Photo Printing

[TidalPoolExplorer]

Hello to all,

Just curious as to what professional photographers are using in this new digital age of photography to print professional quality photographs on paper.

Are high quality inkjets with durable inks and using quality papers the current choice? Or is darkroom printing on real photo paper still used? Or something more exotic?

For my personal use I use my old Canon i9100 that I get good results on.

Haven’t looked in a while. What other quality choices for high quality photo printing are out there now?


Thanks much in advance
Dan

[dnmilikan]

Hello Dan,

Your question requires a lengthy answer. If we could separate this into color and black and white then a lot of us are using inkjet printers. These basically are divided into the size of paper that they will print. I personally run two Epson R 2400 printers, one exclusively for black and white (running Quad Tone Rip as the printer management program) and the other exclusively for color. Another process involves digital input (either through scanned color negative or original digital files and these are printed on conventional color paper (Ilfochrome) by Chromira Light Jet. This is an enlarger capable of translating digital files to a projected color image.

I also still use conventional darkroom process because I still photograph with a 5X7 LF (sheet film) camera and photograph exclusively in black and white. Some of my prints are contact prints and others are projected (enlarged prints). When you mentioned "professional quality", digital does not have the ability to resolve fine detail and provide the smoothly gradated tonality that conventional film has...not until one spends near $30,000.00 for a digital scanning back mounted to a large format camera.

Some photgraphers today are shooting film and scanning the negative for output as an enlarged digital negative that is used for some of the more obcure contact printing processes such as Pt-Pd (Platinum-Paladium), Carbon transfer, Kallitype, Cyanotype, Albumen, Ambrotype, Wet Plate Colloidon among others.

Actually we find today that while digital has come on the scene with ever evolving technology that conventional photographic process is alive and well. There are more materials (film, paper, chemicals and currently manufactured cameras) available for conventional process today then at any other point in our history.

Best regards,
Donald Miller

[TidalPoolExplorer]

Hi Donald,

Thanks so much for that really in-depth answer. That is really appreciated.


I know from some past experience that the Epson inkjets are really great printers. I was looking into getting one for my photo printing years ago because Epson used pigmented inks that were supposed to have a very long lifespan. But at that time, the high-end Epson printers were much more expensive than the Canon I9100, and I ended up getting the Canon instead. Maybe it is something I will have to look into again as my Canon has some serious age on it now.


I have had the best luck with color rendering and fade resistance when I use the Canon brand papers with my Canon. Do you get the best results when using Epson papers with your Epson inkjets or are there other choices that give you good results?


Also, nice to hear, much to my surprise, that the conventional photographic process is still alive and well. I would hate to see that vast bastion of photographic knowledge become just dust in the wind.

Thanks again for taking the time to give your very useful and detailed response. Again, very much appreciated.

Take Care
Dan

[Frankie Profile Private message]

Hi Dan,
I use an Epson R2400 as well - along with a variety of Epson papers - and am very happy with it. I still have more to learn in the color and monitor calibration department, but I manage to make some nice prints (but often after a trial run or two). If it's for more than I want to print personally then send out to Miller's Lab. I've been very happy with the results of their prints.

Frankie

[debngar Profile Private message]

Hello to all,

Just curious as to what professional photographers are using in this new digital age of photography to print professional quality photographs on paper.

-snip-
Dan

WHCC.com

[dnmilikan]

Quote Dan " I have had the best luck with color rendering and fade resistance when I use the Canon brand papers with my Canon. Do you get the best results when using Epson papers with your Epson inkjets or are there other choices that give you good results?"

Dan, I don't use either Epson paper or Epson Ink. Depending on what I want to accomplish in the final print, I choose from several different papers. I particularly like Ilford's Gold Silk for an image where I want a lustre finish. For glossy prints I use Harmon Gloss. For a nice warm matt image I enjoy Hannemuhle Bamboo or even Hannemuhle Matt. Each of these papers can add a complimentary aspect to an image. For high D max (deep blacks) black and white images a glossy paper gives the best appearance. For a black and white image where one would want to somewhat emulate a platinum print the Bamboo or Gold Silk are a good choice...even a matt paper is preferable to a gloss paper in those instances.

For inks, I use MIS inks and refill carts. MIS sells a special inkset for black and white printers where the yellow cart is supplanted by a light intermediate black...in other words this is set up to print with four shades of black ink as well as the two magentas and two cyans. I use their color inks for my color printer too. Additionally Jon Cone sells a very nice ink set for black and white printing. As I mentioned earlier I use Quad Tone Rip as the printer manager for my black and white printer. This allows precise profiling to both the paper and inks used. For color I allow Photoshop to control the printer. I do not use the Epson drivers or software.

Hope this gives you some ideas as you move forward.

Best wishes,
Donald MIller

[Frankie Profile Private message]

HI Don,
Interesting review of your papers and inks. Thanks. I've heard good things about Ilford papers from other pros as well. It's important to add that whatever papers a person uses the profile should be downloaded from the manufacturer's site so that your printer will know exactly what it's printing on. I have two questions: Could you describe a platinum print and the Quad Tone Rip you use as a print manager. (Not to digress too much from the original post but I use Color Eyes Display Pro)

Frankie

[dnmilikan]

Hello Frankie,
It is somewhat difficult to describe a Pt-pd (platinum paladium) print orally it is best observed visually. That having been said, a platinum print is best described as a print that has a lower (numerically) d max than a conventional silver gelatin print. This means that the blacks will initially appear weak to a silver printer. The aspect of these prints that is noticeable when viewing them is the extremely long tonal scale with beautiful subtle gradations between adjacent tones. These prints are usually made with a mixture of platinum and paladium since platinum is so expensive. The higher the percentage of paladium the warmer the print is. These prints are made by hand coating the paper and then contact printing the negative. This requires exposing large in camera negatives or creating enlarged negatives from smaller negatives. That is why many of us use large cameras (negatives as large as 20X24 inches). The exposure of the negative/hand coated paper can be done in sunlight or under a UV exposure unit.

The quad tone rip is a raster imaging program developed by Mr. Harrington. It provides the means for profiling the printer for the paper, ink, and appearance that one wants from a given self determined profile. This means that the warmth, tonal scale, and D max is user defined. Not only can these be determined globally but they can also be determined for individual aspects of the tonal scale. Thus one can have a different warmth in the shadows than in the midtones or highlights. This can enable one to split tone black and white prints. In other words one could have a selenium tone in the shadows while moving toward cooler tones in the midtones and highlights. One can develop different profiles for the same paper. I personally do not use the paper manufacturers profiles. While they can be generically acceptable to a broad spectrum of users, they do not allow me to depart into the appearance that I may want for a given image or paper.

This RIP is fairly inexpensive as these things go. Further information can be found on their website.

http://www.quadtonerip.com/html/QTRoverview.html

I hope that this answers your questions.

Best wishes,
Donald Miller

[Frankie Profile Private message]

Thanks again, Donald. The quad tone is reasonable at $50. I'll have to explore the website more. I bow to your expertise on platinum printing. After reading up on it, it's way past my dark room skills. All of my processing expertise is digital (shameful as that might sound). The process does appear to create some beautiful prints.

Frankie

[dnmilikan]

Hello Frankie,
Since you seem genuinely interested in photography, I wanted to share two links with you. The first is a photographer that participates in one of the forums that I engage in. Kerik engages in several alternative processes. The second is a dedicated platinum printer.

http://www.kerik.com/images.htm

Also this is a photographer engaged in platinum printing

http://www.adamjahiel.com/platinum_process.html

Best wishes,
Donald Miller

[Frankie Profile Private message]

Wonderful, Donald. Thank you. It's inspiring to see such wonderful work and exciting to know that there is so much to learn. I don't know how anyone can ever be bored! Crazy from doing too much - yes - but bored - never!

Thanks again,
Frankie

[MisterB]

I have an Epson R3800 and a Canon i9950 that i use for printing my photos

[TidalPoolExplorer]

Great thread. Lots of very useful information. Thanks all.

Take Care
Dan