07-02-2010, 11:47 PM
[quote name='adifrank' date='26 June 2010 - 11:00 AM' timestamp='1277575241' post='717']
I'm currently not in North America, though I might be moving to New York in a couple of years (...not quite West Coast). I don't doubt the quality of Chromira printers, but the inkjet printer I'm talking about is no ordinary inkjet printer. It is a specialty printer for photography, the staff is photography dedicated and they sit with you patiently going over each and every color-correction and test print-out. They use specialty fine-art paper imported from Germany (don't remember the paper company name... I'll find out and post back on it). It's a different beast when compared to other techniques of printing, but the outcomes are really unique and amazing. This guy opened up his shop about a year ago and photographers are swarming.
[/quote]
Adifrank,
I am quite familiar with the type of printer you're using--West Coast Imaging can print on simlar printers as well, if you choose. For the gallery wraps on canvas that they offer, you'd have to since the Chromira is a true photographic printer. But if you want to do the best gallery prints that money can buy, try the Chromira printer at WCI. That photographers like Robert Glenn Ketchum and Jack Dykinga use this for most of their work should give you an inkling how great the difference is.
I've visited the WCI lab more than once--they have several images they made giant prints of on the best printers available, and on many kinds of paper, always trying to deliver the best possible image on each combination. It is an incredible treat to place the images side-by-side to savor the differences, and I am grateful for the opportunity.
For those unfamiliar with the printing process, I can assure you that it is far more complicated than most in the printing business have mastered, and that the folks at WCI are at the cutting edge of the artistry necessary to produce stellar prints. I tried many of the "best" labs in the U.S., and most don't come even close.
My wife and I both do quite a bit of work in Photoshop (my wife even beat out the top graphic designers in our area with her Photoshop skills in a recent contest), but we seldom do image prep for printing at WCI because we can rely on people like Michael Jones to do it so much better than we can. The master printers at WCI apprentice for years before working on customer images--and the experience shows. That's why I had Michael Jones teach printing prep for my course at SummerArts 2009 ("Digital Nature Photography and the Abstract Image," also with Susan Milestone and Tony Sweet; many thanks to ALL my guest artists! You ROCK!).
Sorry for going on, but I want to be clear that I am not talking about printing on a toy printer at home by comparison here. I've seen what comes out of Epsons, Lightjet 5000s, and their ilk, and I know I get better from the Chromira on most images, and what to look for that might suggest I try a different printer (such as swaths of deep purples, which look great on the Epson). Because they service so many professionals, WCI carries a great range of B&W and color papers (including Hahnemühle Photo Rag, which I believe you alluded to above).
All of this is dependent on image content and the particular artistic impression you're trying to create, of course. WCI can do proof prints for you if you want to make your own comparisons before completing a critical project.
I'm currently not in North America, though I might be moving to New York in a couple of years (...not quite West Coast). I don't doubt the quality of Chromira printers, but the inkjet printer I'm talking about is no ordinary inkjet printer. It is a specialty printer for photography, the staff is photography dedicated and they sit with you patiently going over each and every color-correction and test print-out. They use specialty fine-art paper imported from Germany (don't remember the paper company name... I'll find out and post back on it). It's a different beast when compared to other techniques of printing, but the outcomes are really unique and amazing. This guy opened up his shop about a year ago and photographers are swarming.
[/quote]
Adifrank,
I am quite familiar with the type of printer you're using--West Coast Imaging can print on simlar printers as well, if you choose. For the gallery wraps on canvas that they offer, you'd have to since the Chromira is a true photographic printer. But if you want to do the best gallery prints that money can buy, try the Chromira printer at WCI. That photographers like Robert Glenn Ketchum and Jack Dykinga use this for most of their work should give you an inkling how great the difference is.
I've visited the WCI lab more than once--they have several images they made giant prints of on the best printers available, and on many kinds of paper, always trying to deliver the best possible image on each combination. It is an incredible treat to place the images side-by-side to savor the differences, and I am grateful for the opportunity.
For those unfamiliar with the printing process, I can assure you that it is far more complicated than most in the printing business have mastered, and that the folks at WCI are at the cutting edge of the artistry necessary to produce stellar prints. I tried many of the "best" labs in the U.S., and most don't come even close.
My wife and I both do quite a bit of work in Photoshop (my wife even beat out the top graphic designers in our area with her Photoshop skills in a recent contest), but we seldom do image prep for printing at WCI because we can rely on people like Michael Jones to do it so much better than we can. The master printers at WCI apprentice for years before working on customer images--and the experience shows. That's why I had Michael Jones teach printing prep for my course at SummerArts 2009 ("Digital Nature Photography and the Abstract Image," also with Susan Milestone and Tony Sweet; many thanks to ALL my guest artists! You ROCK!).
Sorry for going on, but I want to be clear that I am not talking about printing on a toy printer at home by comparison here. I've seen what comes out of Epsons, Lightjet 5000s, and their ilk, and I know I get better from the Chromira on most images, and what to look for that might suggest I try a different printer (such as swaths of deep purples, which look great on the Epson). Because they service so many professionals, WCI carries a great range of B&W and color papers (including Hahnemühle Photo Rag, which I believe you alluded to above).
All of this is dependent on image content and the particular artistic impression you're trying to create, of course. WCI can do proof prints for you if you want to make your own comparisons before completing a critical project.