Photo Printing - Acrylic

jimbling

Hey guys,
I'm only a newbie photographer, and not very good.... but I did take some really nice shots (in my opinion anyway) on my recent travels. Mainly the ones I took of the wildlife and scenery on Galapagos.... pretty hard to not take great pictures there

Anyway, I've been thinking for a while that I would like to get a few blown up and printed for wall hanging. Then today I spotted the groupon offer for Acrylic prints by picanova. So I guess my questions are as follows:
1) Has anyone used Picanova before and are they reputable? (Advice on other companies you have used would be appreciated too)
2) Has anyone experience of printing their photos on Acrylic? I like the idea, but not sure how the shots will come out.
3) Are there alterations I should make to the pictures with Acrylic in mind? As I said, I’m a true amateur and the only mods I’ve made to pics post shot are minor changes like exposure, contrast and vibrancy etc…

Anyway, all advice welcome…..

jimbling

So, not something ye guys do regularly then I guess

secman

Only speaking to a colleage in the office yesterday who used this service and noted there was a special on this week. He was very happy with his canvas print from one of his own photo's. He is only a point and shoot guy but said it turned out very well.

Secman

melekalikimaka

i printed my college exhibition on acrylic, i'll try pull a photo of them up from it, I ended up winning an award for the presentation of the work, IMO all down to the acrylic printing, the images i used were a mix of quite contrasty bright and dull colours


HandDanbo by melekalikimaka, on Flickr

A Steamy Relationship by melekalikimaka, on Flickr

Danbo Like Smarties by melekalikimaka, on Flickr

and tbh the looked better, so so much better than standard printing, tho I think the pictures theme kinda lends to suiting acrylic.

I used steve at 360dpi, good price, not as cheap as that deal, but I think with this sort of printing theres so much that can go wrong in the process I wanted it done properly, and it paid dividends

jimbling

That's what's making me most interested. A lot of my favourite shots are very vibrant and colourful. I have a feeling they will look really nice on the acrylic.

stcstc

what you could do to try it is do some small acrylic blocks, they are cheapish, and see if you like the results before splashing out for big prints

Rew

I recently printed a photo of mine on normal photopaper and hung it like wallpaper, might be another option. Results were good though we got some bubbling but I think that was my own fault.

stcstc

looks good although if its not laminated it aint gonna stand up to much

i have done a bunch of those kinda things, i tend to print on self adhesive vinyl it means applying it is way easier, of yea and laminate it

jimbling

In fairness though, with the deal on groupon it's not really that expensive. I could get two 24" x 16" done for €60. That's seems pretty good value. It's around €90+ for one on most sites.

I'm thinking I'll just get two done..... now to just decide what pictures to choose!!

stcstc

thats very very cheap

the materials to make them (properly) would cost 45-50 euros

jimbling

stcstc wrote: »

thats very very cheap

the materials to make them (properly) would cost 45-50 euros

I have been stung by these "amazing" deals on groupon before, but think I'll take the gamble.

Does anyone know anything about the company involved? Picanova.co.uk?

stcstc

they are printing onto the acrylic with a sign printer. if you know what your looking for it wont be as good as doing it the proper way

which is to print onto high quality photographic paper and then mount that onto the acrylic

the other thing is the acrylic is only 3mm thick, you want at bare min 5mm acrylic and normally i use 8 or 10 mm

jimbling

stcstc wrote: »

they are printing onto the acrylic with a sign printer. if you know what your looking for it wont be as good as doing it the proper way

which is to print onto high quality photographic paper and then mount that onto the acrylic

the other thing is the acrylic is only 3mm thick, you want at bare min 5mm acrylic and normally i use 8 or 10 mm

I know very very little about it all to be honest. Thanks for the info... I'll do a bit of research now.

jimbling

stcstc wrote: »

they are printing onto the acrylic with a sign printer. if you know what your looking for it wont be as good as doing it the proper way

which is to print onto high quality photographic paper and then mount that onto the acrylic

the other thing is the acrylic is only 3mm thick, you want at bare min 5mm acrylic and normally i use 8 or 10 mm

Just curious about this. Is the reason you want a bare min of 5mm due to the fact that you are mounting the paper onto the acrylic?
Since what they're doing is printing onto the glass, perhaps the 3mm is okay?

melekalikimaka

jimbling wrote: »

Just curious about this. Is the reason you want a bare min of 5mm due to the fact that you are mounting the paper onto the acrylic?
Since what they're doing is printing onto the glass, perhaps the 3mm is okay?

When i was looking into this i found the thinner acrylic made it look less like a acrylic print and more like a hardened sign that you'd see like a notice board of sorts if you get me... I'm presonally very tempted by this offer but i wouldnt mind seeing one before i take the plunge,

stcstc

no its more to do with the effect, the thicker the acrylic the better the effect

stcstc

if you want to see the effect come out to my shop and have a look, i have 4mm, 8mm , 10mm and 20mm pieces done with the process

jimbling

stcstc wrote: »

no its more to do with the effect, the thicker the acrylic the better the effect

Okay... cheers.

stcstc wrote: »

if you want to see the effect come out to my shop and have a look, i have 4mm, 8mm , 10mm and 20mm pieces done with the process

That's a bit of a trek for me unfortunately.

stcstc

ah sorry didnt look where you were

maybe there is a gallery or something in cork with some on display

jimbling

I think I'll just take a chance. Get one done and see how it comes out.

32" x 24" for €50 incl delivery. If it doesnt turn out great so be it.....

melekalikimaka

jimbling wrote: »

I think I'll just take a chance. Get one done and see how it comes out.

32" x 24" for €50 incl delivery. If it doesnt turn out great so be it.....

Aye if i wasnt financially dessimated from xmas i would follow suit, photos up on wall would be great

jimbling

Right lads... gonna post a few of the pics here. Would appreciate your thoughts on which one to get done.

Note: I dont have access to my full photos, these are copied from my Facebook Uploads, so are not the true quality.

jimbling

This is probably one of my favourite pictures. Would really like to get it done, but not sure if it's right for this sort of print. Again, the true quality is much better. Much more vibrant colours.

jimbling

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melekalikimaka

maybe check with steve but i'd imagine the printing technique wouldnt lend to heavily detailed images

jimbling

melekalikimaka

the bus image i think would suit the acrylic very well, sunset acrylic is a little too dentist waiting room, and plant and animal wouldnt be my bag, but that bus one is excellent