Printing disaster

[chauncey]

I took one of my smoke images, processed it several different ways, including the standard black
background...took them to Cosco and ordered a standard glossy 12x20 print made of each one.

An understatement would be saying that I hated them all, in spite of them closely matching what
was displayed on my monitor. True that I rarely have images printed, but...is there a way to
pre-visualize what that picture will look like once it's printed and hanging?

Maybe going with canvas would have been a better choice?

[Mike Buckley]

What are the characteristics that you found objectionable?

[Dave Humphries]

I sympathize William, I rarely print either - and some things just don't print well.

I suspect the reflection off the paper's 'black' areas (especially if a matt or 'sheen' surface) vs the lack of illumination of the slender bright parts (smoke) has made the contrast ratio a disappointment

Perhaps load the series on to an LCD picture frame - or use them as a slideshow/screensaver on your computer (i.e. displays when idle)

[russellsnr]

JMO but maybe standard glossy is the wrong paper for that subject, find that gloss paper makes images shine (for want of a better word there) would have thought due the subject matter Matt or maybe Pearl paper would give better results.
Russ

[Shadowman]

William,

I did a search for best papers for printing smoke and you can guess what types of websites popped up. I did find this particular paper for printing images of clouds and smoke.
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/pe...r-review-26508

Additionally, I purchased a copy of Uwe Steinmueller's "Fine Art Printing for Photographers:Exhibition Quality Prints with an Inkjet Printer" and it has been an invaluable text.

[DanK]

I've never printed anything like that, but I print a lot, and I have a few suggestions:

1. I almost never use glossy paper anymore. My default is luster.
2. Softproofing helps, but it is not a guarantee.
3. For very little, you can buy a sampler box from some paper companies. I bought them from Red River and Moab. It's a nice way to see what different types of images look like on different papers. Both of the two I now use most often (Moab Exhibition Luster and Red River Polar Matte) I found that way.

[rpcrowe]

I don't know if this is true with other brand printers but, I can print a series of small proofs of an image on an 8.5x11 inch paper (of any kind) using my Canon Pixma Pro Mark II. This will allow me to see the variety of looks that different exposures and different color selections. I will see the print using the paper that I plan to print with.

This is not possible, of course when I want to have a canvas or metal print done...

I did learn that when doing a canvas print, I need to submit a brighter file...

A member of one of my photo clubs uses Adorama to print his photo books. He does a small size book first as sort of a relatively inexpensive proof before he prints the book at display size...

[Manfred M]

Chauncy - if you are trying to get into the fine art market, then printing at Costco is definitely the wrong way to go. You are going to go to a custom printer and put them on one of the various fine art papers that are available, rather than the run-of-the-mill commerical papers. They look like nothing more than cheap prints.

I'm not runnning down either the Costco papers or the quality of work they do, but let's face it, they are not doing fine art work. Fine art papers cost a lot more, but they increase the value of the work just because these papers look and feel "better" than standard photo papers. A number of people whose work I like have recommended Hahnemuhl paper to me and I plan starting to testing some of their papers for my own work shortly.

http://www.hahnemuehle.com/en/index.html

The other issue that you need to remember is that even with a colour managed workflow, you need to do some test prints to fine tune your prints; different sizes require different amounts of sharpening and the same thing should be said for different types of paper. A glossy paper requires less than a matte paper. Colour evaluation should ideally be done with 5000K - 5500K lighting.

[bijutoha]

GrumpyDiver! First Thanks for the link. Mainly I'm here to find something about color. I need some helpful links about color information for painting. like what type of color they used to make a colorful art. I saw an Artist name Jonas Gerard he is going to make some beautiful paintings by many of colors.

[Manfred M]

GrumpyDiver! First Thanks for the link. Mainly I'm here to find something about color. I need some helpful links about color information for painting. like what type of color they used to make a colorful art. I saw an Artist name Jonas Gerard he is going to make some beautiful paintings by many of colors.

This is a photography site, not a site where painting is discussed or that the members here neccessarily have any knowledge or expertise in that subject.

For help in what you are looking to do, I suspect you will find it elsewhere on the internet.

[chauncey]

My apologies for the delay in getting back with you folks...temporary family matters.

Past history with printing was with using metal (prom pictures) and canvas (subdued nature images)...
was quite satisfied with those results. The dissatisfaction with the recent Cosco prints was probably
due to choosing the glossy finish. It was my bad in not softproofing the images beforehand.

My goals were to simply get my head wrapped around colors in general regarding how the appear
when hanging in one's living room. I'm starting to think that pastel monotones might be the way to
go and, printing on canvas or metal for ease of display at shows...comments???

[Manfred M]

My apologies for the delay in getting back with you folks...temporary family matters.

I can certainly relate to that; hopefully everything has been straightend out now.

Past history with printing was with using metal (prom pictures) and canvas (subdued nature images)...
was quite satisfied with those results. The dissatisfaction with the recent Cosco prints was probably
due to choosing the glossy finish. It was my bad in not softproofing the images beforehand.

Metal and canvas prints are high end products. I've never had any done for my own work although I've admired the work others have done. The real issue I would have with going metal with your images would be the question of what the market you are after is willing to pay for these. Going metal will increase the price you would have to sell these at (you don't want to lose money, after all); will the market you are going after be willing to pay that much for these works? Metal will also constrain how any buyers will display these pieces.

My goals were to simply get my head wrapped around colors in general regarding how the appear
when hanging in one's living room. I'm starting to think that pastel monotones might be the way to
go and, printing on canvas or metal for ease of display at shows...comments???

I personally think these images are too delicate for canvas. The smoke is quite subtle and canvas will soften these even more, so I'm not sure if that is the right way to go. Metal, on the other hand is quite hard and punchy, so potentially it might not be an appropriate treatment for a soft pastel look. Unfortunately, I suspect that just like your Costco experiment, you might have to get some made up to see how things work out for you.

Again, it really depends on the market niche you are trying to sell to (and of course, what they are willing to pay).

[Shadowman]

My apologies for the delay in getting back with you folks...temporary family matters.

Past history with printing was with using metal (prom pictures) and canvas (subdued nature images)...
was quite satisfied with those results. The dissatisfaction with the recent Cosco prints was probably
due to choosing the glossy finish. It was my bad in not softproofing the images beforehand.

My goals were to simply get my head wrapped around colors in general regarding how the appear
when hanging in one's living room. I'm starting to think that pastel monotones might be the way to
go and, printing on canvas or metal for ease of display at shows...comments???

My guess is that Costco probably only has three papers (glossy/most likely luster, matte, and poster board), I see very few options on most online consumer websites. I just checked, they have canvas also.

[george013]

I don't know if you mean dibond when you say metal. I mean aluminium sandwich panels. Those are ready to hang, a print needs a pass-partout and/or a list.
George

[chauncey]

Metal like this...http://www.adoramapix.com/app/produc...m=metal-prints

[george013]

Metal like this...http://www.adoramapix.com/app/produc...m=metal-prints

I still don't know what kind of metal and in what form. For dibond I found an English site http://www.display.3acomposites.com/...teristics.html
Maybe it's the same.
George

[chauncey]

And here I thought that they were quite clear in that respect.

[PhotomanJohn]

Additionally, I purchased a copy of Uwe Steinmueller's "Fine Art Printing for Photographers:Exhibition Quality Prints with an Inkjet Printer" and it has been an invaluable text.

Thanks for the tip. I bought the book and have read most of it. It is an excellent reference.

John