Do you have any landscape photography prints you need to make? Printing landscape photos is a great way to show them off! Several options are involved in making landscape prints, including what substrate looks best for printing landscape photos.
What is a substrate, how many different substrates are there, and what are the differences? Follow along, and we’ll highlight those points, plus give a few helpful tips for printing landscape photos.
Table of Contents:
- What Is a Substrate for Printing Landscape Photos?
- Substrate Options in Printing Landscape Photos
- Printing Landscape Photos – Best Substrate
- Using Artbeat Studios for Printing Landscape Photos
- Printing Landscape Photos – Helpful Tips
What Is a Substrate for Printing Landscape Photos?
In this discussion of printing landscape photos, we will describe substrates as what the landscape prints are printed on.
In biology, a substrate is the surface on which an organism lives, grows, and is supported or where it obtains nourishment. Concerning landscape photography prints, the substrate also refers to a surface. The surface photographically is what the image is printed on. In other words, what is the material used for printing landscape photos?
This simple definition works regardless of the method or process used for printing landscape photos or any other kind of photography. Whether it’s a dye sublimation process, light-sensitive coatings, or ink laying on top of a surface, the substrate describes the print material.
Substrate Options in Printing Landscape Photos
Photographically, we have several options of substrates for printing landscape photos…
There are light-sensitive coatings in which a thin layer of matter with the correct properties is combined with something to hold it. In film photography, that would normally be silver halide on non-porous paper. An image is projected onto the photo paper, and chemical solutions are applied to complete the process.
In digital photography, we have ink-based processes as the standard methods. Inks can be applied to the surface of a substrate or infused within it as with dye sublimation. Both methods work for printing landscape photos, depending on what substrate is used. Metal, acrylic, canvas, and Giclee fine art papers are the most used substrates for digitally printing landscape photos.
Printing Landscape Photos – Best Substrate
Now that we have some basic ideas covered, let’s decide what works best for printing landscape photos. We’ll concentrate on the four materials listed earlier: metal, acrylic, canvas, and Giclee fine art paper.
Metal Landscape Prints
Metal prints are usually made with a dye sublimation process on flawless aluminum sheets. A print is made onto a specially designed dye transfer paper. Then this paper is sandwiched with the aluminum sheet. Heat and pressure are applied to infuse the inks into the substrate.
If you get a print from Artbeat Studios as I often do, there are six finishes with slightly differing properties. The finishes for printing landscape photos vary mostly in the surface sheen and how the metal substrate makes the highlights and less saturated colors appear.
White Gloss gives you bright colors with high saturation, vibrant whites, and a shiny high-gloss finish. White Satin is more matte, with lifelike colors. It shows excellent detail and offers a soft, glare-free result. White Matte offers reduced glare.
Meanwhile, Silver provides shimmery metal highlights through a high-gloss finish. You can also choose a Textured Matte finish or a highly durable Outdoor HD finish. In other words, you get loads of options!
Acrylic Landscape Prints
Acrylic prints are high-quality prints sandwiched between a sheet of acrylic and a durable backing. It adds a 3D effect to your image and encases your landscape photography prints in a durable, optical grade, glass-like material.
Acrylic isn’t really the substrate; the paper and the backing are. What the acrylic does is make the colors appear more vivid, the blacks darker, and the highlights brighter. The substrate is high-quality photo paper, providing a neutral base for whites, blacks, and colors.
Canvas Landscape Prints
Canvas prints are printed onto 400gsm semi-close white poly-cotton blend canvas. Artbeat Studios uses Epson Surecolor S80600 printers with UltraChrome 9-color eco-solvent inks, too, which give their Giclee prints incredible durability. Alternatively, you can choose a Metallic Canvas that has a semi-gloss look to it, which adds a luminous appearance. In either case, the substrate has a slight texture, or you can opt for a heavier textured base.
Canvas is excellent for printing landscape photos for a classic feel to the image. It evokes an air of elegance and timeless art. Bold colors look great, though many photographers use canvas for a more traditional or softer appearance. It’s also excellent for Black and White.
Fine Art Paper Landscape Prints
Artbeat Studios offers a number of fine are papers for your landscape prints as well:
- Glossy Paperb – Smooth, traditional glossy finish with maximum color gamut and image resolution. Best for vibrant images and works well with custom frames.
- Luster Paper – Semi-glossy finish, offering a balance between matte and gloss for a refined look.
- Metallic Paper – Printed on Moab® Slick Rock Metallic Paper, featuring a subtle iridescence for a dramatic effect while maintaining true-to-color images.
- Fine Art Paper – Archival, museum-grade 100% cotton fiber paper with a smooth surface, ideal for fine art photography.
Using Artbeat Studios for Printing Landscape Photos
Many of the example images used in this article come from the premium printing service Artbeat Studios. I’ve worked with Artbeat Studios for years, and I can tell you first-hand that it’s an ultra-high-quality photo printing company with very reasonable pricing, easy website navigation for ordering, and quick shipping.
In fact, I’ve ordered more prints than I can count from Artbeat Studios over the years. Whether it was a canvas, metal, paper, or acrylic print, I was consistently impressed with the quality of the print I received in the mail.
Whatever your main photographic interest or professional photography business niche is, Artbeat Studios is a premier choice for printing landscape photos from your digital image files.
Printing Landscape Photos – Helpful Tips
Besides the substrate material options, there are some other helpful hints and tips for printing landscape photos that are high quality.
Capture image files in RAW and post-process for the type of image that fits best with the substrate you will print on or the final image application. Tweaks and subtle enhancements will fine-tune your image files, avoiding that over-processed look that could detract or distract from your landscape photography.
Use your accessory tools such as ND filters, polarizer filters, tripods, and weather protection gear. This lets you capture better image files in the first place. Use the composition techniques of Rule of Thirds, Golden Spiral, and Leading Lines as guidelines to add interest to your scenes.
Whatever your creative ideas, you’ll enjoy showing your art to others by printing landscape photos on the best substrate for each image.
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