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The PFM 'Printing' thread

Mr Perceptive

Perceptive Member
Not wishing to steal @Rico 's thunder, but I know @Lefty wants this, and so do I!!

We need a thread to discuss all things print, I'm a novice in this area (despite having had a decent printer for about 3 years!!), and I'm only starting to get to grips with it so to hear from others would be great.

I think this thread should not only encompass home printing (both the delights of darkroom and digital) but should also include experiences with print agencies, I mean how do you even decide on what medium to print??

Tips on software setup and configuration would be most welcome, and your printing journey, what worked and what didn't work, and where are you going next.
 
I'll kick off here with my setup.

PC based (I have the luxury of a lovely 27" Dell IPS panel, which has been calibrated with a colormunki display - it came bundled with my printer). I'm a WIndows user and use LR for editing/printing.

My printer is a Canon Pro-100 A3 printer currently with Canon ink, but I will shortly be moving to inks from OctoInkJet, as these apparently are a very good colour match for the Canon.

Up until recently I was using some fairly generic paper from PermaJet, but I've just bought some FotoSpeed paper, and am currently using their generic Canon Pro-100 profiles for this paper. When I switch to the OctoInkJet ink, I will get some custom profiles from FotoSpeed for the papers that I currently have. With FotoSpeed you get a free profile with each pack of paper, but I've decided to wait until I'm using the new inks before getting my printer profiled.

@Lefty has been a great help in getting me started printing my work, and I'm really pleased that I have, I'm looking forward to continuing the journey.
 
@Mr Perceptive Excellent stuff! We definitely needed a printing thread as I think there are a few of us who here who print. Hopefully the information shared will also inspires others to give it a go.

I have a lot to say on the subject but unfortunately not much time during the working week so will have to wait until Friday to share my experience. Until then, here are some recent prints that I've made (all images taken or drawn by me)

28110428118_6acf311442_b.jpg


40297083364_934cb226ed_b.jpg


38785076545_bfff2b4b6d_b.jpg


40202075941_aea40c9684_b.jpg


Lefty
 
Great idea for a thread. I almost never print but I miss it - both the process (as an ex-darkroom user) and the physical product at the end. Plus, moving to another house soon with lots of big blank walls so this has got me thinking....

I have an HP Photosmart Plus B209a (A4) but have never devoted the time to it and find the inks expensive / short lasting and not very reliable. I occasionally use Photobox internet / post service - quick and reliable and pretty good quality. It's also convenient as I can send pics from Photobox directly to others

Prompted by the other thread I had a quick look at the Epson P600 - looks good but the inks seem to be about £250 per set. I know a 'how long is a piece of string' question but can someone give a rough idea of the cost per print in inks and paper?
 
I now need a printer :(

A Leica and and a printer, 2018 going to be an expensive year!!

Great idea for a thread. I almost never print but I miss it - both the process (as an ex-darkroom user) and the physical product at the end. Plus, moving to another house soon with lots of big blank walls so this has got me thinking....

I have an HP Photosmart Plus B209a (A4) but have never devoted the time to it and find the inks expensive / short lasting and not very reliable. I occasionally use Photobox internet / post service - quick and reliable and pretty good quality. It's also convenient as I can send pics from Photobox directly to others

Prompted by the other thread I had a quick look at the Epson P600 - looks good but the inks seem to be about £250 per set. I know a 'how long is a piece of string' question but can someone give a rough idea of the cost per print in inks and paper?

Ian, for me the running costs are almost incidental, its about the process and having control over the process, and if you are going to frame the image, the cost of a decent frame (and mount) is significantly more than the cost of the print!! I don't know about ink costs per print on the Epson (I don't even know on my own printer!). On paper costs, my A3 Fotospeed paper from their signature range comes in at just over £2 a sheet (not horrendous, but you don't want to waste loads!!), there are cheaper papers and more expensive ones.

I've decided to print relatively large, when you've got dual 27in 4K monitors on your desk, an A4 print in my mind just doesn't hack it, so I'm going A3 (though I have printed some square 12x12's - on A3)
 
Great idea for a thread. I almost never print but I miss it - both the process (as an ex-darkroom user) and the physical product at the end. Plus, moving to another house soon with lots of big blank walls so this has got me thinking....

I have an HP Photosmart Plus B209a (A4) but have never devoted the time to it and find the inks expensive / short lasting and not very reliable. I occasionally use Photobox internet / post service - quick and reliable and pretty good quality. It's also convenient as I can send pics from Photobox directly to others

Prompted by the other thread I had a quick look at the Epson P600 - looks good but the inks seem to be about £250 per set. I know a 'how long is a piece of string' question but can someone give a rough idea of the cost per print in inks and paper?

I own this printer and would highly recommend it. Mr P is right about the cost of framing vs the cost of printing. The frame for the top image that I posted cost £60! This is why I have invested in amount cutter and now make my own mounts.

In terms of printing costs, I'm afraid I have no idea about the ink but as Mr P. says, the paper does make up a significant amount of the cost. Good quality photo paper (e.g. Fotospeed Photo Smooth Pearl 290) is around 50p for an A4 sheet whereas archival, fine art mat paper for giclee prints can be £1.50 for a sheet of A4.

The higher end Canon printers (Pro 1000 and up) come with an accounting software which gives calculates the ink and paper cost for each print. Very useful indeed!

Incidentally, I might be selling my P600 if I decide to move to the Pro 1000, but at the moment that's a big if!

Lefty
 
Last edited:
I have a washing line

A taught steel cable about three metres in length that I use tiny bulldog clips to hang pictures from.
 
For dry printing, I print almost exclusively black and white on baryta fibre gloss paper. I do some colour printing for work, but all my serious printing is mono. I have used an Epson 3800 for over 10 years now, using the Epson inks, rather than an inkflow system (I had one of these years ago with an Epson 800 and it was cr*p). This has been flawless over the 10 years and continues to print exhibition quality B&W prints to A2.

My workflow is RAW image - LR - Silver Efex Pro - print from LR using standard Epson 3800 drivers on advanced B&W setting.

Paper - I have used loads over the years (Ilford Galerie Silk, Fotospeed, Canson Baryta etc) - my personal favourite is DaVinci Fibre Gloss - high DMax, great tones, texture just like a wet fibre print (I still have a wet darkroom), except the paper ends up perfectly flat instead of the small ripples in a wet print.

Wet printing - favourite paper is Adox MCC Fibre in Agfa Neutol WA developer finished with selenium toning
 
For dry printing, I print almost exclusively black and white on baryta fibre gloss paper. I do some colour printing for work, but all my serious printing is mono. I have used an Epson 3800 for over 10 years now, using the Epson inks, rather than an inkflow system (I had one of these years ago with an Epson 800 and it was cr*p). This has been flawless over the 10 years and continues to print exhibition quality B&W prints to A2.

My workflow is RAW image - LR - Silver Efex Pro - print from LR using standard Epson 3800 drivers on advanced B&W setting.

Paper - I have used loads over the years (Ilford Galerie Silk, Fotospeed, Canson Baryta etc) - my personal favourite is DaVinci Fibre Gloss - high DMax, great tones, texture just like a wet fibre print (I still have a wet darkroom), except the paper ends up perfectly flat instead of the small ripples in a wet print.

Wet printing - favourite paper is Adox MCC Fibre in Agfa Neutol WA developer finished with selenium toning

That's a lot of different papers you've tried! I've only used the Fotospeed papers. I generally prefer mat papers (Fotospeed Smooth Cotton or NST Bright White) but for black and whites with deep blacks I like Fotospeed Platinum Baryta or (my new favourite) Fotospeed Platinum Gloss Art Fibre. I would love to try some of the Hahnemuhle papers.

I did some darkroom printing whilst at uni, but I can't remember what paper I used. I think it was Jessops own brand! I though the results were great but I didn't make life easy on myself. As a poor student I couldn't afford an enlarged timer so resorted to counting out the exposures aloud! Needless to say the results were somewhat inconsistent!! :D

Lefty
 
I have a washing line

A taught steel cable about three metres in length that I use tiny bulldog clips to hang pictures from.

Interesting! I had thoight of putting up a cork noticeboard and putting prints up on that but I would never put tacks through the prints!

Lefty
 
I did some darkroom printing whilst at uni, but I can't remember what paper I used. I think it was Jessops own brand! I though the results were great but I didn't make life easy on myself. As a poor student I couldn't afford an enlarged timer so resorted to counting out the exposures aloud! Needless to say the results were somewhat inconsistent!! :D

Lefty

It's probably cheaper to print now on wet prints with fibre paper than dry printing Ina quality baryta paper - at least in material costs. A sheet of 12x16 is £1.50-£2.00 for a nice fibre based paper. Chemical costs are negligible - pennies per print.

However it take more time to learn how to wet print well than with dry printing. But a wet print on fibre paper is just beautiful.
 
Ran a printing company with a
black and white printer that ran at 180 a minute
Colour printer that ran at 55 a minute
Epson and HP inkjets p to A1
and a few other bits and pieces
:)
 
Ran a printing company with a
black and white printer that ran at 180 a minute
Colour printer that ran at 55 a minute
Epson and HP inkjets p to A1
and a few other bits and pieces
:)

Nice!

I presume your company catered for commercial clients, or was it for private individuals looking to get prints made?

Did you have to do all the profiling yourself, or was this done by someone else?

Lefty
 
@Mr Perceptive Excellent stuff! We definitely needed a printing thread as I think there are a few of us who here who print. Hopefully the information shared will also inspires others to give it a go.

I have a lot to say on the subject but unfortunately not much time during the working week so will have to wait until Friday to share my experience. Until then, here are some recent prints that I've made (all images taken or drawn by me)

28110428118_6acf311442_b.jpg


40297083364_934cb226ed_b.jpg


38785076545_bfff2b4b6d_b.jpg


40202075941_aea40c9684_b.jpg


Lefty

They all look amazing. Serious, serious photographic envy ... ;-)

If you don't mind me asking what programe did you use to convert the last two or is that something completely different?
 
@drummerman thank you!

Those last two are drawings made by me using a Wacom Intuos Draw tablet. I went through a phase of doing these at around Christmas when I had more time on my hands. It's something that I want to carry on but sadly I just can't seem to find the time. The Kingfisher was drawn in photoshop and the Landscape scene was drawn in Affinity Designer. Here are some other drawings that I made during that period:

24313821907_bd822a9bd9_c.jpg


25944215368_73cb703260_c.jpg


38612706214_8dc06e245d_c.jpg


39308787102_71333ca234_c.jpg


Lefty
 
Epson SC P600 printer
Fotospeed inflow system
A selection of Fotospeed papers, all bespoke profiled by Fotospeed (generic profiles are no good)

Old iMac 21" with broken screen and SSD upgrade using a BenQ 27" photo screen calibrated every few weeks with a Spyder5PRO.

The inflow system is very cost-effective and profiling is vital, especially for b&w.
 


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