Category: Help With My Prints

I was in a meeting with some artists/photographers who were very interested in the topic of digital printing and we were discussing how producing prints from photography and artwork has changed over time. One of the questions brought up was what I expected the future to bring about. I had to think about that for a moment as I gauged how it had changed in the past decade when it came to the inks we use compared to when I started.

Nothing like the month of October, one of my favorite months of the year. Living in south/central Texas Fall usually does not begin to hint it even exists until sometime this month so the change from upper 90s to lower 90s is always welcome. Of course any little change in the temperature in this region to a more comfortable level is always welcome. With Fall showing up it puts us in the mood at FinerWorks to add a new paper to our current lineup. In this case we are getting ready to add a fine art paper called Sunset Cotton Etching which bridges a gap between two of the most popular papers we offer.

We get a lot of people asking us about ordering prints smaller than 8×8 inches. Of course you can do that on standard Kodak stock but the vast majority of our customers are ordering their prints on either on one of the art papers or canvas. Unfortunately the smallest we offer in giclee printing is 8×8 inches. We put together a video tutorial which shows how to get around this by having your smaller image positioned within an 8×8 inch blank image. The video uses Photoshop Elements which you can download from the Adobe website and use for free for 30 days. A link to this download page is posted below the video.

Most people printing their work whether it be a painting reproduction, photograph or even digital art are going want to get the most out of their print. They want it to reflect everything about the original image as accurately as possible. If you are like me, whenever I used to print some of my art or photography there was always a little bit of apprehension as to how it would turn out. Perhaps also like me you would ask these questions: Will my image look crisp and sharp? Will my colors match my original or what I see on my computer screen? Will it have the impact and emotional appeal I want based on the size I chose? All these are valid questions. I know I was not the only one because we hear these same questions all the time. So what do you do about this? I have observed 3 ways artists and photographers at FinerWorks approach this: An artist’s proof, a contact sheet, and soft proofing.

Go behind-the-scenes with us as we discuss the best image preparation practices for exceptional prints. Learn what type of files to submit, and how resolution really affects your print quality.

Sometimes people will use the term blurry to refer to an image being pixelated. The truth is the two terms are very different and used to describe two differing problems which can occur.

So what is the difference between an inkjet print and a more traditional photo print used by digital color labs. Here I discuss the two as well as the advantages and disadvantages of both. If you are new to printing photographs this article is meant for you because it will help you better understand how the two processes differ.

Understand the difference settings for exposure, aperture, ISO and shutter speed and how they effect your shot. This downloadable, printable pdf is a quick reference sheet to help understand these things.

Fine art prints should be as close to the original artwork as initially done by the artist. This is also true with drawings or sketches. But when artists forget to account for the original paper their drawings were created on, it can lead to poor looking print.