I’ve been looking for cheap, affordable options for printing custom photo backdrops. There are plenty of expensive good options but not cheap. In the past, I printed my own backdrops using my own 13” wide inkjet printer. But maintaining inkjet printers is wasteful and annoying and the prints aren’t waterproof using normal ink. There were too many times I had to do a reprint due to an errant drop of water marking up my inkjet backdrops. Plus, my 13” wide inkjet printer stopped working properly recently giving me errors repeatedly. So I decided to stop using it and move on. For me, laser printers only for home printing from now on. After looking around at print options, I decided to give Zazzle a try.
Zazzle’s normal prices aren’t that great but they frequently have 50% off sales. I tried 3 of their products to test if any would work as backdrops: their Value Poster Paper (Matte), Indoor Vinyl Banner, and Matte Wrapping Paper.
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| Value Poster Paper (glare) |
First I tried the Value Poster Paper (Matte). Value Poster Paper (Matte) is not matte at all; it is glossy. Value Poster Paper would work as a printed water surface but it just has too much glare to make for a good sky backdrop. The paper thickness is nonetheless decent. Zazzle has other poster paper options, but for the price none fit the bill as cheap and affordable for the scales needed for backdrops.
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| Indoor Vinyl Banner (edge) |
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| Indoor Vinyl Banner (back texture) |
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| Indoor Vinyl Banner (front) |
Second I tried the Indoor Vinyl Banner. The Indoor Vinyl Banner is more of a satin finish than glossy but still not matte. The vinyl is a good thickness but flimsy; it can be easily mounted to a solid surface with spray adhesive though. The main flaw is that although the front of the vinyl is smooth, the back is textured with rectangles that measure around 1.5mm x 3mm. Those rectangles are visible on the front of the raw white vinyl; the rectangles disappear on areas printed in dark-colors but are visible up close on areas printed in light-colors. Also, the edges are folded and crimped after the banner is printed, which isn’t an exact science and leaves textured edges that can be a bit warped; to be safe, leave 4 inches of space (you could probably get away with 3 inches) from the edge around anything you want printed so it won’t be ruined by the folded and crimped edges. Then you can cut the folded, crimped edges off with an X-Acto knife and a straight edge. Overall, not a great backdrop material except for durability.
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| Matte Wrapping Paper Sheet (no glare) |
Finally I tried the Matte Wrapping Paper. The Matte Wrapping Paper actually works well; it is just wrapping paper and so not very durable but it is sufficiently matte and the ink is waterproof. The lack of durability can be remedied by mounting it with spray adhesive to a hard, smooth surface. The wrapping paper comes in rolls as short as 30 inches by 6 feet and as long as 30 inches by 60 feet. The length relative to price per square foot would be an amazing option if the design wasn’t limited to 30 inches x 36 inches tiled and repeated. There is also a 19.5" x 28.5" 3 sheet option where each sheet can have a different design; the only difference between the sheets and the rolls, other than size, is that the sheets have a grid and Zazzle logo printed on the back making them unfit if you want to backlight the print, since the back printing would show though. Conversely, the rolls are blank white on the back. On sale, the Matte Wrapping Paper, despite its repeating pattern limitation, is a decent backdrop option. And it looks like it is what I’ll choose next time I need a backdrop.
I went ahead and created a clear sky backdrop design whiter near the horizon and deeper blue higher up that you can order from Zazzle if you wish. Look out for sales; 60% off is the most I’ve ever seen. And they have a yearly $9.99 Zazzle Black membership option which comes with free shipping. The Black membership is worth it if you make more than one order a year from Zazzle.
Here is a link to the sky backdrop wrapping paper. And I also made a sky that can be cut in half into two 15 inch high sky backdrops. Don’t want to wait for a sale? Use this referral link for a 30% discount on any stuff you order using Zazzle for the first time.
