Professional Photography : inkjet printing

Protecting Your Prints

Eileen Fritsch — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:51:00 GMT

The latest model printers, like the HP DesignJet Z3200 and the Photosmart Pro B9180, are capable of creating prints that last over 200 years thanks to the formulation of pigment inks and the coatings on the papers we print to. Obviously, that’s a long time, and while the print might be viable for that period, improper care and handling will lead to an early death.

One problem with inkjet prints is the tendency to scratch easily. This is particularly true with prints made with pigment inks, because the pigments sit on the surface of the paper rather than being absorbed into the swellable coatings used on inkjet papers made for dye-based inks. So, rubbing against something, or the errant fingernail can ruin an otherwise perfect print and expensive sheet of paper.

The simplest solutions are usually the best, and print handling is no different. If you’re doing quality printing for exhibition, sale, or other public use, wearing a pair of cotton gloves will protect your prints from fingernails as well as oils on the skin, fingerprints on a glossy print, or other unforeseen disasters.

For fine art papers and canvas, I’ll normally use a spray protectant after the print has set for 24 hours. Desert Varnish from Moab, Lumijet Protective Spray from Hahnemuhle and Premier Art Shield from Premier Imaging Products are all good options that seal and protect the print from moisture, scratches, and fingerprints and won’t yellow as the print ages.

Print protection shouldn’t end here though. Storage and display should also have their own safety measures in place. Starting with storage, it’s best to store your prints flat. It avoids unwanted curling or bending, and handling is easier. Always use a protective sheet between each print. Acid-free tissue paper, available at most art stores or online at sites such as Light Impressions, is an inexpensive way to keep your prints from rubbing against each other.

If you’re mounting your prints for display, make sure that you’re using an acid- and lignin-free mat board and backing material. And, if your prints are going behind glass, never let the print rest against the glass.

A little extra caution up front can save time and money down the road. When you consider how much effort you spent getting to the point of creating that print, the extra effort is well worthwhile.

Add Real Value to Your Fine Art Prints

Eileen Fritsch — Sun, 31 May 2009 15:45:00 GMT

By David Saffir

A written Certificate of Authenticity can add real value to prints that are ready for exhibition or sale.

Most artists and photographers tell me that they are content to sign their work, and add an edition number and date. This is fine, but there is a bit more that one can do that has real customer appeal. A Certificate of Authenticity can provide vital information about the image to a prospective buyer, gallery, or collector. The certificate can include the following (and/or other items):

· Name, location, and web address of the artist or photographer;

· Name, location, and web address of the printmaker;

· Type of camera or art technique used to create the image;

· Printing device used along with the type of ink and paper used, and their archival properties;

· Edition size and the dimensions of the prints in the edition;

· Number of this particular print within the edition;

· Information about the subject matter of the artwork;

· Information about when and where the photo was taken (GPS benchmark, date, time of day);

· A small color or black-and-white reproduction of the actual image;

· Signature of the artist or photographer;

· Signature of the printmaker;

· Copyright holder’s identity, applicable law, and reproduction rights;

In a way, the Certificate is a promise of quality and value. If the edition is limited, the buyer will know where they stand if they buy the print. If the buyer elects to sell the print down the road, the Certificate helps the print hold its value (hopefully it is increasing).

A buyer will also know that the print is made from the best materials available, that it was made by an expert printmaker, and that it is designed to last. A print like this becomes a valuable addition to a collector’s gallery, or an important heirloom.

We can’t know the long-term value of an image when we first create it – but we can record its provenance for those that come after us. In my view, the Certificate adds a tangible, credible foundation to the work, and provides information that might otherwise be lost forever.

Check out the Certificate of Authenticity I created for my photograph The Wave that now hangs in the home of a private collector.

In a future post, I’ll discuss controlling publication of editions, including storing reference prints, edition sizes, choosing media, and the like.

Black-and-White Photo Printing: More Popular Than Ever

Eileen Fritsch — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:06:00 GMT

By Marc Aguilera

Making black-and-white prints seems to be more popular than ever before.The only difference is that instead of using a darkroom full of enlargers, negatives and chemistry, we work in digital "darkrooms" that consist of a computer, monitor, software and a digital printer.

Just how popular has black-and-white photography become? Flickr alone has over 46,000 individual groups about black-and-white images, with well into millions of images. And visit hotels and restuarants in major cities and you'll see many black-and-white photos decorating the walls.

Thanks to ongoing advances in editing software and printers, it has become increasingly easy to convert any color image into a black-and-white print and achieve stunning results. You can also scan black-and-white negatives and transparencies and manipulate curves to essentially do what film photographers once did in the darkroom with filters.

There are a variety of ways to create black-and-white images in Photoshop. You can also use some print drivers, RIP software, or third-party tools as well. Personally, I have become very fond of Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro, which operates as a Plug-In for Photoshop. The user interface is straightforward and Silver Efex will convert any digital image either into a black-and-white image or color-toned images that mimics traditional processes such as Ambrotypes or "Pinhole" effects.

Fig-1 below shows a digital image that I shot as a JPG with my Nikon D200. From there I started Silver Efex Pro as a "Filter" which brought up the user interface in Fig 2, 3, and 4.

Figs 1 and 2

Figs 3 and 4

Printing neutral black-and-white images used to be a big challenge, requiring photographers to spend countless hours trying to eliminate unwanted color casts that resulted simply from using cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks to create shades of gray and black. Today, printers such as my Designjet Z3200 can easily produce perfectly neutral even-toned black and white prints.

The HP Designjet uses a quad-black ink system with Photo Black, Matte Black, Medium Gray, and Light Gray inks and a driver that separates RGB files into the appropriate channels for neutral black-and-white printing. The only real manipulation you have to do involves tone shape and shadow-midtone-highlight detail, Achieving neutrality is left up to the firmware built into the Z3200.

In my Google search of black-and-white digital printing, I didn't get nearly as many results as I thought I would. It seems most posts where written in the past when the technology was more challenging and the results were unsatisfactory. This is a sign of great progress! It probably indicates that more photographers are using newer-model printers such as the Designjet Z3200 which have removed a lot of the frustration associated with trying to make neutral blacks with the six-color CMYKLcLm inksets used on older models such as the HP Designjet 5500 or Designjet 130.

Now that black-and-white imaging has become easier, do you think it will become even more popular than it is today? I have my own thoughts on why black-and-white images can be so powerful. But I want to hear what you think. Why do you like producing black-and-white images? What methods do you use most often to convert your color shots into black-and-white prints?

Get to Know Your Media

Eileen Fritsch — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:54:00 GMT

By Jon Canfield

Because I regularly cover new paper options for trade publications and have an intense interest in printing for personal and professional reasons, I’m excited about the number of new surfaces we have to print on. It seems that every month brings one or more new options, all of which are promoted as the best thing since ink was invented.

This embarrassment of riches isn’t without its drawbacks. We’re all striving for the ultimate in quality with our prints, whether they’re going on our own walls or will be hanging in a prestigious gallery for thousands to enjoy. Just as with your camera or your printer, it takes time to learn how to get the most from a particular paper. Some papers are better for black-and-white than color work; some hold ink better and can produce denser blacks. And then there is the issue of paper white: Do you want a warm, cool or neutral tone?

Just as in the emulsion film world, it takes time to really know how the paper will respond to your needs. You might carry around a couple of different films, but you probably wouldn’t keep 10 or 12 choices in your bag. It would just be too much work to really know them all well.

If you’re constantly switching to new media at every opportunity, you’ll never have the time to really learn how each paper responds to different subject matter and display conditions.

I’m not suggesting that you should find a single paper and use only that. But I am recommending that you find one paper in each type of surface that you use, then try to really learn how your work presents itself on that paper.

For example, I love the baryta papers for black-and-white work. The traditional darkroom look and feel is ideal for many of my prints. Quite a few choices exist in baryta papers, and to be honest, any one of them would be just fine.

But, I don’t want to mix them up and print randomly. Nor do I want to invest the time to learn how a dozen different papers react to my printing.

My approach is to use a standard test image for each new paper I test, so I can have a baseline for comparison. From this, I’ve narrowed down my baryta printing to two surfaces – HP Baryte Satin Art Paper and Hahnemuhle FineArt Baryta, giving me warm and bright-white papers.

Of course, I still look at new media when it comes out. If it looks promising, I’ll do the test printing and then try more in-depth printing to compare against my current standards. If I find one that I like better, I’ll take the time to learn the ins and outs before replacing one of my current choices. After all, experimenting is part of the fun. But in the end, we simply want perfection.

To Boldly Print Where You Haven't Printed Before

Eileen Fritsch — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:27:00 GMT

By Wayne Cosshall

We all have at least one inkjet printer around the house or studio. Many of us have several. But do we take advantage of all the possible printing options they give us? Probably not.

Modern inkjet printers come in two types: those that use dye inks and those that use pigment inks. For example, I have two large-format printers: an HP Designjet 130 that uses dye inks and an HP Designjet Z3100 that uses pigment inks. I also have a number of smaller-size dye and pigment-ink printers from a variety of manufacturers. I imagine that many photographers have a mix of both types of printers as well.

The vast majority of photographers limit the exploitation of their printers to the complex decision between using glossy and semi-glossy photo papers. A significantly smaller group sees the benefit of using matte papers. But that is generally as far as many photographers go.

On the other hand, a small subset of digital artists push their printers further, in some cases much further. In my opinion, all photographers would benefit from thinking a bit more like this group.

An image is what we capture with our cameras, but at that point, the creative possibilities are only just starting. When we decide to turn an image into a physical object (hopefully, an art object), we also can choose how to construct the object in a way that will say so much more than just the image itself.

We can present the image in ways that will either enhance some of its inherent characteristics or conflict with those characteristics to create tension. Or, we can use the print to tease out a deeper and perhaps more subtle meaning from the image.

Even the simplest of inkjet printers can print on a variety of materials other than glossy, semi-gloss or matte photo papers. Your printer can also probably print on canvas, overhead transparency film, and normal art, craft, or note card papers thin enough to pass through the machine.

With a bit of ingenuity we can also print images on: incredibly thin papers, such as Japanese Washi papers (see tip below); completely clear or backlit films; fabric of all thicknesses; sheets of aluminum, copper, brass, or steel; sandpaper; slabs of plaster; textured surfaces, and more. Imaging on some of these materials may entail elaborate processes, some of which may require special transfer papers, decal materials, or an inkjet-receptive base coating applied to the substrate.

But printing on all of these different materials is doable. Some processes will be easier to do with dye inks and others with pigment inks, and a few may be impossible with one type of printer or the other.

The thing is, when we look at our images, we should think about ways we can present or enhance them that might turn them into something really special. For example, a semi-abstract and minimalist architectural image might look great printed on a sheet of brass. A flower macro might look stunning on handmade Nepalese paper that incorporates flower petals. And that great shot of your dog might look great printed on a T-shirt.

Of course, many online and local labs will do some of these things for you, and it might be worth exploring these services. But you may want to try printing on materials other than photo papers yourself.

So the next time you’re working on a particularly great image, think about all of the different ways you might present it. It might just change what you do with it.

Suppose you’re planning to use transparency to combine a number of images as layers in Photoshop. Why not print the individual images on clear film and then, physically stack them with a small separation between each layer? Just imagine what a striking presentation this might be. Now, rather than the static blending of the images as you would get in Photoshop, you have a dynamic and interactive piece that looks entirely different each time the viewer moves his or her head. Plus, the image may (or may not) look even better when you backlight it. The possibilities are endless.

Just as most photographers use only 10% of the capability of their camera gear, many people only use 10% of the capabilities or their printers. Are you going to expand your limits?

Tip for Using Thin Material: Here’s how to print on very thin materials (such as Japanese Washi papers) that might not otherwise feed through your printer correctly. Use a can of spray contact adhesive to lightly affix your thin material to a sheet of normal printer paper that can act as a temporary backing sheet. Cut your thin material to size and give the back a very light spray with the contact adhesive, paying particular attention to the edge areas. Adhered to the normal-paper backing sheet, the thin sheet will transport through your printer without problem, unless the edges lift while the sheet in the printer. After the thin paper has been printed, simply peel it off from the backing sheet.

Photokina Report 1: The Designjet Z3200

Eileen Fritsch — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:17:00 GMT

By David Saffir

I had the good fortune to attend Photokina 2008 in Cologne Germany. As always, it is held on such a large scale that it defies description. Take it from me, the whole thing seems bigger than Rhode Island. According to a final report issued by the Photokina Press Office, this year’s show featured 1,523 exhibiting companies from 49 countries. The show was attended by 169,000 people (including 6,000 journalists) from 161 countries.

Attending Photokina has reinforced what I posted previously: We truly are in a golden age of photography, with more choices and tools available at more reasonable costs than ever before. New photography products were everywhere, ranging from cameras and lighting systems to printers, inkjet papers, and more. For example, Nikon’s lineup of cameras now includes the D90, which features over 12 MP and video recording, plus some new lenses including Perspective Control models.

Plus, in addition to announcing new products of interest to photo labs and retailers, HP introduced the new Designjet Z3200 and HP Artist system for fine-art reproduction. I have also had a chance to test the Nikon D3 combined with the new 105mm Macro VR lens, along with the HP Artist system. This lens is very sharp, with great technical characteristics, and superb color and contrast.

The Designjet Z3200 is a new model in many ways, but primarily it builds on the success of its predecessor, the Z3100. Technical changes and upgrades include:
·         easier loading of sheet media;
·         direct user control of the paper feed; and
·         improvements in the user interface in the software HP supplies to run the printer.

The speed of the printer has increased significantly, which should make this machine even more attractive for those who need higher-volume output. Most interestingly, the printer now incorporates a new ink formulation for the red channel, called Chromatic Red. It provides a wider overall color gamut. In images that include a range of red tones, you can definitely see improvements in saturation and color vibrance, along with increased detail throughout highlights, shadows, and transition areas.

The Designjet Z3200 includes support for more than 50 types of HP large-format printing materials, including HP’s new Baryte Satin Art Paper.

In a case study HP’s site, photographer Albert Watson shares some of his observations about the Z3200. He notes that, “One of the most important things to a photographer is the translation from the eye to the film, the film to the screen, and the screen to the paper. The translation the HP Designjet Z3200 achieves is amazing.”

The Designjet Z3200 is at the heart of the remarkable HP Artist System, a breakthrough end-to-end digital fine art reproduction system that I’ll discuss in more detail in my next post.

Fine-Art Reproduction Part 2: What You Need to Get Started

Eileen Fritsch — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:26:00 GMT

By David Saffir

Professional photographers are uniquely qualified to get into the fine-art-reproduction business because the element most critical to success is a quality image capture. Photographers not only have a discerning eye for color and detail, but also tend to have the best capture equipment. For fine-art reproduction, the lens, digital sensor, and software used to process the RAW digital image files have to be pro level, with no compromises.

Specialized Training
Before you invest in any additional equipment, it might be wise to invest first in some training—so you can see for yourself how the fine-art reproduction workflow differs from printing your own photographs. During a good training session, you’ll see why it’s not smart to try to cut corners when it comes to buying quality equipment.

For example, the training should cover specific capture, color control, and printing techniques that have proven to be successful in faithfully reproducing the colors used in the original artwork. This usually requires one to two full days of work, with lessons focused on image capture setup, color management, media selection, image editing and print prep. You also need to understand how the build good relationships with artists and some of the printmaking traditions specific to the art market. Once you’ve been trained, you’ll better understand the rationale behind all the other elements listed below.

The Right Lighting Setup
Digital image capture for fine-art reproduction is based on good old-fashioned copy work. It requires two to four color-corrected lights (strobes or continuous), diffusers or softboxes, a sturdy tripod or studio stand, and a stable copy stand that can support artwork in a range of sizes. You could use continuous lighting using tungsten bulbs, but I don’t recommend it. Even though we can correct color pretty well, a light source that isn’t color-balanced can lead to a number of problems, including excessive time in post-production trying to correct color distortion. It’s better to use color-corrected halogen or fluorescent lights.

A Good Camera and Lens
I use a Hasselblad H-series camera and a Phase One digital back. I really don’t see any reason to use film for fine-art reproduction unless your client wants to archive an image on film for some reason. With my equipment, I have gotten excellent results with images up to 40 x 60 in. in one frame, and panoramas up to 10 ft. long. It is quite feasible to shoot even larger pieces in one frame. Or, you could shoot the image in quarters and stitch them together in Photoshop. The recently released Phase One/Mamiya medium format combination is interesting, and costs less than competing products. A new Mamiya kit with an 80 mm lens has been reported selling for $10,000. You could use a high-end DSLR, like the Canon Mark II and III-series, or the Nikon D3 series on many pieces of artwork, but successfully reproducing a large painting usually requires the resolution that only a medium-format digital camera can provide. In any case, the cost of acquiring technology is lower and dropping every month. Used equipment is frequently an option as photographers trade in and trade up.

Procedures and Tools for Controlling Color
Reproducing artwork requires processes for controlling color at every step in the process, from capture to output. The more careful you are in controlling color, the less time and materials you’ll waste trying to get your print to match the original. If you’re serious about your digital photography, you probably have already invested in a high-quality monitor and tools for keeping it calibrated so you can accurately preview and edit your images on screen.

The most straightforward way to control color while shooting is to:

Ensure that the target artwork is evenly illuminated from corner to corner and from side to side, within 1/10 of an f-stop;
Shoot at lowest ISO available;
Use RAW capture; and
Include a grey card or white/grey/black target in your shot. (This will be an enormous help when processing the image on your computer.)

Finally, you will want to be able to routinely create accurate custom color profiles for each type of print media you use.

You can use a handheld spectrophotometer (such as the ones made by X-Rite), or an online service (which can be pricey). Or, you can buy a wide-format inkjet printer that has the custom-profiling functionality built-in (such as the HP Designjet Z3100). Being able to obtain accurate color profiles is essential, but that’s only part of the game. In order to efficiently be able to produce a print that looks just like the print you output six months ago, your profiles must be re-created or updated periodically.

A Pro-Model, Pigment-Ink Printer
You’ll need access to a wide-format, wide-gamut printer that can handle a variety of media types, media thicknesses, and roll widths. Most people in the fine-art reproduction business have a printer that can print up to 44 in. wide. Many printmakers use devices that can print up to 60 and 64-in. wide. These wider printers can be used not only to make larger prints, but also to efficiently print higher volumes of smaller prints.

If you don’t yet own a wide-format printer, some studios will rent you access to their printers for a day or half-day. In other areas of the country, you may want to purchase one for yourself. To produce the wide color gamut needed to accurately reproduce fine art, your printer should have at least eight ink channels. In my opinion, having 12 ink channels is better because the color palette and the control provided over color and density is noticeably superior.

It’s also important to be sure that the printer uses pigment inks, instead of dye inks. When used with reputable brands of art papers and canvases, pigment inks can create prints that will last well over 100 years without noticeable fading if they are properly protected and displayed. After you’ve equipped yourself to go into the fine-art reproduction business, the next task is to attract customers. I’ll share a few tips on marketing in my next post.

Fine-Art Reproduction, Part 1: Why It's a Good Business Opportunity

Eileen Fritsch — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:14:00 GMT

By David Saffir

If you already own a professional-quality camera and know how to use a pigment-ink inkjet printer to reproduce your own images, fine-art reproduction can be a viable and profitable business opportunity for you.

In this three-part series, I’ll discuss the fine-art reproduction business in more detail. In this post, I’ll describe why it can be such a profitable business opportunity. In Part 2, I’ll go into more detail about what type of equipment is required to get started and in Part 3, I’ll discuss how to attract customers.

Until recently, fine-art printing and art reproduction was expensive, technically demanding, and time consuming. Now, we can digitally reproduce nearly any type of flat art created with paints, watercolors, charcoals, pastels, or other art medium. We can print long-lasting reproductions in a variety of sizes and on a variety of art papers, canvases, or other materials. We can achieve great color fidelity, extremely good color rendering, and good control over the appearance of the final print. Best of all, we can do this at a reasonable cost in time and money.

Artists’ editions typically range from 20 to more than 1,000 prints. The great thing about digital fine art reproduction is that you can print an edition one piece at a time, or in multiples. If you choose to print one-offs (and use the same printer/ink/paper/profile combinations), you can be quite confident that the image colors and quality of each print will be extremely close, or identical, even if a few months elapse between one print and the next. Most artists don’t yet know this is possible. Many still believe they must print an entire edition at one time, which can be very expensive. Most artists I work with hire me to make two prints: one to show, and one to ship. When they sell a print, they order a replacement.

Start-up Costs
The cost of entering the fine-art reproduction business ranges between $10,000 and $45,000 for equipment and software. You’ll also have to factor in training and marketing costs. The cost of your initial investment in technology will depend on how much gear you already have in your studio. For example, you will need:

a pro-model, pigment-ink inkjet printer (at least 24 or 44-in. wide);
a medium-format camera;
a good computer with Photoshop and other workflow software;
a good monitor, and monitor-calibration tools;
a method of creating custom profiles;
specialized training in the art-reproduction workflow;

You don’t have to acquire all this at once. You can start by renting some of the camera or printing equipment, then buy equipment as the demand for your services grows. You may also choose to provide finishing and mounting services, or refer customers to a reliable framer.

In my first year of offering fine-art reproduction services, the wide-format printer, dedicated computer,and software such as Adobe Photoshop CS3. paid for themselves in about six months.

Plus, I have been able to use some of the equipment I acquired for fine-art reproduction for other types of general photography and wide-format printing jobs.

Pricing
Pricing for fine-art reproduction varies from region to region. Services for which you can bill clients include image capture, image editing, printing prep work, and the print itself. Here are few examples of typical charges:

Image Capture: $150
Image Edit: $50
Print 20x30: $120
Proof, 8x10: $45

The price per print should never be your main driver, either in quoting jobs to clients or promoting your services. Artists will pay higher rates if you can provide better print quality, are prepared to print extra copies whenever they need them, or have a rapport with you as a fellow connoisseur of fine images.

Return on Investment
The ROI will be determined by your specific circumstances. In the scenario I outline on my own ROI spreadsheet, the printer is used for fine-art reproduction only, and the breakeven point arrives between month 6 and month 7. Your payback results will depend on how much equipment you need to buy initially and how quickly you can attract customers that want either multiple prints or will come to you for repeat business.

A Key Benefit: Repeat Business
The majority of revenue from the fine-art reproduction business comes from repeat customers. Once artwork is digitized and is kept on disk, the artist will want to be able to continue to order subsequent prints from you as needed. This ability to make one or two prints at a time can be a strong selling point, because it frees the artist from having to keep multiple prints safely stored and protected from damage until they’re all sold.

To summarize, the fine-art reproduction business is within reach of an ever-increasing number of photographers and artists. With proper training and a modest investment in tools that you can use for other purposes, you can be up and running relatively quickly.

In my next two posts,I’ll examine the technology requirements in more detail and talk about how to find and attract customers.

Improving Print Accuracy

BlogArchive — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:25:00 GMT

By Jon Canfield

As photographers, we’re always concerned about how our images are reproduced, either on screen or in print. Sure, we learn about color management and how important it is to calibrate our displays and to use the correct printer profiles for output. But, how many of you have actually checked the accuracy of that output? Are you positive that your printer is giving you the best possible print in any given situation?

Most printers come with quality profiles for the paper that is sold by that company. HP is one of the few that I’ve seen that also offers profiles for popular third party papers as well. For the rest of your output needs, you’ll either need to find profiles, hopefully from the paper maker, or from a user group (Yahoo has groups devoted to almost every brand of printer). Or, if you’re the owner of an HP Designjet Z series printer, you can use the built-in spectrophotometer to make your own. The final option is to spend another $500 to $5,000 to buy the hardware and software needed to create your own profiles.

So, you’ve got the correct profile for your printer and paper, you’ve done your edits in Photoshop on your calibrated display. It’s as good as it’s going to get right? Maybe, maybe not.

Anytime I try a new paper, I go to the trouble of printing a test print to verify the quality of the profile for my needs. Many people will use one of their own images, sort of a benchmark, to do this. That’s fine and it gives you a good idea of how the printer does relative to other papers. But I find it useful to use a dedicated test file instead.

The advantage of using a test file is that it stresses all of the critical areas you need to be aware of when printing.
Test-file charts are available from a number of sources, but the two that I’ve found to be the most useful are from Uwe Steinmueller’s Outback Photo site and Scott Martin’s color and black & white charts. You can download these charts for your own use.

The advantage of using a standard chart is in having a known set of values. For example, you can evaluate how well your profile and printer produce gray ramps from white to black, color bars of different hue and intensity, as well as common subjects such as sky, skin tones. If you see problems, you can make adjustments prior to printing to get more accurate results.

Sure, it takes a little time, plus some ink and paper, but the overall time and cost savings can add up if the chart helps you find that your printer isn’t reproducing a particular range of colors as well as it could be.

Inkjet Tips Book Takes a Fresh Approach

BlogArchive — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 13:01:00 GMT

By Harald Johnson

I’ve read, written, and edited many books on photography and digital imaging and printing. Most of these books have useful information; some more than others! Some follow the normal “how-to” format, others are structured in a unique way. One of the newest books on the market for those interested in photographic printing falls into the latter category. And just so we’re clear up-front: I am the Series Editor of this book, but the format was not my creation; it was the author’s: Andrew Darlow. And the book is 301 Inkjet Tips & Techniques: An Essential Printing Resource for Photographers (2008, Thomson Course Technology PTR).

The book is basically a collection of tips and techniques (from a paragraph to a few pages long), organized in logical groupings by chapter. If you want more in-depth or updated information on a specific tip, Andrew has inserted link-codes into the text that make it easy to find the tip-related information on the book’s companion website.

Plus, there is an interesting interplay between the first eight chapters (Andrew’s own images and tips) and the Guest Artist Section that follows in chapters 9-16. In the Guest Artist section, photographers contribute both new material and at times give their input on subjects that were brought up earlier in the book. This creates a cross-current of content that adds to the reader’s experience.

Let me give an example.

Chapter 7 is titled “Portfolio and Presentation,” and Andrew does a good job talking about (and showing) the various ways to make photo albums (tip: matte prints usually have fewer compatibility problems with album sheets than do glossy prints), portfolio books and boxes, and even framed prints.

One of the chapter illustrations shows photographer Richard Ehrlich standing with one of his framed prints. Then, when you get to chapter 11, “Portfolio and Marketing Tips,” there is Richard Ehrlich again. This time, he is the one giving the tips. In Tip 152, Ehrlich explains how he protects his portfolio prints with a custom-made, hard-sided, foam-lined case.

Other tips in this Ehrlich section include: having an exhibition catalog/brochure produced (tip: use the new print-on-demand technologies), keeping your prints covered (tip: use Pellon available at fabric stores), protecting your work for shipping (tip: use the box-within-a box approach), building your own flat files for storage, and creating a boxed portfolio.

Chapter 11 continues with portfolio and marketing tips from other guest artists. So when you combine Chapters 7 and 11, you end up with tips and illustrations on print presentation not only from the author, but also from several others. So you can see how different photographers and artists approach the subject from slightly different angles.

301 Inkjet Tips & Techniques: An Essential Printing Resource for Photographers (2008, Thomson Course Technology PTR) by Andrew Darlow (Foreword by Douglas Kirkland) is a comprehensive, how-to guide to high-quality digital output that shows photographers of all levels how to prepare, create and display high-quality prints through detailed instructions and hundreds of full-color examples from more than 20 professional photographers and other artists.

Additional content for the book, including hundreds of clickable links to many of the resources covered throughout the book can be accessed at: www.inkjettips.com

Frequently Asked Questions about the Gloss Enhancer on HP's Designjet Z3100

BlogArchive — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 13:22:00 GMT

By David Saffir

Any time a pro-model inkjet printer comes out with features radically different from the status quo, questions inevitably arise from photographers anxious to fully understand the true capabilities and benefits of the new features. That’s certainly been the case with the Gloss Enhancer on HP’s Designjet Z3100. Here are just a few of the questions I’ve been asked at some of the trade shows and seminars I’ve attended.

What is the HP gloss enhancer?

It is a clear ink, which when mixed in correct proportions with the other inks on the page, provides a more uniform gloss on the surface of a print, effectively eliminating gloss differential on prints created on glossy or satin papers, and perceived “bronzing” in black and white prints.

Which media can the gloss enhancer be used with?

The gloss enhancer is intended for use on glossy and satin inkjet media. It has no perceptible impact on fine art, watercolor, and similar matte papers.

Is the gloss enhancer like a clear coat or varnish?

No, it is not a clear coat or varnish. The gloss enhancer’s main purpose is to improve the smoothness and gloss appearance of the final print. In my opinion, the gloss enhancer renders prints made on glossy or satin media as smooth and uniform as their darkroom cousins. Personally, I find that the dimensionality and “pop” of the prints is improved, and I find it very pleasing.

Unlike a clearcoat, the gloss enhancer is applied like an ink, and is closely controlled by software. In fact, the gloss enhancer is controlled by its own screening algorithm and it is applied selectively where it is needed. The gloss enhancer is only applied to areas of an image that have an RGB color value of 254,254,254 or lower. Pure white (which has RGB values of 255 in each channel) will not receive the gloss enhancer. (As a practical matter, I set white and black points slightly under max values when using inkjet printers.)

How do I control the use of the gloss enhancer when printing?

The printer driver provides controls that allow you to either: (1) turn the gloss enhancer off; (2) use it only on the inked area (“econo mode”); or (3) use it on the entire page. I recommend turning the gloss enhancer off for making proofs, and using the econo mode for final prints. Applying it to the whole page is usually unnecessary, and wastes a small amount of the enhancer.

What effect does the gloss enhancer have on color?

That’s a good question! If you look closely at a print that has been made using the “whole page” setting for the gloss enhancer, you may perceive a slight change in the white point of the uninked paper. In other words, you will see the gloss enhancer on the unlinked portions of the page, and it seems to reduce the white point to a very small degree. I’m not certain, but I believe that this is the result of increased “glossiness” or reflectance.

In my conversations with HP color scientists and engineers, they indicated that the gloss enhancer has no effect on color rendering in a print. In my own experience, I have made prints from the same color image using gloss enhancer turned on, and turned off – and I can’t discern any significant difference in color between them. Gloss appearance and smoothness – yes; color change – no.

Does use of the gloss enhancer change the dry time for a print?

Not in any significant degree, at least on HP media. Some users tell me they have noticed increased dry times when using third-party media. I use many types of papers, but I haven’t had this problem. I suspect some of these issues may be related to using printer-managed color with third-party media, instead of creating a custom profile for the job at hand.

Does use of the gloss enhancer improve print durability?

I don’t have hard information on this topic. First, on HP media the prints are highly water and damage resistant --even without the gloss enhancer. Prints made with HP Vivera inks are highly water resistant, even under running water. Using the gloss enhancer, my personal impression is that prints seem to be more water and scratch-resistant, but I’m not sure how one would go about quantifiably measuring these properties.

Does it make sense for photographers to use the gloss enhancer?

In a word, yes. I see little or no downside, and the benefits in terms of print appearance are significant. I use it consistently. I recommend it to all of my printmaking customers, and so far, none have told me that they prefer not to use it.

In my opinion, the HP Professional Satin photo paper combined with the Z3100 Vivera inkset (including gloss enhancer) provide the best-quality pigment-based photographic prints I have ever seen.

If you have tried the gloss enhancer, I’d be interested in hearing more about your own experiences and observations. And if you have any other questions about it, please feel free to ask.

The Power of Black and White

BlogArchive — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:53:00 GMT

By Jon Canfield

I find it ironic that black and white imagery seems more popular than ever in the digital age. There’s just something about a strong monochromatic image that is more compelling than anything you can create with color. But obtaining a quality black and white from an inkjet printer has been frustrating, with many prints showing a color cast or significant bronzing.

While monochrome inksets are available from vendors such as MediaStreet, Jon Cone’s Inkjet Mall, and Lyson (yes, there are others, but these three have been the top-quality inks in my experience), new printers such the HP Designjet Z3100 have reduced or eliminated the need to go with a pure black and white printer. Obviously, not having a dedicated black and white printer saves money and space, but is the quality from the HP Designjet Z3100 really that good?

To find out, I made some comparison prints using this black-and-white image. For neutral tones, the HP printer was a clear winner with better tonal gradation and more neutral grays. Only when I went to a toned print did the dedicated inks show any advantage at all.

One area in which the other printers and inks couldn’t compete was the use of the gloss enhancer available on the Z3100. When printing to fiber or gloss media, the addition of gloss enhancer made a dramatic improvement, eliminating bronzing from the final print.

Part of the reason for HP’s high quality is that you’re essentially printing to a quadtone printer when using fine art media. The Z3100 uses both photo black and matte black along with the two grays. By not using any of the color inks, you eliminate any color cast that may otherwise be present. The only way to accomplish this with other printers is to replace the inkset with a dedicated monochrome inkset. This is costly and impractical when you also want to print color because you need to flush the ink lines with every cartridge change.