The Fine Art Of Digital Printing

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Print your images to achieve new levels of mastery and personal expression.

 

Dano’s Glossary of Fine Art Terms 

 

Looking

 

6 Benefits Of Making Prints – Video

12 Things To Look For In Great Prints – Video

 

What Printing Can Do For You

What Printing Can Do For Your Images

How To Strike Up A Lively Conversation With Your Images

How To Map Out A Strategy To Develop Your Photographs | Coming

Save Time, Money, And Resources With These Checklists

7 Things To Look For In Great Prints & Great Artists Who Make Exceptions

9 Ways To Tell If Your Photographs Are Over Cooked

12 Classic Mistakes We’ve All Made Trying To Make Better Prints

How To Avoid 6 Printing Mistakes That’ll Make You Want To Curse

How To Key Your Images Expressively – Go High, Medium, Or Low

How To Avoid Making Viewers Squint At Your Prints To See Their Highlights

The Key To Lively Images –  Midtone Contrast – And How To Get It

How To Render Lively Shadows In Your Prints

 

Resolution  Free to Members
Learn how resolution can ensure fine detail and smooth transition.

Outgassing  Free to Members
Let your prints dry fully before framing them.

Metamerism
Metamerism is the tendency of an object to change its appearance under different light sources.

Bronzing 
Bronzing is an iridescent flash of color when viewing prints under varying angles of light.

Gloss Differential 
Gloss differential is an uneven reflectance of the surface of a print.

Banding  Free to Members
Eliminate mechanically introduced fine lines in your prints.

Longevity & Durability  Free to Members
How long do inkjet prints last? What should you do to protect them? Find out here.

 

Tools

 

Why Your Tools Matter When Printing
This big overview gives you the bottom line – and links for more depth.

Ink
Choose media wisely.

Paper / Substrate
Your choice of materials has a profound impact on your prints.

Paper Sizes – Standard   Free to Members

Paper Size – Custom   Free to Members

Make New Film | .99
Printing digital negatives with Adobe Photoshop (all versions) – 6 pages

Printer Profiles
How do you make a printer profile? When do you need to?

Printer Points of Control   Free to Members
You have a number of points of control with digital printers.

Printer Maintenance  Free to Members
A little maintenance can go a long way!

 

Epson

 

Epson Driver – Color 

Epson Driver – Advanced B&W Photo

Epson Driver – Double Color Management

Epson Driver – Ink Limit  Free to Members

Delete and Reload Printer Driver  Free to Members

Epson – Print / File Size Chart   Free to Members
The relationship between print size, file resolution and bit depth for Epson printers.

 

Presentation

 

Scale  Free to Members
Size matters. Consider the size of your prints with care.

Signing Prints
Use the best tools to ensure your signature lasts. 

Notation  Free to Members
The notations you make on your prints add value to them.

Mounting  Free to Members
Ensure that your prints are protected and beautifully displayed.

Matting  Free to Members
Make sure your images are protected and presented properly.

Framing  Free to Members
The frames you choose will enhance the quality of your artwork.

Exhibiting  Free to Members
Make your experience more successful by knowing what is required.

 

Masterworks In My Collection

 

The Importance Of Viewing Masterworks

Paul Caponigro – Apple, New York City, 1964

Ansel Adams – Clearing Winter Storm, 1944

Jerry Uelsmann, Nude, 1983

Joyce Tenneson – Kristin, Hands In The Air, 1998

.

Photographers Celebrate The Print

 

Two Generations – Paul & John Paul Caponigro 

John Paul Caponigro 

Jeremy Cowart

Gregory Crewdson

Lois Greenfield 

Gerd Ludwig 

Steve McCurry

Mark Seliger 

John Sexton 

Tim Tadder 

Amy Toensing 

Stephen Wilkes 

.

Bambi Cantrell

John Paul Caponigro 

Douglas Dubler 

Greg Gorman 

Jay Maise

Steve McCurry

Jeff Schewe

 

John Sexton 

Kim Weston 

 

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Watch Me Demo Softproofing & Proofing


Recently on TWIP’s (This Week In Photoshop) The Fix I spoke with Jan Kabili about the power of printing your photographs. Then I demonstrated how to get the best results possible with Softproofing & Proofing practices. Watch this and you’re sure to get better prints in less time with less waste.
Find more useful videos on TWIP’s The Fix here.
Read more with my free Color Management and Printing resources.
View more in my DVD series R/Evolution.
Learn more in my digital photography and digital printing workshops.

Suffusion XXII – The Making Of The Print


I’m having a great time printing this series of images!
At first glance, they look like classic black and white images. In reality, they’re full color captures of a near neutral subject, processed and printed as color images. The trace amounts of color from the original subject make a very subtle but meaningful addition to the final image and print.
The trace amounts of color in the image are so subtle, I wasn’t sure which color management options would yield the best printed results; shadow detail, gradation, neutrality and graybalance all play major roles.
To get the final prints today, I tested multiple printer color management routes (Photoshop, Printer, Printer Adv B&W)(my ImagePrint tests are pending). Using Printer color management  for color offered the results I was looking for – not Photoshop, which clipped deep shadow detail and not Printer Adv B&W which rendered warm grays by default and cool toning solutions added more cool toning to the highlights than the shadows making the prints look like they carried a faint color cross).
They’re really touchy images. I found out how touchy when I went from 4×6 proofs to 11×14 prints, which when enlarged looked slightly lighter and lower contrast. A contrast curve for enlargement solved this.
At larger scale the noise became an issue, which I’m sleeping on. On the one hand, the subject is made of particles of water, which you can see when you are there. On the other hand it looks distracting to people who don’t know this. Water blurs with motion but the motion is frozen in these very fast exposures. I polled other people around me (including my father). Then I settled on an unexpected solution. I let some of the noise come through only in the areas of greatest focus, drawing slightly more attention to them. (Some noise can makes images appear sharper.)
There was a another surprise. I tested the images on glossy paper (Epson Exhibition Fine Art Paper). The extra depth in the blacks made another improvement in the image, so much so that it was worth the trade off for the soft surface of the matte paper. I made a similar test with a related series, Fumo, and didn’t make this choice. But here it was clear. This is the first time I’ve made my final prints on glossy paper.
I made these images while scouting my 2011 Focus On Nature workshop with Ragnar Th Sigurdsson and Arthur Meyerson. Arthur and I, two colorists who love the colors black gray and white and talk about them as colors.
I’m looking forward to returning to Iceland (and this waterfall) this August to lead a workshops again for Focus On Nature with +Einar Erlendsson , +Ragnar Th. Sigurdsson and +seth resnick .  +Arthur Meyerson Arthur Meyerson will join us at the end of our Iceland workshop for our Arctic Voyage workshop/cruise from Longyearben to Greenland and finally back to Iceland.
We have a few more spaces left our Iceland workshop.
There’s one space left in our Greenland workshop.
There are a two more spaces in my Fine Digital Print Advanced workshop.
Learn more in my digital photography and digital printing workshops.

BookSmart Fine Art Metals

booksmart_fineartmetals
“Booksmart Studio’s inkjet printable fine art metal allows you to print directly on metal surfaces, the metal has a coating applied to accept most popular inkjet printer inks. These fine art printable metals are offered in aluminum and gold and provide a very durable & luminous print. Users must print with a printer that allows direct pass through for paper. The fine art metal series has an adhesive backing to make mounting an easier process, this adhesive backing is optional in certain sizes. The inkjet printable gold and aluminum allow users to create prints that are unlike any print produced on paper.
Users must overcoat the metal after printing due to then nature of ink sitting on metal, one can coat with Clearstar Coatings for a matte, semi-gloss, or gloss finish. One can also laminate the fine art metals, which is often more accurate and reliable but expensive for initial setup. Waterproof ink will run because the ink sitting on the inkjet coating, please remember to overcoat or laminate your prints.”
Prepared metals come in Satin White, Brushed Silver, Matte Silver, Satin Silver, Satin Gold.
Find out more here.
Learn more about digital printing with my online Lessons.
Learn still more in my DVD Fine Art Digital Printing.
Learn even more in my Fine Art Digital Printing Workshops.

Epson Signature Worthy Papers

epsonsignatureworthy
“Only the highest quality Epson papers receive the designation of Signature Worthy. Watch the introduction and view the complete interviews to see why these industry leaders choose Epson Signature Worthy Papers.”
Lois Greenfield, David Lynch, Matthew Jordan Smith, Vincent Versace, Art Wolfe tell you what they like best about Epson papers.
Learn more about digital printing with my online Lessons.
Learn still more in my DVD Fine Art Digital Printing.
Learn even more in my Fine Art Digital Printing Workshops.

Evaluate Proofs Under Glass

proofunderglass

It’s an excellent idea to evaluate final proofs under glass (or plexiglass). This is particularly true if you’re using very thick or low grade glass. Often, when see under glass the print appears ever so slightly darker, lower contrast, and sometimes greener. There’s no ideal glass or plexiglass to evaluate proofs with. Use whatever the print will be viewed under. What you want to be able to do is adjust subsequent proofs so they look ideal in the final viewing state of the print, which is rarely bare.

Read more Printing Tips.
Learn more in my Fine Art Digital Printing Workshops.

Ink Drips or Smears

inksmears

Problem
I’m getting spots or streaks of ink on my print(s).

Solution
Clean the print heads, the rollers, and the inside of the printer.
Sometimes excess ink accumulates from previous printing sessions and gets smeared on the next print. This usually only happens when previous print errors have printed off the paper causing problems for the next print, even if it’s printed correctly.

Read more Printing Tips.
Learn more in my Fine Art Digital Printing Workshops.