How to Print and Display Photos Like Peter Lik

How To Print Your Photos Like Peter Lik

What makes it possible for people to enjoy Lik’s work, and to see the image as he first did squinting behind the camera lens, is his reliance on excellent printing – both materials and professional printers.

If you want to know how to print like Peter Lik, start at the foundation of your materials.

Find HD Photo Papers

The first step is to sift through the traditional print shops to find an actual print partner who has the right HD photo paper to print on. Peter Lik uses FujiFlex silver halide photo paper for his artwork. This is a high-grade paper coated in a film of light-sensitive emulsion containing billions of tiny silver Halide crystals made of silver bromide (AgBr). This is known as a “wet lab process.”

Unfortunately, wet lab photo processing has several drawbacks compared to other methods such as dye sublimation, thermal printing, inksticks, and electrophotography, known as “dry lab.”

For Peter Lik photos, the wet lab process has become part of his overall aesthetic and may work in certain applications. However, for those who want more vivid colors, sharper resolutions, ICC color management, and a process that doesn’t use chemicals that are bad for the environment, these dry lab methods are preferred on photo papers other than FujiFlex.

Learn more about why printers are switching from wet lab photos to dry lab photos in our blog.

Best Photo Paper For Printing Like Lik: We recommend ImageTech Photo Gloss paper. This thick, professional-grade paper has a high-gloss finish that gives a print the museum quality WOW factor, amazing detail, rich deep blacks, sharp, brilliant colors that other papers simply cannot capture.

Select The Right Ink

After you’ve selected your printing materials, it’s important to consider the ink (when applicable). While this part of the process doesn’t usually get much attention, it can determine how well your artwork will withstand the test of time. Three things you want to look for in a ink to mimic Peter Lik’s style include:

• Specially Formulated: Ink designed to work with specific high-end printers (usually sold by the manufacturer).
• Pigment-Based: Pigment-based Ink is more durable and resistant to fading.
• UV-Cured: Treated ink to protect from UV exposure.

Your final choice will likely be decided by the type of printer you’re using, however, there’s a range of quality of inks available for different professional printers.

Best Ink To Use To Print Like Lik: Be sure to use only the best ink formulations for the best results, this is often more expensive and exclusively produced by the printing manufacturer. Cheap ink will fade over time and not provide as wide a color gamut to begin with.

Use The Highest Quality Printers

Get the highest-quality fine art prints with the latest in dry photo lab print technology- the Canon iPF PRO 6100 printer.

The Canon iPF PRO uses a more environmentally friendly printing process compared to the old-school wet lab LightJet process which produces toxic chemical waste. Not only is this printing process more sustainable, it also produces brilliant images with:

• High-fidelity color reproduction
• Sharp, high-resolution
• Outstanding image clarity
• Improved gloss uniformity

Best Printer To Use To Print Like Lik: Canon iPF PRO is seen as the industry leader for printing on HD photo paper like ImageTech. Additionally, their ink quality is superior to many alternatives and produces vivid colors that last for decades.

Use Acrylic To Enhance Your Print

Acrylic plexiglass is a durable and lightweight material that has become incredibly popular for Peter Lik landscape photography. It creates a feeling of depth when you look at the print, is cost-effective and light for the size of print, and can be mounted to your wall in a number of ways. Your acrylic art print options include:

• Face mounted acrylic
• True-life acrylic
• Print encapsulation acrylic
• Direct to acrylic

Best Acrylic Option To Print Like Lik: Face-mounted acrylic is the most popular acrylic print style and is Peter Lik’s preferred medium.

How YOU Can Print Photos Like Peter Lik

Let the beauty of your work shine through in the hyper-realistic printing of your photographs on ImageTech Photo Gloss paper and acrylic mounting, just like Peter Lik.

Of course, there is quite a bit more to making a million-dollar masterpiece than just using the same professional grade HD photo paper. You also need a printer who knows how to bring out the best in your work and your high-quality materials. While it can take months or even years to capture the perfect award-winning image, once you’ve captured your stunning photograph, you’ll want to use the very best printing process available.

4-Step Process

Luckily, you already know a printer partner who artists like Peter Lik select every day. ArtisanHD makes the process of ordering gallery-quality acrylic prints easy!

1. Upload your photo to the HD configurator.
2. Configure (fancy for customize). Select the size, material, mounting, and finishing options.
3. Order your prints. Acrylic paper support is available if you need it.
4. Get delivery directly to your front door – then enjoy!

Once we’ve created your HD image, our high-quality online professional printing and image creation services don’t stop there! In fact, our print artisans at ArtisanHD work just as hard to ensure your professionally produced photograph or digital artwork is masterfully finished and delivered without harm to ensure your artwork remains picture perfect and ready for display.

Frame and Mount Pictures Like a Peter Lik Gallery

What really makes HD photo paper spectacular is pairing it with acrylic photo mounting. The acrylic mount is applied directly on top of the print, known as the second surface or face mounting. When you look through the acrylic to see the print, you still see the bright, defined print protected behind it. This is Lik’s go-to mounting option.

The second option is first-surface acrylic mounting, where the HD photo paper is mounted to a rigid board (Sintra, Dibond, etc.). Some papers have an inherent texture that diffuses glare which leaves the paper open to developing tiny little bubbles when it is mounted under acrylic, so first-surface mounting is best with these papers.

Gallery-Style Lighting for High Definition Photo Paper

Peter Lik’s photography is relished under the balanced lighting of galleries and private displays around the world. You can do the same for your own acrylic photos when you consider three lighting factors.

Invest in lighting for your art gallery display. In our professional opinion, the light gamut/spectrum should be as close to natural light as possible, to really bring out all the vivid color produced with high-definition photo papers. We recommend using SoLux 4700K Bulbs, which are universally recognized as the ultimate in D50 daylight simulation and can be incorporated into any standard track or art-light fixture that accepts a low voltage (12 volt) MR-16 bulb (2-pin socket).

Think about the tone of the ambient lighting in your room, as well. This can affect the display of the print. Choose a soft glow to create drama and heighten the intensity of your image. This gentle ambient lighting can pull the viewer closer to ponder and enjoy the magnificent color and detail captured in your face-mounted acrylic photo prints.

Last but certainly not least, don’t forget to think about the color of the wall that the artwork will hang on. This color will affect the lighting, dramatically even with saturated colors. This is why galleries tend to have neutral wall colors. Darker colors will also absorb more of the light you are directing onto your art, and thus will require more lighting.