Upload one photo you love, and we'll turn it into a metal print on aluminum, printed and checked by hand in our Phoenix lab. You can preview your photo on gloss, satin or matte aluminum for free, and you won't need an account until you check out.
A metal print is your photo printed onto a specially coated aluminum panel. We make our metal photo prints with dye sublimation, which uses heat and pressure to turn the inks into a gas that bonds into the coating on the aluminum. The image ends up inside the surface itself, and that is where a photo on metal gets its depth and the way its color seems to glow under light.
If you've been wondering how to print photos on metal, your part is the easy one. You upload the photo, pick a finish and a size in the preview, and our lab takes care of the printing, the hand-check and the packing.
Each finish changes how your photo reads on the wall, and the preview lets you try all three on your own image.
If you can't decide, satin is a comfortable place to start. Gloss reflects the most light, so it helps to think about where the windows are in the room where it will hang.
We print custom metal prints in a wide range of common sizes, from small pieces for a shelf or a gallery wall up to large statement sizes for a big empty wall. The preview shows your photo at every size, so you can watch how the crop changes before you choose.
A few practical ways to pick a size:
When you're ready, start in the studio and walk through to checkout.
Our aluminum photo prints are scratch, water and UV resistant, so they hold up in places where paper might be at risk, like kitchens, bathrooms, offices and sunny rooms. Every metal print comes with hanging hardware included, so it can go straight onto the wall without a trip to the framer.
Whether metal is worth it for a particular photo comes down to the look you want. Metal makes bold color and strong contrast glow, and it suits modern rooms. Canvas gives a softer, more traditional feel, so a gentle portrait or a painterly scene may feel more at home there, although soft photos can still look lovely on satin or matte aluminum. We print on both, and if you'd like the longer comparison, here's metal vs canvas, explained.
Every metal print is made in our Phoenix lab, the same shop that prints for artists and for wholesale runs. The people on our floor print, check and pack each piece by hand before it ships, and the same hands that check artists' orders check yours.
If you're a photographer or an artist, we can help you sell too. Selling your own work as metal prints? Our artist page walks through listing your work across Brakebee. And if you'd like your photo on something you can hold, we also make small photo gifts like keychains.
Your photo is dye-sublimated into a coated aluminum panel. Heat and pressure turn the inks into a gas that bonds into the coating, so the image becomes part of the surface.
You can print a phone photo on metal. Upload the full-size original from your camera roll and check the preview at the size you want, and if the file is small, a smaller print will look sharper.
Every metal print comes with hanging hardware included, so it's ready for the wall when it arrives and doesn't need a frame.
Yes, in the studio you can stack several sizes of the same photo in your cart and check out when you're ready.
Your orders live on your Brakebee account. Prints by Brakebee uses the same login as Brakebee.com, so opening My account takes you to brakebee.com, where you'll find the same orders and the same cart.
Same Phoenix lab. No account needed to preview — sign in only when you check out.
Pick the photo you keep coming back to, upload it, and try it on gloss, satin and matte aluminum. The preview is free, and you only sign in when you check out.
Upload your photo →How we print, what to upload, and ideas worth hanging — from the Brakebee journal.