Portraits
Portraits of people, places or events may be incorporated onto plaques using a variety of techniques.
The best method depends on many factors, including the artwork available, the final appearance, the installation location, and budget.
Cast Portraits
Simply supply a photo and let our talented in-house artists create a lasting tribute.
Cast portraits are available in bronze, aluminum, or brass.
Photos are returned with your approval proof.
You may opt between a flat relief portrait or a molded relief:
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Flat relief portraits have a contemporary look and are less expensive than molded reliefs.
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Molded Relief portraits have a three-dimensional look derived from a clay sculpture.
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Etched Portraits
The etching process reproduces artwork with fine detail as well as halftone photographs through acid-etching intometal sheet.
Etched portraits are recommended for interior use.
However, deep etched line art may be used outdoors.
 One method utilizes a halftone dot pattern made from a 50-line screen.
Halftone portraits resemble newspaper photographs, and have visible dot patterns.
The etched, recessed dots are black ink filled to contrast with the satin-finished metal background.
The best photographs for halftone etched portraits have high contrast tones with with bright white areas, dense black areas, and minimal grey tones.
Photos that are monotone or have muted colors will produce poor halftone etchings.
Halftone etchings are not available in aluminum.
 The other type of etched metal portrait reporduces black and white line drawing.
Because halftone screen is not used with hand-drawn art, the artist's fine lines are captured in great detail in the metal plate and can be etched deeper.
Cameos
 A cameos uses a ceramic or stainless steel blank as its base material.
A photograph is scanned at high resolution and a digital transfer is produced and applied to the blank.
A clear glaze is is applied over this transfer, and the cameo is fixed in a kiln.
 The resulting productis and exact color (or black & white if you choose) permanent reproduction.
Ceramic cameos require a bronze frame for installation and protection.
Stainless steel cameos are the preferred type for mounting to a cast metal plaque.
Both are suitable for exterior and interior applications.
Metalphoto® Portraits
Metalphoto® uses a photosensitive aluminum sheet, available in either natural aluminum or gold-tone aluminum.
The sheet is exposed using a film negative made from a photograph using a UV light source.
The image is produced as a permanent black image on the plate.
Metalphoto® is recommended when the only art available is extremely detailed or the image itself doesnot have a lot of contrast (old photos for example).
This method can be used in interior or exterior applications, and the best use is in public areas subject to vandalism.
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