Blog | Bumblejax

Giclée Fine Art Printing Explained

We get lots of questions each day about printing and there are a few printing buzzwords that come up frequently that unfortunately don’t have short definitive answers. Let’s call them “loaded buzzwords” since the terms can open up a lengthy discussion and create confusion rather than definitive answers particularly if you peruse the subjects in printing forums. One such topic of discussion is giclee printing and what constitutes a “giclee print”. There are some critical key components to look..

Face Mounting Explained

Acrylic face mounting is a process that involves applying an optically clear adhesive to the face of the print then adhering the print to acrylic, otherwise known as plexiglass. Once the print is adhered to the acrylic, a backing material like dibond (best and what we use) or sintra is adhered to the back of the print to protect the print and provide rigidity to the art. The backer also provides the surface to adhere the hanging and floating hardware which provides that modern, floating off t..

Diasec: The Original Acrylic Mounting Process

You may have heard the term Diasec in your research of photo mounting and there is often some confusion about what it is. Essentially, Diasec is a patented and trademarked process of acrylic face mounting first invented by Heinz Sovilla-Brulhart in 1969. The process of adhering a print to acrylic without air bubbles, creating stunning color vibrancy, was first achieved by Heinz and the techniques used by several companies around the word today emulate the process. However, the Diasec process ..

How to Photograph Underwater with Your Phone

Outer space and the deep blue sea are the two most elusive frontiers we have to explore, and thanks to changing technology, at least one is getting easier for the average Joe. Over a century ago, photographer William Thompson took the first-ever underwater photograph of a blurry bundle of seaweed in the shallows of south England. Louis Bouton took the first clearly focused photograph nearly forty years later. Both photographers used well-sealed boxes to execute their shots. The first true unde..

Top DSLR Quality Phone Cameras: The 2025 Guide to What’s Available & What’s Ahead

In the world of professional photography, top DSLR quality phone cameras for 2023 are making a remarkable impact. These stunning camera phones blend the convenience of mobile devices with the power and precision typically associated with high-end DSLRs. From capturing detailed shots to producing cinema-quality video recordings, these advanced camera phones have transformed mobile photography. Devices like the Samsung Galaxy S23, iPhone 14 Pro and, Ultra and Google Pixel 7 Pro boast powerful came..

Our Commitment to Sustainability

Creating beautiful art from your photos, unfortunately, produces lots of wood, metal, and plastic scrap materials so it’s important for us to work with a local partner to recycle and repurpose it. For the past few years, Bumblejax has worked with local partner DTG Recycling to make sure it doesn’t go into a landfill but rather used to create everything from decking (big supplier to Azek), rebar, miscellaneous building materials, and biomass power operations. We are currently recycling about 9..

Bumblejax Prep Guide & Best Practices for Printing

Bumblejax Prep Guide & Best Practices For Printing Accepted File Types: We prefer a JPG file since it’s far smaller than a TIFF and doesn’t diminish quality, but do allow TIFF (up to 100MB for online orders). Yes, TIFF is a lossless file format, but if you make your final save as the highest quality JPG, you won’t see any difference in print quality between a TIFF and JPG.  We understand many photographers prefer using TIFF and that’s fine, just be sure to use 8 bit w..

From Pixels to Prints: How to Get Great Results

Over the 10 years or so we’ve been printing customer photos we’ve seen it all and so wanted to share a few tips to ensure you get the best print possible. With that said, you’re not on your own here at Bumblejax. We review every single file before going to print and make adjustments we know will improve the print without changing color. For example we might lighten, sharpen and denoise to make an obvious improvement. If we see any issue at all whether it be resolution, color, a typo, etc we ..

Glass vs Acrylic Prints: Which Is Better?

In taking customer calls, live chats and emails we see a lot of similar questions being raised about product specifications along with some confusion about what exactly our customer is looking for. Today, I wanted to clear up a bit of confusion as well as lay out the differences, advantages, and disadvantages between photos on glass and photos on acrylic. I think some of the confusion lies in the fact that sometimes people see an acrylic print in a gallery and not knowing exactly what it is, as..

How to Recreate Peter Lik-Style Acrylic Prints

Peter Lik Prints On Acrylic. We can create the same presentation for you at a fraction of the price. A question we get a lot here at Bumblejax is “Are you familiar with Peter Lik? I want to present my photography in the same stunning way using acrylic!” Our answer of course is always a resounding, “YES we can do it for you!” In addition to producing stunning photography, it’s well known that Peter differentiates himself from other photographers by presenting his work in a unique and modern way..

How Panoramic Acrylic Prints Transform Wall Spaces

Whether it be above a couch, behind a bed or a statement piece lining a hallway, there is probably nothing more stunning as wall art than a large panoramic acrylic print. Our face mounted acrylic prints for the wall are the most popular product we have by far and the reason for that is it’s incredibly vibrancy. What makes a panoramic acrylic print art elicit a conversation from friends a family? The biggest reason is the way it enhances and illuminates your photo in the right light. With acr..

Our Final Studio Move

We’re excited to share that Bumblejax is moving into a new, state-of-the-art facility in Seattle that is designed to reflect the precision, care, and elevated craftsmanship behind every print. To maintain uninterrupted service, we’ve spent the past month temporarily operating out of Kent while preparing our new home. Now, the space is ready and we’re thrilled to take this next step forward with you. Our new facility will help us provide the speedy turnaround times you expect, supported by state-..

Non-Glare Acrylic Prints: What to Know

If you’ve done any research into acrylic photo mounting you’ve probably seen some discussion around the issue of regular vs non- glare acrylic and wondered what option was best for you, so we thought we’d spend a little time on the pros and cons of non-glare acrylic. Pros: Less glare of course! That’s about it! Cons: (1) Diminished vibrancy of the image (2) Color Cast (3) Higher cost It seems some people get overly concerned with the potential for glare. Look around your home during the day an..

Creative Photography Tricks: Shutter Speed & Night Sky

9 Weird Photography Tricks That Actually Work https://improvephotography.com/8806/photography-tricks/ I am always on the lookout for unique photography hacks to achieve interesting effects in my shots. Using creative hacks is so much cheaper than spending thousands of dollars to buy new equipment for different hacks. Its so much more fun too. This article lives up to its title and does exactly that by providing you 9 unorthodox and creative tricks to spice up your photography game. Some of them..

Introducing Metallic Photo Paper Prints

The acrylic face mounted print provides incredible vibrancy with any type of paper, but when paired with a metallic paper it bumps up the depth and vibrancy particularly with vibrant, colorful images. Add in a third component of good overhead lighting and the effect is stunning and is sure to turn heads particularly in a sea of canvas wraps and traditional frames. There are a few types of metallic photo print papers out there with the FujiFlex Crystal Archive and Kodak Endura probably the most ..

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