gallery prints

cameraguy64

Hi! I need some advice on printing, matting, and framing photos. I'm going to be featured in a newly opening art gallery next week as the featured artist. This is kind of a last minute thing so I need to be able to pull this off quickly. I have several photos that I need blown up REALLY big. like 20x30 16x24 etc, then framed and matted. My first thought was to take them to mpix who now does framing and matting as well as framing. They do they whole thing at once for a REALLY good price. Say a framed and matted 20x30 photo is about 130 bucks. That would cost my 300+ at Joanns or any other place. The only drawback is that I can't chose different color mattes. I can only black or white mattes, do you think this will make a difference in the gallery? Are there any other websites that do the same thing but let you pick your matte colors? I really don't think its worth almost double just so I can have colored mattes, but if I'm going to spend this money, I want them to look nice. You also have to take into account that maybe people won't buy a photo just because the matte doesn't match their wall or something. White is very generic and will be more likely to compliment any wall. Although it might not compliment the photo QUITE as much. There is a lot to consider, I just can't quite come to a conclusion. HELP!? THANKS!

Oh! By the way, (just thought I'd throw this in there) I'm sixteen and a sophomore in high-school.

--www.robchron.com

dogwood

You might consider canvas prints. They're archival, can be stretched on frames, and look FANTASTIC. I had a gallery show in June and that's what I did. You can even get different depths for the frames.

I used this company and they were fantastic. Fast turn around and the prints really did look stunning. Oh... and more importantly, I sold five out of eleven prints! Including one to the gallery/store owner when the show was over.

Tango

i dont know what type of equipment went into your captures but canvas will simi-hide any softness that occurs going that big....

go glossy on the canvas if you want colors to stand out better.

cameraguy64

having photos with softness isn't really a problem. The problem is the cost and the fact that the photos from mpix have only a 2 inch matte and no color choices. I know I can get the materials to do all this dirt cheap and cut my own mattes etc, but I really don't have time to do it in a week Anything that is like mpix? I really really like the lustre finish, and I have heard great things about the metallic finish, although I haven't seen it, so I don't know what would be best.

Tango

ok there champ, your going to need to provide the photos for us to see and eval to get opinions on types of paper, matte colors etc...

i love metallic prints.

anyway, i would suggest going to a local place that can do everything in house.

good luck