Understanding Lumachrome™
I often being asked if I offer my prints in Lumachrome finish. So, I decided to write a comprehensive guide to varieties of acrylic face-mount finish and explain what Lumachrome™ actually is.
In the world of fine art photography, producing gallery-quality prints often involves advanced printing techniques. Such techniques elevate images to an exceptional level of detail, color, and depth. One such technique is acrylic face-mounting. A process that has gained significant traction for its ability to enhance photographic prints with added dimensionality and visual impact. Lumachrome™, a trade name used by Nevada Art Printers, refers to their in-house version of this widely-used process. Although Lumachrome™ is marketed as a unique, high-end option, it essentially represents proprietary branding of the generic acrylic face-mount technique, which numerous fine art print shops around the world perform daily under various brand names.
What Is Lumachrome™?
At its core, Lumachrome™ is a pigment inkjet photo print on metallic paper, face-mounted to acrylic. This process isn’t exclusive to Nevada Art Printers. Variations of acrylic face-mounting are utilized by many other fine art print shops. In fact, the general concept of mounting a high-quality print beneath a sheet of optically clear acrylic has been around for decades. With different providers offering their own versions and tweaks of this method.
What distinguishes Lumachrome™, in terms of branding, is the emphasis Nevada Art Printers places on their specific materials and techniques. They use metallic photographic paper, which adds reflectivity and depth to the image. 16-bit printing technology adds smooth tonal transitions and enhanced color depth. Basically what every self-respecting print shop should be using this day anyway. The process face-mounts the prints to a sheet of acrylic, which protects the image and boosts its sharpness and contrast. This combination of materials results in a high-definition, vibrant print that is both durable and visually striking. However, this process is essentially the same technique used by other fine art printers, albeit under different trade names and branding approaches.
The Acrylic Face-Mount Process: Breaking Down the Technique
The acrylic face-mounting technique is a relatively straightforward process. It involves printing a photograph on metallic or glossy photographic paper. Metallic paper sheen enhances the vibrancy of the colors and the depth of the image. The print is then mounted between two layers: a clear acrylic front panel and a backing material. The acrylic front acts as a protective layer that also serves to amplify the colors and contrast of the print by magnifying the reflective properties of the metallic paper.
Lumachrome™ Metallic Ink-jet Photo Papers
Several manufacturers are well-known for producing high-quality metallic inkjet photo papers. These papers are favored by photographers and printmakers for their ability to enhance the depth, contrast, and vibrancy of images. While Nevada Art Printers doesn’t specify which brand of metallic paper they use it is most likely one of listed below:
Kodak
– Kodak Professional Endura Metallic: One of the most popular and widely used metallic photo papers. It’s known for its rich, vibrant colors, enhanced detail, and unique gloss finish. Kodak’s metallic paper is highly reflective and is often used for high-contrast photography and commercial printing.
Fujifilm
– Fujifilm Pearl Photo Paper: This metallic paper offers excellent color reproduction, sharpness, and a smooth finish. Pearl paper is popular for fine art prints and high-quality photographic reproductions, delivering a pearlescent, glossy finish.
Canson Infinity
– Canson Infinity PhotoSatin Premium RC: Canson produces high-quality papers, and its metallic offering provides superior clarity and enhanced color depth. The metallic inkjet paper from Canson is popular among fine art photographers and archival-quality prints.
Red River Paper
– Red River Polar Pearl Metallic: This metallic photo paper is widely used for inkjet printing. It offers a pearlescent finish with deep contrast and vivid color reproduction, making it a favorite among professional photographers looking for affordable, high-quality metallic paper.
Hahnemühle
– Hahnemühle Photo Rag Metallic: Hahnemühle is renowned for its premium-quality fine art papers. Their metallic inkjet paper combines a metallic finish with a fine art paper base, providing excellent texture, detail, and reflectivity.
Ilford
– Ilford Galerie Prestige Metallic Gloss: Known for high-end photo printing papers, Ilford’s metallic option delivers a high-gloss finish with excellent sharpness and vibrant color depth, suitable for art galleries and exhibitions.
These brands gain global recognition for their superior metallic photo papers, each offering distinct characteristics suited to various types of prints and uses. Each has its own take on metallic surfaces, allowing photographers to choose based on preference for gloss, durability, or color reproduction quality.
Key benefits of Acrylic Face-mount
1. Vibrancy and Depth: The acrylic surface amplifies the print’s colors, making them appear more vivid, while the metallic paper adds depth and a luminous glow. This makes acrylic face-mounting especially effective for high-contrast photography such as landscapes, cityscapes, and abstract art.
2. Durability: The acrylic not only enhances the visual aspects of the print but also serves as a protective layer. Acrylic is resistant to UV rays, moisture, and physical damage, ensuring that the artwork remains pristine for decades.
3. Sleek, Modern Presentation: Many photographers and collectors prefer acrylic face-mounted prints because of their frameless design. The clean, contemporary aesthetic of a facemount print, often paired with a floating frame, gives the image a “floating” appearance on the wall, ideal for modern interiors or galleries.
Lumachrome vs. Other Fine Art Acrylic Face-Mount Techniques
When comparing Lumachrome to other acrylic face-mount processes, it’s essential to recognize that the differences largely come down to branding. Or some material tweaks in the printing process. For instance, Lumachrome emphasizes its use of iridium-infused transparency layers, which enhance light transmission through the acrylic for improved visual impact.
Lumachrome Iridium Coating
There is no clear evidence or documents from major manufacturers showing that they use iridium particles in their metallic inkjet photo papers. Nevada Art Printers’ claim of using iridium particles in their Lumachrome process seems to be a brand feature unique to their marketing strategy. This addition distinguishes their prints but isn’t a standard aspect of metallic papers from leading manufacturers.
Major paper companies typically do not associate iridium, a rare and durable metal, with photographic papers or inkjet printing processes. Instead, popular manufacturers create the reflective, high-contrast effects in their metallic papers using aluminum or mica-based particles. The mention of iridium particles in Lumachrome by Nevada Art Printers may indicate likely use of Ilford metallic photo paper.
Ilford’s “Galerie Metallic Gloss” photo paper mentions the use of an “iridium finish” on their website. The finish gives images a striking, three-dimensional appearance, but it doesn’t specify that they use actual iridium metal coating itself. Instead, the term “iridium finish” likely refers to the reflective, metallic sheen that enhances depth and vibrancy in prints. Manufacturers generally create the metallic properties in such papers using fine metallic particles or pigments, often using materials like aluminum instead of rare and expensive elements like iridium. This creates a high-gloss, reflective surface that interacts with light to give the images a vivid, luminous quality.
In short, the iridium reference seems unique to Nevada Art Printers and doesn’t align with any mainstream metallic photo paper manufacturers.
Is the Lumachrome™ a unique technology?
Lets go back to the acrylic face-mount finish. Several factors influence the final quality of an acrylic face-mounted print:
1. Paper Choice: While Lumachrome™ utilizes metallic photo paper, many other print shops use similar papers. Fujiflex or Kodak Metallic offer similarly excellent sharpness and depth. The choice of paper can impact how the colors appear under the acrylic, with metallic papers generally providing a more reflective, luminous finish.
2. Acrylic Thickness and Quality: The thickness and optical clarity of the acrylic sheet can also make a difference. Lumachrome typically uses 1/8″ to 1/4″ thick acrylic, though thicker options are available. Other providers may use comparable acrylic materials, making the difference in visual quality minimal.
3. Mounting Techniques: Some photographers prefer face-mount prints with a non-glare acrylic finish to reduce reflections in bright environments. Lumachrome offers this option, as do many other fine art printers, giving buyers the flexibility to choose the best surface for their display conditions. One of such varieties is TruLife™ Anti-Reflective Acrylic. It is a unique acrylic product developed specifically for face/second surface mounting.
Alternatives to Lumachrome™: Affordable Facemount Prints
Although many market Lumachrome as a premium product, photographers have plenty of other options for achieving high-quality acrylic face-mounted prints. Many other professional printers offer similar processes at various price points, often without the proprietary branding. I myself offer an alternative face-mount product. I’m a Canadian fine-art photographer and printer, and I offer affordable acrylic face-mounted prints that rival Lumachrome™ in quality and visual impact.
My prints utilize the same core process: high-definition prints on metallic photo paper, face-mounted to premium clear acrylic. I focus on creating large-format landscape and fine art prints that exhibit the same depth, sharpness, and color vibrancy typically associated with Lumachrome™ prints. My prints, like Lumachrome™, are also of archival quality, designed to last over 100 years without fading. Yet, my prints are often more affordable. This makes them a practical alternative for photographers or collectors who want the benefits of acrylic face-mounting without the premium price tag associated with proprietary brand names like Lumachrome.
Conclusion: Lumachrome and the Acrylic Face-Mount Method
Lumachrome™ is an advanced version of the acrylic face-mount process, branded by Nevada Art Printers to stand out in the fine art photography market. While it delivers vibrant colors and depth, these qualities come from the acrylic face-mount technique itself. Many fine art print shops around the world offer similar results using the same method.
Photographers and collectors interested in acrylic face-mount prints have numerous options to choose from. Whether it’s Lumachrome™ or alternatives like those offered by other art printers. Ultimately, the choice between Lumachrome™ and other similar products comes down to factors like budget and specific preferences. The reputation of the print provider plays important role. With many fine art photographers offering their own take on acrylic face-mounting, there’s no shortage of high quality, affordable alternatives to Lumachrome™.