Sara,
When you order your prints through us, several lamination options are available.
For mounted prints, 3 mil gloss or luster, 5 mil velvet and for the types of graphics that need to be durable yet unmounted, we offer heavy 10 and 15 mil velvet. To learn more, you can call us at 1-800-999-8084 or you can check out our webpage for mounting options at: http://www.reedphoto.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61:professional-lamination-aamp-mounting-display-services-trade-shows-wall-murals&catid=42&Itemid=128
You can download our pricelist for our mounting, laminating and presentation services here:http://www.reedphoto.com/prices/file/9-mounting-laminating-and-finishing.html
In the previous post in this series, I wrote about using sRGB for printing your portraits. This post we talk about how JPEG can be your workflow friend.
Rule #4 - JPEG is not always bad.
Shooting raw has its place. Like when the dynamic range of the scene far exceeds that of your camera. Or when you need to really fine-tune an image. But-if you are shooting raw because you aren't getting good results in-camera with jpeg, please re-visit rules 1, 2, and 3. If you get the first three crucial elements in place, you won't need raw for your portrait and senior work. Shooting in JPEG eliminates the steps required to convert from camera raw. If your image sensors are clean, and you have all the other elements in place you can send your files direct for printing/proofing without any further work. This process may not be ideal for fine-art or landscape shooters, but it can be ideal for portrait and wedding shooters.
Rule #5 - Print on quality photographic paper.
This means professional paper. Not the over contrasty, over saturated non- neutral stuff you get from drug stores, discount marts, warehouse/membership stores. This means use a good pro lab. Not Costco, not Wal Mart, not Walgreens, not Drug Emporium, etc etc etc.
The papers you get from consumer mini-labs are purposely manufactured to NOT have accurate color. Yep, they make it screwy on purpose. You see, Joe Consumer likes prints with colors that aren't real. They want more saturation and contrast for that extra snap. In most cases, their photos benefit from that assistance to help the snap-shot look a bit more appealing to the eye.
Professional paper is manufactured to very exacting standards to achieve neutral balance, neutral saturation and excellent skin tones. Pro papers will handle extra saturation if you really need it for your "look", so add it if you wish, but at least you have the option. And get this, just by using pro papers, you get an additional stop of shadow detail! The missing shadow range in the consumer papers is another reason they look so "snappy". A properly exposed, correctly white balanced image with great composition that is printed on professional photographic paper won't need the false extra punch to look good.
My last blog post discussed the critical need for absolute correct white balance to avoid working your files in photoshop. Thus saving money and time which should result in a more profitable business.
Rule #3 - correct working space + Printer space = Great Print!
Digital cameras work extremely well in the sRGB space, and coincidentally, the Fuji Frontier/Noritsu printers of the world are designed to work within that space. Hmmmm, wonder why that would be....
Straight up - an sRGB work flow is your direct channel to go from camera to print. Shooting in Adobe1998 will NOT gain you any tonal range in the FILE. Both color spaces have the same levels per channel limit. And this is based on your camera's bit depth, not your choice of working color space. Neither will get any whiter than 255, 255, 255 and neither will get any darker than 0,0,0.
You have black to white and the same number of levels in both. The gains are in the number of available colors. The larger the space the more colors. Typically these relate to high saturation colors that don't often show up in most scenes.
These benefits of specific color spaces come into play on the output. Shooting in a color space that does not approximate that of your output device can lead to unpredictable color unless you are willing to spend the time converting to the output profile via a color managed workflow. That step can be sped up using batch processing, Remember, the goal here is to reduce our work load and still get a great print - right? Supplying a file to your printer in a mis-matched color space can result in saturation, contrast and color issues that will require intervention to get a good print. Again; Intervention = additional cost.
If you are shooting portraits and weddings, the largest percentage of your work prints 12x18 or smaller right? This means they go to our Fuji Frontier for printing on professional paper.
When your work is more along the lines of fine-art, we strongly reccomend a properly color managed workflow that includes the use of output profiles. Your takeaway: Shoot in sRGB when printing to sRGB type devices. When printing to higher gamut devices, shoot Adobe 1998 and convert to the output profiles.
