Looking for metal prints that don't turn black colors green?

[newbie15]

Does anyone have experience with a metal print company where black hair doesn't come out with a greenish tint?

[Phil Indeblanc]

who have you been using so far?

Have you tried Bayriver?

[chez]

Does anyone have experience with a metal print company where black hair doesn't come out with a greenish tint?

I had the same issue with my samples. I got them from Bay Photo and was not happy.

[newbie15]

bump, anyone?

[digitaldog]

I suspect it’s the profile or conversion.

I did build a custom profile for a company that does this work but short of the targets themselves I didn't see output but the black on the targets was indeed black.

http://primophoto.com/metal-prints

[Justan]

Does anyone have experience with a metal print company where black hair doesn't come out with a greenish tint?

Give these guys a call: http://nwfineartprinting.com

I’ve toured their facility and it is state of the science in every respect. I’ve known the owner (Bob S.) for about 15 years. He will be happy to discuss your needs and concerns. When you call, relay to Bob that “Justan Elk” sent you. Note i get no commission or anything else from them if you or anyone else contacts them, but am always happy to recommend a skillful group.

[dkeyes]

I'm having a printer in Seattle print my work on Lexjet Sunset Metallic. Very neutral blacks. They are using HP z6200 machines (and 6800 I think).
Lab is called Bumblejax

[aphotoguru]

I second that about Bay Photo (Chez) - they get a lot of recommendations, but also a LOT of complaints about green hair (I would stay clear).  Besides they are a pro shop, require downloading software (like a lot of the pro shops).

Check out Aluminyze.  They give a discount to pros, are fast, include color correction for free and NEVER any green hair--and aluminum is ALL they do.

Actually, I believe they are one of, if not the biggest (do the work for a lot of other places) out there (since they also handle consumers--but it comes out like a pro shop).  They are a "primary" source (not one of the resellers). Again, check with them for discounts to pros.

[chubbs12]

I've recently purchased metal prints from several of the "big" labs and all had some color issues - weather it be blacks going green, yellow tints where they shouldn't be, or too much red! 

After reading this post and contacting http://nwfineartprinting.com, I can't agree with Justan more.  I spoke with someone in their customer service department (I think her name was Meghan) and she explained that they have a color management expert on staff - they are the only photo lab that I've heard of with a G7 color expert.  Also, I was looking at their facebook page and they just posted a video about how they make their metal prints... Here is the link for anyone interested (http://youtu.be/W4-Im45Znwo). I've had several files printed there and they have been awesome!  I've stopped getting metal though because they do a great job on canvas at a very fair price and the few customers that I have that want something new or unique I do what they call Fine Art Acrylics.  Metal is becoming to "popular" for my tastes!  Only thing I don't like is their website isn't as friendly to use, so I email my files to them and they place orders for me.  They say they are going to update their website this summer with a new ordering system like ROES, but when I asked what day and month that would happen it was very vague. for now just emailing a dropbox to the email address on their website gets my orders processed and shipped to me, so I just prep my images in lightroom first.

The Fine Art Acrylics are very similar to what another poster mentioned he gets from a Seattle Company.  I've actually seen Fine Art Acrylics from both Bumblejax and Northwest Fine Art, BumbleJax does a good job, but it's way nicer at northwest Fine Art.  Northwest art uses an acrylic that is twice as thick as the Bumblejax guys, and then they cut it some special way so the edges are really nice.  The guys in Seattle use a thin acrylic that has a piece of metal and wood glued on the back.  The Northwest art one just looks so much more finished and it costs a lot less from northwest art.

as for pricing, someone said you get a discount for Aluminyze, but so does northwest fine art - so it really just depends if you are on the east coast or west coast (as norhwest fine art is in Seattle and Aluminyze is in New York I think).  But with my pro discount I really couldn't find anyone cheaper for metal prints than northwest art printing (expect for on Groupon and we know how those go). 

[brinked]

if blacks are turning green that usually means the company is pressing the print with too much heat or time.  Its very important that blacks remain black.  We actually do a lot of prints that have deep black borders, or have a deep black background, I know how important it is to hit the blacks.

A sample print from a company can be deceiving, as they raise the time for larger prints, so it could very well be they are using too much time for the larger prints which is in turn causing the prints to come out green/burned.  Or they could have their time set to accomodate large prints, and if using this same formula for smaller prints, they are likely to get that burned/greenish tint.

As a metal print lab owner, understanding the exact formula of time/temp/pressure for each size is very critical and it took lots of trial and error to get there.  Whatever formulas are seen on the web are not a one size fits all.  The larger the print, the longer the time.

[TateD]

Hi, this is Tate from Bumblejax.  I just wanted to respond here since our company was mentioned in the following.  Hopefully I can clear up a few things..

"The Fine Art Acrylics are very similar to what another poster mentioned he gets from a Seattle Company.  I've actually seen Fine Art Acrylics from both Bumblejax and Northwest Fine Art, BumbleJax does a good job, but it's way nicer at northwest Fine Art.  Northwest art uses an acrylic that is twice as thick as the Bumblejax guys, and then they cut it some special way so the edges are really nice.  The guys in Seattle use a thin acrylic that has a piece of metal and wood glued on the back.  The Northwest art one just looks so much more finished and it costs a lot less from northwest art."

First of all thanks for giving our product a try.  I wanted to mention that we offer the acrylic in varying thicknesses of 1/8", 1/4", 1/2" and 1" blocks.  We provide any configuration you like.  As far as the metal on the back of the acrylic (which is called dibond - an aluminum composite), this is added for two reasons.  One to provide rigidity to the acrylic and keep it from bowing.  Second, it provides a place for us to add the float blocks and hanging wire.   Why do it this way since it's more expensive than using stand offs?  We do it this way to provide a true floating off the wall look with no distractions to your photo (ie stand off bolts in the corner).  We believe the added cost is well worth it in this case.  We have the choice of using kiln dried doug fir wood or aluminum u-channel to float and hang the art.  Regarding the edges we provide the option there as well .. either a diamond polished edge with clear see through edge or routed and more opaque. 

[shadowblade]

No problems with Bay Photo, but I suspect they've changed either their inkset or their colour management for metal prints. The prints I got from them when they first started making metal prints were jet-black, but I've heard reports more recently of greenish tones.

Certainly no problems with blacks with Imagewizards, though.

[bgasser]

Take a look at the following review on my companies b/w metal prints.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/56868302

Ben Gasser
Metal Mouth Prints
Kansas City
http://www.metalmouthprints.com
http://www.bengasser.com