“A man walks into a bar, flash drive with favourite images on it in hand. He orders three stiff drinks, downs them in quick succession and then, steeling himself, makes his way anxiously to the printer. How the heck will his prints turn out this time round?!?”
Have you ever had a photo printed and been disappointed with the results? I know I have.
There’s an art and a science to printing photos, both of which can take considerable time to master. But most of us don’t want to take that on and, frankly, we don’t need to. Yet, there are certain things we need to know in order to get a high-quality, accurate print of images that we care about.
Here is a short list of steps you can take yourself (some of them) or delegate to a professional photographer or high-end printer (others) to achieve optimal results.
- Start with a high-resolution, retouched image – i.e., the original digital file that’s been edited, as needed, pre-printing; the original image file on your smartphone; a version that has been compressed and downsized for online use will not work
- Remember that viewing an image on a screen, where it is back lit (a screen displays images by directly emitting light), is very different from viewing an image printed on paper (which simply reflects ambient light)
- Check the brightness and saturation settings on your computer / device. If set too high, they can lead you to believe that your photo is brighter and its colours more vivid than they actually are
- If you retouch your own images using photo editing software (e.g., Lightroom, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements), make use of the histogram to adjust shadows and highlights as needed
- If you’re a serious photographer, calibrate your computer monitor regularly using a colorimeter so that it shows you more accurate colours
- If printing at home, be sure that your printer is up to the job of a creating a first-class colour print; not all of them are
- Again, if printing at home, ensure that your printer is set up correctly with the right drivers and colour profiles (as I said earlier, printing is an art and a science and there’s much to learn …)
- Be sure to print on high-quality photography paper; this really does make a difference
- For a high-quality or fine art print, look for a reputable company with skilled professionals who specialize in this type of work; what you get from your local drugstore or Walmart will not be the same
- Be prepared to print – or, if printing commercially, to order – two or three small test prints for review and to edit your digital file further, if need be, before printing your final, larger copy
Some years ago, I bought a good quality photo printer. However, I have to admit that I have never used it. Perhaps I will one day but, for now, my hands and time are full with my photography business.
Recently, though, I reconnected with a printer who offers excellent printing services. He has had his own large commercial printing business for many years. Furthermore, passionate about printing photos, he set up a smaller, fine-art printing operation in downtown Toronto. He has taught printing at Ryerson University’s photography program and is able to print any photos I send him.
If you would like to have prints of any of the images I have taken of you in the past – or that I might take in the future – I can now offer you printing services!
For further information, pls. get in touch. And, should you feel so inclined, pls. feel free to forward this email to a friend 🙂
Happy Spring! (It’s just around the corner, isn’t it …?)
“The negative is the equivalent of the composer’s score
and the print, the performance.”
Ansel Adams