Let’s Talk About Printing
If you are looking to print your images out (and I would truly recommend you do) then it really can be overwhelming. What printer to use? What paper to use? What settings …. Ugh help!
I am fairly new to printing but having worked in print for many years with a slight geekyness I am starting to get the hang of it, well my set up.
I am part of Mid Somerset Camera Club and we have several competitions a year, each competition has two submission types print and DPI. I had just been entering the DPI (digital) as there was slightly less competition but that is not pushing my boundaries. This year I have been trying to enter two print entries and one DPI to challenge myself further.
I still have to master cutting my own mounts but that is another day! I have been using cut mounts as you can find here.
Let me walk you through what I use.
Printer.
I am very lucky that my husband likes researching, he must have spent months reading up on Canon v’s Epson. It finally came down to two the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300 or the Epson EcoTank ET-8550 after looking at the price of inks we went for the Epson EcoTank.
This printer has 6 inks which are all refillable in this system. I will only ever use Epson inks as I have had a nightmare with dupe in in the past.
There are a few niggles I have found since buying the printer but this may be a user error over the printer itself. The main one is that it is not a fan of 7×5 paper (the only paper that I bought the girls so they can use to print out pictures of friends).
Other than that it has been great getting to know! I have two tips for anyone using this printer.
1. Use on thick card mode if you are getting indentation on the paper, this is roller marks and will not be present if you use these settings.
2. Let Photoshop/Lightroom control the colour. Not the printer. I have wasted paper until I found this out!
This printer can be used with a roll of paper great for panoramic prints but I have not tried this yet. Once I have any more hints for you I will update this blog so please be sure to bookmark!
Paper.
I have not really ventured much with paper, I had a sample pack with the printer and then we had some very cheap Kodak Glossy that we grabbed from town but I was not getting the results I needed for competitions.
In June I visited the West Wales Photography Show and found that Permajet had a stand. Apparently, Fotospeed did as well but I didn’t see them even though I walked round the show about 6 times.
At the show you could buy selection pacts which contained a couple of sheets within a range. I picked up the pro selection and the art selection. I picked up a box of Permajet Lusture as this was a finish that really caught my eye. It is a very heavy luxurious paper with a brilliant white base, not forgetting is has a UV coating which will is a necessity if you are displaying images on the wall. I will be covering the other paper in another blog so come back soon! My other favorite which I had to invest in Permajet Titanium Gloss which is fantastic for seascapes and some mono as it has a silver-based sparkle to the paper.
Software.
I am an Adobe fan girl through and through. I guess it stems from its status as the industry standard in Graphic Design. I have predominantly used Photoshop but my preference is Lightroom now for ease of use and then if I have to do anything specific take it into Photoshop after. I do prefer to do as much work on camera as I am a little impatient and just like to do a little editing and then print. I think that both camera skills and manipulation skills are needed in photography.
With all of the recent additions to Lightroom there is barely any need to leave, I am always looking for videos and tutorials on new ways to enhance so please feel free to drop me a line with some suggestions.
I would like to share some of my print entries so far this year, if you are in Somerset and would like to join a welcoming camera club give me a nudge and I will send you details!
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