Printing Your Photos - Why Aren’t YOU Doing It?
In this blog, I am talking about printing your images, why you should be doing it and what I have learned in a just a few weeks of printing my own, at home, in the studio.
I have been printing my images for a while. Well, actually, to put it more accurately, I have been getting other people to print them for me. If I want to just have them for posterity, I get a bunch of 6x4s from FreePrints, if I want something to go on a wall then I look to somewhere like theprintspace.com where I can get awesome C-Type of Gicleé prints made quickly and sent to me. I’ve always been really pleased with what The Printspace has provided, and if I need something bigger than A2 (can you imagine!?) then I will certainly still be using them.
However, I have recently taken delivery of an absolute beast of a new machine. A Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-1000 printer. It’s a behemoth. It weighs just over 32kg (The FedEx guy had to get me to help him off the van with it, and I in turn, had to get him to help me carry up the stairs into the studio!) and takes lots of paper stocks up to A2. It has 12 different ink tanks and is 17” wide. And I love it a little bit.
But why buy one and spend what wasn’t an inconsiderable amount of money on it? Two reasons: Firstly, I plan to start selling my prints in the next couple of weeks and have been wanting to do this for a while now, and 2, I’m impatient. I want my prints, and I want them now. The studio walls are a bit bare at the moment and I am looking forward to hanging my new prints on them.
All of that said, I am already learning from my prints, and not just small amounts. I’m not just learning about printing though; I’m also learning a lot about my own photography, about the way I am using the develop module in Lightroom and about soft-proofing and about paper, but I will probably dive down that rabbit hole at some point in the future. The whole process from beginning to end is blissfully nerdy and I couldn’t be happier about it.
So, what have I learned?
Get the ICC profiles for your printer and for them paper that you are using. Your monitor projects an image into your eye. Your prints reflect the light back into your eyes, so what comes out of the printer will look very different if you don’t do this and then go through the soft proofing process. You can also get profiles specific to your printer (not just the generic ones) so you cabn get have an added level of colour accuracy and reproduction.
Calibrate your monitors(s). I use the DataColour SpyderX Elite for this. I try to do it at least once a week and it makes a noticeable difference to both my editing and printing workflows. If you’re working on more than one monitor then make sure that you have matched them as well!
The paper you choose has a big impact on the way your prints look. I prefer mine to have a matt finish as I just don’t like the reflections that you get off the glossier paper. I have, however, been using some of the Canon Pro Luster paper that came with the printer, and it works well. It’s just a bit too reflective for my liking.
It’s a lot quicker than I thought it would be. A3 prints have taken around 5 minutes and there’s a great sense of anticipation watching your work come to life in front of you!
It’s addictive. Really addictive - there are going to be a lot of these being gifted to friends and family throughout the christmas period. I don’t want to just print loads and then just shove them in a box not to be seen - that’s not what art is for!
Why should you print your images?
There are loads of reasons you should do this, but seeing your work hanging on the wall is great. Posting them to social media for other people to see is all well and good but the print really is like the end product, which can be enjoyed for longer than the fleeting glance it might be given on Instagram, Vero, or dare I say it, Facebook.
Printing my images has given me a new appreciation for photography. I have myself been really selective about the images that I have chosen to print. Just because it’s one I have put on social media, doesn’t seem to me (at this stage) mean that it’s going to be a strong enough image for me to print.
It has already impacted me when I am out in the field shooting. I want to make sure that everything is a sharp as possible and I have been focus stacking much more than I would have done previously and I am paying a lot more attention to deal not only when I am focussing, but also when I am selecting compositions, and that has to be a good thing right?
It’s almost like when I go out and shoot film. When I do this, I find that I am much more selective with my shots and spend more time making sure that I get as much right in camera as possible. There are re-do’s in film photography, but they have a cost impact!
Having something tangible at the end of the creative process, I think, for me is the main reason that I am enjoying printing so much. Being able to see something hanging on the wall and knowing “ I did that”, is a really great feeling.
Keep creating!