Which print base is right for me?
Every photo can live on more than one surface. The size you pick is how big it hangs. The finish is what it feels like on the wall — and how long it is meant to last. Here is an honest walk through of what we print in the Phoenix lab, so you can choose the one that fits the photo, the room, and how long you want to keep it.
Canvas giclées
Canvas giclées come as a ¾″ studio wrap or a 1¼″ gallery wrap, depending on the size — smaller faces get the slimmer studio bar, larger pieces get the deeper gallery wrap so they sit with a little more presence on the wall. Our canvas is cotton duck, white primed, and printed with studio archival pigment ink. After printing, each piece is hand stretched around the frame so the image continues around the sides. You do not need glass or a picture frame. Hang it, and it is done. These are the prints people mean when they want something that feels like art, not a snapshot stuck in a store-bought frame.
Photo prints
Photo prints are the more traditional kind of print — the same family as the lab prints you grew up putting in albums and frames. We print them on real photo paper, not poster stock. Gloss is the classic shiny finish: color pops, blacks go deep, and the image looks wet and vivid. It loves a frame with glass, because the shine will show fingerprints if you leave it bare. Matte is the same paper without the glare. Color stays true but quieter, and you can hang it near a window without watching your face in the print. Choose gloss when you want punch. Choose matte when you want the photo to sit back and let the room be bright.
Matted prints
A matted print is a photo print with a standard-size mat around it, so it already looks like it belongs in a gallery frame. The size you pick is the outside — a 5×7 matted print is 5×7 on the wall, ready for a 5×7 frame. The photo inside is scaled down to fit the opening (a 5×7 mat typically holds a 4×6 print, with a little of the paper tucked under the mat so it cannot slip). You can order the photo as gloss or matte. If you already have standard frames on the shelf, this is the finish that drops straight in.
Poster prints
Poster prints are a lighter-weight, non-archival paper made for short-term display. Dorm walls, event recaps, a kids’ drawing you want up this season, a sale sign, a party. The color looks good on day one, and the paper is easy to pin or tape. It is not built to last. Sun, humidity, and time will fade and break this paper down. If you love the image and want it in ten years, choose a photo print, a canvas, or aluminum instead. If you need it up for a little while and you want to keep the cost down, poster is the honest choice.
Aluminum gloss & matte
Aluminum prints are made with sublimation: heat drives the inks into the coating on the metal, so the image becomes part of the panel instead of sitting on top like a sticker. That is why they can hang without a frame and why they shrug off UV and light scuffs better than paper or canvas. Gloss aluminum is bright and mirror-adjacent — very modern, very sharp. Matte aluminum keeps the same rigid panel with no glare, which is kinder in a sunny room. Satin sits in the middle if you want a little sheen without the mirror. The metal edge is the finish. No glass, no mat, no wrap.
Gifts & accessories
Gifts and accessories are usually printed with sublimation too, and they can be made of a few different materials — wood panels, drinkware, and other pieces we add as we go. They are meant to be used and given, not only hung. A painted wood panel still shows grain and edge; a mug or similar piece takes the same photo into someone’s hands. If you are shopping for a wall, start with canvas, photo, mat, poster, or aluminum. If you want the photo to live on something they can hold, this is that family.