Your favorite photos and images take on a whole new life when transferred onto the shimmering medium of acrylic or crystal glass. We’re talking about glass wall art, an office and home decor trend that’s here to stay. What exactly are custom glass photo prints? We’ve got your quick rundown.
Custom Glass Photography Prints 101
Your basic custom glass photography print is a photo or image of your choice that’s printed directly onto the surface of highly durable, shatterproof glass. Acrylic glass is the most common. It has superb structural integrity that stands up to the test of time. The same interior structure also generates vibrant depth of color as light passes through it. This gives acrylic glass prints a lasting technicolor crispness.
Prints may have vertical or horizontal orientation, although the latter seems most common. Widths range from 12 to 36 inches, the same as standard gallery canvas art sizes. Many artisans who produce glass prints have advanced enough technology to print from digital photos uploaded online, making the process so easy for customers to complete from the comfort of home.
3D Engraved Crystal Glass Picture
First completed in Russia during the 1990s, 3D engraved custom glass photo prints use lasers to cast a 3D likeness of any photo inside the very structure of a glass plate or crystal cube. Called bubblegram, the technology combines 3D printing and laser engraving. Using special software, artisans focus unique lasers into the crystal. This creates small bubbles or deformations inside the crystal that refract light.
The image that results resembles a hologram ‘floating’ inside of a clear piece of glass. Other images look like actual black-and-white photos ‘printed’ inside a panel or cube of glass. Laser engraved glass comes in many forms: standalone photo, standalone cube, wall art and even Christmas tree ornament.
