Extrusion Printing

AoSA IMAGE PRINT + FABRICATION STUDIO EXTRUSION + PROFILE PRINTING

AoSA IMAGE / SHORT-RUN EXTRUSION PRINTING

Wood, stone and metal finishes printed straight onto aluminum.

AoSA prints faux wood, stone, metal and custom graphics directly onto aluminum extrusion — no laminate, no wrap, no veneer. Because it is a digital process there is no tooling to amortize and no minimum run: a single linear foot is a real order, and so is a full production release. Lighting is the most common use, where housings, end caps and hardware all need to read as one material.

Linear pendant luminaire with a walnut finish printed directly onto the aluminum housing

Printed profile / finished fixture

01 / DIGITAL FAUX FINISH

The look of wood. The behavior of aluminum.

Walnut, oak, blackened steel, concrete, terrazzo or a custom pattern — printed directly onto the extrusion instead of wrapped or veneered. The part keeps every property that made aluminum the right choice: dimensional stability, thermal performance, weight, machinability and a clean fastening path. There is no film edge to lift, no seam to telegraph and no separate laminate layer to fail.

Finish: Wood, stone, metal, custom
Build: No wrap, no veneer
Option: Texture printing

Architectural and decorative lighting: linear pendants, coves, sconces, handrail and cabinet profiles.
Matches a specified interior wood or stone without carrying real material into a fixture that has to dissipate heat.
Texture printing is available where the graphic needs physical grain rather than a printed impression of it.

Color and grain are matched to an approved printed sample on your own profile, not to an on-screen proof.

Racked aluminum extrusions printed with a wood finish on the outer faces and a light interior channel

Rotate / print / repeat

Bartco Lighting Fixture

02 / FULL-PART COVERAGE

Print every face, then cut to length.

Rectangular parts are rotated on the bed and printed on all sides and edges, so there is no unfinished back or raw return. Because the ink is cured to the substrate rather than applied as a covering, parts can be cut, drilled and machined after printing — you print the run, then break it into the lengths the job actually needs. Auxiliary components print in the same pass: end caps, brackets, trim and even screw heads carry the same finish.

Coverage: All sides + edges
Thickness: Flat stock under 4 in.
Post-print: Cut, drill, machine

Applies to any flat material under 4 in. thick, not only aluminum extrusion.
Rotate rectangular sections to reach all four faces plus the edges in one setup.
Match end caps, hardware and fasteners so the assembly reads as a single material.
Cut-after-print keeps short lengths economical: one printed run can serve several fixture sizes.

Coverage on non-rectangular, radiused or deeply undercut profiles is confirmed profile by profile during development.

Flatbed UV printer laying and curing wood-grain ink along an aluminum extrusion

UV ink / cured in line

03 / COATING STACK + DURABILITY

Four layers. You choose where to stop.

The finish is a stack, and price follows how much of it a project needs: clean raw extrusion, powder coat, digital print, then an optional UV-inhibited powder top coat. Stopping after the print is the least expensive route and suits interior parts that are installed once and left alone. Adding the top coat buys exterior UV stability and the abrasion resistance a high-traffic environment demands.

Stack: Raw → powder → print → top coat
Interior: Print as-is, handle with care
Exterior + high traffic: UV-inhibited top coat

01 Clean raw extrusion — degrease and prep so the coating bonds.
02 Powder coat — the base color the print is built on.
03 Digital print — the faux grain, pattern or graphic, texture optional.
04 UV-inhibited powder top coat — optional; specify for exterior or high-traffic work.

Durability varies with finish level, substrate and exposure. Uncoated UV ink can scratch and is not recommended for unprotected exterior or high-contact use.

A completed run of printed aluminum extrusions standing on the shop floor

Short run / production ready

Use the long floor shot of a finished run so scale and repeatability are both visible.

04 / RUN SIZES + DEVELOPMENT

One foot or one thousand.

Nothing about this process requires volume to justify it. Lengths run up to 96 in., there is no order minimum, and a single linear foot is a legitimate order — which makes prototypes, replacement parts, showroom samples and one-off specification pieces practical to produce. Every extrusion carries its own quirks, though: profile geometry, fixturing, ink behavior on that specific powder coat. That work is quoted once as a development fee, with a setup fee applied per run thereafter.

Maximum length: 96 in.
Minimum: One linear foot
Fees: Development + per-run setup

Development fee — one time per profile: fixturing, alignment, color and finish approval on a physical sample.
Setup fee — per run: press setup, registration and first-article check.
Per-foot pricing — follows the coating stack you specify, so a print-only interior part and a top-coated exterior part price differently.
Once a profile is developed, repeat runs reuse the same setup — reorders get easier and cheaper, not harder.

Development and setup fees are quoted per profile and per run. Pricing depends on profile geometry, coating stack and quantity.

Maximum length 96 in.

Minimum run One linear foot

Material thickness Up to 4 in.

Coverage All faces + edges