First time I heard about Fracture's glass photo prints was on the Tips from the Top Floor podcast few weeks ago. They advertise that the Fracture glass prints' colors are vibrant and beautifully saturated. Does it mean that Fracture's glass prints don't reproduce colors as they appear on calibrated monitors? I answer below this and many more questions you might have about Fracture's glass prints.

I thought it was a great idea to order a print from Fracture as a gift for a friend. I also took the opportunity to investigate closely the print for this short review.

Fracture Glass Print Stand (photo courtesy Fracture's Press Release)

Price

I think their prices are quite competitive and affordable. You can get the cheapest and the smallest print (4.8x6.4 inches=12x16 cm) for $15 (+shipping) and the biggest one (21.6x28.8 inches = 55x73 cm) for $125 (+shipping). I personally think their prices are pretty good, especially for glass prints.

My rating: 10/10

Delivery time

If you want to give a glass print as a gift or for a special ocassion then you better order it way ahead of time. I ordered mine on March 8 (2014) and although it was ready for shipping a few days after (according to Fracture's online system), if I remember correctly on March 14, it was only shipped on March 18. To be fair, I didn't expect it to be shipped faster than that because the Fracture's website informed me about possible shipping date when I ordered my glass print.

My rating: 7/10

Packaging

The Fracture's team should be hired my the Department of Defense to design tanks because their packaging is indestructible. The glass print was so well packaged that I thought about taking a hammer to open it up. Kudos for the Fracture's team!

Fracture Glass Prints - ash dirt from laser cuts

Unfortunately there was quite a lot of dirt when I opened the package (see the picture above). It wasn't visible until I touched the mounting and the stand. It looked like ink so I took a picture and tweeted it to the Fracture's twitter account. They replied quickly explaining it was "ash from the laser cuts on the foamcore backing". It rinsed right off with water but be careful if you touch something with it.

My rating: 9/10

Online photo editor

I have to say I was a bit dissapointed with Fracture's online photo editor, although their development team has assured me they are working on a more advanced one. It is very limited and basic at the moment. What I really would like to see is a 'move' or 'select and position' option for pictures that have a different crop than Fracture's printing sizes/aspect ratios.

My rating: 6/10

Print quality & color reproduction

I've wrote at the very beginning of this review about the glass print's saturation and how Fracture advertises itself on the Tips from the Top Floor podcast. I was concerned that their print would be over-saturated, however I was pleasantly surprised! The color and brightness came out exactly as they are on my calibrated monitor.

There is however one thing that makes me scratch my head - I noticed weird noise and/or color inconsistency at some parts of the picture. I'm not a print specialist and I can't explain this anomaly so don't quote me on this one. The fact is that the picture was taken at night (long exposure) so naturally they is some noise in it but it was barely visible on my computer's screen. However, the noise seemed to be more visible on the print. But again, it might have been something else.

My rating: 8/10

Mounting and foam core backing problems

You have 2 options when ordering a glass print from Fracture: a wall mount or a stand mount. I ordered a stand mount so I can't tell you anything about a wall mount. The stand mount is made out of the same material the foam core backing is. This makes the stand look nice and simple. Maybe a bit too simple. I think I would prefer to have a clear plastic stand (simulating the look of glass) than a black foam board.

Fracture Glass Prints Review - foam core backing peeling off

Unfortunately, there appeared a problem with the backing. The print (which is on the back of the glass) is protected and covered with foamcore backing. I noticed it started to peel off from the edges about 2 weeks after I received it (see pictures). I don't have the print anymore so I can't say if it peeled completely (I hope not). I took 2 pictures so that you can see how it looked when it started to peel off.

My rating: 5/10

My recommendation

Overall, I really like Fracture's glass prints, although there is some room for improvement as you can see from my review. I'm sure the Fracture's team will make improvements because their support and social media teams have been very attentive to my questions I had before and after ordering the glass print.

However, I think that glass prints might not be good for all types of photography and images. For example, the night photo I ordered had some weird noise that wasn't visible on my computer's screen. I also think that Fracture's glass prints look much better on a wall than standing on a desk - you'll get a more of a 3D feel & effect when mounting them on a wall.

I would recommend ordering the smallest print to try glass prints. They don't cost much and you'll be able to see if Fracture's glass prints are for you and if you like them, because as I wrote, they might not be for all types of photography.