Anyone that prints their own work knows for all the enjoyment it can offer in having the ulimate control, it is plagued by an assortment of frustrations. If my Epson 4800 experiences one more major clog, I may be ready to throw it through the window. One of the hardest aspects to overcome is knowing if the print you made is really the best it can possibly be. Color management and the dozens of options you need to be wary of in working with today’s digital printers are not easy things to understand or concepts to get clear in your head. One miss of a small check box and you may as well position your garbage can right next to your printer’s output tray.
Michael Reichmann and Jeff Schewe have done a tremendous service to the community in filming a tutorial series called From Camera to Print. I am giving them an unsolicited plug because I think it is very well done and offers an enormous amount of information at an incredible value. I personally learn more from watching videos or listening to audio than I do from reading books. It just seems to sink in better with me personally. The way Michael and Jeff present this tutorial in a conversational style discussing everything from capture to final framing and matting really offers a complete picture on the state of the art in digital printing. They clear some of the fog that often surrounds this entire topic and processes to the final stage of a photograph.
The series is lengthy – over 6 hours – and best digested a little bit at a time. If you have any confusion about color management and optimizing your images from capture to sharpening to the final print, the $35 spent is miniscule compared to the troubles and confusion it may save you in the future. And even if you think you know quite a bit already, I think you will pick up a few Lightroom or Photoshop tips that will make it just as worthwhile. But be warned, the $35 is also small compared to some of the tools you might want to pick up after watching this. For you rebels that still like to shoot in JPEG instead of RAW, you might see your rebel side softened a bit.
Both of these guys agree that the process today can get very complicated. We can only hope that this stuff will become simpler in the future. Reichmann makes a statement that will likely come true. We will look back on these processes (and this video series) in the future and refer to it as the “Dark age of Digital Printing.”
Highly recommended!
Hi Mark, I agreewith you. Michael Reichmann and Jeff Schewe did a great service to the community with the tutorial series called From Camera to Print. I encourage evryone in the printed and design business make the spare time to see those tutorials. They are amaizing.
I agree Mark, this is an excellent posting.
I think you are talking about me above … the guy who three his hands up … SEVERAL time!
Glad to have found this site. Now … back to the darkroom!
lol
Mark, thanks so much for this info on this print tutorial. This is just what I have been looking for!
Boyd, there are certainly a lot of advantages to working with a lab to do all of this. I have read about many photographers who threw their hands up with all this – inks, clogs, papers, matching prints to monitor, etc,. They now just send everything out.
Somedays I really envy that approach.
Thanks for the link Mark.
Printing is daunting. I miss getting to. I hope to get another printer soon. I might wait a while.
There was a business asked me about buying a printer to print artwork with but didn’t think about the medium format digital camera and etc and etc you need to do it professionally. Not to mention paying someone to do a professional job.
I like to limit myself to two paper surfaces to simplify the process becauce there are so many. One Arches watercolor like coldpressed paper and another made by Epson.
Maybe I’ll get another one before long or perhaps I’ll continue to get a lab to, who knows.
Thanks for the informative article.
Hey Paul – 😉 but you aren’t the only one! I think you guys should form your own political party though. :-)!
You talkin’ to me?!!! 🙂 Thanks, Mark. I’ll keep this in mind, although most of what I print is B&W, which comes out very nice indeed on my HP Photosmart 7750.
I’ve tried to understand color management, drivers, printing, etc. and it is a big headache. If I endeavor to drop that anvil on my foot again, I’ll spend the $35. I’ve seen some tools that supposedly make it better, but some of them costs upwards of $1,000. I don’t need to print that much!