Recently, my friend and fellow Photofocus author, Levi Sim, called me up and asked me about how I print my photos for my clients. We discussed the options I have and where I like to have them printed and he asked me if I had ever used acrylics. I shared with him that truthfully, I didn’t really enjoy acrylic prints. I find them to be a bit too much “in your face” with their super reflective nature. I always found that the acrylic got in the way of the viewing experience. He proceeded to tell me about what ArtisanHD is doing with a new product called TruLife acrylic.

Basically, it seems like a bunch of people who felt the same way about acrylics that I do got together and found out a way to combat the problem. Now that I’ve given them a try, I have to say, they hit it out of the park!

Quality Color, Quality Construction

When I got my order in the mail they arrived in sturdy packaging and were wrapped with care (hooray attention to every detail!). As I unwrapped the acrylics I was blown away. The richness and depth of color in the Fuji paper they use was beautiful and the TruLife acrylic seemed to enhance those qualities even more. I ordered both color and black and white photos and the tonal range was reproduced beautifully. The photo was face mounted, which means the acrylic is just fused to the front of the photo and not the back. What’s interesting about this is when you view the image from the side, through the actual thickness of the acrylic, it provides a really interesting look along the edges. The backside has a seamlessly mounted wood block that helps the acrylic stand out from the wall as it hangs, adding an interesting visual look to it. They even have a custom cut wood block for mounting that you screw into the wall first, then slide the acrylic on to for a no-slip hanging process.

Distracting Reflections? What Distracting Reflections?

Even though I ordered prints for my business studio area, I decided to pick a spot in my home to see how they looked as I’m in-between studio spaces at the moment. I decided to pick the sunniest spot in the house. I wanted to see how this acrylic handled the high spectral reflections and highlights that I have come to loathe about traditional acrylic. Again. I was thoroughly impressed. Although it was not without reflection or highlight, they were not so bad as to obstruct the viewing experience. Also, you had to go to some pretty extreme angles of view to see the reflections. By my (non-expert) estimation it was around 150 degrees of viewing angle that were reflection free, which is totally awesome.

Verdict: Gorgeous & Tasteful

I truthfully don’t think there is anything I would change about this product. I’m excited to begin showing it to my clients and show them how acrylic prints don’t just have to be for modern styled homes anymore. Now that this TruLife face mounted acrylic product tones down the flashiness, it looks good in more than just modern aesthetic homes. It’s opened up a whole new product line for me and I couldn’t be more excited!

Editor’s Note: We’ve got a raffle contest going on with TruLife right now. Click here to enter to win more than $800 worth of prizes, including a marvelous 30×40″ print of your own work on TruLife’s face mounted acrylic printed at ArtisanHD. In fact, head over to ArtisanHD right now and save 15% on your order with the discount code Photofocus15. Also, check out Bryan Esler’s and Levi Sim’s results.

 

Normally, I’d expect huge spectral flares and reflections from this angle of a standard acrylic. The TruLife (thankfully) does not deliver on that. It looks beautiful!

 

The sunniest spot in my home, viewing the photo from an extreme angle. Some minor reflections. Nothing obtrusive.

 

Another extreme angle of view. This was the “worst” I could get the reflections and highlights. Still far less than traditional glass or acrylic and nothing that impedes being able to still see the photo itself.

 

Tonal range even in the black and white was gorgeous on the Fuji paper they use.

 

I really enjoyed the bare edge of the acrylic. It was very interesting to look at. Also, the space the mounting block created against the wall was a nice way of displaying.

 

The pressed board frame was sturdy and mounted seamlessly to the back of the print.
The customized mounting block was awesome. With a predrilled hole it was easy to put it on the wall where I wanted and then to just slide the print on top. It fit perfectly.