Breathing Color Allure

[PeterAit]

Said to permit printing directly on metal with an Epson printer. What are people's experiences with this? Looks tempting!

[Mark D Segal]

In case you missed it I reviewed this product on this website some time back. Allure Review

[PeterAit]

In case you missed it I reviewed this product on this website some time back. Allure Review

Thanks - I will read the review.

[dgberg]

I would be careful before jumping on that stuff too fast.
After printing the surface it needs some sort of protection similar to Seals polyester hi-gloss film laminate requiring a laminator.
You cannot print borderless on all the sheet sizes so you should have an aluminum cutter/trimmer.
If you want the corners radiuses you then need a corner radius cutter.
Accucutter sells the trimmers and corner radius punches.
You may be able to spray a top coat solvent protection similar to Clearjet but my results have been less then satisfactory.
If you have ever tried Booksmart Studio's metal this is a very similar product.
You can also as an alternative purchase sheetmetal flashing, cover it with Inkaid and accomplish almost the same thing.
Always check your material thickness with a micrometer and set that platen to the widest setting.
 Your printer manual will have the max material thickness that can be run through your printer.
All of these products are nothing even close to Dye Sub on Hi-Gloss Chromaluxe metal.

[Ken Doo]

I would be hesitant as well. Dan's description actually makes it sound easy.

You do need to coat the metal print (laminate) after printing for the image to come into its own. A thinner laminate is better. Too much pressure and you get orange peel. The laminate is also needed to protect the print, otherwise it is very easy to damage/ruin. There are a lot of steps where you can "go wrong."  Dust or contaminate? Start over. Check into the price of a good quality metal shear----not inexpensive. They are also large, heavy, and take up quite a bit of floor space.  There is lots to consider before making the commitment----it's not like trying a new paper!

ken

[PeterAit]

Thanks for the responses. After reading them and Mark's review, I still have one basic question: why would one want to print on this? My understanding is that the aluminum has a surface that is white and looks a lot like regular matte paper. So the prints will look like prints on matte paper, no? Does the metal substrate  allow more presentation options?

[Mark D Segal]

Thanks for the responses. After reading them and Mark's review, I still have one basic question: why would one want to print on this?

Mainly convenience and perhaps durability. No need to mount the print after it's made. As well, coating it properly gives it some bespoke "allure" :-)

[dgberg]

Thanks for the responses. After reading them and Mark's review, I still have one basic question: why would one want to print on this? My understanding is that the aluminum has a surface that is white and looks a lot like regular matte paper. So the prints will look like prints on matte paper, no? Does the metal substrate  allow more presentation options?

Meant to have the similar look of a Dye sub metal print that you can print on your own pigment printer.
Laminating with a hi-gloss laminate is required to give the print the so called dye sub metal hi-gloss look.

[Yvan Bedard]

According to Breathing Color web site, one can use Timeless Matte Varnish instead of laminating the aluminum panel. Has anyone tried it?

Since it is the matte varnish, this should help with the major problem of reflection found on most aluminun prints. I don't like aluminum and plexiglass prints because of their glossy look that is unusable in a room with windows. I've tried to sell them in art galleries and nobody buys them... while I sell a lot of framed canvas prints.

I assume it is easy to varnish when one has experience with Timeless varnishing.

I've not tried it yet.