PRINT 2 METAL TAKES 3RD TIME PHOTO AWARD
Print 2 Metal has scooped the Find A Photographer Australia, Industry Vendor of the Year award, with co-owners Frank Hoekstra and Marie Cosgrave proud of their third consecutive year win.
The company prints onto metal by first printing onto a sublimation media with an inkjet wide format printer, either its Mimaki or Epson, then heat presses the media onto a ChromaLuxe aluminium sheet.
The award is judged on the number of client reviews received on the "Find a Photographer – Australia" website over the past 12 months.
“It is extra special to have won this from among the many businesses associated with photography,” says Cosgrave, adding that it has been “humbling to have received so many amazing reviews from our clients about the service and quality we deliver.”
“As a printing business it is confirmation that we offer a valued product, which is the choice of photographers and artists of all levels, including those who just love print as a high end product," she adds proudly.
Print 2 Metal was created by the husband and wife team in 2010, who had been operating a photo lab in Prahan, Victoria for 20 years.
A seed was sown when Cosgrave discovered a small business based in San Francisco on the internet which, using the experience gained in the trophy and awards industry, had started to print images on metal.
"After a brief visit there in early 2010 we brought home enough knowledge to get Print 2 Metal started," she explains.
Cosgrave says the technique of printing images onto sleek thin sheets of aluminium, which don't require a glass or a heavy frame, has been well received by first time viewers.
"The images are so vibrant, lightweight and can be easily cleaned," she adds. "Seeing this response from their customers in the photo lab made the decision fairly easy to sell the photo lab business in 2011 and concentrate on metal printing only."
Initially the business operated out of the couple's backyard purpose built shed until August 2014.
"The arrival of digital technology has ironically allowed us to extend our business beyond the retail setting. Based online, our clients come from all around Australia as well as New Zealand and a few other overseas countries. We send USA enquiries back to Tim Lutz who taught us the ropes," explains Cosgrave, pointing out that Print 2 Metal now designs and produces its own framing in a black, silver and white anodised aluminium.
She says that printing onto metal has also captured the attention of those in the design and architectural fields, which has enabled Print 2 Metal to expand from the photographic market into other areas that the pair, as photo lab owners, had never considered.
"The concept is still new and fairly unknown to consumers. Educating the public about this new print technology has been our biggest challenge. We have excellent repeat business after a client’s first purchase from us," she says.
The company has expanded its experience and upgraded its technology, with Hoekstra completing his Certificate IV in Engineering, with an emphasis on welding, and the purchase of an Epson SureColor F7200 dye sublimation printer, which complements the company's Mimaki TS300P-1800.
"With the further investment in a Sefa heat press we can now offer metal prints on the maximum ChromaLuxe sheets of metal at 2400x1200mm," she says.
Cosgrave explains that the print to metal process begins when the Epson SureColor F7200, with Epson Ultrachrome DS sublimation inks, prints onto special sublimation paper, which is designed to absorb as much ink as possible and handle the heat of the heat press process.
"From there, the print is placed with the ink side down on the coated side of a piece of ChromaLuxe aluminium, and taped to the print (with special tape designed to handle the heat of the heat press process) and placed in the heat press for varying times depending on the size of the print," she explains, emphasising that the heat causes the inks to turn to gas, and under the pressure, to be pushed into that specially coated sheet of metal.
When removed from the heat press, the true colours of the inks are revealed in the image that has been transferred onto the aluminium, she says. "The successful process of dye sublimation printing onto metal has now started to bring about new suppliers of the materials we use. We use only leading brand ChromaLuxe's metal panels. It has changed the belief for many that the print is dead. Our business has a great future."
ChromaLuxe also supported Print 2 Metal to print almost 470 photos at the Head On Photo Festival in Sydney in 2017, which Cosgrave says was a memorable experience.