How to handle a Giclée print

Handling a Giclée print is a common question we are asked at Metro as fine art prints are susceptible to damage much more than a C Type print. When it comes to Giclée prints we recommend only using this paper when intending to frame straight away. If are are looking for portfolio prints, or free-hanging prints for an exhibition, we will always recommend using C Type papers as these are much more durable.

All Metroprint Giclées come rolled over 20 x 16 inches and above

Always handle you Giclée print wearing cotton gloves and avoid touching the print itself
If you don’t have gloves, make sure you have clean hands and do not touch the ink – even the smallest amount of oil or grease that occurs naturally can damage an inkjet
Always hold the print by it’s edges and do not bend the print
We recommend printing Giclées with a border, so you have ‘clean’ paper to handle, this is useful for larger prints that come rolled.
All Giclées naturally ‘curl’. To uncurl a print: Place the print on a flat, clean surface away from direct sunlight and leave the protective tissue over the print. Place a book, or another heavy object on the very ends of the print. After a few hours the print should become flat.

We offer the following types of printing

Partial photo of a face covered in hundres and thousands printed on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper which is available in both gloss and a semi matt finish.

C Type Professional Photo Printing

We have been printing the highest quality C-Type prints for decades and digital C-Types produced on our Lambda have the archival and tonal benefits of traditional photographic papers, with the advantages of digital photo printing. C-Types are a conventional photographic print from a digital file, and as such is the most suitable option when printing a colour photograph.

Printing linking you through to our giclee printing service.

Fine Art Giclée Printing

We have Hahnemuhle and Canson Giclée Certified Studio staus and with over 30 years experience in photographic printing we use the most advanced inkjet technologies. Giclée is a gallery-quality inkjet print onto fine art watercolour paper. This is most suitable for art illustrations, but can also be used for colour and B&W photographs.

This a picture take of a very large black and white ilford fibre based print of two people.

Black & White Printing

We have worked in collaboration with Harman Technology to develop genuine B&W silver gelatin Fibre-Based and Resin-Coated photographic prints from digital files. The Resin-Coated is suitable for most types of B&W printing, and Fibre-Based is ideal for exhibition quality.

Picture of a Duratran. Duratrans are a real chromogenic print on translucent material and are then mounted on lightboxes.

Duratran Printing

We produce Duratrans at a quality level unmatched by anything else out there. Duratrans have to be lit from behind, so need to be mounted in a rear lit display, or we can produce led lightboxes, which are conventional photo frames containing the Duratran and led panel.

Metro called it Direct to Media. Essentially this is a UV printing machine that can produce very large, up to 3m x 2m prints on any flat material less than 10cm thick. So we can print on wood, metal, slate and pretty much anything you can think of.

Direct to Media Printing

Direct to media printing is exactly that; we print your image directly to a substrate of your choice. Be it paper, card, aluminium, Perspex, canvas, wood, slate… Our Jetrix UV inkjet flatbed printer can print on any flat surface up to 3m x 2m, less than 10cm thick. To ensure your material is suitable, we can print test prints around A4 in size.

This is a print on adhesive vinyl. The vinyl is on a roll and 1.2m wide, but it can printed in multiple pieces in order to cover a wall.

Vinyl Printing

Vinyl Phototex is chosen for its high-quality Giclée finish as well as its ease of application to wall or mounting material due to its self-adhesive properties. We can print on vinyl using our direct to media printer, in strips of 1.5m x 3m and these can be applied to the wall in the fashion of wallpaper to cover a complete wall or interior.