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 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
reproduces 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 applied
over this transfer, and the cameo
is fixed in a kiln.
 The
resulting product is an 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 does not 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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