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Brilliant Image review: Analog Art from Digital Pictures

Posted on February 8, 2007 by Jeremy Toeman

If you’ve owned a digital camera for a few years, you are probably like the rest of us, accumulating a ton of digital pictures (after editing, I still had over 200 from my week in Mexico), maybe emailing/sharing them online, occasionally printing a few, or making a coffee mug or a t-shirt once in a while.  If you’re a little ahead of the curve, you’re probably starting to consider purchasing a digital picture frame this or next year.  But at the end of the day, most of them are sitting on a hard drive, and if you’re smart about it, backed up in more than one location.  I found one interesting new service that’ll let you take those pictures a little further than you’ve probably considered in the past, Brilliant Image.  They take your digital pictures and turn them into pieces of art.

JT & Ari - photo used for Brilliant ImageI was able to try out placing a sample order, and I’ll start by saying I’m quite happy with the results.  As you’ll see by their online order form, there are quite a few different options, so you can have your own creative expression of what you want to make.  While the form looks complex, it’s pretty straightforward.  Step one – select a photo.  I picked one of my wedding pictures – since our photographer was all-digital (which I can’t recommend highly enough), everything he took was extremely high quality, so I wanted to see what “the best” would look like.  You can either upload the photo or mail it to them separately (you can even mail a printed picture if you want).

brilliantimage (0) - packagingStep two – pick your style.  I went with the “gallery wrap”.  There are tons of options, depending on the size of what you want, including square, rectangular, or rounded options.  Also, you can pick from a variety of different frames, all with different prices.

Step three – choose effects.  For a small additional fee, they can retouch your photos, create collages or add effects.  You can also go black&white or sepia for no extra charge.

Step four – place your order.  The total fee for the option I selected would normally be about $75 plus shipping, although some options are much more expensive.  For example, the 30″x40″ Mahogany Black with a High Res proof is over $450.  But hey, it’s art, right?

brilliantimage (2) - on wallMine showed up about 10 days later, well-packaged (see the photo above).  When I opened it, I was stunned by the effect.  It really looked like someone had painted the picture!  Maybe I am impressed too easily, maybe other folks are used to this, but it was extremely compelling in my opinion.  Take a look at some of these pictures and the zoomed-in details I took.  There’s the canvas, and there’s no pixelization whatsoever. 

brilliantimage (12) - on wallbrilliantimage (4) - on wallbrilliantimage (3) - on wallbrilliantimage (5) - zoombrilliantimage (6) - zoombrilliantimage (7) - zoombrilliantimage (8) - zoom

It’s definitely more expensive “photo printing” service than anything out there (although SmugMug most certainly comes close for reasons I still cannot fathom), but then again, these aren’t just glossy photos. This looks, feels and possibly tastes (didn’t really try that one) like art.

If you want to add a little class or a touch of art to your home, and you want to use your own photos to do it, I highly recommend Brilliant Image’s services.  They were professional and easy to work with, and provided a product that was better than I was expecting.  I did ask their recommendation for megapixels to make a photo “paintable” and they recommend 4MP for “most reasonably sized paintings” (more details here). 

Whether for you or as a gift, they are most assuredly “LD Approved” and my painting is hanging on the wall as you walk into my apartment (you can see a few more pictures here).  It consistently gets a “that’s cool” when friends visit.

brilliantimage (9) - on wall

UPDATE: They’re offering a little promo to LIVEdigitally readers, simply enter the code “LIVDIG” for 10% off your order!

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About

Jeremy Toeman is a seasoned Product leader with over 20 years experience in the convergence of digital media, mobile entertainment, social entertainment, smart TV and consumer technology. Prior ventures and projects include CNET, Viggle/Dijit/Nextguide, Sling Media, VUDU, Clicker, DivX, Rovi, Mediabolic, Boxee, and many other consumer technology companies. This blog represents his personal opinion and outlook on things.

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