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large printing on metallic ( pearlescent paper)

drazin

Member
i like the paper that Mpix offers the Metallic, but they do not print large enough for what i am thinking.

does anyone know where i can get a photo printed about 56 inches wide panoramic on this paper?
 
Check with West Coast Imaging and Photocraft. Photocraft (pcraft.com) does panoramics, but you will have to check with them about metallic paper. WCi does metallic, but only to 50".
 
J

jjlphoto

Guest
I'm guessing that since it is a conventional wet process paper (Kodak Endura), it is manufactured just to meet the requirements of those types of processors. I haven't seen a current print processor 56" wide. And if there are, most likely quite rare, and not enough of them to warrant Kodak making stock that wide. (I may be wrong however.)
 

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
Sounds like he wanted to print a 56" long panorama, which means it's probably only 30" or so wide. I know we can easily print that long with our Chromira printer, so any lab using one of those can print this long if they choose. I think the durst theta's can print this long as well. I believe the 24" noritisu's are limited to 36" in length.

West Coast Imaging has Chromira printers, but they use Fuji paper. Fuji's supergloss is similar to Kodak Metallic ... very cibachrome like .... but without the silverly "metal" look to it.

Surprised WHCC has that limit since I'm pretty sure their printers/processor can handle it. It may be they just don't list it. Many labs will print larger sizes with just a square foot price. Might be worth a call. Also might want to check out Miller's, the parent of mPix. They might do them.

I have one lab bookmarked that I remember was mentioned in a thread somewhere that could print this large on metallic, but no idea as to how good they are. http://www.elcocolor.com
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
The limiting factor is the width of Kodak Endura metallic which is a maximum of 30"----the lab can create a channel for you to enable printing of just about any length you need.

I've used Bay Photo to print a pano 30" x 96" on Kodak metallic. Bay Photo uses a Durst Theta. Larry Arbitol is excellent on customer service.

There really isn't an inkjet alternative (pushing 44" or 60" media) for metallic similar to Kodak's endura metallic. I may have found a new substrate specialty fine art metallic paper available in 44" rolls (and sheets) but it is also extremely expensive.... I'll stick to the 30" max width of Kodak's metallic for now....
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
The limiting factor is the width of Kodak Endura metallic which is a maximum of 30"----the lab can create a channel for you to enable printing of just about any length you need.

I've used Bay Photo to print a pano 30" x 96" on Kodak metallic. Bay Photo uses a Durst Theta. Larry Arbitol is excellent on customer service.

There really isn't an inkjet alternative (pushing 44" or 60" media) for metallic similar to Kodak's endura metallic. I may have found a new substrate specialty fine art metallic paper available in 44" rolls (and sheets) but it is also extremely expensive.... I'll stick to the 30" max width of Kodak's metallic for now....
EDIT: Just found out that Kodak now does offer Endura Metallic on 50" roll (hope it still does?), but now need to snoop out a Pro-Lab that has a 50" capable printer and that carries the 50" roll.....
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
Just thought I'd give a quick update on "metallic" media options. There finally is an "inkjet" option.

Red River Paper has released their new Polar Pearl Metallic paper, and it is hyped up to be similar to Kodak's Endura Metallic. I picked up a 24" roll and am printing test images on my Epson 9800. A 24" x 100 roll is about US$236.

In a nutshell: The RR Polar Pearl shares some similarities with the Kodak Metallic, but it's not quite an exact replacement. Kodak's Metallic still has quite a bit more zing to it, and still remains quite unique. To be fair, the Polar Pearl does seem to be more "color balanced" and probably more suitable for portraits, and less prone to blow out the highlights as the Kodak Metallic is known to do if not careful. If it makes any sense, the Polar Pearl has more of a "gentle" metallic characteristic, thus "pearl." The surface of the Polar Pearl Metallic is a somewhat fragile paper, though probably not quite as much as Harman's Baryta. Spraying with Premier Art Shield is probably not recommended. The paper surface is very smooth and shiny; spraying leaves a light gritty feel. No idea as to longevity or archivability, though with pigmented inks we'll probably all be long gone or in retirement homes and unable to recall what the initial image looked like in the first place. (Guy will still be buying a new MFDB every other year...) :ROTFL:

Lexjet is also releasing their Sunset Metallic Paper---which coincidentally is also a 10 mil, 255 gm paper like the Red River Polar Pearl. I'm placing bets it's the same paper but with a different label. Lexjet is more expensive (no surprise) and costs US$279 for a 24" x 100 roll. I have a 10" x 100 roll from Lexjet coming in soon. Both Lexjet and Red River will offer rolls up to 44" wide----so this is the big news in terms of offering something "similar" to Kodak Metallic without the 30" wide limitation. The RR Polar Pearl Metallic Paper looks good for both color and B&W images. At the very least, it is a good "glossy" media option. I'd expect similar of Lexjet's offering. I'm inclined to keep a 10" roll and 44" roll on hand in studio.

Lexjet says it is not really possible to generate an icc printer profile on their metallic, though Imageprint has one for Lexjet's paper I am told. Red River provides an icc printer profile and it does seem to be accurate. Again, if the the papers are the same, you can probably use the Red River icc profile on the Lexjet paper brand. I haven't tried generating my own icc profiles with Spyder 3 Print.

:) ken
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
Just a quick update:

I'm positive these two metallic wanna-be papers from Lexjet and Red River are the SAME. Is it the oh-so coincidental 255 gm 10 mil similarity that tipped me off? Well, maybe. But the clincher is that both rolls use that same damned white tape to secure the paper roll end onto the media---which literally has stronger adhesive properties than duct tape, forcing you to lose the first 12-17" of media because it is impossible to remove without damaging the paper where the tape has adhered. Whoever is the packing manufacturer needs to take some packing lessons from the folks over at Hahnemuhle.

I printed up one image on both the 24" Red River roll and the 10" roll of Lexjet. I cannot see a difference. I think the claims of being a carbon copy to Kodak's Endura metallic are more hype---or over-claims (is that a word?). Both share "metallic" qualities and are quite nice, but they are not Kodak Metallic clones. How about "super glossy replacement with metallic qualities?" Red River sells their Polar Pearl for less than Lexjet---no surprise, but only Lexjet offers the 10" rolls. Red River tells me that they will be offering 44" rolls soon. (I don't print sheets).

The icc printer profiles from Red River's Polar Pearl Metallic work fine on the Lexjet Sunset Metallic paper. (I haven't tried generating my own profiles with Spyder 3 Print).
See the right hand column: http://www.redrivercatalog.com/browse/66lb-polar-pearl-metallic-inkjet-photo-paper.html

Ken :)
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
Quick update:

Lexjet has their rolls of Sunset Metallic in. Average price there is about $1.40 sq./ft in rolls. 10", 17", 24" 36" and 44" rolls available.

Red River also has their rolls of Polar Pearl Metallic in. Quite a bit less expensive, but they don't carry the 10" roll. 17", 24" and 42" rolls available. I did notice that Red River has "solved" the white tape issue ruining the first 12"-18" of roll media: their rolls are now 105' long, adding 5' of media. Nice. :)
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
Would you believe? Yup, there's yet another metallic inkjet option. Mitsubishi Imaging offers its Grace Digital Pearlescent paper which is being distributed by www.itsupplies.com

I recently received a 24" roll of the Grace metallic paper from It Supplies. Surprisingly, it is not the same paper as that offered by Lexjet or Red River. It is also a 255 gsm, 10.4 mil paper. Typical of It Supplies, the Grace metallic paper was sent to me carefully packaged with a separate shipping box. No manly white duct tape on this media. The paper came wrapped in kraft paper, and then sealed in plastic.

The paper surface is a smooth pearl, but has sparkles---yes, sparkles is all I can think of---on the paper. Somewhat irridescent. It has similar metallic qualities, though not quite the same hyperbole is used by It Supplies in describing this media. It is as fragile as the other papers offered by Lexjet and Red River, and actually glossier than either. I'm not sure about the sparkles yet, and probably need to print more. None of these new inkjet "metallic" papers approaches Kodak's Endura Metallic for pop and zing, but all are definitely easier to control for highlights and skin tones.

I have not taken the time to generate my own icc profiles, but did borrow the profiles for Red River's Polar Pearl here---and they really looked good on the Grace media.

Anyway, there's another good glossy option with metallic qualities with Grace Pearlescent from It Supplies. A 24" roll of Grace is less expensive than either Lexjet's Sunset Metallic or Red River's Polar Pearl papers. Shipping from www.itsupplies.com is free on orders over $100.

:) ken
 
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