Best Metal Printing Company: $100 Secret Shopper Print Shootout (2023)

For a while now I've been doing a canvas print shootout, comparing various canvas printers on the quality of their prints.

I have decided to expand my comparison to include companies that offermetal printsas well as.

As you no doubt guessed from the title of this article, I budgeted mine at $100metal prints. He wanted to see how far he could stretch that budget.

I sent the exact same image file to each printer. I also tried to print the same size from each printer, but some of them didn't offer a custom size, so I had to settle for the closest print size.

Then, when all the prints arrived, I compared them side by side using a series of metrics that I'll explain below.

table of Contents

• The 6 Best Metal Prints Online for 2020
• 2021 Update: The Best Metal Prints Money Can Buy
• Update for 2022: Who makes the best metal prints?
• Bay Photo Metallic Print Quick Review 2020
• 2020 Nations Photo Quick Lab Metallic Print Revision
• Costco Quick Metal Printing Review 2020
• Artbeat Studios Metallic Print Quick Review 2020
• 2020 Mpix Metal Quick Print Review
• Shutterfly Metallic Printing Quick Review 2020

The 6 Best Metal Prints Online for 2020

I have made detailed individual reviews on eachmetal print(linked below).

• photo of the bay
• Photo Lab of the Nations
• Costco
• Artbeat-Studios
• megapixels
• shutter

In this article, I want to give a concise overview of each print so you can easily see how they compare.Now that you have a little background on the process, let's get to the heart of this metal printing comparison!

WE HAVE ANNOUNCEDTHE WINNER OF OUR BEST METAL PRINTING COMPANY 2020 $100 CHALLENGE. FIND OUT WHICH COMPANY WINS!

2021 Update: The Best Metal Prints Money Can Buy

After the success of the 2020 metallic print shootout, we rinsed and repeated the process. In this round we have six competitors, some of the same companies as last year and some new faces to discover. The participants for themetaldruck shooting 2021They are listed below (with links to individual metal printing 2021 reviews for each company):

• photo of the bay
• Costco
• the painter
• megapixels
• White wall
• Artbeat-Studios

You can see my final evaluation of this year's entrants in the video above!

WE HAVE ANNOUNCEDTHE WINNER OF OUR BEST METAL PRINTING COMPANY 2021 $100 CHALLENGE. FIND OUT WHICH COMPANY WINS!

Update for 2022: Who makes the best metal prints?

This year we included five companies in the annual Metal Printing Shootout. The companies tested this time have appeared in previous shootings of metal prints of varying quality. Who is stepping on the plate this year and who is stumbling out the door? find out in the2022 head-to-head recapof each company's performance or by looking at the individual reviews below:

• Whitewall Metalldruck Review
• Costco Metaldruck Review
• Shutterfly Metaldruck Review
• Bay Photo Metallic Print Review
• Artbeat Studios Metallic Foil Review

I am announcing the winner of the 2022 shootout in the video above. See which company I recommend best!

WE HAVE ANNOUNCEDTHE WINNER OF OUR BEST METAL PRINTING COMPANY 2022 $100 CHALLENGE. FIND OUT WHICH COMPANY WINS!

Bay Photo Metal Print Quick Review

Hephoto of the bayThe metal print I ordered was very, very well packaged. It was impressive to see how far they went to protect the pressure. Kudos to Bay Photo on that front.

When I opened the package I found a print that had excellent resolution. The image was also sharp and detailed. It also has an amazing luminescence. That's because Bay Photo puts the dyes directly on the foil. The result is beautiful colors that are vibrant and bright.

One thing I noticed right away is that the colors were a bit off. Bay Photo added more red, which seems to be a common Bay Photo practice for some reason. The added red didn't bother me too much, but it's something worth mentioning if you choose Bay Photo for a metal print.

There is a nice fastening system at the back. It adheres very well to the print and provides good support for hanging the print on the wall. The mounting system is perfectly centered and level, which of course is important.

Overall this is an impressive print. He wasn't exactly the best dog in my ranking, but he was pretty close!

Here's the cost breakdown for this print:

• Print: $94.50
• Shipping: $14.99
• Tax: $7.32
• Total: $116.81

I was a bit over budget with this print, but the extra $16.81 was well worth it for the quality I got!

Nations Photo Lab Quick Verification of Metal Prints

MeinPhoto Lab of the NationsThe metal print arrived well packaged and undamaged. That was a good first step!

When I opened the box I found a print that gave me a good first impression. Print detail is quite good, with good resolution throughout. The detail and resolution weren't on par with some of the other prints I've ordered (eg Bay Photo, Artbeat Studios), but it was definitely in the top half of the pack.

Like my Bay Photo Metal Print, this one had a slight red undertone to the color. Again, this wasn't much of an issue for me, but it's worth noting that color accuracy does veer slightly.

One of my favorite things about this print is the shadows and highlights. Whites are nice and bright, with excellent contrast but very little loss of detail.

The shadows offer nice, deep tones without blocking out. This, along with the reflections, gives the print an excellent touch.

There is a simple hanger at the back. The problem with this is that it's a bit off-center, which means it hangs a bit crooked. This is a simple error that should have been caught before the print was sent.

Also, the edges of the frame are quite sharp. It could not only cut your fingers, but also damage the wall when you hang it.

Here's the cost breakdown for this print:

• Print: $88.33 (with a 15% off coupon code)
• Free shipping
• Tax: $0.00
• Total: $88.33

I loved that I didn't have to pay shipping or taxes. This meant that I was well under budget and got a great looking print. That is a great combination!

Costco Metal Printing Quick Review

I had never ordered metal prints fromCostcobefore, and this experience has not encouraged me to order another...

The first thing I noticed about this print is that the colors are a bit muddy. The print lacks the vibrancy that the original image file undoubtedly had. Also, this print is also not as crisp and sharp as the original image.

Also, the print seems grainy to me. This is especially true in heaven. I checked the image file again to make sure this grain was not present when I sent the file to Costco. Was not. This means that their printing process added that grain, which is definitely a negative.

But the biggest problem I had with this print was that there were scratch marks on the print. The scratches weren't particularly big or noticeable, but it still shows that the quality control process failed.

The mounting hardware on the back is so-so. You get a piece of wood to adjust the bracket to hang vertically or horizontally, which is nice.

It's printed with UV-resistant ink, which is nice, but you only get a glossy option. I would prefer to have an option for Matt, but for some reason Costco doesn't currently offer that.

Here's the cost breakdown for this print:

• Print: $63.99
• Shipping: $5.99
• Tax: $4.96
• Total: $74.95

The low shipping price was great, as was the total, which was well under my $100 threshold. However, this print did not offer the best value for money. There were printing errors and honestly the quality of the metal itself was not as good as other prints on this list. Although Costco metal printing was affordable, I wouldn't buy it again.

Artbeat Studios Metal Print Quick Review

The best image of the group was undoubtedly that ofArtbeat-Studios.

First prints were fantastic - this print looked and felt like the high quality metal print I was looking for.

For starters, the print had a nice weight to it indicating that quality metal was used. Artbeat Studios uses Chromaluxe® brand HD aluminum foil, the highest quality metal on the market. In fact, this material is guaranteed to resist fading for more than six decades. Nothing bad!

The print itself has excellent color accuracy. No color casts like I had with other prints in this shoot. The color is just great.

Resolution and print detail are just as good. In particular, the detail on the cave walls in the foreground is absolutely perfect.

Since this print carries some weight, mounting hardware is extremely important. Fortunately, Artbeat Studios got the hardware just right.

The fixing piece is solidly built. It also adheres well to the print so you don't have to worry about it failing over time. The mounting piece is made of wood and offers vertical or horizontal hanging options. Also, it's right in the middle of the print and perfectly level (as it should be!).

Here's the cost breakdown for this print:

• Printing: $97.04 (with 20% coupon)
• Shipping: $9.99
• Tax: $7.76
• Total: $114.79

This was one of the more expensive prints and as you can see I went over budget. However, this is hands down the best of the lot, so it's worth paying an extra $14.79 for the print quality you get.

megapixelsQuick check of metal impressions.

megapixelsis one of the companies that does not allow you to order a custom size. This put a bad taste in my mouth from the start. I understand why printers standardize their size, it's cheaper, but at the end of the day, if you're looking for the best metal print, you should be able to get it in any size you want.

Regardless, I was impressed with the speed with which Mpix brought this print to me. Shipping took four days, which is not bad since the print had to be made and shipped from Kansas to California.

Examining the print, I noticed that there is significant softness to the details. As I mentioned, the image was sharp and crisp when I sent the file, so this smoothness of detail is a result of the Mpix printing process.

Despite the softness, the print looks good. The colors are magnificent, some of the best in the range. The image is also beautiful and rich in contrast.

There's a basic mount on the back, but it gets the job done. I don't particularly like that the mount is foam, but at least it's centered and level, which is more than I can say about some of the other prints in this shootout.

The biggest problem I had with this print is that it has weak bleed. The reflectivity of the print makes photography difficult, but a faint line can be seen in the photo below.

I've been told this sometimes happens when the metal is cut to make the impression. At the end of the day, it's not a big deal, but at the same time, the Mpix QA folks should have noticed the dent and reprinted the image.

Here's the cost breakdown for this print:

• Print: $97.49 (with a 25% coupon)
• Free shipping
• Tax: $7.56
• Total: $105.05

This print is pretty good, with a few minor issues that, if fixed, would make this a competitive entry for the top spot. However, as there were a few issues, this Mpix metal print is a so-so option that ended up going over budget.

shutterQuick check of metal impressions.

shutteris another company that does not offer custom size printing. As I mentioned, this is a bummer, although I understand profitability drives this decision.

One issue that is bigger than the lack of custom sizing is the time it took for Shutterfly to send me the print. It took eight full days to arrive, which is a ridiculous amount of time, especially considering the quality of the print I received.

The print looks and feels cheap. Unlike prints from other companies like Artbeat Studios, this print carried very little weight. The metal feels thin.

Also, the details of this print turned out very smooth. It's so bad, in fact, that I'd rate the resolution of this print a mere 5 out of 10.

Another knock to this Shutterfly metal print is that the colors are also muted. The precision is simply not there in the original file, resulting in a print that is by far the worst in terms of color accuracy.

The back doesn't look better...

The mounting hardware looks and feels cheap. The main mounting block is not straight in the print, so it hangs slightly crooked. This is a simple quality control issue that should never have happened!

Here's the cost breakdown for this print:

• Print: $62.69 (with a 35% off coupon)
• Shipping: $12.99
• Tax: $4.48
• Total: $80.16

In my experience with this print, the price is too high for the quality you get. Add in expensive shipping that takes forever, poor print quality, and flimsy metal, and you've got a recipe for a metal print that's the ultimate in this shootout.

At the end of the day, I got some great prints (Artbeat Studios, Bay Photo), some mediocre prints (Nations Photo Lab, Mpix), and some that just weren't on the market to sniff at (Costco, Shutterfly).

As I mentioned before, Artbeat Studios was my favorite metal print. The quality was superior in every way to any other print in this shootout. If you are looking for a beautiful high quality metal print,Try Artbeat Studios!