Professional Photography : printing

Choosing the Right Color Space

Eileen Fritsch — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:03:00 GMT

By Jon Canfield

One area of contention among digital enthusiasts is the choice of color space for doing editing work. Almost every camera gives you the option of sRGB or Adobe RGB at capture. sRGB is a good choice for JPEG capture, especially if you intend to place your images online. It’s a standard that is safe for most situations and displays. But is it appropriate for printing? That depends a bit on your printer and your workflow.Most of the better inkjet photo printers support a color space closer in size to Adobe RGB. Some of the newest printers are capable of printing colors outside of Adobe RGB as well, which makes ProPhoto a consideration.

How much difference is there? Figure 1 below shows both sRGB and Adobe RGB spaces, along with the ProPhoto color space. In this figure, the red area is the sRGB color space, green indicates Adobe RGB, and the outside line is ProPhoto.

Figure 1

It’s pretty easy to see that ProPhoto covers just about every imaginable color, so why shouldn’t you just select this color space and be done with it? The main reason you might not choose ProPhoto is that you can have colors in your image that will be significantly out of gamut for your output device.

Let’s take a look at Figure 2 below. This shows the ProPhoto color space as the large area with the new HP Baryte Satin Art Paper on an HP Designjet Z3200 printer as the inside area. The Baryte paper is an excellent media with a large color gamut, but it’s significantly smaller than ProPhoto. So, if you print to this paper you run the risk of having colors that are out of gamut and will need to be mapped to a new color.

Figure 2

But, if we work in Adobe RGB, you can see in Figure 3 below that Baryte actually has colors that can be reproduced outside of this range. You would end up having colors clipped and remapped that weren’t out of range of your printer in the yellow and cyan spectrum.

Figure 3

If you’re working in Photoshop Lightroom, this is a moot point because Lightroom uses ProPhoto as its working color space. Photoshop however gives you the option of selecting a working space.

My recommendation to attendees at my workshops is to use the ProPhoto space if they’re doing their own printing. I’d rather have color in my image that is beyond the paper limits than have colors lost that I could have reproduced.

But, does it matter? After all, as I mentioned at the start of this post, your camera most likely only has sRGB and Adobe RGB as choices. If you’re shooting RAW though, a color space isn’t actually applied until you convert to an image format such as TIFF or PSD. If your image is already in one of these formats, going from Adobe RGB or sRGB to ProPhoto isn’t going to improve your output. It would be like moving a gallon of water from a one-gallon bottle to a five-gallon bottle. You still have a gallon of water.

If you’re not shooting RAW, you’re already giving up quite a bit of image data, so I’d suggest using Adobe RGB to keep as much color information as possible unless you don’t print, or you send your work to an online photo service such as Mpix or Snapfish to be printed. In that case, sRGB will save you a bit of time and give you results that will be as good as you can get from the source files.

Why I Continue to Print My Images

Eileen Fritsch — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:30:00 GMT

By David Saffir

I have read a few articles lately that question whether photographers really need to make prints anymore. Why bother with a print when the image can simply be shown on the computer screen or displayed via projection? It’s a good question.

Let’s turn the issue around for a moment: What are the reasons for making a print?

I think that the answer will be as personal to each photographer as the subjects they choose to shoot.

Here are my two cents, focused first on the fine art side of things: (1) I make my own prints because I want to take ownership of the expression of my art; and (2) I use digital printing technology because it offers such a wide range of possibilities for expression of the image. An image printed on glossy paper may have very different visual and emotional content than one printed on a softer, textured canvas or natural white, watercolor paper.

A print is a fixed, tangible expression of my vision. The variations in electronic display and projection technology frequently make it impossible for me to maintain control of the appearance and impact of an image--particularly from one venue to another.

In my opinion, the steps involved in creating a print (removing imperfections, adding enhancements, controlling color and resolution, selecting the media, and choosing the print settings) are essential, inseparable parts of my photography. Giving someone else control over these elements is something that I’m just not going to allow as a photographer/artist.

Making prints gives me great satisfaction. As I review my finished work, I feel as if have fully explored all of the possibilities inherent in an image. A print hanging on the wall has a depth and richness that matter to me. The experience of viewing a print on a wall simply can’t be duplicated with an electronic display. At heart, I guess I’m still an analog kind of guy.

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.

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.

Enjoying An Old Friend: The HP Designjet 130

BlogArchive — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:15:00 GMT

By Jon Canfield

As a writer focusing on printing and color management topics, I’m lucky to be surrounded by the latest and greatest tools. But, there is a downside. It seems that I’m constantly learning how to take advantage of this new feature, or that change in printing. Along the way, I’ve learned quite a bit, and gone through plenty of paper and ink.

So, it was refreshing to step back the other day and do some work for myself. I have an image that I’ve been using as a test piece with different printers. It’s highly saturated, so it gives the pigment-ink printers a good challenge. While I can say that pigments have come a long way in an amazingly short period of time, there’s still a little something lacking in the prints I’ve been doing. With this in mind, I set up my older HP Designjet 130 for a test run using dye-based inks.

The first thing that surprised me is that although I haven’t used this printer in a year, the initial calibration test I printed came out perfectly – no nozzle clogs, no head issues, nothing! The 130 just purred away, happy to be plugged in again.

Now, considering all that the pigment printers can do (wide variety of media types, 8- to 12- color ink systems, etc.), you would think they would have a huge edge over a lowly 6-color dye-based system. You’d be wrong though.

Sure, the newer printers do have many advantages, and I’m not about to give up my pigment printers for anything. But, the image I printed on the Designjet 130 had a dimensionality that I haven’t yet been able to equal with pigments. From the rich blacks to the vibrant and saturated purples, this printer did a better job with this image than any other printer I have used.

The moral of my post? Even if you have a printer that’s a little long in the tooth, don’t assume it can’t produce excellent results. Sure, there’s always room for improvement – it’s called progress. But sometimes, an old friend is just what you need.

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

Resolve to Take Full Control

Eileen Fritsch — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 20:52:00 GMT

By Michael Frye

According to a recent article by Hal Stucker in PDN (Photo District News), most commercial photographers now require that their assistants have extensive digital skills. The article, entitled “Assisting 2.0,” quotes a digital tech who estimates that only about a third of these photographers know anything about digital technology. “The other two-thirds don’t want to know and hire guys like me...”

But not everyone can afford to hire assistants or digital techs to take care of all this digital stuff. And even if you can, that means you’re ceding control of a vital part of the photographic process to someone else. Sooner or later every photographer must face the onrushing digital tidal wave and decide whether to run for high ground or jump in and swim. For those who try to run, dry land is becoming scarce!

I decided to plunge into the digital world around 1998. Digital printing had suddenly become a viable option, and I was excited about the possibilities. As a color photographer, I had found the darkroom constricting. But I couldn’t afford to pay others to do the Photoshop work for me, and I wanted the absolute control of doing it myself.

Even back then it didn’t take a genius to realize that this was the future of photography. I was going to have to learn this digital stuff eventually, and the sooner I got started, the better.

I was lucky, because I had connections. My friend Rich Seiling (now the owner of West Coast Imaging, a premier digital service bureau) gave me some basic instruction, and put me in touch with the former Apple software genius turned digital imaging guru Bill Atkinson. Bill, being incredibly generous, invited me to spend the weekend at his house and use his $60,000 drum scanner. (The image shown below is one of the first I scanned on his scanner.)

He also gave me an invaluable private lesson in digital printing. I still use the basic principles and workflow he taught me. (Maybe I’ll discuss this workflow in a future blog.)

Looking back, the decision to dive in and tackle the Photoshop learning curve was a great career move. I was soon making my best prints ever. Selling prints went from being a labor of love--something I just hoped to break even with--to a real source of income. Better yet, I became expert enough to teach workshops and write articles (and blogs) about digital printing.

But enough about me! I’d love to hear about your experiences.

When did you take the digital plunge? Or are you still standing on the diving board?

If you did dive in, did it turn out to be a good career move for you? Or just a necessary evil? If you can afford to hire people to be your digital experts, do you feel that you’re sacrificing control?