Allure Inkjet Metal

Description

Allure Fine Art Inkjet Metal from Breathing Color is an exciting new media that allows you to print directly on the white matte metal using your existing Epson printer and the exact same inks you already use!

Plus, thanks to the ingenous new carrier system, images can be printed borderless on these high quality Aluminium sheets and don't need cutting afterwards, so no special tools or shears required. (New carrier available on some sizes, other sizes coming soon).

Simply load, print and protect like any other fine art media (compatibility dependent).

KEY FEATURES


Allure direct-print inkjet metal is the ideal solution for extremely high-quality metal prints. Traditionally the dye sublimation process has been used to make metal prints but there are a number of notable benefits that you gain by being able to print directly to metal:

• Use the highest quality OEM pigmented inks, instead of dye inks traditionally used in the sublimation process. This will greatly improve print permanence and lightfastness.
• Highest quality inkjet coating developed by Breathing Color. Get the fantastic print quality, dmax, color density, and resolution you've come to expect from other Breathing Color products.
• Use a single product for gloss, satin, and matte metal prints. Customise your finish using the laminate film while only stocking one type of metal, reducing inventory costs and storage.
• No need for a special printer. Use the same aqueous inkjet printers you are already using for canvas and paper printing (not all printers are compatible).
• No heat press. Large heat presses can cost you £10,000+
• Skipping the dye sublimation transfer process and printing direct to the metal allows for a higher resolution end product. Think fine art paper/photo paper quality prints.

Comaptible Inkjet Printers 

EPSON

Stylus Pro Series: R2000, R2400, R2880, R3000

Stylus Pro Series: 3800, 3880, 3890, 4800, 4880, 7500, 7600, 7700, 7800, 7880, 7890, 7900, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800, 9880, 9890, 9900, 10000, 10600, 11880

SureColor: P400, P600, P800, P6000, P7000, P8000, P9000, P10000, P20000



Disclaimer

Allure Photo Panels for Aqueous printing is a new, breakthrough technology.  Therefore, while we would love to guarantee that it will work perfectly with every aqueous printer, we simply cannot.  Furthermore, we cannot guarantee that the specific printer you use (including those on our compatible printer list) will be able to handle the sheets during loading. We also cannot guarantee that your print heads, sheet-feeding mechanisms on your printer, or any other aspect of the printer will not get damaged as a result of using this product. Therefore, you will be using this product at your own risk.  We will not reimburse for any printer issues or damages whatsoever caused by this product - even if you are using a printer on our compatible printer list.  What we can tell you is that this product is typically within the specs for media thickness as specified by the printer manufacturer.  Additionally, we have printed thousands of images on Epson printers internally and have not experienced any printer damage whatsoever.  While we don't expect any printer damage to occur, we simply cannot guarantee that some form of printer damage may happen, and we cannot be held liable for any damages.  Again, if you choose to purchase and use this product, you will be doing so at your own risk.

Downloads

Related Product Information

Subframes available! Our custom made subframes are perfect for hanging Allure Inkjet Metal with minimal fuss and maximum style. Take a look! 

Related Videos 

PRINTING ALLURE ON THE EPSON P800 (AND OTHER EPSON DESKTOP MODELS)

PRINTING ALLURE ON THE EPSON 9900 (AND OTHER LARGE FORMAT EPSON MODELS) 

For more helpful videos on printing techniques, color management and more please visit Breathing Colors BLOG

Helpful Articles 

Here's a list of articles about Allure on the Breathing Color Blog:

• Protect Allure Aqueous With Timeless Varnish or Aerosol Spray Varnish
  
  
• How to Protect Allure Aqueous With Quartz Laminate Film
  
  
• How To Print Full Bleed On Allure Photo Panels For Direct Aqueous Printing
  
  
• Embellishing Laminated Allure Aqueous Metal Prints
  
  
• Aqueous Vs. Dye Sub Metal: Round 1 - Resolution and Detail
  
  
• Aqueous Vs. Dye Sub Metal: Round 2 - White Point and Contrast
  
  
• Aqueous Vs. Dye Sub Metal: Round 3 - Profiling and Color Consistency
  
  
• BC Community: Carnie Littlefield On Embellishing Allure
  
  
• BC Community: Rick Rosenzweig On His Allure Photo Panels Workflow
  
  
• BC Community: Bruce Shortz On Allure and the Fletcher FSC Cutter
  
  
• Introducing Allure: Aluminum Photo Panels For Direct Aqueous Printing

How should I store Allure metal sheets?

Keep sheets of Allure packaged in the way they arrived to you, inside the box or crate and closed. Store them flat and not on their edge in order to avoid warping or bowing

Will Allure Fine Art Metal work with my printer model? 

For a full list of compatible printers, check the 'DESCRIPTION' tab.

How do I cut metal panels?

We sell Allure Fine Art (aqueous) panels in pre-cut sizes. If you are looking to save money per sq.ft., or to achieve custom-sized cuts on a regular basis, you can also trim the metal down yourself.

To do this, it is very common to use a metal shear, which is designed to cut thin aluminum. These come in a wide variety in terms of width, manual or hydraulic operation, foot or hand-driven, various features, etc.

Many customers will opt for a shear that is at least 50"-wide, which will accommodate half-size (4ft x 4ft) sheets. A manually operated shear at this width will cost you approximately $1,500 and will go up as you add sizes and features.

Another option is to use a CNC router. This is common for the higher-volume labs and studios. These come in just as large of an array of sizes and options

How do I protect Allure Aqueous Fine Art Metal prints?

Top coating Allure after printing is definitely not a requirement. It has a certain durability and can be handled very similarly to an un-coated canvas or fine art paper print.

For those who want to add this protective post-print layer, the current options we have found to work well are:

Breathing Color's Timeless Matte
Krylon Matte Finish 1311
Krylon ColorMaster Acrylic Crystal Clear Satin
ArtResin high epoxy resin clear coat

This video shows resident expert Carnie Littlefield applying Timeless Matte to Allure AQ.

This post on Breathing Colors blog goes into more detail on this subject.

We continue to test new products as well as sharing finding from our wonderful, creative customers. Let us know if you're successfully using something not listed here!

I found a small imperfection on the surface of the blank metal. What is this and is it normal?

Small surface imperfections are normal to a certain extent, due to the nature of the base metal. We do our best to cover these up during the coating process, but it is not always possible, and there is an allowable number of specks allowed per sheet, depending on the sheet size. We can better control pre-cut sheets, cutting around any imperfections as we go, so full and half-size sheets will likely have the most surface imperfections (this is one reason why the price per foot is lower).

Often, these small imperfections will not significantly affect the final print. Many customers who offer metal prints send along a small card that educates their customers on what to expect when purchasing prints on metal.

How should I handle Breathing Color media? What about storage?

To prevent the transfer of oils and dirt from your hands to the inkjet receptive coating of the media, white cotton gloves should be worn when handling the media. When not using the media, you should store it in its original packaging, exactly how it was shipped to you. Read more about our recommended handling and storage best practices on our blog, The Art of Printmaking.

Matte Black vs. Photo Black

Matte Black (MK) ink is designed for Matte Papers and Photo Black (PK) ink is designed for glossy papers. The difference between these two black ink types is simple; MK prints a very dull, flat black, while PK prints a highly glossy, shiny black. Think in terms of flat black spray paint vs. glossy black spray paint. Generally speaking, the very best results and the deepest blacks for that particular substrate will be achieved by using PK with glossy substrates and MK with matte substrates. Your Epson printer manual will also provide you with a decent explanation of when they recommend using matte black ink or photo black ink.

That being said, wide-format Epson printers present a problem for those who wish to maximize their output potential by offering both matte and glossy papers as available substrate options. This is because Epson machines are built to run either the PK or the MK, rather than allowing the printmaker to switch blacks from print to print. As a result of this quandary, those who own wide-format Epson printers must make an important decision What type of prints do I want to be best at? In other words, if 80% of your printmaking business is fine art on matte papers and matte canvases, naturally you will want to run your Epson with MK, which will render the highest black density on your primary substrate line. Likewise, if you are a photo lab for example and mostly reproduce photography on glossy papers, the PK is the more intelligent choice as it will render the glossiest black, which is most desirable on glossy substrates (to avoid a gloss differential).

Traditionally, most all inkjet printable substrates, matte or glossy, will work with the PK ink. Though the maximum black density (DMAX) would be significantly less, the print is otherwise unaffected. This is not true of the MK ink. When most glossy or semi-glossy papers are introduced to the MK ink, the ink will run and bleed, rendering the print completely unusable.