Benjamin,
I bit off on the doing it myself from snapping the picture to final printing on
an Epson 4880. It was a big expense but well worth it since I can pick and
choose my own papers and have profiles that produce absolutely stellar results
on a number of fine art papers. The whole task of going from taking to printing
the image as a fine art piece of work on fine art paper is daunting but
immensely gratifying. I do not want the get into the fine art discussion, but
for me it has meant that I have a hand in all aspects of producing my
photography on print. It is produced by me with the tools I have available, so
that is an important aspect of my art work.
If you are interested in this process I strongly recommend that you get Michael
Reichmann and Jeff Schewe's video tutorial "From Camera to Print: Fine Art
Printing"
(http://store.luminous-landscape.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=164).
It will be the best $35 you have spent to either decide it's too much and Sam's
and Costco are fine or it's a bullet you want to bite off on.
There are several ways to do the whole process of calibrating your camera,
monitor, and printer. I tried to do my own ICC profiles with the ColorMunki
system, but it took FOREVER and was not that accurate. This is the hardware and
software I have and am very pleased with the output:
1. Eizo CG2240 24" wide gamut monitor (I clearly spent too much money here as
NEC makes some very good wide gamut monitors for 50-60% less)
2. ColorMunki calibration device running under the ColorNavigator calibration
software for the Eizo
3. ImagePrint RIP (RAW imaging print software). I would strongly suggest that
this is a worthwhile expense for printers up to 17" carriages, because these
people have the $10,000 spectrophotometers to make accurate ICC profiles and
they make highly accurate profiles for virtually every type of professional
paper and they are really not any more expensive than a GOOD color calibration
software and hardware system if you include the HOURS it will take to calibrate
one type of paper. Remember that each type of paper you use needs its own ICC
profile.
4. Epson 4880 usually using Epson Exhibition Fiber, Epson UltraPremium Luster,
or Hahnemule Fine Art Rag papers.
I do not look to sell volume but sell as high quality photographic art as I can.
Good luck to you if you bite off on printing your own!
Terry
________________________________
From: Benjamin DeHaven <benjamindehaven@dajdesignsphotography.com>
To: artshow_photo@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sun, January 23, 2011 8:13:44 PM
Subject: [artshow_photo] Re: Printing Prints
> There are a lot of labs that will simply just charge more for the same
etc
Ok, fair enough. I definitely will not argue with you on the "not best you can
get" point. And my local Sam's Club, while they use the Fuji for small stuff,
they use an Epson R7800 Pro for 12x16 and larger (not a good thing as you point
out). So MPix is no better than Sam's, anyone have any experience with Bay
Photo? Are they just charging more for Sam's grade work (although more
consistent results I would assume).
I live north of Baltimore Maryland. Do any of the "pro grade" print houses do
online ordering? I will start looking into this on my own, but anyone else with
experience on this can chime in, that would be great.
As for printing myself: 1) in order to get the proper Epson 2880 or ideally 3880
I need a lot more money and need more money to get into bigger art shows to
support the lifestyle... its a catch-22 and 2) if these labs switching from
chemical to "dry" inkjet processing, why would I want to do at home inkjet
processing?
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