"Which one should I get?" is the question I get asked most. Every photo in my shop comes as fine art paper, canvas, metal or framed, and there's no wrong answer. But some photos look better on one than another, and the room you hang it in matters just as much as the photo.
Here's how I'd choose, and what's hanging on my own walls. If you want the specs, sizes and care tips side by side, they're all on the Print Guide.
Start with your room
Before you pick a material, look at the wall.
Where does the light come from?
If a window or a bright lamp faces the wall, a shiny surface will catch it. Fine art matte paper has no glare at all, and canvas stays easy to see from most angles. Metal and framed prints have a smooth face that reflects light, so they look best on a wall that doesn't face a window.
Is it a damp room?
Kitchens, bathrooms and beach houses get steam and salt air. Metal wipes clean with a damp cloth, so it's the easiest choice there. Canvas holds up well too: our sunflower canvas has hung in our bathroom for seven years and still looks like the day it arrived.
How close will people stand?
A print in a hallway gets seen from a foot away, so fine detail matters. A print over the couch gets seen from across the room, so color and size matter more.
Then match the photo
Metal: for the loudest skies
I love my metal prints. The photo is printed on aluminum, and it makes the color jump off the wall. It's the closest I've found to how a photo looks on my computer screen when I first edit it.
Metal is at its best on the fiery mornings, when the whole sky turns red and orange, like Fiery Mackerel Sky or Red Sky Over Avila Pier. A float mount on the back holds it off the wall, so it seems to hover. I have a metal print of our garden hanging in my office, so I see it every day.
I order metal in a high gloss finish for the boldest color. If your wall faces a bright window, tell me in the order notes and I'll order it in satin, which has much less glare.
Canvas: for soft mornings and big walls
Canvas has a texture you can see up close, a glossy laminate that protects the print, and it's stretched over a 1.5 inch wood frame, so it arrives ready to hang with no glass. Soft, pastel mornings almost look painted on it, like Pastel Morning on the Rocks or Painted Sky Over Avila Beach.
It's also my pick for a big wall. Select photos go up to 40x60 in canvas, and that's exactly what's hanging in our living room.
The canvas that never left
The 40x60 canvas of Wispy Clouds Over Avila Beach in our living room was never supposed to stay. Almost ten years ago, a customer in Maine ordered it right after I took the photo. It was the first time I'd printed it, and it was huge, so I wanted to see it with my own eyes before it went out. I had it made and shipped to me, planning to check it and send it right back out.
What I didn't realize was that shipping it to me cost just a few dollars, because the print company gets bulk shipping rates. Shipping it from my house to Maine was going to cost hundreds. It was cheaper to have a second one made and sent straight to the customer.
So now we both have that morning hanging in our living rooms.
Fine art paper: for quiet light
Fine art paper is smooth and matte, with rich color and no glare. It suits the quieter mornings, where the deep blues and soft tones matter more than a bright sky, like Blue Hour at the Rocks or Moon Over Olde Port Beach.
It ships unframed, so you can frame it to match your room or take it to your favorite frame shop. I have about 20 of my fine art prints matted and framed around our house.
Framed: for gifts, and the feel of a real print
I have a special place in my heart for printed and framed photos. The texture, the feel, not much can beat it.
My framed prints are a professional lustre photo print in a 1.5 inch black gallery frame, with an acrylic face instead of glass. Acrylic is lighter than glass and far less likely to break in shipping, and the print is ready to hang the day it shows up. That makes it my pick for gifts, and for close-up wildlife where you want to see every feather, like Heron in the Shallows or Curlew in the Splash.
Quick cheat sheet
- Your wall faces a window: fine art paper or canvas.
- Kitchen, bathroom or beach house: metal.
- A bold red and orange sky: metal.
- A soft, pastel morning: canvas.
- A big wall over a couch or bed: canvas or metal in a statement size.
- A gift, or you want it on the wall today: framed.
- You already have a frame you love: fine art paper.
Picking a size
Over a couch or bed, go about two-thirds the width of the furniture. The size chart shows every size next to a door so you can picture it. Each print page lists the biggest size that photo can go: paper and framed go up to 24x36, and canvas and metal go up to 40x60 on select photos. Need it bigger? Contact me for larger sizes and I'll check the original file.
Still not sure? Send me your wall
Take a photo of the wall you have in mind, tell me roughly how wide it is and which print you like, and email it to me at jay@jayolsonphotography.com. I'll tell you which material and size I'd pick for that spot.
