Help Before Printing Please.

C

cargo

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6,562
Name
Gary
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi all.

I wondered if anyone could be so kind as to check this image before I send it for printing. I am wanting to ensure it will be bright enough ( I still want it to be more on the moodier side ) and a check of sharpness of the face that I didnt over do it. As I did it a more than I normaly would.

The print is going to be 9x6 and behind 18mm acryilic block. It is for a gift for a friend whom won't except any money for little job's he has done for us on numerous occasions.

I have had these blocks done before and always look great and to my eyes seem to make the image brighter but that could be just me.

Maybe I have just got myself in a muddle and over thinking it.

Any help would be appreciated.

Gaz

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lx2rlpq8nxgojav/Finished.jpg?dl=0
 
Cute dog, I cant see any problems at all and I personally think you've got it just right.
 
So this is subjective!

I downloaded your image and printed it to about 11x8. It looks absolutely fine in terms of brightness, and the "moodier side" comes through. I took an iphone snap to show how it balances against my natural (untidy!) office light.

IMG_1384.jpg

The one thing that bothered me was that it looked like the hairs over the dog's right eye (camera left) looked over sharpened. However in the A4 print it looks like they are grey. Without seeing the dog in real life I couldn't compare, but if it looks like the dog, then it looks fine to me. And if the owner isn't a photographer, they won't notice.

On a personal note, getting this printed and mounted in a nice frame behind glass would be better than an acrylic block in my opinion. I think a frame attaches importance to the subject whereas the blocks are more "for fun". With the moody style you've gone for, I think a frame would be more appropriate. However that really is just my opinion!

Looks fine. Prints fine. I'm sure the recipient will be chuffed.
 
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@gerry s Thanks for the time taken to give me your feedback it's much appreciated.


@Harlequin565 Ian. Thank you so much for what you have just done for me. I can't thank you enough. It looks amazing on your photo above. Way better than I ever thought.

I will take a look at the eye issue in a minute. I take note regarding the print option and understand your thinking.


They are not photographers and will not be expecting anything. I took these photos last year when I had a rare bout of confidence when I asked them if I could take some photos of there dog after I had finished plastering there extension.


Like I say I didn't expect anyone to go to such lengths so thanks again.


Gaz
 
cargo said:
Like I say I didn't expect anyone to go to such lengths so thanks again.
Click to expand...

I need to keep my printer active, so it was helpful to me too :)
 
Harlequin565 said:
I need to keep my printer active, so it was helpful to me too
Click to expand...
I'm assuming thats to stop the heads blocking. Only saying that from owning just a normal printer many years ago. When ever we went to it to print a letter or tickest it would be a trauma.

When it broke we bought a simple cheap laser printer for my invoices (Plasterer).

I use dscl for prints and blocks when I do them. Which is not to often hence my hesitation.

On a side note I just had a look at your profile and I am currently listening to one of your podcsats whilst I type.

Which feels slightly weird.

I am not stalking you "Honestly"

Gaz
 
Hi

Just thought I would update the thread to say I recieved the block back which does look great it printed perfectly.

Thanks to all whom replied.

More thanks to Ian for going the extra mile.

Gaz
 
Harlequin565 said:
So this is subjective!

I downloaded your image and printed it to about 11x8. It looks absolutely fine in terms of brightness, and the "moodier side" comes through. I took an iphone snap to show how it balances against my natural (untidy!) office light.

View attachment 279361

The one thing that bothered me was that it looked like the hairs over the dog's right eye (camera left) looked over sharpened. However in the A4 print it looks like they are grey. Without seeing the dog in real life I couldn't compare, but if it looks like the dog, then it looks fine to me. And if the owner isn't a photographer, they won't notice.

On a personal note, getting this printed and mounted in a nice frame behind glass would be better than an acrylic block in my opinion. I think a frame attaches importance to the subject whereas the blocks are more "for fun". With the moody style you've gone for, I think a frame would be more appropriate. However that really is just my opinion!

Looks fine. Prints fine. I'm sure the recipient will be chuffed.
Click to expand...

Would you mind me asking what printer you have used here? Also totally agree about the frame!
 
Roxanne Withy said:
Would you mind me asking what printer you have used here? Also totally agree about the frame!
Click to expand...

It's my (falling apart slowly) Epson Stylus Pro 4800.
 
Harlequin565 said:
It's my (falling apart slowly) Epson Stylus Pro 4800.
Click to expand...

Do you use this for personal printing or for print sales as well? What’s your average number of prints from a cartridge/set of inks? I’m interested in producing some prints and starting to explore printer vs. company so I’m sorry for all the questions :ROFLMAO: thank you so much for taking the time to respond!
 
I don't sell my prints, but if I did, I'd use it. It's a professional level printer.

Cartridges are 220ml which is significantly higher than the 8ml of the consumer printers and even the 80ml of the Epson P-800 or Canon Prograf 1000. Average cost per ml of ink is about 30p vs 64p/ml for the P-800/Pro-100 and vs £2/ml for the high street printers. If you intend to do any level of serious photographic printing, then I'd always advise buying as big as you can because the cost per print is always going to be lower. The equipment is generally more robust too. Prints per set of inks is a bad comparison because number of carts and size of carts makes it very variable. I've never really kept count so couldn't reliably answer that one.

Print yourself vs getting another company... Well getting someone else to do it will almost certainly be cheaper for standard prints. As soon as you want fine art prints though, DIY is the way to go for cost. DSCL charge £9 for a single A4 on Hahnemuhle paper and you can buy a box of 25 sheets for about £40 which is vastly cheaper - even factoring in the print cost.

DIY also allows you control over colour. There's a learning curve to get it right, but if you have Lightroom, once you've got it set up for that paper, save it as a template, and all future prints are 1 click & done.

Finally, DIY also gives you the satisfaction of seeing your vision realised in print and knowing you were responsible for the whole process. This is a "feeling" thing though and lots of people will disagree. For me, making a nice fine art print brings me pleasure. Ordering online doesn't. Can't put a price on that for anyone!

When my SP4800 dies, I'll be returning to the Pro-1000 vs P800/P900 debate because although I'd love a P5000, I'm not sure I have the desk space for it... Today though, I don't need to worry about it.
 
Harlequin565 said:
I don't sell my prints, but if I did, I'd use it. It's a professional level printer.

Cartridges are 220ml which is significantly higher than the 8ml of the consumer printers and even the 80ml of the Epson P-800 or Canon Prograf 1000. Average cost per ml of ink is about 30p vs 64p/ml for the P-800/Pro-100 and vs £2/ml for the high street printers. If you intend to do any level of serious photographic printing, then I'd always advise buying as big as you can because the cost per print is always going to be lower. The equipment is generally more robust too. Prints per set of inks is a bad comparison because number of carts and size of carts makes it very variable. I've never really kept count so couldn't reliably answer that one.

Print yourself vs getting another company... Well getting someone else to do it will almost certainly be cheaper for standard prints. As soon as you want fine art prints though, DIY is the way to go for cost. DSCL charge £9 for a single A4 on Hahnemuhle paper and you can buy a box of 25 sheets for about £40 which is vastly cheaper - even factoring in the print cost.

DIY also allows you control over colour. There's a learning curve to get it right, but if you have Lightroom, once you've got it set up for that paper, save it as a template, and all future prints are 1 click & done.

Finally, DIY also gives you the satisfaction of seeing your vision realised in print and knowing you were responsible for the whole process. This is a "feeling" thing though and lots of people will disagree. For me, making a nice fine art print brings me pleasure. Ordering online doesn't. Can't put a price on that for anyone!

When my SP4800 dies, I'll be returning to the Pro-1000 vs P800/P900 debate because although I'd love a P5000, I'm not sure I have the desk space for it... Today though, I don't need to worry about it.
Click to expand...

This response is so incredible thank you. I’ve never thought about it until now but actually I do think that being in control of the whole process from photograph to print is important for me. Fingers crossed your SP4800 stays strong... I think I need to find the right balance between high street and pro printer o_O and in the meantime just keep taking more pictures that need printing!
 
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