Working issues with Booksmarts metal media.

[dgberg]

I have a sample pack of Booksmart Metal 8 1/2 X 11" coming this week. I already have a couple of the larger 17 X 22" brushed aluminum pieces. Really beautiful stuff albeit on the pricey side at $40+ a sheet. I have the profile and am planning to print on my 7900 and just hope I don't have a head strike with this stuff. Selecting the widest platen gap is all I can do. Anyone have any tricks with this material. If I was too worried about headstrikes I could print on the 3800 but I think it should work fine. I have always had funky border dimensions with my 7900. (Wider border on the rh side) I never really worried about it because I print mostly canvas and wrap most of the prints. The brushed aluminum is so beautiful I am going to leave a 2" non printed border on all four sides to set off the print. So the border has to be exact as you really have no good way that I know of to trim this stuff down. The plan is to run some cheap sheets of paper laying around and absolutly make sure I have the exact 2" borders especially on the output side.
Can not wait to see how this comes out. I will be printing a 1950 vintage B&W shot of a pretzel oven built by the current company owners father. I think it will make a very special print especially on the brushed aluminum.
This is also a test to find out if I really want to make this material one of our regular offerings.  Any users please chime in with your experiences.

[StevenSzabo]

does anyone have any pictures of samples on this stuff they could post? I'm thinking of offering it for my motorsports shots during the summer, but really want to know what they come out looking like.

Also really curious to see how this works out with the 7900 since I'd be printing them on a 9900...

[dgberg]

Steve,
If you call Booksmart they could direct you to some samples I'm sure. I talked to them last week and they informed me of a large mural in a  casino in Bethlehem,Pa. Thats near me but I have not seen it yet. I have a similar idea with regards to marketing this material. I live 1 mile from Maple Grove Raceway and would like to print several race car images at the management office where everyone signs in. I also have a 9900 and will let you know how it works on both.

[dgberg]

After about a half hour to get an 8 1/2 X 11 to load I finally got it to print(7900). Ruined. It has 2 streaks 1/2" in from both sides where it rubbed off the ink. I spent an hour printing samples on Premium Luster to get the borders just right and if you can believe it 2 of the 4 borders are all different sizes. Twelve bucks of materials and a bunch of labor down the drain. I am now setting up the 3800 and will see if it works any better. The issue I see with this stuff is you can ruin it in a heartbeat.
The guys at booksmart say you cannot clean and reuse but I am going to try cleaning the topcoat off and applying inkaid and reprint and see what happens. Nothing to lose. Those large sheets are $40.00 apiece and I want to get this right before running them through the mill.

[Randy Carone]

Dan,
Sorry to hear about the problems printing metal on the 7900. From my personal experience, the 3880 will print fine, as long as you load it in the front feeder. When I print the material, I increase the platen gap to the widest and the prints look fine. The ink is VERY delicate when it comes out of the printer - the slightest touch of the printed surface will disturb the ink so make certain to put the print aside for an hour or two before spraying, which is mandatory to protect the print.

[dgberg]

Randy,
The first print out of the 3800 came out real nice. Other then some border issues that were my fault. On my 7900 print I held on to the print on the bottom when releasing it and it still scrapped the front bottom edge removing some ink in the process . It also had 2 light scratches down the left and right edges that also put scratches in the ink. I will have to solve where this came from before trying the 17" sheets.

[a.lorge]

It's helpful if you get a fairly thick piece of paper, cut out a hole the size of the metal, tape the metal into the hole, and then run it through the printer.  The metal won't flop around as much when an edge is in between rollers.   I got the idea from this video: (fast forward to 2:20 to see the technique in action).

[ghaynes754]

Dan

I bought a package from Shades of Paper.  Printed on my 9900 using the profile from Booksmarts and it looked great.  Want to try the silver instead of the gold finish.  

Gary

[StevenSzabo]

Dan

I bought a package from Shades of Paper.  Printed on my 9900 using the profile from Booksmarts and it looked great.  Want to try the silver instead of the gold finish.  

Gary

would you be able to share your settings and maybe a picture of the results?

I'm looking at offering these prints, but am nervous about the cost, especially when the OP is saying that they were damaged as it passed through the printer.

[dgberg]

Here's one of my landscape shots on the gold with 1 inch border. I printed this on the 3800 and it was a piece of cake this time. 3 coats of clearjet FA semigloss give it a real nice sheen. The 17 X 22 sheets I received do not fit through the 3800. Who would have thunk   they made the front loading pullout tray only 16 3/4" wide on a 17" wide printer? So the 17" sheets will have to go through the 7900. I will report as things progress. To date 4 - 8 1/2 X 11's printed. 2 in the waste can.
The settings were wide on the platen. Booksmarts metal icc profile. I believe the paper setting was Epson prem. luster photo paper with pk ink.

[Gemmtech]

I would like to ask a question.  Why not clue a print to the metal?  Does the ink look a lot different on the metal than on the paper?
I'm assuming you wouldn't like the slight raised edge of the paper?

[dgberg]

I asked that question on another thread. Wanted to attach my prints to the brushed aluminum Dibond leaving a 3 border all around. The Dibond has the metal fiinish I am looking for and at 3mm no additional backer required. Too thick to put through the printers so the reccomendations were for tranfers and laminators. A direction I do not want to go at least for now. Got enough going on.

[Randy Carone]

Gemmtech,

Inkjet inks are transparent, with the exception of black, which is opaque. The color of the metal shows through most of the colors creating an effect that is not present with white paper. In the past I have printed photos on reflective vinyl using solvent ink and the subtle effect of the reflectivity in the sky is an interesting look.

[dgberg]

Good comments Randy and is the reason I would like to print direct to metal.

[Gemmtech]

Gemmtech,

Inkjet inks are transparent, with the exception of black, which is opaque. The color of the metal shows through most of the colors creating an effect that is not present with white paper. In the past I have printed photos on reflective vinyl using solvent ink and the subtle effect of the reflectivity in the sky is an interesting look.

Wouldn't that be impossible?  transparent you can see right through it (think of glass) and translucent think of a sheer on a window that lets the light in and you can see a figure behind it but you can't see the detail.  No matter how many sheets of glass I stack you can see through it, are you saying inkjet ink is the same?  If all you saw was the metal then how can you discern what the image is?  Maybe you want to use the term translucent?  Similar to Candy Apple automotive paints?  We paint a base coat of gold or silver and topcoat it with red, blue etc and the gold or silver base telegraphs through.

[Randy Carone]

Inkjet inks (except black) are transparent, not translucent. Opaque means solid, as in no light gets through. The ink color combines with the white point to achieve the colors you see on your monitor. When you print on clear you can see through ink, like clear colored gels used in stage lighting. As soon as you add black to a color the opacity increases as a function of black level. If you print a color on a silver base, the effect will be the same as a Candy Color in the automotive world. Try printing on a clear substrate and the above explanation will be immediately obvious.

[Gemmtech]

Inkjet inks (except black) are transparent, not translucent. Opaque means solid, as in no light gets through. The ink color combines with the white point to achieve the colors you see on your monitor. When you print on clear you can see through ink, like clear colored gels used in stage lighting. As soon as you add black to a color the opacity increases as a function of black level. If you print a color on a silver base, the effect will be the same as a Candy Color in the automotive world. Try printing on a clear substrate and the above explanation will be immediately obvious.

Randy,  I meant to write translucent above and I changed it, opaque definitely does not allow the light in.  I just can't wrap my brain around the term transparent regarding any type of ink, but especially a pigment.  In the automotive world we use the term translucent, NOT transparent.  As I stated, transparent generally refers to easily seen through.  If I stack 100 sheets of clear glass I can still see through it.  The more coats of candy apple red paint I apply over a base coat the darker it becomes; the candy color is considered translucent.  If I paint a candy over a clear sheet it will show color and be translucent and I can keep on painting it and it will get darker and darker.  I'm just going to open up an old ink cartridge, you have me curious!