Print art on metal: metal prints put your artwork on a rigid 3 mm metal panel, with no frame and no glazing between the picture and the room. The result is crisp and flat, and it suits graphic work, saturated colour and strong silhouettes more than soft washes. There are three sizes, 30 x 40, 40 x 50 and 50 x 70 cm.
Print art on metal that suits the panel
Bold outlines, flat colour and high contrast make the most of a hard, smooth panel. A painted figure lit from one side, a sci-fi scene, a logo you designed or a comic panel all hold up well. Soft watercolour, pencil shading and very pale images lose some of their gentleness here; for those, uncoated paper is the kinder surface.
Three sizes on a 3 mm panel
Every panel is 3 mm thick, in 30 x 40, 40 x 50 or 50 x 70 cm. The smallest works on a shelf or a desk wall; 50 x 70 cm is large enough to anchor a room. Because the panel is rigid, the picture stays flat across its whole width.
Aluminium prints, and photos on metal
The panel is 3 mm aluminium dibond with a white coating, and the picture is printed directly onto it by UV printing. That is how our print partner, who make it, describe their standard aluminium print in their product notes, which also say white ink isn't used, so white or transparent areas of your picture show the white base. A photograph prints on it the same way a painting does, and strong light with clear contrast suits the hard, smooth surface best.
Painted figures on metal
A miniature painted with strong contrast, bright spot colours or a glowing effect such as lenses, runes or fire suits a metal panel well. Light the model from one side and shoot it against black or a deep colour, so the figure stands out from the background. A panel with a dark surround and one bright subject is exactly the kind of image this surface handles best.
Check the corners
A panel has hard, square corners, and nothing sits over the picture to hide a tight crop. Look at the crop at your chosen size and make sure nothing important sits in a corner or tight against an edge. A figure cropped at the ankles or a title touching the border is more noticeable on a bare panel than inside a frame.
Planning a set of panels
Several panels at the same size, hung in a row with even gaps, make a clean display for a painted army, a campaign's heroes or a series of illustrations. Crop each image to the same proportion before you order, so faces and horizons line up from one panel to the next.
Your artwork or a scene
Send the file you already have and it goes on the panel as it is. A painted miniature can instead be placed in a new setting with “Create a scene”; you see the finished picture first, and only one you approve is made. When the metal print is posted, the tracking lands in your inbox. Delivery and returns covers how long it takes.
