and not that expensive.
Might be worth contacting him.
Allan

[RickS]

Thanks, Allan. I'll take a look.

I ordered a medium sized acrylic and metal print a couple of weeks ago as another "test" run.

[Camelopardalis]

Yes, I've seen them too, some very nice shots, they've recently started printing on aluminium too, their website is http://www.t-travel.com.au

[RickS]

Thanks, Dunk. I must have missed your post until today :shrug:

[RickS]

Quick update...

I have done test prints with a few local and remote labs on a variety of papers, acrylic and aluminium. I got good results with the small acrylic and metal prints but the acrylic seems too heavy for large prints and none of the local guys can do really large metal prints.

I did one large metal print with a vendor in Melbourne (a long story in itself) which produced a disappointing result.

The best results so far have been prints on fine art paper at ImageScience in Melbourne. IS provide ICC profiles for their printer/paper combinations which makes it possible to do soft proofing and careful adjustment to get an optimal result. Having been through the ringer a few times I am of the opinion that labs which don't provide ICC profiles aren't worth bothering with for anything more than snapshots...

I'm currently having some of the IS prints framed.

Cheers,
Rick.

[Slawomir]

Thank you Rick for sharing your experiences with printing astro-images.

[gregbradley]

That's useful info, thanks Rick.

Greg.

[RickS]

Thanks, Slawomir. I hope it is helpful...

I must head up to Milton and check out your print(s). I have been walking to work most days so I haven't managed to get up that direction for a while.

Cheers,
Rick.

[RickS]

Cheers, Greg.

[Slawomir]

Very helpful. The two small prints at the restaurant are nothing really to be excited about, but the food is good IMHO :lol:

[RickS]

I will get up there one day, Slawomir!

I picked up the framed prints today. The car was only just big enough for them to fit with the back seats down. Very happy with them although I have no idea where I'll hang them yet.

Pics to come eventually, Mike :D

Cheers,
Rick.

[chuckywiz]

My other half was nice enough to steal one of my photos and get a canvas done. whilst it wasnt the best processing effort.. or the best photo to blow up im certainly not going to knock her effort. shes even given it pride of place in the lounge room for all to see.

as always looking for the next better one to replace it though
Ben

[RickS]

Now you have to finish covering the wall, Ben :)

[LewisM]

Hmmmm....pierogi, beer and astro images... sounds delicious :)