Aluminum Printed Photos

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Shayla

Shayla

WOW Framer
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Apr 5, 2008
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Washington State
My mother-in-law is having some of her photos printed on aluminum,
and they're beautiful. I'm curious, though, as to the believability of
their 'UV resistant' claims. Anyone have experience with these?
 
I recently had a 5x7 photo printed on an aluminum panel to frame as a Christmas gift for my daughter. It was a photo that she took with a microscope of stained cells while she was doing her first co-op work term in a heart disease research lab. Like you said, Shayla, the photo was beautiful. I don't remember being told that they were UV resistant though. With such vibrant colours, I figured it was best to use a glass with UV protection, and since the frame was small, I splurged at used a piece of Museum glass on it. I posted a couple of photos of the finished frame on my Facebook page (Dec. 27th entry).
 
Beautifully done! Is the hand-painted edge in acrylic?
 
Thanks, Shayla. It was a surprise gift for my daughter and she loved it.

Yes, I just mixed up a bright green paint from a couple colours of acrylic craft paint (the kind you get in the 2oz bottles). It was a bit tough painting just the edge and I did manage to get a bit on the front of the photo, but it wiped off fairly well without damaging the finish. I wouldn't have tried it on a customer's photo, but since it was mine, I figured 'what the heck'.

I'll be going back to the photo store in the new year for another framing project, so I will try to remember to ask them about your UV resistance question and let you know what they say.
 
Shayla, We did tons of these in our photo lab. As a test we put a couple outside on our sidewalk sign. They did fine in the winter but when it got hot the fading was noticeable.
We asked the manufacturers about it an it seems the dyes are sensitive to heat far more than light. It makes sense since it is a heat process that puts the images on the metal.
Called dye sublimation. The images we had in the store didn't seem to be affected by not having glass over them. Unless you use museum glass, I think some of beauty is lost behind glass. We have some at home now I can't really see any fading but I don't have anything to compare directly. Same problem as with any artwork and no glass, indoor pollutants such as smoke, grease and dust will affect the quality. I wouldn't recommend cleaning with anything but cool water.
 
Rhonda in MT said:
Shayla, We did tons of these in our photo lab. As a test we put a couple outside on our sidewalk sign. They did fine in the winter but when it got hot the fading was noticeable.
We asked the manufacturers about it an it seems the dyes are sensitive to heat far more than light. It makes sense since it is a heat process that puts the images on the metal.

Called dye sublimation. The images we had in the store didn't seem to be affected by not having glass over them. Unless you use museum glass, I think some of beauty is lost behind glass. We have some at home now I can't really see any fading but I don't have anything to compare directly. Same problem as with any artwork and no glass, indoor pollutants such as smoke, grease and dust will affect the quality. I wouldn't recommend cleaning with anything but cool water.
Click to expand...

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Interesting that newer dye sub images are becoming heat sensitive. I have tested and dry mounted dye sublimation photos for years with no sign of any damage even at higher temps of 190F-200F. Another update with digitals is original Endura Metallic prints were fine under any heat and now are not, so we must always keep on our toes. All that said--and this has nothing to do with aluminum prints--there is a new 130F low temperature HA board from Gilman Bros called MountCor that safely bonds all these heat sensitive digitals. Whoopee!!
Chris Paschke, CPF GCF
 
DesignsInk said:
-there is a new 130F low temperature HA board from Gilman Bros called MountCor that safely bonds all these heat sensitive digitals. Whoopee!!
Chris Paschke, CPF GCF
Click to expand...

That's good to know, Chris.
In Phoenix, in the summer, I have measured the interior temperature of my parked car in the sun at over 140F.
I have experimented and have successfully shrink wrapped by placing items in my car on the back shelf for shrinking rather than using the heat gun, just to see if it would work.
Maybe I could build a solar dry mount press in my car now. :cool:

We always warn customers in the summer that they can't leave the framing in the car, they need to take it right home or to the office.
 
there are various ways to print on aluminium

1. dye sublimation, there are actually a couple of variants of the same basic system. generally the polyester active coating is white so to give the most vivid colours
2.uv curing inks on flatbed printers (normally used by sign shops) very very durable, but not the highest quality
3. sheets with inkjet receptive coating. because the coating is clear, you see the silver through, instead of white. and generally the inks are not opaque so you get a tone from the silver


the most common with be the dye sublimation based systems. ideally you need to be careful with em they can be delicate
 
Shayla, I asked about the aluminum prints when I went back to the photo store last week and was told that their prints are supposed to last for 100 years under normal conditions and most customers don't frame them with any glass. He was actually surprised when I told him that I had framed mine with glass. Now I'm not sure exactly what process they use to produce the aluminum prints other than the fact that I do remember him saying that they were cured at a high temperature (400 F or so).
 
Thank you! I was wondering a couple of days ago how they are cleaned.
My mother-in-law gets hers printed on both white and black backgrounds,
and it seems like the black could pick up dust pretty easily.
 
shayla said:
Thank you! I was wondering a couple of days ago how they are cleaned.
My mother-in-law gets hers printed on both white and black backgrounds,
and it seems like the black could pick up dust pretty easily.
Click to expand...

That has to be something else. Dye sub is only on white or natural aluminum.
There is also a Mdf photo board black on the edges and back but the front is the standard white polymer coating.
 
stcstc said:
there are various ways to print on aluminium

1. dye sublimation, there are actually a couple of variants of the same basic system. generally the polyester active coating is white so to give the most vivid colours
2.uv curing inks on flatbed printers (normally used by sign shops) very very durable, but not the highest quality
3. sheets with inkjet receptive coating. because the coating is clear, you see the silver through, instead of white. and generally the inks are not opaque so you get a tone from the silver


the most common with be the dye sublimation based systems. ideally you need to be careful with em they can be delicate
Click to expand...

I will agree the edges can be delicate and prone to chipping.
Not so for the surface,harder and tougher then just about anything on the market!
 
We used to do dye sub on tiles and on mugs. We ran one mug in the dishwasher for a year with no fading. No UV , and not aluminum, but it does give an indication about the process.The image transfers from carrier paper to the surface at higher heats, 315-400 is common; and that is what was shown at the Epson booth at the WCAF show. Still Chris says they`ve come up with lower temp materials so that`s good. The dyes from the printer were the problem we found, and this market disappeared in our region. Reds were particularly tricky with the printer. This is the area to also pay special attention to, and unfortunately you can`t tell until you cook the plate, as the paper carrier shows up in a pastelly washed out version of the final copy . (I may start this aspect of our business up again as we have most of what is needed).
 
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