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I’m not really sure how to begin this post, so I’ll just begin somewhere. So, what does the title mean? Am I falling in love again with my wife? Yes, but that’s not what this is about. 
I read a few blogs and see what photographers go through to print, mount, and get their artwork ready for display. It all seems like such a huge hassle, especially if you are cutting your own mattes and building your own frames, etc. It can take weeks to get ready for a show, from what I’ve read. I just don’t have the time, desire, or inclination to learn those new skills. I’ve tried cutting my down mattes before and let me tell you, unless you have some really good equipment and a lot of experience, it’s not easy!
This weekend my wife and I did our usual thing of going to the book store. We usually go to Border’s and I hang out in the photography or philosophy sections while my wife does her browsing. This weekend, however, I decided to have a look at a book that my friend, Richard, has mentioned on occasion when we talk. The title is: The Photoshop CS2 Book. It’s written by Scott Kelby. I perused the book while waiting, saw quite a few things that would be useful and when it was time to go, I purchased the book.
In going through the chapters of the book, I came upon a chapter about gallery style printing and decided to give it try. The images in the post are printed gallery style: Large white border, small line around the picture, information at the bottom. When that first picture came out of the printer, I fell in love right away. It’s like seeing it in a whole new way. I couldn’t wait to try some others. I spent a little time in CS2 getting them the way that I wanted, printed them and was stunned again.
My next thought was how to mount them. I like simple mountings, so I found a site where I could by some Gatorboard, which is foam core board with a self-adhesive side. I ordered 20 pieces and will mount these prints on them, hang them on the wall, and see how much I like them.
I think that I may be hooked on printing? Even though I like the color prints that come from my printer, I just can’t help but love black and white. It’s where I started from and it seems to always be a comfortable place to return.
I’ve not done much printing in the past 20 years. I used to, when I had my darkroom, print quite a few pictures; however, with digital, it’s pretty much straight from the camera, to the disk, to the web and that’s about it. Were you to come into my home, you’d have no idea that I was a photographer as I have only 3 prints hanging up! My printer is about 3 years old, an HP Photosmart 7760 … way behind the times. I’ve read several of Paul Butzi’s post about his new z3100 printer, which is a $6,500 printer for the 44 inch wide size and $4,100 for the 24 inch size! That guy loves to print. I don’t see one of these in my future, but then again, I’ve never been any good at seeing into the future! I guess that all of that reading about printing and whatnot finally got into my brain.
Any similar experiences, mounting tips, alternate framing tips, suggestions, good places to get or purchase fonts?
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9 Responses to “Printing: Falling in love again”
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Well done, I glad that the book provided and provoked some very good ideas. I really like the portriat of your wife it really has a sweet glow to it. I cant wait to see it hanging on the wall. What size will it be?
Thanks, Richard. All of the prints, for now, will be 8.5 x 11, or standard paper size. I can’t print anything larger. Perhaps I’ll send a few of my favorites to an outside lab and get them printed poster size, which is 20 x 30, I believe.
Presentation is certainly the key…without a doubt!! At the Art League meeting last month, the featured speaker/artist mentioned that ALL her work is displayed and sold matted in a very large matte. You made that point quite clear, as these images look fantastic presented the way they are!!
Um.
The version of the z3100 I recently bought sure didn’t cost $6500.
Not even half that. Including the rebate, it ends up costing me $3095. Not cheap by any standard, but quite a distance from $6500.
But I am still love to print. Love it, love it.
Sorry, Paul. I looked it up on Froogle and those were the prices that I saw. My bad!!!
I stand corrected. Thanks for posting!
Paul, I have the CS2 book also. It’s amazing how the gallery-ready borders change the style of a print. It’s the final touch.
Yours look great, and I agree; b/w really makes them pop!
Have any of you used Mpix.com for prints? I have, and they printed a 16×20 and it turned out amazing. I tried it after reading in Outdoor Photographer that it had won an award as the top pick of professional landscape photographers. I first sent for their sample papers and liked what I saw. They’re reasonably priced, and they’ll also take care of mounting photos on matboard. Paul, where’d you buy your Gatorboard? Locally?
Thanks, Bonnie. I’ll give Mpix a try. I’ve heard other people mention it. Regarding the Gatorboard, I didn’t try to find it locally. I ordered it from a place located in NY. It should arrive today.
Ah, the printing bug is spreading!
Glad to hear of your re-infatuation, sometimes it can really give you that sens eof satisfaction you don’t get from screen viewing, to see something in front of you on paper. Now go hang some up on your wall!!!
Never been doing any printing myself, I have to admit. If one starts comparing the resources (money and time) for achieving a decent print… That always scared me. So, I’m sending my files away for printing.
The mounting that you gave your 2 shots above really works. Adds a touch of real gallery feeling.