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Metal Prints vs Canvas Prints

Same photo, three surfaces, three completely different results. Here's how metal, canvas and framed paper actually differ once they're on a wall.

Finish and colour

Metal prints put the image onto a hard, smooth surface. Highlights stay bright, blacks stay dense and saturated colour holds up across a room. Canvas does the opposite: the weave scatters light, softening detail and muting contrast in a way that flatters painterly images and portraits shot in warm light.

Framed paper behind glass sits between the two, but the glass adds reflections, weight and a visible border that changes the composition of the wall.

Which images suit which surface

Choose metal for

Landscapes, cityscapes, night and neon, water, graphic design, typography and anything with punchy colour.

Choose canvas for

Soft portraits, painterly edits, vintage film looks and images where texture is part of the point.

Choose framed paper for

Fine-art editions, documents, posters and pieces where the frame is part of the presentation.

Durability and care

Metal is the easiest of the three to live with: wipe it with a soft, slightly damp cloth and it's done. There is no fabric to sag, no glass to break and no mat board to discolour. Keep any print out of direct, sustained sunlight — no surface is immune to that.

Resolution requirements

Because metal holds detail so cleanly, it also shows softness more honestly than canvas does. As a rule, aim for around 150 pixels per inch at final print size as a minimum and 300 where you can get it. A 3,000-pixel-wide file comfortably covers a 12-inch-wide print.

Check any file with the print quality checker and read the artwork guide for formats and colour.

Cost and flexibility

Canvas is usually cheapest at large sizes; metal costs more per square inch but needs no frame, so compare finished prices rather than panel prices. Where PlaqD differs from both is what happens later: because every PlaqD uses a magnetic metal wall art poster system, the second print you buy replaces the first without new holes.

Create a metal print

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