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Professional Photographers of America Magazine Has Published A Review of The Booksmart Fine Art Metals.

Booksmart Studio Metal Media Adds Shine, Depth, and Unconventionality

By Stan Sholik

To read the full article online visit the link here.

Below, see the text excerpt only.

As photographers strive to set themselves apart from their competition, many find offering a unique look to their clients for their prints is a brand-enhancing way to stand out. Booksmart Studio is providing just such an option with inkjet printable aluminum. Photographers with a compatible inkjet printer can create samples, portfolio pieces, and final prints for clients as easily as they create inkjet prints on common media. The look is unique, often three dimensional, and is sure to set your work apart from your competitors.

The five available surfaces of inkjet printable media are, left to right, Satin White, Matte Silver, Satin Silver, Brushed Silver, and Satin Gold.

Five different surfaces are available for the fine art media aluminum sheets that are coated to accept most dye and pigment inks. Satin White has the look of smooth luster paper and is best for images with high detail and saturated colors. Satin Silver has a very fine grain structure that also lends itself to detailed images, and the surface reflects light back through the image making it almost three dimensional when viewed from certain angles.

The Satin White media has the look of smooth luster paper with
high sharpness and saturation. I muted the saturation somewhat
when making this print.

The surface of Satin Gold media is similar in reflectance to Satin Silver, but has an appearance somewhere between brass and 24k gold. This tends to mute saturated colors, and I found it perfect for a bridal portrait where softness is a virtue. Booksmart’s Matte Silver media also provides a muted look, but without the three dimensionality of Satin Gold. Matte Silver also appears somewhat yellowish under certain lighting conditions, but far less so than Satin Gold.

This photo doesn’t begin to do justice to the Satin Gold print that
is far more beautiful. As light reflects from the print at different
angles, the depth of the photo changes from two dimensional
to three dimensional.

Brushed Silver is the final surface option and it is my personal favorite. With the texture of brushed aluminum sheet metal, it’s probably not the choice for romantic portraits or for weddings. But the infrared landscape photo I printed on it is just amazing, as is a commercial still life. The illusion of depth is outstanding, as is the ability to hold a deep black and clean white.

An infrared image printed on Brushed Silver appears positive in
some areas and almost negative in others while retaining the
surface pattern of a brushed aluminum sheet metal. Blacks are
deep and rich, and whites are clean with good detail.

All of these media have an adhesive backing protected by a peel off sheet. This makes mounting easy. Two different thicknesses are available, 0.005 inch foil or 0.020 inch sheets. Any printer that has a straight pass-through will print on the media. I printed 8.5×11-inch sheets of the 0020 inch media on an Epson Stylus Pro 3880 and a Canon imagePrograf iPF6400 using ICC profiles provided by Booksmart Studio. The Epson printing was totally straightforward.

The 24-inch Canon isn’t designed to print on media this small loaded from the front. A quick call to Canon tech support brought the suggestion to tape the metal to an 11 x 14-inch sheet before feeding it into the printer and that worked perfectly. Prints from both printers are gorgeous, each with its look even with the same image.

Satin Silver has a very fine grain surface that results in an accurate color reproduction of the original image with excellent detail. As with Satin Gold, light reflects back through the inkjet layer producing a three dimensional look at certain angles.

The Matte Silver media has a slight yellow cast that adds warmth
to the image. The same file is used for this print that is used for
the Satin Silver print. Differences in reflectance account for the
variation in density, but the color difference is a result of the
different color casts of the media.

Care is required in handling the metal sheets, both before and after printing. To avoid oily fingerprints that would interfere with printing, cotton gloves should be used when loading the printer. Gentle handling is also required to avoid bending corners or warping the sheet, which would prevent it from feeding properly through the printer.

After printing, the surface should be coated or laminated after allowing the print to dry for 20 minutes. Booksmart Studio recommends two or three coats of Clearstar AFA Semi-Gloss coating followed by two to eight coats of Clearstar AFA Gloss coating to reach your desired gloss level.

More information is available from the Booksmart Studio website. A sample pack of 8.5×11-inch sheets of 0.020 inch thick media is available from Booksmart Studios for $49.30. Packages of sheets of a single type are available in sizes from 8.5×11 inches to 20×80 inches. Visit the Booksmart Studio site for pricing.

By |January 20th, 2013|Categories: Featured, Fine Art Metal, Reviews|Comments Off on Professional Photographers of America Magazine Has Published A Review of The Booksmart Fine Art Metals.

Booksmart Fine Art Metal available at inkAID & Shades of Paper

The Booksmart Fine Art Metal series is now available from either inkAID or Shades of Paper, as the popularity continues to grow. Both retailers will have all five surfaces available along with every size we have cut.

The inkAID product can be used in conjunction with the Fine Art Metal series to create images with multiple layers. This can be done by first printing on the metal then using inkAID to coat on top of the printed piece and finally print again on top of the inkAID surface. This is why we have teamed up with inkAID to offer their material to artists and photographers while they also distribute our metal series. The creative options are limitless!

By |February 7th, 2007|Categories: Fine Art Metal, News|Comments Off on Booksmart Fine Art Metal available at inkAID & Shades of Paper

Booksmart Studio announces two new sizes in the Fine Art Metal series.

Booksmart Studio is pleased to announce two new sizes in the Fine Art Metal Series. The 13″x19″ & 17″x22″ are available at this time only in the Satin Silver line, on a regular basis. All of the metal surfaces can be cut to these sizes with a two week lead time. These sizes have been demanded over the past month, if you have a size request please let Booksmart Studio now. Unfortunately, we can go offer anything wider than 20″ in the width dimension at this time.

• All of our metals are also available with a two week lead time in 20″x40″ & 20″x60″ sizes along with other custom sizes.
• Current sizes for all Fine Art Metals: 8.5″x11″, A4, A3, 20″x24″We will be showing the Fine Art Metal Series at Photo Plus in NYC at the Fredrix/Shades of Paper booth. If you would like to see examples of images printed on the different metal surfaces. We will also have sample packs that can be purchased at the show.

By |October 21st, 2006|Categories: Fine Art Metal, Substrate Information|Comments Off on Booksmart Studio announces two new sizes in the Fine Art Metal series.

Booksmart Studio’s announces our Fine Art Metal Series

Booksmart Studio is pleased to announce our line-up of fine art metal that are coated for inkjet printing with most printers. The line-up of metals includes aluminum-brushed, matte, & satin along with Satin Gold. The thickness of these metals varies from .012 & .016, which allows you to put them directly through your Canon, Epson, or HP printers with a straight pass through. Printing images on these metals give an appearance of being backlite and the image quality mimics that of Ilfochrome with the Aluminum Satin finish.

A full-line of ICC profiles will be completed over the next week or two for all Epson printers that the fine art metals will work with. Including: Epson 2200, R1800, R2400, 4000, 4800, 7600/9600, & 7800/9800.

Initial orders are being taken by phone at 1.800.761.6623.

By |August 22nd, 2006|Categories: Fine Art Metal, Substrate Information|Comments Off on Booksmart Studio’s announces our Fine Art Metal Series

Libro Collection.com

If you are looking to purchase a Libro Portfolio or have Booksmart Studio produce your prints for your portfolio. Please be sure to visit our dedicated Libro shop website at http://www.librocollection.com.

Inkjet Metal.com

If you are looking to purchase Fine Art Metal or have Booksmart Studio print on the fine art metal. Please be sure to visit our dedicated Inkjet Metal shop website at http://www.inkjetmetal.com.

Fine Edition Printing.com

If you are looking to work with Booksmart Studio to produce your Fine Edition Inkjet Prints for an exhibition or just start an open edition. Please be sure to visit our dedicated Fine Edition Printing shop website at http://www.fineeditionprinting.com.

Custom ICC Profiling.com

Order your custom ICC Profiles now. Please be sure to visit our dedicated Custom ICC Profiling shop at http://www.customiccprofiling.com.
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