Metal or Paper? Choosing Between a ChromaLuxe and a Fine Art Paper Print

Buy metal when the print is going somewhere hard on art (bright light, steam, a kitchen, a kid's room) or when you want it big and don't want to deal with framing. Buy paper when budget matters, when you want to choose the frame yourself, or when the print is small enough that you'll look at it up close.

I print both. Here is what actually separates them.

What is a ChromaLuxe metal print?

ChromaLuxe is a brand of aluminum panel with a white polymer coating. The photograph is printed onto transfer paper with dye inks, then pressed against the panel under heat. The dye turns to gas and sinks into the coating. Nothing sits on the surface, so there's nothing to scratch off or peel.

Wilhelm Imaging Research, the independent lab most of the print industry relies on for permanence testing, rates ChromaLuxe panels at 65 years on display before noticeable fading when printed with Epson UltraChrome DS inks. That assumes normal indoor light. Any print in direct afternoon sun will do worse.

My limited editions are all 24 × 36 inch ChromaLuxe panels in a float frame, which holds the metal a little off the wall so it seems to hover. There's no glass, so there's no glare and no reflection of the window across the room.

What is a Hahnemühle paper print?

Hahnemühle is a German paper mill that has been making paper since 1584. For open editions I use two of their papers:

• Photo Rag Metallic (340 gsm) for most images. It has a gloss with a slight metallic sheen that gives skies and ice a lot of depth.
• Museum Etching (350 gsm) for matte work. The surface has texture, close to watercolor paper, and it meets ISO 9706, the standard for long-lasting paper.

Before settling on Hahnemühle I tried papers from Canon, Epson, Moab, Canson Infinity, Fujifilm and Inkpress. None of them were bad. Hahnemühle held deep blues and blacks better than any of them.

Open editions come signed and matted but unframed: an 8.5 × 11 image in a 16 × 20 mat, or a 13 × 19 image in an 18 × 24 mat.

Side by side

Where metal is better

Durability is the obvious one. You can wipe a metal print with a damp cloth. It doesn't mind steam, and it won't ripple inside a frame in a humid summer the way paper sometimes does.

Color is the less obvious one. Dye fused into a white gloss coating gives very saturated color and deep contrast. For night skies, storms and glacier ice, that intensity is what I want.

It's also the only way I print at 24 × 36, so if you want one photograph to hold a big wall, it's metal.

Where paper is better

Price, first. An open edition costs a tenth of a limited edition.

Texture, second. Museum Etching has a surface you can feel, and behind good glass it reads as an object rather than a screen. Fog, soft light and black and white images often look better on matte paper, because gloss can fight a quiet image.

Control, third. Because paper prints arrive unframed, you pick the frame for the room: oak, black, white, thin or deep. A local framer can do this. Ask for UV-filtering glass or acrylic. It matters more for the life of a paper print than anything else you'll decide.

Which lasts longer?

Metal. The papers and inks I use for open editions are archival, but paper still needs glass, still reacts to humidity and can still be damaged by handling. A framed paper print kept out of direct sun will look good for decades. A metal print gets there with less care.

How to choose

• A kitchen, a bathroom, or a wall that gets sun part of the day: metal.
• A bedroom or study where you'll see it from a few feet away: paper, especially matte.
• The main living room wall: usually metal, because of size. If you'd rather have paper there, hang two or three together. What size print goes above a sofa or bed has the measurements.
• A first print, or a gift: paper.

Intrepid

from $300.00

3 sizes available

Intrepid, Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Iceland.