An acrylic print puts your photograph behind a sheet of polished acrylic, or prints it straight onto one. Light refracts inside the panel instead of passing through it, so colors read deeper and highlights glow in a way that paper and canvas prints cannot match.
Nine labs are worth your money for this, and they are not interchangeable. Pictorem is our overall pick, because it will actually cut the size, shape and finish you ask for. CanvasChamp is the one to reach for when the budget decides. And Bumblejax is the one to use when a client is paying for the print.
Acrylic Photo Prints: What Are They?
There are two methods to produce acrylic prints. One method involves simply printing on photo paper and then sandwiching the print with two acrylic pieces. The image is usually printed first, then mounted onto the acrylic.
The other method involves directly printing your photograph onto acrylic. This is done with a flatbed printer. Both methods can produce great prints.
The acrylic prints will give this tremendous glossy effect to your photos. The image itself may even look brighter as light can bounce around inside the acrylic. This all depends on the type of acrylic used.
© Pictorem.com
Why Should You Use Acrylic Prints?
Acrylic Prints are Durable
One of the main reasons people choose to get acrylic prints over other materials is the tough nature of an acrylic print. An acrylic print can flex slightly without snapping or creasing the photo paper.
The protective surface also lets you wipe dust and smudges straight off with a dry microfiber cloth, which is easier than the upkeep on canvas prints. Keep paper towels and ammonia-based glass cleaner away from it, though. Both scratch or cloud acrylic, and that damage does not come out.
Acrylic Prints are Lightweight
Acrylic prints tend to be pretty lightweight compared to other framing methods. Because the only elements to the prints are the paper and the acrylic, there isn’t anything else that adds weight. This comes in handy when mounting the picture.
Because the acrylic usually comes reasonably thin, the acrylic prints aren’t as robust as printing onto metal. Also, printing onto foam board will be much lighter but less safe to transport.
They Come in Various Sizes
As acrylic prints are simply paper and acrylic, prints usually have a maximum thickness of one centimeter. This is good if you are looking to store prints. Or if you want to easily move prints from one place to another, acrylic prints are the most accessible option while keeping your photographs safe.
The prints may come out a few millimeters thicker than printing onto metal. But here, the difference is that metal prints won’t have the same print protection as acrylic prints.
© Whitewall.com
Tips For Making Your Acrylic Photo Print
Now I will guide you through a few handy tips to remember when ordering acrylic prints online.
Choosing the Right Print Size
Rule number one in printing photographs is always to be mindful of the size you will print at. This begins with planning where your photo print will go. Measure your wall and see how big your image will look in real life. Make sure you don’t print a size that fills up the whole space. You will want to give your image some room to breathe.
Suppose you have no idea where you want your prints to go yet. Don’t worry! Maybe just pick a size similar to A4 paper, as you can fit a few of these on an empty wall for the future.
Preparing the Image File
One of the most important factors to consider is your image file. If a photo print doesn’t come out sharp, you are most likely trying to print it bigger than the photo file.
The easiest way to check your image size is through Adobe Photoshop. You will want to open the file and then go to Image > Image Size. Here you can flick through various measurement options. You will want to ensure your image is at least the size of the intended print and your resolution is at least 300 dpi.
On photoshop, you can even zoom to 100%. That will give you a rough idea of the quality that the image will print at.
Mounting Your Work
Another point to consider is how you will get the photograph onto the wall. Different companies offer various ways to mount acrylic prints.
The most common is with metal posts. These posts will go through the corner of your images, so keep this in mind when selecting your photograph. You also get the option to have a rail on the back that allows you to hang it from nails in the wall.
© Monstera (Pexels.com)
The Best Acrylic Print Services
Nine services, one wall. Sort them by whatever will actually decide your order.
- You already know the exact size. Pictorem, Big Acrylic, Bumblejax and BayPhoto all cut to any dimension you give them. Printique, CanvasDiscount and Shutterfly sell fixed sizes, so you crop the photo to fit the lab.
- The wall gets direct sun or a lot of lamps. Ask for non-glare acrylic. Pictorem, Big Acrylic and BayPhoto all offer it, WhiteWall sells a matte acrylic version, and Bumblejax sells TruLife, the best of them, in 1/8-inch thickness only.
- A client is paying for the print. Bumblejax and BayPhoto are the two labs here built around professional work, with DiBond backing, polished edges and a paper choice.
- The budget is the constraint. CanvasChamp and CanvasDiscount are the two cheapest ways onto acrylic, and neither one makes you choose a thickness.
- It has to be enormous. WhiteWall's Masterprint reaches 196 x 94 inches. Big Acrylic and Bumblejax both stop at 96 inches on the long edge.
1. Pictorem
- Custom Sizes: Yes (any size from 8x8″ to 96x60″)
- Mounting Options: Stand-off metal posts, back float mount, wood or metal French cleat, decorative moulding, none
- Price: $$
Pictorem takes any dimension between 8x8″ and 96x60″ and cuts the acrylic to it, which is why it wins here. Almost nobody else on this list will make an odd size without a phone call. The shapes are the part I like most: it also cuts circles, quarter-inch rounded corners, and novelty outlines like surfboards and skateboards. If you want custom shapes rather than another rectangle, this is the lab.
The finish choices are real rather than cosmetic. You pick glossy or non-glare acrylic, and every order goes through a free professional review of your file before anything is printed, which is the check that catches a photo you have pushed too far. Pictorem also runs an upscaling service on the file if you are printing bigger than the pixels comfortably allow.
Thickness is 1/8″ or 3/16″. The 3/16″ sheet has more optical depth, and Pictorem tells you plainly when you need it: with stand-off mounting on anything over 40 inches long, the thinner sheet can flex slightly between the mounting points.
What you give up is speed and reach. Free shipping only covers the continental USA and Canada, the lead time on a fresh order runs to about a week before it ships, and the satisfaction guarantee is 30 days. If you need a print in three days, or you are outside North America, start somewhere else.
2. Big Acrylic
- Custom Sizes: Yes (64 preset sizes, plus any custom size up to 96x60″)
- Mounting Options: Float off the wall, flush mount, stand off, traditional frame, none
- Price: $$
Big Acrylic prints straight onto the surface of the acrylic rather than face-mounting a paper print behind it. That is the difference worth understanding before you order anywhere: there is no photo paper in the sandwich, so there is no paper to choose, and the image sits on the front face instead of glowing through from behind.
Thickness is where the customization lives. You get 1/8″, 3/16″, 1/4″ and 3/8″, and anything above 1/8″ gets its edges treated so the image runs right to the ends and lights up as a translucent border. You can also round the corners, which is mainly a look, but it does take the sharp edges out of a hallway.
The anti-glare acrylic is the option I would take if the wall faces a window. It cuts the reflective surface that comes with a glossy panel while keeping the color, and Big Acrylic describes the material as scratch-resistant and washable. Despite the name, they also make small tabletop prints that stand on their own rather than hanging.
Then you wait. Current production time is 8 to 10 business days before the order even ships, so this is not the lab for a gift you remembered on Friday. And because they print directly on the acrylic, anyone who specifically wants metallic paper under glass has to go to Bumblejax or BayPhoto instead.
3. WhiteWall
- Custom Size: Yes (3.5x3.5″ up to 94.5x48″)
- Mounting Options: Aluminum rails, picture hanging hooks, wall posts, all included in the price
- Price: $
WhiteWall is the most decorated lab here, with more than 100 awards and recommendations behind it, and it is also the cheapest place on this list to start. Sizes run from 3.5x3.5″ up to 94.5x48″, in exactly the dimensions you specify, and panoramic and round formats are available too.
Hanging hardware is included and chosen for you by size: picture hooks for edges up to 9.8 inches, wall posts between 7.8 and 33.3 inches, aluminum rails above that. All of it is compatible with gallery rails, and you can also order the panel bare if you already have a system on the wall.
Three image-quality services, SuperResolution, ultraHD and Image Optimization, are switched on as standard and included in the price of every product, so this is no longer the paid upgrade I used to point readers at. You choose glossy or matte acrylic glass, and you can print onto metallic paper for extra sheen. Whichever you pick, the print is backed with triple-layer aluminum Dibond and the edges are sealed with elastic silicone.
Read the maximum size against the thickness before you order, because the two move together: 94.5x48″ at 1/16″ acrylic, 76.8x48″ at 1/8″, and 70.9x48″ at 1/4″. The Masterprint that reaches 196 x 94 inches (500 x 240 cm) is a seamless Fine Art pigment print on a paper made for WhiteWall, and it has a floor as well as a ceiling. The smallest Masterprint is 70.9 x 47.2 inches, so for a normal living-room wall it is not an option at all.
4. Printique
- Custom Size: No (fixed size list, starting at 4x6″)
- Mounting Options: None, easel, acrylic pedestal, mounting posts, wall float, depending on size
- Price: $$
Printique is Adorama's photo lab, printing in its own Brooklyn workshop, and it is far cheaper to get started with than its reputation suggests. A 4x6″ wall panel is the entry point, which undercuts the smallest print several labs above it will sell you. The trade-off is a fixed size list, so you crop your image to their dimensions rather than the other way round. Cropping is still the better move than adding a border.
The build is worth getting right, because it is often described wrongly. Quarter-inch "Wall" panels are HD printed directly onto the back of the acrylic and backed with aluminum for rigidity. One-inch "Blocks" are backed with high-gloss cardstock instead, and they are meant to stand on a desk rather than hang. For small prints I still think a row of blocks makes a nicer installation on a shelf than one panel on a wall. Nothing here is mounted onto DiBond.
Display options change with the size you pick. Large panels take a wall float or metal posts, which come in three colors. Small ones take an easel or an acrylic pedestal for a shelf or a nightstand. You can also collect the order in person, at Printique in Brooklyn or at parent company Adorama in Manhattan.
Geography is the hard limit here. Printique ships to the United States and Canada only, by its own statement, because acrylic gets damaged too often in transit anywhere else. If you are ordering from outside North America, WhiteWall is the lab on this list that will actually reach you.
5. Bumblejax
- Custom Size: Yes (any size up to 96x48″, in 1/4″ increments)
- Mounting Options: Wood and wire, aluminum with French cleat, none
- Price: $$$
Bumblejax is where I would send a print that a client is paying for. It handcrafts every acrylic photo print in-house in the USA using the original face-mounting method, it was one of the first American companies to sell gallery-quality acrylic at all, and it guarantees 100% happiness on every print. Gallery quality is included in the price rather than sold as an upgrade, which is not true everywhere.
Every print is backed with DiBond for rigidity and protection. The acrylic front comes in 1/8″, 1/4″ and 1/2″, plus 1″ blocks in a limited size range. Thickness caps the size: 1/8″ and 1/4″ go up to 96x48″ in any custom dimension, but 1/2″ stops at 40x30″.
Two premium acrylics are available, and both are 1/8″ only, so you cannot combine them with the thickest panels. TruLife adds glare reduction, scratch resistance, anti-static properties and 99% UV protection against the standard 75%, and Bumblejax says outright that it costs considerably more and is mostly bought by photographers reselling to clients. The newer anti-glare acrylic gives up very little vibrancy for the same job.
Edges and paper are the last two choices. A routed, sanded edge is included in the base price and leaves the sides slightly opaque; a diamond-polished edge is an upgrade that leaves them completely see-through. It is recommended at 1/4″ and required at 1/2″ and on the 1″ blocks, which is a real cost to budget for. Paper is Epson Premium Gloss by default, with Lexjet Sunset Metallic as an upgrade for bold, high-color work. If you are printing a family photo for a hallway, none of this is worth paying for.
6. BayPhoto
- Custom Size: Yes (any size from 4x4″ to 43x96″)
- Mounting Options: French cleat on DiBond or paper, keyhole hanger, small or large stainless posts
- Price: $$
BayPhoto is here purely because of the customization and control it gives you. Every step of the process offers at least two options, and it will cut any size between 4x4″ and 43x96″. If you already know exactly what you want, this is the lab that will let you specify it.
You choose vivid or metallic paper, glossy or non-glare acrylic, DiBond or white paper backing, and 1/4″ or 1/8″ thickness. The look changes with every combination, and I am glad BayPhoto shows all eight side by side rather than making you guess. Even the posts come in two sizes, small 5/8″ or large 1″, and they float the print an inch off the wall.
Size decides the hanging hardware rather than taste: a keyhole hanger for 8x8″ and smaller, a French cleat for 8x10″ and larger. Production runs 7 to 8 business days, and non-glare acrylic carries a surcharge on top of the listed glossy price. This is a professional lab whose ordering flow is built around photographers, so if you want to upload one photo and be done in two minutes, CanvasChamp or Shutterfly will suit you better.
7. CanvasChamp
- Custom Size: Yes (square, small, large and panoramic shapes)
- Mounting Options: Front mount, back mount, table stand
- Price: $
CanvasChamp is the budget pick, and it earns that on two things rather than on marketing. Acrylic orders ship in 24 hours, which is the fastest turnaround on this page by about a week, and the price is backed by the company's own 110% Lowest Price Guarantee. That guarantee has conditions worth reading: the competing product has to be the same size, and the lower price has to be valid on the day you submit it.
Being the cheapest costs you choice. CanvasChamp does not let you pick an acrylic thickness, a paper or an edge finish. Mounting is front mount or back mount, or a table stand if the print is going on a desk or a mantel rather than a wall, and the instructions for whichever hardware you choose come in the box.
The upload process is the part I do like. It is genuinely quick, and it does more than a single rectangle. You can build photo collages or split one image across several acrylic panels inside the same tool, which makes a better wall than one big print for the same money.
Watch the headline discount, though. CanvasChamp runs a permanent sale, so a percentage off tells you nothing on its own. Compare the checkout total against another lab at the same size, not the sticker.
8. CanvasDiscount
- Custom Size: No (20 sizes, 8x8″ to 30x40″)
- Mounting Options: Hanging system, sold as an add-on
- Price: $
CanvasDiscount is the cheapest entry point to acrylic on this list, and what I like is that the reason is structural rather than promotional. It prints in its own US factories and skips the retail markup, and it carries a 110% Lowest Price Guarantee and an Ear-to-Ear Smile guarantee on top.
Your photo is face-mounted behind the acrylic here rather than printed onto it, which is the method that gives the deeper color and the stronger sense of depth. Every pane is inspected and hand-polished at the edges, and the panel arrives borderless, UV resistant and moisture resistant. That makes it one of the few wall-art formats you can hang in a bathroom or a kitchen.
Mounting is no longer the gap it once was. CanvasDiscount now sells a hanging system that fixes to the back of the panel, so no hardware shows from the front and the print appears to float against the wall. It is an add-on rather than something included, so put it in the basket before you check out.
What you do not get is any choice at all: no thickness, no acrylic type, no paper, no edge finish. The size list runs from 8x8″ to 30x40″ across square, rectangle and panoramic shapes, and stops there. If you want a statement piece above a sofa, or anything larger than 30x40″, this is not the lab.
9. Shutterfly
- Custom Size: No (fixed sizes, in small, medium and large)
- Mounting Options: Metal posts
- Price: $$$
Shutterfly makes this list on convenience. Pick acrylic, upload the image, done. Everything is printed in the USA and covered by a 100% happiness guarantee, and there is no thickness, paper or edge decision to make anywhere in the flow.
Where it is genuinely strong is layout rather than materials. Shutterfly carries 58 acrylic designs, and most of them are collage templates that lay three, five, seven or nine photos onto one panel with the borders and text already worked out. Nobody else on this page hands you a finished multi-photo wall piece with no design work, and that is the part I would actually pay for. There is also a new Floating Frame Acrylic Print, which sets the panel inside a frame that stands proud of it.
The price is why it sits last. Shutterfly's acrylic prints start higher than any other service here, including the two marked $$$, and that starting price buys you the smallest panel they make. If you want a collage layout and no decisions, it is worth paying for. If you care about acrylic thickness, non-glare material or an unusual size, every lab above it does more for less, and Shutterfly is better used for the photo storage and everyday prints it built its name on.
Acrylic Photo Print FAQs
Which Acrylic Print Service Is Cheapest?
CanvasDiscount, then CanvasChamp. Both print in their own factories and sell a short list of fixed options, which is how the price stays down. CanvasDiscount starts at an 8x8″ panel and tops out at 30x40″. CanvasChamp costs a little more but ships in 24 hours and will split one photo across several panels. Neither lets you choose an acrylic thickness.
Do Acrylic Prints Arrive Ready to Hang?
Usually, but check before you pay. WhiteWall includes the hanging hardware in the price and picks it for you by size. Pictorem, Big Acrylic, Bumblejax, BayPhoto, Printique and CanvasChamp all offer mounting as a choice in the builder, including a no-mount option if you already have a system on the wall. CanvasDiscount sells its hanging system as a separate add-on, so it is easy to check out without one.
What Resolution Do You Need for an Acrylic Print?
Aim for 300 dpi at the finished size, and treat 150 dpi as the floor. For a 16x20″ panel that is roughly a 2,400 x 3,000 pixel file. Acrylic is unforgiving here, because the glossy surface shows fine detail and pushes soft edges forward. Never send a screenshot or an image saved off social media.
Is a Face-Mounted or a Directly Printed Acrylic Better?
Face mounting prints your photo on real photo paper and bonds it behind the acrylic, so you look through the panel at the image. It is the method Bumblejax, BayPhoto, WhiteWall and CanvasDiscount use, and it gives richer color and more depth. Direct printing puts the ink on the acrylic itself, which is what Big Acrylic and Printique do. It is cleaner to make and it lets the image run to a translucent edge, but there is no paper choice to make.
How Do You Clean an Acrylic Print Without Scratching It?
Use a soft, dry microfiber cloth, and for smudges add a little mild soap and water to the cloth rather than the print. Never use paper towels, glass cleaner or anything ammonia-based, because all three scratch or cloud acrylic permanently. Dab rather than scrub, and finish with a second dry cloth.
Conclusion
That leaves three decisions worth making. Pictorem is our pick overall, because it will cut the size, shape and finish you actually asked for and it reviews your file before printing. CanvasChamp is the pick when the budget decides, and it will be on your wall inside a week. Bumblejax is the pick when the print is going in front of paying clients, and its TruLife acrylic is the best material on this page.
I would still spend above the cheapest option if the print is staying on the wall for years. Start by measuring the wall and settling on a size, because that single number rules half of this list out. Then check your file at 300 dpi at that size. Then pick the lab that will make it: custom dimensions from Pictorem, Big Acrylic, Bumblejax or BayPhoto, a fixed size from Printique, CanvasDiscount or Shutterfly.
One last thing worth spending on. If the wall gets direct sun or a lot of lamplight, pay for the non-glare or anti-glare acrylic. It is the only upgrade on this page that changes whether you can actually see the photograph.
Check out our Effortless Editing with Lightroom course to make sure every photo you print is worth displaying on your wall!
