Metallic finish is definitely a product purely offered by pro labs to pro shooters. Metallic finish prints have a pearlescent effect embedded into the paper itself, which adds a luxurious brilliance to your images. Metallic finish almost creates a 3D effect and gives your photos a warmth and depth that no other paper can. Metallic paper is also really durable. Metallic paper is resistant to tearing and curling, and much less likely to scratch—although, again, fingerprints can be an issue!
Some photo book printing companies also use this option. Magazine images are printed directly onto the paper by applying ink, usually using color inkjet printers where the images are made up of thousands of small dots of color. The most popular options are lustre finish and metallic photo paper, with matte close behind. Many pro labs even print images using a variety of matte papers that embody different textures and tone qualities. These matte papers are often press-printed, however, and are typically used for artistic purposes—perhaps for hanging images in a gallery and for higher-end purchases.
As a portrait photographer , I love to gift a collection of prints to my clients as part of their package, so I ideally want the best quality prints I can provide for the lowest cost; and, to my mind, lustre fits that bill perfectly. To finalize your preferences, I suggest that you look at what the subject matter of your photos. Vibrant skin tones? Crisp details? Soft highlights? Each paper type delivers different results, and your prints should reflect your brand aesthetic and client desires.
Msot imporantly, enjoy the whole seeing-smelling-stroking process of all the different types of photo paper—from one paper nerd to another. Just mind those fingerprints! Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Post Comment.
Search for: Subscribe Start Free. Search for:. It is therefore very popular for higher-end wedding albums. A lustre print is one that a lot of photographers prefer, as it has the benefits of both matte prints and glossy paper.
If you want to know what is a lustre photo finish, then it is generally about halfway between matte and glossy but this varies depending on paper manufacturer , with the lustre finish having a slight gloss that helps colors to pop, but not so much gloss that you get a lot of reflective glare. What is lustre paper? Lustre photo paper tends to resist fingerprints better than full glossy paper, and is closer to matte paper in this respect. There is a lovely, very fine texture to the surface of lustre paper that gives a professional look to anything printed on it.
Wedding photos are often printed on luster photo paper, but it can be used for a wide range of uses, and works equally as well for landscape photography. Glossy photos are the shiniest photo paper that you can buy. Although they are the same as matte photo paper underneath, a thick reflective layer has been applied to the surface of the paper.
This makes colors extremely vibrant, but at the expense of increased glare, which can be a problem if the photos are displayed in bright places. They are also a magnet for fingerprints if not handled correctly.
Nonetheless, the glossy finish tends to be the default for most photo labs and home prints, as the effects of the glossy layer really makes photos pop. Professionals, on the other hand, prefer photo papers with less glare, as this can really affect your ability to see the details in a print. Because of the glare, glossy prints are not suited to being placed under glass, hence they work better in photo albums than as framed prints.
Matte photo prints are essentially the opposite of glossy prints. There is a minimal reflective layer, meaning no glare and a higher resistance to fingerprints.
The downsides are that colors will be more muted, meaning that matte makes an excellent choice for black and white images, although you can still get a colorful image assuming you have followed a well-designed workflow.
Matte prints tend to highlight the texture of an image, which makes them a poor choice for high ISO photos, but again this can work really well for black and white photos.
Satin paper is not something offered by all manufacturers of photo paper, and is often named semi-gloss rather than satin. It is very similar to lustre, in that it is around halfway between glossy and matte paper, but is slightly more glossy than lustre. It is not as reflective as glossy, but still offers excellent color vibrancy and range, with reds and oranges often looking particularly powerful.
Because of the reduced glare, satin photos can be placed behind glass and remain viewable for multiple angles, unlike glossy photos. A pearl finish photo is near to a satin finish, but is slightly more glossy. A pearl photo finish is the closest you can get to a glossy photo finish without actually using glossy paper. Due to the similarity between a pearlized photo finish and satin, many manufacturers do not distinguish between the two, with both coming under the name of satin.
Some of the best professional pearlized paper for photos is below. Comparing pearlized paper vs matte and pearl photo paper vs glossy, this falls somewhere in-between, closer to glossy than matte. Metallic prints are very unique looking, and range from printing on metallic paper, to aluminum prints. If we concentrate only on metallic photo finishing on paper, you get a finish that gives incredible color vibrancy, and makes images pop like no other paper.
When to use metallic photo paper? Metallic printing gives an almost 3D appearance in person. They have a shiny surface that does not produce the same level of glare as glossy prints, but can be susceptible to fingerprints.
This means they can be positioned near windows or other light sources, while still remaining viewable. Most people print their metal photos at a very large size, and leave them unframed, but mounted on a thick board to approximate a canvas print. Unlike canvas though, colors are really impressive. Therefore, you are better off to print colorful landscapes on metal paper, not black and white, or darker images. You can make metallic paper prints at home with the below papers.
For prints directly on metal, like aluminum prints, you will have to go to professional photo labs. This is a typical photo finish that produces a special effect of the print having been brushed with chrome. As far as the finish is concerned, it is similar to glossy but metallic in nature.
This finish allows the photos to have rich colors and extraordinary sharpness. Photos done in this finish are very eye catching because of the metallic look as one gets a feeling that the photo has been printed on a metallic background, and the image is popping out of this background. As far as longevity is concerned, metallic finish is a very durable finish.
If you have seen the back side of an aluminum foil, you know what a metallic finish looks like.
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