Choosing an image for your home is a personal and sometimes difficult decision. I know this because I have had many customers say so. Some of it is my fault and having a few too many good images. The other reasons why it may be difficult is becuase you do not know what mediums and what sizes to choose from. Most people don't know this, but what you print on makes a big difference on how the final product will look. That's why there are options so you can get the best results for your home.

What Material Should I Choose?

I print on four mediums or materials: Acrylic, Metal, Canvas, and Paper. If you have seen me at my art shows, you have seen up to three of these materials, metal, canvas and paper. But let me break down the different materials and the advantages they each have to help you in your decision.

Acrylic

Acrylic is considered the current king of fine art photography. An acrylic print is a print that is printed on a special fine art paper and then face mounted to an acrylic sheet. The fine art paper is usually sandwiched between the acrylic and another protective back layer resulting in a sealed fine art print that will last a life time.

Advantages

Image quality in acrylic prints are stunning. They have a fun quality because of the acrylic face mount which causes light to scatter just a bit resulting in highlights (bright spots) to shimmer. In addition they have the highest archival quality, clarity of any print due to the process of the image being sealed within the mounting. Large images look best in this medium and with the right face mount they have almost no glare resulting in a stunning all around amazing image.

Disadvantages

Acrylic are the luxury edition of fine art photography. They are expensive because of this but if you want the best you pay for the best. In addition to this they are quite heavy so once you get one do not plan on moving it as a general rule of thumb. Smaller images are manageable but 40x60in prints can be quite heavy and difficult to move.

Metal

If you have been to my art booth you will have seen my metal prints. I have a fondness towards these prints and the quality and display is very difficult to compete with.

Advantages

Metal prints are vibrant bright and have full saturation. The printing process has a tendency to saturate the images a bit resulting in very colorful prints. They make for a stunning centerpiece to any room being so bright and colorful. In addition metal prints are easy to maintain, as they can be washed with water and a soft cloth. They are light weight and make for easy handling. The glossy nature of them results in stunning contrast but can create issues with glare (more on this below and how to deal with that.) I love working with metal prints and are generally my go to print

Disadvantages

Metal prints are generally printed with a wonderful glossy finish. The glossy finish comes with a drawback depending on the room it is in. In rooms with big windows the print has a tendency to have glare. This glare can be difficult to deal with and people hate it.

How do you manage glare?

The most basic version of dealing with glare is to choose a spot where the image is not facing or near giant windows. But I have been in enough homes to know that when someone is buying a photo they have an exact spot in mind. So The next easiest solution is to get your metal print in what is called a matte metal finish. Matte metal looks similar to canvas, but with vastly better image quality resulting in images that are still stunning but lack glare. You may wonder why I don't normally print on matte? Well the answer is the high gloss finish is simply better, but for most people who don't stare at prints all day like I do, you probably won't notice.

Canvas

Canvas are a long trusted medium for photographers and is probably one medium you are familiar with. Canvas prints are printed on... well canvas! The print is wrapped to a wood frame and then simply hung with a wire hanger.

Advantages

Canvas prints are bright and colorful and have a tendency to blend into a room. They lack the vibrance of metal and acrylic prints making them ideal to be in rooms with paintings and other canvas prints. I don't usually suggest mixing metals and canvas together as the canvas just don't match the beauty of metal prints. The last benefit for canvas is that they are my more affordable prints. If you are starting out as a collector of art or you simply don't have the budget of an acrylic or metal print, the canvas medium might be a good option.

Disadvantages

Generally speaking canvas prints are not as bright and vibrant as acrylic and metal and even paper prints. The texture of the canvas does not allow for precise ink placement and due to ink absorption the image usually lacks the detail and full color of other prints.

Paper

There are lots of different paper types you can print on. So many it actually will make your head swirl to see them all (I mean hundreds). Each paper has its own flavor and advantage and disadvantage. I use a fine art luster paper for my printing as it is not too glossy resulting in glare and too matte like resulting in boring blacks. Its a very good middle of the road print.

Advantages

Paper prints are really nice to use because all printers are designed to work with them. They produce extremely colorful and beautiful prints that result in stunning works of art. They are also traditional making it an ideal medium for those who love photography and want to stick to a form that has been around since the early days of photography. Paper prints finally are my cheapest option up front though framing can dramatically change that. But the nice thing of framing is that you can choose a frame that matches your home.

Disadvantages

The biggest disadvantage of paper is that even after you purchase your image you are not done and cannot hang it up immediately. Paper prints need to be mounted and framed in order to be hung. The framing matting and getting glass can drastically increase the price of the final product. Be aware of this before you purchase a paper print. Depending on the size of your print it may actually be cheaper to simply buy metal or canvas.

What Size Should I Choose

Now comes the age old question of what size of print I should choose. If you did your homework you should have a good idea of what you will want. I generally print my images in two formats or dimensions. My normal print format is in a 2x3 (prints are in inches) format. The sizes I print in are the following:

• 8x12 (paper only)
• 16x24
• 20x30
• 24x36
• 30x45
• 40x60
• 48x72

The other format I print is is panoramic. Panoramic images are printed in a 1x2 format. The general sizes I print are:

• 15x30
• 18x36
• 20x40
• 24x48
• 30x60
• 36x72

Now which size do you choose? Let me walk you through the process of getting the right size.

Do It Yourself

After you have chosen a wall that you plan on putting a print on, decide how big you want. Get yourself a measuring tape and hopefully some blue painters tape you have sitting around your home. Measure out the size you think you want and put some tape where the corners would be. If it is too small choose the next size up. If you need a custom size let me know.

Pro Tip: Give your image a few inches of space around it, so if your size you think you want goes right to the edge or a wall or window, choose the next size down to allow some breathing room.

Let Me Help

If you need additional help the next best thing is for you to do is reach out to me and get some help. Before you do so, choose the wall you want to photograph and photograph it the following way. Look directly at the wall, not at an angle. Get a ruler and hold it up to the wall and make sure it is on the wall in view so I can see the entire thing. Photograph the wall you want and then contact me with the image you want to see on your wall. I will send you an email address for you to send the image too and I will make a mochup of what it will look like.