should i buy a printer?
After much deliberation and weighing up the costs whether to buy a printer or not for home, I decided to bite the bullet and go for it – plus there was a great offer not to be missed at the photography show which made my final decision easier.
In the end, I went for the Canon Pro-10S A3+ printer with OEM Lucia high longevity pigment inks and I’m glad I did. It’s a big bit of kit and you need quite a bit of desk space to house it on, as well as space front and back for paper input & output.
This printer produces awesome colour and black & white prints, as it has three dedicated monochrome inks to reproduce those mono images, which I do quite a lot of.
Although printing is an art form in itself, it’s great to see your final image on high quality paper rather than just on your screen and later forgotten about on your hard drive.
After much research on what goes into producing constantly great prints (as well as needing a great image to begin with), I was ready to actually produce some physical artwork for myself - and others.
Here is my print workflow – which does take a bit of time to set-up initially but is worth the time and effort to enjoy well produced quality archival prints.
screen calibration
For both colour and black & white prints, my first task is to make sure my screen is calibrated. I use the Datacolour Spyder 5 Pro for this which is simple and easy to set-up and use. The software also sets a reminder which I have set up for monthly intervals. I make sure that there is no direct light falling on the screen and that the monitor is the brightest area in the room. Shutting the blinds helps with this.
soft proofing & icc profiles
After I have finished post processing the image using Lightroom, I use the Soft Proofing feature in the Develop module to simulate the paper type I want to print on.
In order to get the ICC custom paper profiles for my printer and ink set-up, I used Fotospeed’s free service. To do this, I ordered various A4 test packs of the papers I wanted to use, printed their calibration chart out as instructed and sent them off in the post. Each individual paper profile was then sent back to me by email which I then saved to my computer following their easy to follow instructions. Generic profiles are available via the website, but I read it was far better to get custom profiles made for the actual setup you were using.
After selecting the paper type and creating a proof copy, I edit the image further in order to best match the edited version. This normally just means a few tweaks with the exposure and contrast sliders.
If your’e using a matt paper, the chances of getting a perfect match of the edited version are very slim. This is because the screen is brighter and back lit whereas the paper is a lot flatter and reflects light. Once you get your head around this, your understanding improves, and you can accept that there are going to be slight differences in the final print. With glossy and baryta papers, you can get a pretty close match to the on-screen version due to it being more of a reflective paper.
lightroom’s print module
Within the Print module, I set up the correct paper size and orientation and cell size. I normally set this up to ‘zoom to fit’ and leave a border of about 10 – 15mm all around the image. This allows for a signature and the option to add a mat if needs be.
That’s pretty much it to be honest. As long as the screen is calibrated, and the correct paper profile is used then you’re usually good to go.
choosing your paper
This normally comes down to personal preference and the kind of finished look you are looking for, for a particular image. Some landscape images suit a matt paper, to bring out texture and give a more painterly feel, whereas glossy paper will give you that high contrast, sharper looking print.
This is another good reason for ordering test packs, as you get a couple of sheets of each type of paper and you can experiment with the kind of finished look and feel you prefer.
final thoughts
One question you normally come is across is “Why do my prints come out looking dark?”. This is usually because the screen is too bright when editing / soft proofing and therefore the exposure is usually reduced to compensate for this, leading to a darker print than expected. This is where screen calibration is crucial - and it will save you money in the long run on wasted ink and paper.
In the past, I would send my images to a printing lab but then I’d have to wait a good while before seeing the end result. It’s much more satisfying seeing the print come out the printer there and then. Also, if it’s not to your liking, you can edit accordingly and re-print straight away, rather than wait another week or so to receive the modified print.
It’s been an interesting journey learning how to print and I’ve enjoyed going through the process and actually holding the final print in my hand. It is much more rewarding than leaving photos on the hard drive where no-one can see them.