From: billijean	Date: April 14th, 2008 03:49 am (UTC)		(Link)

The show looks amazing - you do awsome work.

How do you print your photos?

	From: edbook	Date: April 14th, 2008 03:59 am (UTC)		(Link)

thank You,

I print on Somerset mouldmade cotton watercolor paper with Ultrachrome pigment inks using an Epson 2200 archival 8 ink printer. I've had lots of challenges with this printer in the past but it has been working perfectly the past few months. proof that prayer works

Peace

	From: taiyosan	Date: April 14th, 2008 01:42 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Is that paper from Epson? I know Velvet Fine Art but am unfamiliar with Somerset mouldmade cotton watercolor ... where would i look for it?

I too use a 2200 and have amazing difficulties with the driver, particularly when using the roll. The roller and cutter work fine but getting it to print where i want it to on the paper is a serious challenge.

Do you use a RIP? And if so, which one? And what profiles -yours, commercial, etc.,- do yo use for your paper?

Thanks for whatever help you can pass on ;)

	From: edbook	Date: April 14th, 2008 06:36 pm (UTC)		(Link)

the paper, I have some of the Epson Velvet Fine Art but haven't tried it yet. I think Epson has contracted to use one of the Somerset papers as their Velvet Fine Art but that info is in the fuzzy part of my brain. Somerset papers were marketed by Legion Paper but recently Legion was bought by Moab Paper and are still marketing with the name Somerset Velvet with Moab labels on the packages. I just received some from Moab and that's how I know. The Somerset papers came in two varieties and there was some confusion because they switched names on the two papers. One was textured without a coating (for use with printing where ink spreading was wanted) and then they had coated variety so the ink stays on the surface and doesn't spread. They had two varieties smooth and textured. I have used both. I like the textured where there are large expanses of even tone and the paper texture is pleasing in those areas. For other printing where you want the image to be sharp, the smooth surface works better.

I have had problems in the past with Epson's drivers not being compatable for some versions of Mac's OS particularly for roll and thick paper feeding but I think the driver upgrades or Mac operating system fixed that. I have printed panoramas from a roll and sometimes had to experiment with short thick paper to see where it would print. I do have a challenge with borders not being even... the leading edge and the sides are the same but the following border is much wider-I think so that the feed mechanism has something to grip firmly while still printing ahead of the rollers. I have to consider this when figuring out image sizes so the mats fit properly.

I have used stock Epson profiles, Legion Paper profiles for printer/paper combinations, and those I have made myself and have also tried Lightroom and set it for the printer controlling color. What I have found to work best and almost exactly what the calibrated monitior displays was Lightroom and allowing the printer to control color--a big surprise to me. It's the method I used for the majority of the printing I did for this show. I printed only about three prints and most of the greeting cards from Photoshop using Legion's paper/printer profile but had to do multiple adjusts in saturation and curves before I got what I wanted. When I tried Lightroom's print module, the first print was absolutely perfect. I used it for the rest of the printing. I am wondering what kind of results I'll get when I try controlling by converting to paper/printer profile instead of the native Lightroom ProPhoto colorspace.

One thing that I found with Lightroom is that you can see exactly where the image is going to be on the paper in the program and adjust the borders to where you want them... It shows the margins and you can see that one border will be greater than the others.

I still have about forty cartridges left (but need to buy more yellow and one of the magentas) but will be buying a new printer for wider printing when I run out of ink.

I'm thinking that the added cost for the new ink cartridges for the new printer and wider printing won't be cost effective as I don't know how much wide printing I'll be doing. Any time I'm printing wider than 13" I farm out the work to West Coast Imaging in Oakhurst, California. I like their work but costs escalate. I'll have to weigh the new larger printer costs against their costs and volume of large high end prints needed before I jump to the new printer.

For anyone using Epson printers, I recommend attending one of the traveling seminars called Epson Print Academy. I haven't been because I was away when it was offered locally but have talked to folks who have and from what I've heard, I think I'll be looking to attend even if I have to travel before changing printers.

Peace


ps almost all of my personal printing has been on watercolor papers and the inherent soft glow that they give so they aren't conducive to all types of printing so will soon be trying other papers for images where I want more detail such as in grand landscapes that I now farm out.

	From: taiyosan	Date: April 14th, 2008 08:41 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Thanks Ed.

Am off to the east coast first thing in the morning and 'cause i didn't want to take my Canon 20D along with an array of lens, tripod, etc., i purchased a Canon G9. Had it for a week and i think it'll do just fine. Nope, it doesn't replace the 20D and i don't mean it to ... but my wife and i are traveling together and i don't want to put her in a position of taking 2nd place to me shooing ... hence, the smaller, lighter and quicker camera. I'll let you know how it works out, but, initially, it seems pretty good.

And that'll put some photo files into my hands to see how they come out on the paper you wrote about and this here 2200.

Thanks again, Ed

-taiyo

	From: edbook	Date: April 14th, 2008 09:25 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I bought a G9 to use as a 'pocket pal', 'found it wasn't as easy to pocket as the tiny camera it replaced so don't always have it when it's needed. I love it though and have been able to use it for images for the stock agencies. As long as you keep ISO low 80-200 it produces excellent noiseless images. You'll like it.

be sure to carry it on and use it out the plane window. 'hope you have a window seat away from the wing.

safe travel and Peace

	From: acadiabaird	Date: April 14th, 2008 04:48 am (UTC)		(Link)

gorgeous!!

	From: ladycelia	Date: April 14th, 2008 05:39 am (UTC)		(Link)

Really gorgeous. I love the image of the peony bud with the ants.

	From: heartmart	Date: April 14th, 2008 06:34 am (UTC)		(Link)

WOW! Your show looks wonderful Ed! I wish I could have been there.

Congratulations!

	From: dakegra	Date: April 14th, 2008 08:54 am (UTC)		(Link)

the photos look fantastic framed and up on the wall. Excellent stuff.

	From: dhanwanti	Date: April 14th, 2008 10:12 am (UTC)		(Link)

absolutely stunning!

	From: yorkieboy	Date: April 14th, 2008 11:33 am (UTC)		(Link)

Superb! - it looks really impressive, and is beautifully set out. : ) And a little something there for all pockets, too, which is a nice touch. And cute carrot cake!

I really like the look of the small prints mounted on black - what is that? woodblock?

	From: edbook	Date: April 14th, 2008 05:02 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I have used wood backings before and was considering it again for these but because they are giclee prints on watercolor paper, I wanted to protect them better by having glass or plexiglas covering the image. I wanted very thin frames so the images wouldn't be overpowered by the frames and all I could find were plastic backed with just a very thin black border... it looked perfect and so I decided to go this route... and because of the low price could offer these prints (also giclee printed on the same paper as the larger ones) at $15USD each - neglible profit for me but those who buy a small Ed Book come back for more and a better statement for their walls.

I was planning to just cut the greeting cards I was making (giclee printed on acid free card stock) but instead decided to use the Somerset Velvet mouldmade watercolor paper that I used in the larger images. This paper is made on your side of the pond.

Peace

ps yes, carrot cake, my excuse for doing the show is that I could have carrot cake...

	From: yorkieboy	Date: April 15th, 2008 01:26 pm (UTC)		(Link)

There's always room for carrot cake.

The small black borders set off the small giclee prints perfectly. I'll have to keep an eye out for that paper type in the local art supply shops and experiment a little, though I'm far from reaching the stage of self-production you are at.

Needless to say I'm curious how much you sell your large prints for (mounted and unframed), because I'd love to have one of them at home. Of course, the only problem would be in deciding which one. ; ) There are a few here which have whetted my appetite. I can always e-mail you to find out more.

	From: kytty	Date: April 14th, 2008 01:02 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	Beautiful! :)

Do your cards sell outside the gallery?


mmmm....strawberries!

	From: edbook	Date: April 14th, 2008 05:19 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	Re: Beautiful! :)

These were the first cards that I've done with this method-self produced giclee printed on acid-free cardstock and haven't thought beyond this show... so much has been put on the back burner... I'll be putting thought in that direction as soon as I finish taxes... (which I haven't started yet!)

I have an online archive that isn't public knowledge and isn't accessible to other than me. I use it for transferring files to stock customers and as a remote backup archive... I'll be using it soon for print (and probably card) ordering.

With the expense, time, and effort it takes to produce these cards, selling via a retail outlet makes the card prices unmarketable when compared to mass produced products... they are certainly a different product (small archival giclee prints) but customers and retailers generally only look at price. Being a co-owner of this gallery, it's different for me.

stay tuned though...

Peace

	From: kytty	Date: April 14th, 2008 10:07 pm (UTC)		(Link)

You seem to always be doing taxes!