Sounds like fun. I wish I could be there to see your show. I love printing. I print most of the shots I like, just to see what they really look like when held in hand. I agree about Fine Art Paper, but I use it sparingly. Wonderful stuff. It's also more prone to chipping than enhanced matte, so that's a consideration. I've been printing a lot on premium lustre lately, because I prefer the way it renders color to that of enhanced matte on the 2200. I enjoy prepping prints for a gallery show. However, I've never had to do a large quantity.. I think the most I've prepared at one time is a dozen. But even that is very time consuming.
Good luck with your show. Paul -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: Godfrey DiGiorgi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Getting ready for the exhibition, I've been printing up a storm the > past week or two. > > The HP 7960 has done yeoman service to print announcement postcards > (for the hundred or so I need, it's cheaper than I've found as yet to > print decent quality color at a print service), business cards, > exhibit tags, all manner of collateral things. I'm surprised at the > quality I'm getting out of it as well as the economy ... I've hardly > touched the two color cartridges, barely touched the black ink tank, > and used about 1/2 of a grayscale cart to output everything so far. > > It's operated flawlessly and quickly. The only hitch I've encountered > so far has been the juggling of paper due to the u-turn paper path, > particularly for the announcement post cards. I've been unsuccessful > at making a custom paper size that would print the cards in one run, > so each sheet (two cards per sheet) gets run through two times to > print the addressing information on upper and lower cards, and then > once again to print the announcement on both. > > The Epson R2400 is making the final presentation prints. It also has > operated flawlessly and with extreme consistency. I've consumed one > whole set of ink carts in the making of perhaps 160 prints from 5x7 > to A3 in size. I'm very glad I bought this printer. > > I did some testing with Fine Art Velvet vs Epson Enhanced Matte > papers. There's no question whatever that the Fine Art Velvet is a > nicer paper, producing a more brilliant result, but I found that with > suitable minor adjustments to the tonal curve I can produce results > that are so nearly as good on Epson Enhanced Matte, once you put both > behind glass with a matte, that I am producing the show prints on > EEM. (My plan is to provide Fine Art Velvet prints on orders rather > than for the exhibit itself.) > > This allows me to use automation more effectively since I can stack > load the printer for the show prints and reduces production costs > substantially. I wrote actions for Photoshop which automate printing > three different sizes of prints for the whole set. I must be getting > lightheaded at having this stuff come out because I'm getting a > thrill out of seeing a very nice, fully finished stack of 20 custom- > cut 5x7s pop out of the printer in a half hour or so. > > I produced three sets like this so far and have been using one of > them to help organize and arrange the photos. And let me tell you, > there is such a huge difference between looking at a nice print and > looking at a photo on even an excellent computer screen. The tactile > qualities of the paper, the micro interaction of the surface texture > with the ink and image, the dynamics of handling the print ... > Although I love looking at photographs on a good computer screen, > there's simply nothing like a good print. And an modest size print, > something in the 5x7 to 11x14 range, is a much more intimate viewing > experience than the big ones too. > > fun stuff. I'm in the bomb run now, waiting for the clouds to clear. > There's a lot of work yet to do before Sunday when I do the > installation, but it's all getting done in an efficient manner > without rushing. This is fun. > > Godfrey > - "Ramsey" - http://www.gdgphoto.com >
