See also (below)
Types of print paper
Mixed finishes not allowed
Black and white
We offer the following print finishes:
- Glossy
- Matte
- Lustre
- Metallic
Glossy finish is the shiny, rich-looking paper most people are traditionally used to. It tends to show fine detail better, but also shows fingerprints better.
Matte finish is a highly textured print finish that resists fingerprints and scratches. It is much more dull, and does not reflect light, Many photographers use matte finishes for wallet prints because they usually get handled more than normal. Some also use it for poster-sized prints to reduce glare.
Lustre finish is not as shiny as glossy, but not as flat (dull) as matte finish paper. Lustre paper has a textured finish (some call it "pebbled" that hides fingerprints. Most portraits and wedding photos are typically printed on Lustre finish paper.
Metallic finish is a high gloss finish with very saturated colors. It appears as though the image is printed on metal (It almost compares to the back side of aluminum foil). Images tend to really "pop" when they are done on metallic paper. However, note that "highs" (bright areas) have a tendency to be "blown out" and over-highlighted on metallic paper.
Types of photo paper used:
For all 3 traditional paper finishes - glossy, matte and luster - prints are printed on Fujicolor Crystal
Archive Type II Photo Paper with 50+ years archival quality.
All Metallic prints are printed on Kodak Endura paper.
Mixing print finishes:
Some historical perspective: Actually we came from a long legacy of being able to offer mixed finishes. (Prior to July '06) Shutterbug Storefront was the exception to the rule, and we have now moved in the direction of other on-line services by limiting the print finish choices.
Currently, we only allow for only one of the 3 basic finishes, with metallic prints being the allowed exception. Of course, you can mix in any image products... mousepads, mugs, etc)
Most other online services offer a 1-choice option - all or nothing. While we were offering offering mixed finishes (through other vendors at the time) it created an extremely high error rate. It didn't take us long for us to realize that single-finish ordering was really the norm and to keep the process running smoothly, we went in that direction. It drastically cut down on fulfillment errors.
For the time being, it may seem like how we handle it is somewhat inconvenient, it doesn't really come up all that often. We found that over the long run, less than 3% of our orders were multiple print finishes, even when it was regularly offered as an option.
Currently, there is nothing designed into the ordering system to warn people they have selected mixed (non-allowable) print finishes until they get into the shopping cart process. In the meantime, if you are concerned about your customers making multiple choices and then getting the warning message later in the cart, you may want to put a message in your header or footer with that information. Some photographers have limited their offerings to one print finish. This has an added benefit of simplifying their product list.
We periodically review our posture on offering mixed finishes and will continue to do so on a regular basis.
We currently do not offer "true" black and white" custom printing through our Pro-Lab services. Any black and white images will be processed in the regular print queue. For most applications, photographers and customers find the results of this process satisfactory.
