options for hanging unframed print?

A lady saw a print I have hanging at the hospital I work in, and wants a 24"x36" print. She'd prefer it unframed, just mounted on a board to hang above a bed. I would appreciate ideas on how to accommodate this. Any websites that produce ready to hang prints like this? The print she saw was produced by http://fotoflot.com , but this is way beyond her budget. I'm not sure I can find any solution that will meet her budget (don't know the amount, but suspect small). I don't think she realizes what it is going to cost to print the image, let alone make any profit off of it. Thanks.

I haven't tried it, but I've seen 'em and they look nice... and lots of CO folks have been happy with them - DuraPlaque

I'll second the DuraPlaq option. I sell hundreds of them each year and have a gallery full of them. My customers are thrilled with the quality. The owner's name is Tim Emerson. Let him know I sent you. He's really great to work with. You can see most of the options available on his website: http://duraplaq.com

Duraplaq stuff is amazing, I'm going to become a customer! Just looked at their website, thanks you guys for posting it.

Rob, here's a possible super-low-cost way to sell a big print IF you have two things available to you: Costco and Hobby Lobby. You may not, but assuming you do, here goes: you can get a 20"x30" inkjet print at Costco, printed on an Epson 7880 for $8.99. Just uncheck the color correction option on the Payment page (don't ask me!), and the print will come out surprisingly well. Then for $5.99 at Hobby Lobby, they sell a 20"x30" white foam core board that has a peel-off layer on one side, already sticky, ready to go. So, for $15 you get a large print on ¼" foam core that looks perrrrrty good. I lay the print face down on a clean table, then press the board onto the back, and it comes out nice and smooth.

Just an idea! Affordable one, anyway...

Oh, and then you can maybe get some other foam core doodad to make the print stand off the wall (I just looked at your fotoflot site... NICE stuff, bookmarking that one next).

And for your artistic ability, the reason why she wants to hang your work, how much for that?

Rob, it seems you have created an attractive image through your artistic ability, brought it to life through your photographic skills and now are giving that away

I suspect many of us will have heard how 'poor' folk are when they want something cheap. Just bite the bullet, tell her the true cost including your 'skills' cost and see what happens, if she doesn't buy it you have lost nothing but I bet she pays your correct price!

Duraplaq is certainly similar to the fotofloat product, but much cheaper from the latter's published pricing. Its also outstanding quality. I've seen lots of their work in first person. Another option is to look at myphotopipe.com. I just had some test prints done there and they did a good job on them. They offer gatorboard mounting, which is pretty durable. Its foamcore with a wood laminate layer on the top. That makes it stronger and more dimensionally stable. The next option down is to have it mounted to foamcore. Foamcore is cheaper, but not as durable. Its easily damaged if mishandled and the damage would be done to the print too. One last option that could work is to use hanging bars as are done with banners where a bar the length of the print is clamped to the top and bottom of the photograph.

I've been looking at thin wraps at Bay Photo, they seem cheaper then traditional matting and framing: http://www.bayphoto.com/bayweb/pro_thinwrap.htm

Looks like it only goes up to 24x30 though. Bay photo also seems to have a selection of mounting surfaces for their photos... But I'm guessing most online printing companies do.

Haven't tried the thin wraps yet, but I plan to.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. The Duraplaq looks very interesting, if not for this request then for future work. myphotopipe.com also has potential. When I figure out how I am going to print/mount this photo, I will quote the lady a price. I suspect she won't pay, but I am still going to quote high enough to make a decent profit.

I recently got 4 20x20 canvas thin wraps from Bay Photo and they are very nice. Well printed and well put together. They aren't all that cheap, but are definitely cheaper than some alternatives. I'd definitely recommend them for good service and product (although the ROES software was a little complex to get through).

I looked at the DuraPlaque website. I didn't find any way to order their product.

I must be missing something.

Dick

Dick, you'll need to call them to place an order. They are trying to develop an online order system but it isn't in place yet.

I've done this very thing, except I hung four 24x36 prints. I had the prints made from an online vendor and had the mounting on Gator Board done by a local framing shop. Came to about $75 per print. Here's how it looks: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jwallphoto/4394704899/

Thanks again, everybody for the input. I emailed myphotopipe.com and asked about hanging gatorboard. In their response, they gave me a link to these hangers, which might be of use to others in this situation. http://www.govart.com/hardware_hangers_foam.html

I do flush mount prints by face mounting them to acrylic. The result is super high gloss, and amazing flatness. It's not cheap though. IMO, you get what you pay for.

Went to an art society meeting last night and a photographer has very large prints of her work matted on something similar to foamboard. She has them done at Whitehouse Printing. Very professionally done. She used some type of clips to hang the work. She said these large posters cost her approximately $30. Check out their website if interested.