[Tom Woj]

Hi all,

Just thought I'd ask what peoples opinions are on different printing methods.

I just recieved a print I had done of a night time city-scape/panorama I did a few months back. While I'm pleased with the print in terms of the quality and colour (well, it's actually just a b/w with a blue tint), I now realise the type of print medium, mounting, size etc are just as important as the image itself.

It's a 160cm x 40cm poster, so it's pretty big. I chose to get it as a matte-laminate print as opposed to gloss. BIG mistake on my part - it just dosn't pop with the brightness that it should, I really wish I had chosen gloss! I don't know what made me choose matte! Also I thought "laminate" would mean a thicker coating on it, but it seems it's just a thin layer and does not give much support. I put it up on my wall with adheasive strips, which was so damn fiddly it's ridiculous, and I managed to crumple one of the corners when trying to get it straight.

Next time I'm definitely going to go for a gloss print of some sort, and will get it in some sort of frame, or make sure it has a backing. It still looks ok, and the first real attempt at getting a print I've done. It only cost £20 so it hardly broke the bank, so for this size print at that price I can't complain. Either way I don't think I'm ever going to just get a poster print again.

So here's the question. There are so many kinds of printing options, what do you folks print on? What's the advantages/dissadvantages of acrylic/aluminium/canvas/gloss/matte etc. Any thoughts?

Cheers,

Woj

[abieleck]

For me lustre is the way to go. You get the nice color saturation of glossy but without the glare factor. Plus lustre paper is pretty resistant to fingerprints. Not sure what you mean by a matte- laminate coat, but I would not get a print laminated.

As for framing...I use matte board which I purchase from the art store and cut it down myself with a matte cutter. I think framing might be the most overpriced service out there, it's crazy how much they charge to mat a large print even if it is not custom. The matte boards I buy come 30inx40in.....don't know what that is in cm but it allows for prints up to around 24x36. I bought a used matte cutter on Craigslist from a guy who didn't use it much for $100, it has definitely come in handy. If it is a favorite print that you want to keep pristine, it is also a good idea to mount the print on some kind of backing board to make sure the print is flat and doesn't get waves which can occur if you just tape the print in. Good luck!

[philbaum]

I like your title - its so true!

I always do a test print, smaller and perhaps only a portion of the print to see if the toning and colors are OK. The pictures we view on our monitors are usually much darker in print fashion. I started out doing matte prints as well, but they are darker and then moved on to glossy prints and conventional framing with glass. Then i moved on to canvas. I don't order the canvas though until i've located stretcher bars and how much they are going to cost. It took awhile to learn how to stretch canvas in a professional manner. Be sure if you are getting someone to print your canvas that they are applying a protective coat on the surface of the canvas. I showed someone a coupla days how one could draw a pencil across a canvas (a discarded one of mine), and then remove it with a mild soap and water using a kitchen scrub pad. (i don't guarantee this process to anyone and don't recommend drawing on your prints, only saying) (If you don't get the protective coating on it, fingerprint marks can show up on canvas just like they do on paper prints) Prints on canvas are usually (probably not always) made with the giclee process which uses "pigmented" inks. Pigmented inks use minute particles of solid color material in the ink as opposed to dye inks. Pigmented inks are UV resistant up to 200 years (as reported by the factory i use) while dye inks can fade from UV in as little as 3 months (so i've read, YMMV). Some printers can do pigmented inks, others aren't designed for it - don't assume anything is the best precaution. Canvas prints cost a lot more than paper prints, but stretcher bars are relatively inexpensive. Framing and glass is unnecessary which saves weight and cost.

i've seen several prints on metal backings, they look great. I know nothing of the expense and pitfalls involved.

If you want an inexpensive way to mount, buy 1/4" thick foam core backing boards (not wood board at all) and get a roll of double backed tape, and apply the print you have to the foam core backing board. Makes a simple light weight display. Altho foam core boards in my area only come in 40 inch lengths so you will have to splice it for your panorama style.

Congratulations on getting your print made. It will look great on a foam core backing. I see so many great images on these forums and i just hope that folks are printing even a fraction of them and sharing them with friends and family. Its a great way to enrich their lives and others. I scheduled for a small month long "show" at a wine shop in April. As a result, i have several prints all over my walls, getting ready for the show. Its quite a "high" looking at them every morning.

Best wishes, Phil

[Tom Woj]

Not sure what you mean by a matte- laminate coat, but I would not get a print laminated.

Indeed, I wasn't sure what that fully meant either, but it was slightly more expensive than without, so I thought I'd try it. Got my poster from Poster printing, photo books and photo prints | Poster XXL .. I seems like less of a laminate and more of a light protective coating to reduce finger-prints/marks. *shrug*

The pictures we view on our monitors are usually much darker in print fashion.

So true. Noticed that on this poster a little and also on a few snaps from jessops I've had done over time. Kept thinking it was my monitor, but thinking about it - a screen emits light, and a print dosn't. Makes sense.

I'm going to start printing more of my stuff so I can display it, as opposed to my pics just being bounced around cyber-space. Even if it's just postcard/snapshot size. Just seen snapfish.com and other places offer a few free sample prints too ...

[Schraubstock]

There are so many kinds of printing options, what do you folks print on?

Hi
What to print on is not so much a consideration as to the advantages or disadvantages technically speaking, but rather a consideration for the proper or correct stock artistically speaking.

For example you would not, under any circumstances, consider to print a Leonardo da Vinci charcoal sketch on anything other than matte paper. A colourful night shot of downtown New York with its punchy bright neon lights on the other hand would always make a choice of glossy stock a good one. Watercolour art ought to be printed (what else) on paper that mimics watercolour type paper. When I do promotional shots of cars or machinery or similar motives I like to print on metallic paper as this really showcases all the shiny reflective surfaces of metal parts extraordinarily well. The result looks nice and technical. Landscapes can look good on canvas while reproduction oil paintings should always be printed on semigloss paper. I think you understand what I am trying to say.

Even though you did not directly ask for it, here are some related matters:

To hang prints on walls with bluetack or doublesided tape is never a good idea unless it is a temp display which will be discarded after short while. In inkjet printing (some call it giclée printing) where my expertise lies pigment inks will give you the longest fade resistance. (Although some dye inks are pretty good too these days.) But there are conditions to observe. The stock to print on must be of equally long live quality. When hanging on walls pictures should never catch direct sunlight and the prints must be mounted (stuck) on a stable acid free backing. To do this I use adhesive aerosol spray (from an art supply shop) and smooth the print down onto it with a rubber roller and finally a mat board goes on top of that. The picture is then framed behind glass and the back is taped up to seal the unit. This prevents ozone oxidation.

Hope the information here helps

Greetings

[reeftool]

Hi
What to print on is not so much a consideration as to the advantages or disadvantages technically speaking, but rather a consideration for the proper or correct stock artistically speaking.

For example you would not, under any circumstances, consider to print a Leonardo da Vinci charcoal sketch on anything other than matte paper. A colourful night shot of downtown New York with its punchy bright neon lights on the other hand would always make a choice of glossy stock a good one. Watercolour art ought to be printed (what else) on paper that mimics watercolour type paper. When I do promotional shots of cars or machinery or similar motives I like to print on metallic paper as this really showcases all the shiny reflective surfaces of metal parts extraordinarily well. The result looks nice and technical. Landscapes can look good on canvas while reproduction oil paintings should always be printed on semigloss paper. I think you understand what I am trying to say.

Even though you did not directly ask for it, here are some related matters:

To hang prints on walls with bluetack or doublesided tape is never a good idea unless it is a temp display which will be discarded after short while. In inkjet printing (some call it giclée printing) where my expertise lies pigment inks will give you the longest fade resistance. (Although some dye inks are pretty good too these days.) But there are conditions to observe. The stock to print on must be of equally long live quality. When hanging on walls pictures should never catch direct sunlight and the prints must be mounted (stuck) on a stable acid free backing. To do this I use adhesive aerosol spray (from an art supply shop) and smooth the print down onto it with a rubber roller and finally a mat board goes on top of that. The picture is then framed behind glass and the back is taped up to seal the unit. This prevents ozone oxidation.

Hope the information here helps

Greetings

Some good points. Different photos need different papers. I keep several different papers on hand for my home printing and always print out a 4X6 before I print a large copy. I can also try different papers , which isn't too pricey on a small print before printing a 13x19 or sending a photo out. As with everything else photography related, much is learned through experience. In the film days, we printed everything. Labs often gave you a choice of papers. Glossy was usually the most common choice. Some shots look a lot better on matte, especially warm light, foggy landscapes, and some portraits too.

[Tom Woj]

Seems like I've got a lot to learn about printing.

Thanks for all the help folks, all I can do now is learn from past attempts and get better.