Photographer / printer here. Great advice about testing a single image on various papers. Do so in color as well as black and white on the same paper. The high end paper options available today are wonderful. However, these papers and ink can get expensive. Well worth it, but I’d like to suggest to those who are new to printing the following. This is a more economical way to learn to print. I’ll use Epson as an example but the same approach works for all manufacturers. Epson offers different grades of paper. For glossy, use their 4 star paper - Premium Photo Paper Glossy. When you want to move up use Ultra Premium Photo Paper Glossy. If you have HP or Canon on hand use it as well. (My experience with big box store labels has been very poor.). The idea is to grow as a printer. When you feel it’s time, start using expensive papers. For luster, the same idea. However Epson may only make their 5 star Ultra Premium Photo Luster Paper today. Feel free to use luster papers from HP and Canon. For Matt paper, Epson has made a great paper called Enhanced Matt Paper for years. Today, it is under recognized. This was brought to my attention by someone with national recognition (I’m not that smart). In your imaging software’s paper settings (I use Lightroom) choose the paper you are using. In this case Enhanced Matt. However, when you are in the LR print module, use one of Epson’s high end Matt paper profiles. I use Epson Ultra Smooth Fine Art Paper. Using a very good, under recognized paper, with a high end paper profile gives a remarkable result. Another example for Black and White, the same less expensive Matt paper, set your printer for BW printing and use the Epson Velvet Fine Art paper profile in your print module. Other bits of information. The paper profiles that come with your printer are most likely much better than the profiles provided by third party paper manufacturers. Try both. You can often find open boxes of paper on auctions for much less. Every picture is best suited to a different paper - surface, gloss, luster or Matt. If your printer only uses one black ink cartridge you most likely will not see the benefits of expensive papers. My Epson 3880 has 4 black carts. My favorite high end papers: Matt - Epson Ultra Smooth Fine Art, Epson Velvet Fine Art for BW, Hahnemuhle Photo Rag, Hahnemuhle Bambo. Luster - Epson Exhibition Fiber, Ilford Gold Fiber Silk, Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta I hope this helps keeping your costs down. Happy printing! D
I'm a big believer in this and don't feel that an image is truly finished until it is printed, there is just something *special* about the tactile feel of a physical print...
WOW Ted, another great video. I am a hybrid shooter (1977 to president). I always print my important photos. On social media, millions of people will see your work but few will remember. With prints, few people will see your work but all will remember.
This is one hell of a great point, thank you for this much needed reminder, Ted ! Same here, I shoot a bazillion of digital photos year round, and while it used to be exhilarating, I now find it rather stale. But each time I actually have to make a selection to print for an exhib and got the big print in my hands for the first time, it feels like I'm discovering my own work, like, from an external viewer's pov. It's a really weird feeling, but makes my experience of photographing exhilarating again.
Printing my work has humbled me in ways no other has. You think you nailed focus? You think your editing is on point? Make a big print and get your ego stomped on...and learn from it.
Mahmood Thomas - I think you actually missed the point of the video. Printing brings the process of photography to another level of visualization, where the image exists in its most concrete form in a physical environment. You can hold it, walk closer or farther, fixate on details, texture, or take in its contents and depth in a room. This brings new perspectives on it, and reveals new parameters to fix in the rendering process. Rediscovering the balance of the highlights and lowlights, of the composition of the visual elements, may indeed have one reconsider any aspect of the print including cropping.
I find the opposite to be true, didn't nail the focus? the couple who came over for dinner wont notice and will love to see your work in physical form. Now if it was extremely bad or the print is the size of a wall, then that's a different story.
It is great to see film photographers printing there images instead of just scanning. Well done Ted, keep up the good work. You are a great ambassador for film photography.
Thank you and I think printing is one of the best self improvement tools for a photographer. Liking a photo enough to post on Instagram is one thing, liking a photo enough to print and display it on you wall is a totally different deal.
Really nice look at printing. Posted on my 55th birthday and my return to film shooting after 35-36 years. I've gotten a lot of ideas from your videos. Now 10 rolls of 120 6x6 b/w in. Finding some nice results. Thanks, Ted.
Thanks for this, Ted. Lately, it has been so hard for me to get out and shoot, but this video made me realize it has been roughly eight or nine years since I've held a physical copy of my own photographs. This video just turned the light back on.
I was fortunate to see you at the Amon Carter and always enjoy listening to your perspective. Nice hear your thoughts on printing. I’m old enough to remember doing proof sheets and some advantages to the old school way. Thanks Ted for all the thoughts and ideas, Plus no mention of vignetting at the corners
Just wanted to say thank you so much for this video! After watching it, I went ahead and purchased my first two prints and they came in today. It was super awesome to look at and got me excited to go out to take more pictures. Even though I've printed photo books before it's my first time printing bigger pictures to hang on the wall in my apartment. Thanks again man and keep up the great work!
I always *HIGHLY* recommend printing to all photographers. Digital output honestly bores me as it's just intangible electronic data consisting of 0's and 1's. 💾 Prints are also like currency in the Photo World. If you shoot concerts, give a band member a print; if you shoot models, give them a print; they'll appreciate what you do *SO Much More.* 🔥🔥🔥
I don't know where to store/hangup all printed photos, so I print with Instax share sp-2 instead, store those in a business card holder, and pick out my favorite ones to make a hangup frame.
Thank you Ted, i just received a small collection of sample photos, printed on different paper (samples from whitewall). For getting a look and feel (rather an idea) for it because i like to print a few of my images that i took over the last years and because i've never done that before. Your suggestion and explanation in your video comes really right on time for me. Taking one or two pictures and print them on different paper is a good idea. I take your video into consideration for my ideas, thank you !
Adorama and B&H are both in NYC. I live about 25 miles away or 20 minutes by train. I do my own prints at home but I do know that both companies offer high quality at a very reasonable price. if you want a book, I recommend Amazon's KDP. It is a little klunky as the want you to use Microsoft Word (configured to their KDP software) to do what should be done in a publishing (InDesign?) program.
AdoramaPix , I have been using as my only print lab for years. My favorite paper is luster for prints and photo books. Their book design software is very powerful and allows a lot of design elements. I have done over 45 books, prints mounted, framed, on canvas and metal.
Thanks Ted, I always feel like my photos feel "real" once they are printed and I can hold them in my hand... It's far different from viewing on a screen. Something about it!
This video is perfectly timed as I'm looking at getting some of my street photography images into a book. I should add that I am taking part in an exhibition with my camera club and have got my images printed. There were three colour and two black and white. The black and white were fine when printed on matt paper but the colour, on gloss, were lacking. So I went back, increased the exposure, added a little vibrance and was very pleased with the results when they came back. I definitely don't print as often as I should and I want to change that. One day I will get my own darkroom and print for myself, but that is a long way off just now.
A really cool print type to look into, especially for black and whites, is metallic prints. It's like a high gloss look with a metal sheen look to it. For certain images, it can take it from an 7 to a 9 in terms of aesthetic. And it's an effect that just simply can't happen in a digital format, at least not to the same extent. Also printing simply gives a photo a finality, a real "end-game" to it. I feel like it's easier to sort of 'move on' to the next project after you've say, printed out a bunch of images and put on a gallery showing. Instad of just posting a set of images on instagram. It can feel like you never gave the images their true presentation if you've just posted them online like any other image. To put money and resources into a presenting of your images gives more weight to them, and more weight in the eyes of those looking at your art.
Thanks for mentioning ADORAMA Printing, I just checked out their site and the prices and paper options are great! Printing your own Zine or Book through all these venues is great. In the end looking at detail on a Print vs any screen(phone or computer) gives and one can notice other details. Amazing to see what the different papers do to details and what to take into account when editing for sure, great video Mr. Forbes!
I don’t use Instagram or Facebook or Flickr but I do print! I can print to A2 at home and I also make the frames for them. A framed print on the wall is a wonderful thing. Definitely need to get into books though. Great video and advice.
I am interested in doing my book and I was planning to do it on Blurb. I have seen their prints and I already have two books which include my photography. I am not satisfied. I have seen your book and think I may try a mat prints like yours. Amazing video Ted, and thank you for the share.
Having your own photo printer is also very helpful, but there are differences in how the different inks perform on different paper, so it is important to do the sampling again if you switch printers (I went from a smaller printer which used ink to a larger one that uses dye and the differences are dramatic on some papers). Most of the paper companies will sell a "sample box" that includes 2 sheets of each paper they offer (often with the paper type written on the back). This makes the comparison prints much easier.
Hi Ted - I did this excise some time ago. I print all my work at home on Epson 3880 17" and Epson 9800 44". And wanted to see if people were able to see the difference between brands like Hahnemuhle, Canson, MedieJet and PermaJet all of the same kind like Luster, Perle and Satin. The price of these papers were between 5,86 dollars and 20,44 dollars pr. sq. meters. I did the test on some of my photo frinds, and the funny thing is. They could not see the different in price or quality of the prints. Just for info i do all my ICC profiles my self, on each paper. Then I told them to pick one paper over the others. They all picked at papers that cost around 7 dollar pr. sq. meters. - my question is why buy a expensive paper when you can't see feel the difference. Later i was told that there were only 3 paper mills in europe (I am from Denmark), so all the different paper brand are all produced on one the these 3 paper mills. Now i was thinking is it the same with Original ink vs. Third party ink. Can you see the difference between original ink and third party ink like Cone or InkTec? I did the test again with the tree different inks, and my own ICC profiles for each ink. No difference between them, but the price is another story Original Ink pr. sq. meter print with 90% cover 14 dollars, Cone ink 3,5 dollars and InkTec 1 dollar. What are we paying for - the brand or the quality?
There’s just something about an A3 or an A3+ print.Printing to me is the final part of my photography workflow.Im not a professional by any means meaning I don’t get paid for my work,I just have been printing for years.Publishing an image online to most social media sites is fine,but most people today have lost the appreciation for a nice print,which is a shame really as they are missing out on something special.I print on Permajets Portrait White and Oyster Paper and get great results,but every one to their own.Just my tuppence worth,thanks!!!!
I have no interest in printing my stuff for myself. If someone else wants it, fine. But I do think printing today is more about self gratification than it is about practical necessity such as it was in the past. I think monitors are just as effective, and probably better because there is no cost, no materials, and if the shot itself is good, you don't need a print. Further, you can reach more people online than you ever could with a print. It just makes more sense.
I just took my printer in for repair. It's under warranty so the cost isn't bad but the nearest repair center is 2 hrs away. Anyway seeing this video depresses me because I really miss the printer. I have been printing, contact sheets in the beginning and then for four years press release photos for the Marines. Can't wait to get that printer back.
In my mind, printing is often the most creative step in photography. It is a real challenge to get the right "tone quality" married to the paper of choice. More skill needed than just photoshopping an image to death. For those who worry about the number of prints and what to do with them, I change out (inexpensive frames and mats) the 15 or so photos in my house quarterly. Once a year, I make photo book of the years best 50 photos .... who knows what will happen to my electronic storage once I am no longer minding it.
I've never made an inkjet print at home. All my printing has been on silver gelatin paper, by a photo lab, using a high-end laser printer (Fuji, Noritsu, LightJet). Just like inkjet, there is a wide choice of silver gelatin papers (Fuji, Kodak, Ilford). You don't need to have perfect color-vision, to get good color, you can download ICC Profiles from the various labs. I'd like to see more on book publishing. From what I've seen it isn't as easy as it looks. How many Fine Art books do you want to print? Where should you get your printing done-locally, Belgium, China or somewhere else.
+1 for Adoramapix. I have done books with a number of companies and like Adoramapix books best. Lots of options for layout. I do mainly travel books or special topics, so a little different approach than fine art.
I've been wanting to print my photos so I can have them hanging in businesses and to sell them so this was a great video because it convinced me even more to get several different prints of the same photo to see what papers and backgrounds and everything else works for my different shots compared to what is seen on my computer screen or on my phone
I have a Pixma Pro One printer at home and I print images for my wedding clients. I know the fine art papers that you mention well (the Durer, Turner, Bamboo etc.) Those papers really don't do very well with flat deep blacks like those that you have in your photograph. They do great, instead, with bright images that have good contrast and some localized deep blacks interwoven with highlights.
I just started "minor" printing w/ an Epson 2750. 8x10 is the max but still great fun. & it gives me a sense if I want take it to a shop for something bigger. Terrific vid & shots. What I'm really jonsen for is another vid on your & Hugh's WS.
Just got back my first batch of prints! The photos I thought were average came out better than expected, while my favorites were not as good as expected lol
Hi Ted. I’ve been printing for 20yrs or more, I mean b&w in chemicals almost living in the darkroom, the thrill of your own work appear before your very eyes is something I miss, I had the opportunity to use many different types of papers and it DOES make a BIG difference, b&w is better than colour anyway it tells a bigger story.. Now, I have dry fingers and tapping keys for processing my images.. and cheating by adjusting different things in the image that I didn’t skillfully do with the camera ! One thing I do want is a decent printing software.. can you recommend one ? Great video Ted a nice change...
Making prints from all my negatives I take is simply impossible due to time needed and money for all the paper to get through. Even for digital prints this is very difficult - much better to make reasonable selections what to print and making this right and experiment. Maybe good compromise for film negatives is making contact prints of all negatives in a small format to determine which ones are worthwhile printing larger.
Dear Ted Canny video as always:) To me, the final part of my photographic process is to pick up my processed film negatives with prints from my local professional lab:) I would rather judge my images from the print than from a scan! My rule of thumb-if it doesn't work as a print in my hand, then it's not going to work on line:) Thus saving me time, effort & anxiety:) Regards,
Ted - Printing is an old aspect of photography, and you know that you can get some really nice looking (and feeling) b&w prints from the traditional darkroom using b&w silver-gelatin fibre-based and resin-coated papers. If you get the chance to do it, could you please mention my new iOS app called enLARGE which, for the first time in photographic history, lets you accurately predict the exposure time needed for larger enlarger-printed enlargements based on the exposure time needed to produce tiny pilot prints first. Darkroom enlarging doesn’t get much press these days, but it nonetheless remains one of the high quality physical-print output channels for photographic work, and it’s something that photographers can do relatively inexpensively at home if they’ve got space for a darkroom. Best regards, Andrew Wittner, Australia
now i have the a7 III and getting the 135mm g master shortly i think this may be good advice ;-) maybe ill have my own gallery showing someday! lol ;-)
Ted, Thanks for the video. I’ve been looking at printing and framing some images and I’d be curious to hear more. Could you expand on different framing techniques? How would I go about ‘floating’ an image? How would you mount and frame an image without glass? Are there any unusual but interesting ways to frame images? If there is enough to talk about you could even make it a mini series of sorts.
Very much I agree on what you said, I will need to spend a lot of money on renting a darkroom to make the prints. I did that quite often before but got frustrated when realizing how much money I spent on the lab... I love shooting on film but making prints is another thing... :(
Gosh this video has unleashed some demons, fantastic stuff. Its weird but, in the days of film we got all our photos printed. I have a decade of art books full of photos from 1990 when I switched from Kodachrome to Reala. Then came the new century and a digital camera and I havent had a photo printed since. I can remember the excitement I used to get when I got back enlargements from my slides in the 70s. Perhaps its time to try again ;-)
I have a few questions Ted. When you do an exhibit assuredly we want our images to look their best, but how do you display your work on the wall when there might not be a unity in the type of paper you choose? Won’t it feel awkward if you display a matte image besides a glossy one? And does one have to do some compromises when he choose to print his images in a book (knowing that some images look way better on a certain type of paper)? Ted, thanks for all the experience you share!
Yep, yep, yep .... Different papers can produce surprising results. I've had textured papers produce more fine detail in an image than high gloss - and that seems counter-intuitive to me. Paper selection is definitely an art, rather than a science!
I am still working on photo assignment 15. All my photos are bad, so it is sort of hard to pick what I would want to print. I guess I will just print bad photos.
Ted, interesting advice, I would not have thought to try different papers from a print service. There are some good printing services available here in Australia. I think the shipping costs from Adorama would add considerably to the cost of getting them to do the printing. I liked the comparison of the gloss paper to the Matt paper they do look quite different. This gives me a reason to print some of my recent street work and compare the result on different paper types. Have you tried printing yourself on a epson or canon printer with different papers? Thanks for your videos, keep up the great work you do.
Probably a very silly question, but it s been bothering me for a while now. When you compare papers, with the same image, do you 'tweak' the photos for every different paper (for instance, in softproofing module in LR)... ?
Great video, Ted, as always. Questions: Is your book hard or soft cover? What's the size? It looks like it might be 10x10 or 12x12. Do you recommend proofing each photo individually first, or doing the whole book at once, and making adjustments as necessary? It seems like an expensive way to approach it, but might be the only way to guarantee accurate results. Finally, are you sizing your prints beforehand, or allowing Adorama to resize and sharpen as needed?
Very informative video. I'm fairly new to printing my images. I just want to ask how do you prepare your images so that they have a border when you print it? Thank you!
I always to print my work 8'10 or even 5'7. What a difference once you print your work. I post a lot of my work on line. And you would not believe how many don't edit and post blurred images. And some how seem to think it's ok . 365 is the worst for that and a few others. Thanks Ted great videos.
Photographer / printer here. Great advice about testing a single image on various papers. Do so in color as well as black and white on the same paper. The high end paper options available today are wonderful. However, these papers and ink can get expensive. Well worth it, but I’d like to suggest to those who are new to printing the following. This is a more economical way to learn to print. I’ll use Epson as an example but the same approach works for all manufacturers.
Epson offers different grades of paper.
For glossy, use their 4 star paper - Premium Photo Paper Glossy. When you want to move up use Ultra Premium Photo Paper Glossy. If you have HP or Canon on hand use it as well. (My experience with big box store labels has been very poor.). The idea is to grow as a printer. When you feel it’s time, start using expensive papers.
For luster, the same idea. However Epson may only make their 5 star Ultra Premium Photo Luster Paper today. Feel free to use luster papers from HP and Canon.
For Matt paper, Epson has made a great paper called Enhanced Matt Paper for years. Today, it is under recognized. This was brought to my attention by someone with national recognition (I’m not that smart). In your imaging software’s paper settings (I use Lightroom) choose the paper you are using. In this case Enhanced Matt. However, when you are in the LR print module, use one of Epson’s high end Matt paper profiles. I use Epson Ultra Smooth Fine Art Paper. Using a very good, under recognized paper, with a high end paper profile gives a remarkable result.
Another example for Black and White, the same less expensive Matt paper, set your printer for BW printing and use the Epson Velvet Fine Art paper profile in your print module.
Other bits of information.
The paper profiles that come with your printer are most likely much better than the profiles provided by third party paper manufacturers. Try both.
You can often find open boxes of paper on auctions for much less.
Every picture is best suited to a different paper - surface, gloss, luster or Matt.
If your printer only uses one black ink cartridge you most likely will not see the benefits of expensive papers. My Epson 3880 has 4 black carts.
My favorite high end papers:
Matt - Epson Ultra Smooth Fine Art, Epson Velvet Fine Art for BW, Hahnemuhle Photo Rag, Hahnemuhle Bambo.
Luster - Epson Exhibition Fiber, Ilford Gold Fiber Silk, Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta
I hope this helps keeping your costs down. Happy printing!
D
Still dissapointed the book won't be called InfraTed.
Is it a photography book, or a dad joke book? Cause that title is fitting for only one of these books
Karl Ramberg relax, I didn't convey tone well but mine was a joke too
I'm a big believer in this and don't feel that an image is truly finished until it is printed, there is just something *special* about the tactile feel of a physical print...
I agree. Printing transforms a simple image into a photograph.
Nice to talk about the Craft rather than gear, gear,gear!
WOW Ted, another great video. I am a hybrid shooter (1977 to president). I always print my important photos. On social media, millions of people will see your work but few will remember. With prints, few people will see your work but all will remember.
This is one hell of a great point, thank you for this much needed reminder, Ted !
Same here, I shoot a bazillion of digital photos year round, and while it used to be exhilarating, I now find it rather stale.
But each time I actually have to make a selection to print for an exhib and got the big print in my hands for the first time, it feels like I'm discovering my own work, like, from an external viewer's pov.
It's a really weird feeling, but makes my experience of photographing exhilarating again.
Printing my work has humbled me in ways no other has. You think you nailed focus? You think your editing is on point? Make a big print and get your ego stomped on...and learn from it.
That's an interesting point, Jeff.
Didn't you check it first enlarging it on your computer.. You must not have. Editing is so important , You just can't point shoot n print
@@ReynanteMartinez another guy who doesn't edit you must give up point shoot n print .
Mahmood Thomas - I think you actually missed the point of the video. Printing brings the process of photography to another level of visualization, where the image exists in its most concrete form in a physical environment. You can hold it, walk closer or farther, fixate on details, texture, or take in its contents and depth in a room. This brings new perspectives on it, and reveals new parameters to fix in the rendering process. Rediscovering the balance of the highlights and lowlights, of the composition of the visual elements, may indeed have one reconsider any aspect of the print including cropping.
I find the opposite to be true, didn't nail the focus? the couple who came over for dinner wont notice and will love to see your work in physical form. Now if it was extremely bad or the print is the size of a wall, then that's a different story.
It is great to see film photographers printing there images instead of just scanning. Well done Ted, keep up the good work. You are a great ambassador for film photography.
Thank you and I think printing is one of the best self improvement tools for a photographer. Liking a photo enough to post on Instagram is one thing, liking a photo enough to print and display it on you wall is a totally different deal.
Really nice look at printing. Posted on my 55th birthday and my return to film shooting after 35-36 years. I've gotten a lot of ideas from your videos. Now 10 rolls of 120 6x6 b/w in. Finding some nice results. Thanks, Ted.
I do have a hackable NEX in addition to my YMat 124G. Still hesitant to hack it :).
Yes... The feeling of holding the printed photograph is different and when you see how it looks like it's really different.
Thanks for this, Ted. Lately, it has been so hard for me to get out and shoot, but this video made me realize it has been roughly eight or nine years since I've held a physical copy of my own photographs. This video just turned the light back on.
I was fortunate to see you at the Amon Carter and always enjoy listening to your perspective. Nice hear your thoughts on printing. I’m old enough to remember doing proof sheets and some advantages to the old school way. Thanks Ted for all the thoughts and ideas, Plus no mention of vignetting at the corners
This has inspired me to possibly make a book for my mom & dad for Xmas. And also to do as a project/ goal.
Yesssss!!! People need to print print print
Just wanted to say thank you so much for this video!
After watching it, I went ahead and purchased my first two prints and they came in today. It was super awesome to look at and got me excited to go out to take more pictures.
Even though I've printed photo books before it's my first time printing bigger pictures to hang on the wall in my apartment.
Thanks again man and keep up the great work!
Ted, thanks for taking us through the key points of printing. The suggestion to print on various types of paper makes perfect sense.
I always *HIGHLY* recommend printing to all photographers. Digital output honestly bores me as it's just intangible electronic data consisting of 0's and 1's. 💾
Prints are also like currency in the Photo World. If you shoot concerts, give a band member a print; if you shoot models, give them a print; they'll appreciate what you do *SO Much More.* 🔥🔥🔥
I use Hahnemuhle's William Turner a lot for portraits. Great paper. Hahnemuhle also makes great pearl finished papers.
Excellent video. Thanks Ted.
I don't know where to store/hangup all printed photos, so I print with Instax share sp-2 instead, store those in a business card holder, and pick out my favorite ones to make a hangup frame.
Once I have a few images worthy of printing I'm definitely going to do so. 🙂 I've got a spot on the wall I've been eyeing to hang some.
Thank you Ted,
i just received a small collection of sample photos, printed on different paper (samples from whitewall). For getting a look and feel (rather an idea) for it because i like to print a few of my images that i took over the last years and because i've never done that before. Your suggestion and explanation in your video comes really right on time for me. Taking one or two pictures and print them on different paper is a good idea. I take your video into consideration for my ideas, thank you !
Adorama and B&H are both in NYC. I live about 25 miles away or 20 minutes by train. I do my own prints at home but I do know that both companies offer high quality at a very reasonable price. if you want a book, I recommend Amazon's KDP. It is a little klunky as the want you to use Microsoft Word (configured to their KDP software) to do what should be done in a publishing (InDesign?) program.
AdoramaPix , I have been using as my only print lab for years. My favorite paper is luster for prints and photo books. Their book design software is very powerful and allows a lot of design elements. I have done over 45 books, prints mounted, framed, on canvas and metal.
Thanks Ted, I always feel like my photos feel "real" once they are printed and I can hold them in my hand... It's far different from viewing on a screen. Something about it!
I am going to print three of my photos from my vacation on a silk finish and thank you for your guidance.
This video is perfectly timed as I'm looking at getting some of my street photography images into a book. I should add that I am taking part in an exhibition with my camera club and have got my images printed. There were three colour and two black and white. The black and white were fine when printed on matt paper but the colour, on gloss, were lacking. So I went back, increased the exposure, added a little vibrance and was very pleased with the results when they came back. I definitely don't print as often as I should and I want to change that. One day I will get my own darkroom and print for myself, but that is a long way off just now.
Beautiful photos in the book. Good job, Ted!
A really cool print type to look into, especially for black and whites, is metallic prints. It's like a high gloss look with a metal sheen look to it. For certain images, it can take it from an 7 to a 9 in terms of aesthetic. And it's an effect that just simply can't happen in a digital format, at least not to the same extent.
Also printing simply gives a photo a finality, a real "end-game" to it. I feel like it's easier to sort of 'move on' to the next project after you've say, printed out a bunch of images and put on a gallery showing. Instad of just posting a set of images on instagram. It can feel like you never gave the images their true presentation if you've just posted them online like any other image. To put money and resources into a presenting of your images gives more weight to them, and more weight in the eyes of those looking at your art.
Thanks for mentioning ADORAMA Printing, I just checked out their site and the prices and paper options are great! Printing your own Zine or Book through all these venues is great. In the end looking at detail on a Print vs any screen(phone or computer) gives and one can notice other details. Amazing to see what the different papers do to details and what to take into account when editing for sure, great video Mr. Forbes!
I don’t use Instagram or Facebook or Flickr but I do print! I can print to A2 at home and I also make the frames for them. A framed print on the wall is a wonderful thing. Definitely need to get into books though. Great video and advice.
I am interested in doing my book and I was planning to do it on Blurb. I have seen their prints and I already have two books which include my photography. I am not satisfied. I have seen your book and think I may try a mat prints like yours. Amazing video Ted, and thank you for the share.
There’s something magical about a print. I print my own on an Epson P800.
Having your own photo printer is also very helpful, but there are differences in how the different inks perform on different paper, so it is important to do the sampling again if you switch printers (I went from a smaller printer which used ink to a larger one that uses dye and the differences are dramatic on some papers). Most of the paper companies will sell a "sample box" that includes 2 sheets of each paper they offer (often with the paper type written on the back). This makes the comparison prints much easier.
I'm not a big comment person, but, your channel is excellent.
Yes print them. Print them huge!
Hi Ted - I did this excise some time ago. I print all my work at home on Epson 3880 17" and Epson 9800 44". And wanted to see if people were able to see the difference between brands like Hahnemuhle, Canson, MedieJet and PermaJet all of the same kind like Luster, Perle and Satin. The price of these papers were between 5,86 dollars and 20,44 dollars pr. sq. meters.
I did the test on some of my photo frinds, and the funny thing is. They could not see the different in price or quality of the prints. Just for info i do all my ICC profiles my self, on each paper.
Then I told them to pick one paper over the others. They all picked at papers that cost around 7 dollar pr. sq. meters. - my question is why buy a expensive paper when you can't see feel the difference.
Later i was told that there were only 3 paper mills in europe (I am from Denmark), so all the different paper brand are all produced on one the these 3 paper mills. Now i was thinking is it the same with Original ink vs. Third party ink. Can you see the difference between original ink and third party ink like Cone or InkTec?
I did the test again with the tree different inks, and my own ICC profiles for each ink. No difference between them, but the price is another story
Original Ink pr. sq. meter print with 90% cover 14 dollars, Cone ink 3,5 dollars and InkTec 1 dollar.
What are we paying for - the brand or the quality?
There’s just something about an A3 or an A3+ print.Printing to me is the final part of my photography workflow.Im not a professional by any means meaning I don’t get paid for my work,I just have been printing for years.Publishing an image online to most social media sites is fine,but most people today have lost the appreciation for a nice print,which is a shame really as they are missing out on something special.I print on Permajets Portrait White and Oyster Paper and get great results,but every one to their own.Just my tuppence worth,thanks!!!!
Dude you are the top photo channel , Sir , if i was looking for those older lenses that do have an look like, say like wollensak or other like it .
Ted, you’re f*ucken awesome 👏
I have no interest in printing my stuff for myself. If someone else wants it, fine. But I do think printing today is more about self gratification than it is about practical necessity such as it was in the past. I think monitors are just as effective, and probably better because there is no cost, no materials, and if the shot itself is good, you don't need a print. Further, you can reach more people online than you ever could with a print. It just makes more sense.
I just took my printer in for repair. It's under warranty so the cost isn't bad but the nearest repair center is 2 hrs away. Anyway seeing this video depresses me because I really miss the printer. I have been printing, contact sheets in the beginning and then for four years press release photos for the Marines. Can't wait to get that printer back.
Your pics are amazing and that book! 😍 Thank you for the reference! I’m looking for a new source to print a photo book I’m working on.
In my mind, printing is often the most creative step in photography. It is a real challenge to get the right "tone quality" married to the paper of choice. More skill needed than just photoshopping an image to death. For those who worry about the number of prints and what to do with them, I change out (inexpensive frames and mats) the 15 or so photos in my house quarterly. Once a year, I make photo book of the years best 50 photos .... who knows what will happen to my electronic storage once I am no longer minding it.
I've never made an inkjet print at home. All my printing has been on silver gelatin paper, by a photo lab, using a high-end laser printer (Fuji, Noritsu, LightJet). Just like inkjet, there is a wide choice of silver gelatin papers (Fuji, Kodak, Ilford). You don't need to have perfect color-vision, to get good color, you can download ICC Profiles from the various labs.
I'd like to see more on book publishing. From what I've seen it isn't as easy as it looks. How many Fine Art books do you want to print? Where should you get your printing done-locally, Belgium, China or somewhere else.
Congrats on getting your book together, I’m eager to see it! Thank you for sharing your knowledge yet again.
Watching you during my morning workout my guy 💪🏾. Dope photos btw, as always
+1 for Adoramapix. I have done books with a number of companies and like Adoramapix books best. Lots of options for layout. I do mainly travel books or special topics, so a little different approach than fine art.
I've been wanting to print my photos so I can have them hanging in businesses and to sell them so this was a great video because it convinced me even more to get several different prints of the same photo to see what papers and backgrounds and everything else works for my different shots compared to what is seen on my computer screen or on my phone
Ted you should try Piezography printing for your black & white images, is a completely different world!
I have a Pixma Pro One printer at home and I print images for my wedding clients. I know the fine art papers that you mention well (the Durer, Turner, Bamboo etc.) Those papers really don't do very well with flat deep blacks like those that you have in your photograph. They do great, instead, with bright images that have good contrast and some localized deep blacks interwoven with highlights.
Can you talk about color management? Screens, screen calibration etc. That would be really helpful. Thanks
That mirror in the background is cool... thank you for all the very useful information about printing!
I picked up a canon selphy printer just so I can have at least a 4x6 print of anything I want.
Did the same 🎯😃
I used Adorama Pix for photo books and I like their service.
I just started "minor" printing w/ an Epson 2750. 8x10 is the max but still great fun. & it gives me a sense if I want take it to a shop for something bigger. Terrific vid & shots. What I'm really jonsen for is another vid on your & Hugh's WS.
Images look Great, look forward to seeing your finished book 👍
Just got back my first batch of prints! The photos I thought were average came out better than expected, while my favorites were not as good as expected lol
Nice professional looking book Ted!
Hi Ted. I’ve been printing for 20yrs or more, I mean b&w in chemicals almost
living in the darkroom, the thrill of your own work appear before your very eyes
is something I miss, I had the opportunity to use many different types of papers
and it DOES make a BIG difference, b&w is better than colour anyway it tells
a bigger story..
Now, I have dry fingers and tapping keys for processing my images.. and cheating
by adjusting different things in the image that I didn’t skillfully do with the camera !
One thing I do want is a decent printing software.. can you recommend one ?
Great video Ted a nice change...
i still love print my work i love doing photo albums
I print 36 every 6 months. It’s my motivation to shoot. The record player didn’t kill live music, digital photography didn’t kill print.
Best wishes for your book. Would love to order a copy when it’s done! The images are pure art!
Making prints from all my negatives I take is simply impossible due to time needed and money for all the paper to get through. Even for digital prints this is very difficult - much better to make reasonable selections what to print and making this right and experiment. Maybe good compromise for film negatives is making contact prints of all negatives in a small format to determine which ones are worthwhile printing larger.
Thanks again Ted for the encouragement to print my work 👍🏻
Love my Pro100s.
Love the video! I've been printing more of my work lately and I love it. Just posted my own video last week on why it's important.
Dear Ted
Canny video as always:)
To me, the final part of my photographic process is to pick up my processed film negatives with prints from my local professional lab:) I would rather judge my images from the print than from a scan! My rule of thumb-if it doesn't work as a print in my hand, then it's not going to work on line:) Thus saving me time, effort & anxiety:)
Regards,
Ted - Printing is an old aspect of photography, and you know that you can get some really nice looking (and feeling) b&w prints from the traditional darkroom using b&w silver-gelatin fibre-based and resin-coated papers. If you get the chance to do it, could you please mention my new iOS app called enLARGE which, for the first time in photographic history, lets you accurately predict the exposure time needed for larger enlarger-printed enlargements based on the exposure time needed to produce tiny pilot prints first. Darkroom enlarging doesn’t get much press these days, but it nonetheless remains one of the high quality physical-print output channels for photographic work, and it’s something that photographers can do relatively inexpensively at home if they’ve got space for a darkroom. Best regards, Andrew Wittner, Australia
Wow those are stellar images!
now i have the a7 III and getting the 135mm g master shortly i think this may be good advice ;-) maybe ill have my own gallery showing someday! lol ;-)
You answered some questions I had regarding gloss vs. matte. Thanks for that :).
Interesting!
Ted,
Thanks for the video. I’ve been looking at printing and framing some images and I’d be curious to hear more. Could you expand on different framing techniques? How would I go about ‘floating’ an image? How would you mount and frame an image without glass? Are there any unusual but interesting ways to frame images? If there is enough to talk about you could even make it a mini series of sorts.
Very much I agree on what you said, I will need to spend a lot of money on renting a darkroom to make the prints. I did that quite often before but got frustrated when realizing how much money I spent on the lab... I love shooting on film but making prints is another thing... :(
A+ Ted, Thanks for everything
I have always printed out my work but tbh I have too many prints now. Someone will have a lot to sort out one day.
good for you
Gosh this video has unleashed some demons, fantastic stuff. Its weird but, in the days of film we got all our photos printed. I have a decade of art books full of photos from 1990 when I switched from Kodachrome to Reala. Then came the new century and a digital camera and I havent had a photo printed since. I can remember the excitement I used to get when I got back enlargements from my slides in the 70s. Perhaps its time to try again ;-)
I tend to dislike traditional black and white images on matte paper due to the limited contrast range. Matte B&W inevitability looks really muddy.
Yeah gotta do it - get it on a wall
I have a few questions Ted.
When you do an exhibit assuredly we want our images to look their best, but how do you display your work on the wall when there might not be a unity in the type of paper you choose? Won’t it feel awkward if you display a matte image besides a glossy one?
And does one have to do some compromises when he choose to print his images in a book (knowing that some images look way better on a certain type of paper)?
Ted, thanks for all the experience you share!
Yep, yep, yep ....
Different papers can produce surprising results. I've had textured papers produce more fine detail in an image than high gloss - and that seems counter-intuitive to me.
Paper selection is definitely an art, rather than a science!
I am still working on photo assignment 15. All my photos are bad, so it is sort of hard to pick what I would want to print. I guess I will just print bad photos.
Hey Ted, I don’t suppose you could do a follow up talking about metal prints?
thanks..i will look into that,and my camera is made to also do astrophotography...
What about sharpness with reference to finish.
Ted, have you ever printed on foil paper? On some pictures it doesn't make much difference, but on others it can be fantastic.
Ted, interesting advice, I would not have thought to try different papers from a print service. There are some good printing services available here in Australia. I think the shipping costs from Adorama would add considerably to the cost of getting them to do the printing. I liked the comparison of the gloss paper to the Matt paper they do look quite different.
This gives me a reason to print some of my recent street work and compare the result on different paper types. Have you tried printing yourself on a epson or canon printer with different papers?
Thanks for your videos, keep up the great work you do.
great vid! thanks.
Love the book! Adorama look great, but unfortunately for me US and Canada only, no other international shipping options.
whats the different of printing at home or having a print company do it for you
Probably a very silly question, but it s been bothering me for a while now. When you compare papers, with the same image, do you 'tweak' the photos for every different paper (for instance, in softproofing module in LR)... ?
Great video, Ted, as always. Questions: Is your book hard or soft cover? What's the size? It looks like it might be 10x10 or 12x12. Do you recommend proofing each photo individually first, or doing the whole book at once, and making adjustments as necessary? It seems like an expensive way to approach it, but might be the only way to guarantee accurate results. Finally, are you sizing your prints beforehand, or allowing Adorama to resize and sharpen as needed?
One need only to look at Borut Peterlins work, to get the printing bug!
silk reminds me of photographic paper. its not quite, but its familiar
Very informative video. I'm fairly new to printing my images. I just want to ask how do you prepare your images so that they have a border when you print it? Thank you!
Have you done any tutorials on infrared processing? In search of some!!
I always to print my work 8'10 or even 5'7. What a difference once you print your work. I post a lot of my work on line. And you would not believe how many don't edit and post blurred images. And some how seem to think it's ok . 365 is the worst for that and a few others. Thanks Ted great videos.