Guides3 min read
Flat or raised: which finish to pick
The same artwork, two very different objects. What the raised finish does, and when it is worth the difference.
Every design is offered two ways. Flat is a straightforward UV print on the panel. Raised builds the ink up in layers so parts of the image have real physical relief — you can run a thumb across it and feel the artwork.
What raised actually changes
Two things. The first is touch, which is obvious. The second is less obvious and matters more: raised artwork behaves differently as you move past it, because the relief catches light from an angle and the highlights shift.
A flat print looks the same from everywhere in the room. A raised one does not.
When it is worth it
- Artwork with strong lettering — the type lifts off the panel and reads as an object rather than an overlay
- Anything with a hard light source in it, where the relief gives the light somewhere to break
- Textured subjects — rock, cloth, water, fur
- Pieces hung where people walk past them rather than sit in front of them
When flat is the better answer
- Dense, detailed scenes, where relief competes with the detail already there
- Walls that already have a strong directional light on them
- When the difference is better spent on a second piece