Digital Printing Workflow

January 22, 2011 • Tim Parkin

As a percentage of images made, those which are actually printed is very small, more so with the advent of digital photo sharing on the web and especially for those who employ a machine-gun shutter firing philosophy.

Nevertheless those special images which we do decide to commit to print, are clearly deserving of this accolade of being made, by preparing the files so as to show them at their finest quality. This means that if you, ‘your own harshest critic’, are happy with them, then others, even the print-sniffers at your exhibitions will begrudgingly mutter their approval too.

The final print is the culmination of a lot of different variables being brought together on paper at a particular size. Sometimes compromise is necessary and there are no real hard and fast rules. There are however ‘good practises’ and this feature aims to raise awareness as to things which constitute to raising the quality and success rate of your prints. Once you have developed a method of working that suits your personal preferences and equipment, there ought to be little need to change.

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7 Responses

  1. Jason Theaker

    Tell you what Baxter, do you fancy doing my printing from now on (o:

    On January 23, 2011 at 9:25 am • Reply
  2. bax

    Come on Jason, get creative! This subject area presents you with masses of rule-breaking opportunities. Just be kind enough to report back with your findings. I am a keen learner; there might be an easier way, other than trying to entrust printing to another!

    On January 24, 2011 at 2:16 pm • Reply
  3. Joe Rainbow

    I will read this again when I am less tired but basically this is great.
    The school where I work has recently been given (by the former Labour Government) an A1+ Hp printer. I have just been given sole access to it, and want to get the best out of it, possibly opening up a printing service to the local community. I will read everything carefully and try my best to get it all set up. Will need some guidance though probably :)
    If anyone knows what they are talking about and want to pop in to help me in Cornwall, feel free!

    On January 25, 2011 at 10:36 pm • Reply
  4. Michael Paynton

    Very interesting article! I to use PixelGenius as I’ve discovered that it seems to be the best option for sharpening my Epson V750 scans, however, I was never to sure when to apply the capture sharpening (before or after adjustments), now I know!

    On January 26, 2011 at 8:06 am • Reply
  5. bax

    Thanks Michael – it’s one of those things that it’s easy to get worried about ‘destroying’ data. You soon find the correct setting for your equipment and then it lends itself very easily to automation via a Photoshop action, include ‘save as’ to a different folder. Then any image that isn’t looking right can be adjusted manually.

    Lucky you Joe, soon to gain loads of friends with this asset. I was interested to see Joe Cornish using ‘canned’ profiles in his video. Progress has been made in recent years with the competitive inkjet market. It makes sense to use these whilst you determine which media you prefer to use. Sample packs can be helpful, but hard to sort wood from trees with the plethora of choice that now exists. I chose PhotoRag 308 many years ago. It simply looked ‘right’ to me when I went to Focus on Imaging. It is a long way for you, but enables you to see the different papers first hand and also speak to the HP people.

    There is plenty of advice and frequently a Yahoo user group for your specific printer to learn the foibles (people love to moan on the web!) and shortcuts. It’s easy to feel isolated and daunted by getting set-up, but some clear thinking, dare I say reading the manual, and research will soon have it working efficiently for the years to come.

    On January 27, 2011 at 7:11 pm • Reply
  6. stevefrance

    Excellent article, with much thought, and very nicely laid out. Will help many … would of loved to of seen an article like this 5 years ago when i started.
    PixelGenius is the best…. i dont tend to use their creative options, i’d rather do micro contrast changes selectively in CS3. But for final print… you really can’t do wrong with the presets….although, as with Baxter, I do tend to lower it just to be safe. Best to have something looking more organic rather than something over sharpened. I’ve not upgraded either at present.
    Photorag 308 i’ve used exclusively for the past 2 years, but i do like the Harman Gloss. Maybe papers could be a topic for an issue in future?

    On January 28, 2011 at 1:55 pm • Reply
  7. samantha

    Excellent article, specially the part regarding sharpening and bullet points to recap at the end. Will no doubt be revisiting this article again when i get around to my printing set-up.

    On February 3, 2011 at 3:33 pm • Reply

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