Custom Printing by Ctein

Digital Prints

I offer print sizes from 11" x 14" up to 44" x 66" from any kind of photographic original -- slide, negative, or digital file. I make prints up to 17" x 25" on sheet paper on an Epson 3880 printer using Ultrachrome K3 inks. A multitude of papers are available for sheet prints; my current standard papers are Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Silk, which looks very much like traditional air-dried F surface darkoom paper, and Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Matte paper, for those who prefer matte prints. Both are fiber-based papers with excellent permanence.

All sheet-size prints have a minimum of 1 inch white borders. For example, an 11" x 14" print can accommodate an image area of up to 9" x 12".

If you are contemplating having a body of work printed and have a particular paper you prefer, email me and we can discuss the possibilities.

Larger size prints are all printed on roll paper on my Epson 9800 printer using Ultrachrome K3 inks. Currently, the only papers I print on are Epson Premium Semigloss (250 wgt) or Luster, both of which have surfaces reminiscent of the "N" surface in color darkroom papers. These are RC-type papers with excellent permanence.

All roll-size prints have a minimum of 2 inch white borders. For example, a 20" x 24" print can accommodate a 16" x 20" image area.

I do not normally make matte-finish prints larger than 17" x 25". The time and cost of switching the 9800 printer to matte ink is prohibitive. I will consider it if you have a very large volume of work to be done in one job, but don't even ask unless you're talking high four figures.

I can trim to intermediate sizes for the same price as the next largest standard size. For example, 16" x 20" prints would cost the same as 17" x 25" prints.

I normally retain the finished, print-ready digital file. If you would like to purchase a copy of it to do your own printing, add 50% to the first print price. I can deliver it as a PSD file (with all layers intact) or as a flattened TIFF file, either as a download or on a CD, as you prefer.

Dye Transfer Prints

For the time being, I still offer dye transfer printing services. I am expecting to discontinue that service in the next few years, so if you've contemplated getting any dye transfer prints made, now would be the time to do it.

As I explain here, dye transfer is a laborious and time-consuming process. Turnaround times are long, especially when multiple prints/originals are involved. Allow at least a month for any dye transfer printing. Allow six months to a year if you want a substantial body of work printed for a portfolio or in exhibit. I have had to turn down many clients who've come to me just a few months before they had a big show planned and hoped I could provide them with prints.

Print sizes are limited because the size of the dye transfer matrix film is limited. That's why the price breakdown is based on image area rather than paper size. The largest image area I can provide (on oversize paper) is 15" x 19". On the other hand, I can print from any kind of photographic original -- slide, negative, or digital file -- in any format from subminiature up to 8" x 10" sheet film.

What is custom printing?

Custom printing involves throwing all the tools of the trade at the task of making the best possible print from a client's photograph. You name it, it's probably in my printing bag of tricks. Beyond the standard overall color and tone correction, I can perform local color and tone correction, dodging and burning in, sharpening and noise reduction, local texture and gradation enhancement, corrected specific color rendition and saturation, removal of extraneous detail and objects, improved shadow and highlight detail, the list is almost endless.

I collaborate with photographers on printing their work. The more you can tell me about how you'd like the photograph to look, the better. Even if you think you're asking for the impossible, ask. Often I surprise my clients with what can be done with their photographs. For that same reason, when I do custom printing for people (no matter their level of printing skills) I will make suggestions about ways I think the print could be improved. Sometimes they're trivial -- a slightly different crop, a modest dodge or a burn -- tweaks on what the photographer's providing me as a starting or reference point. Other times I may suggest substantial changes. Often the photographer agrees with me; on occasion they don't. It's their call; after all, it's their vision I'm trying to fulfill.

There's a much longer (and I hope more interesting) discussion of this question embodied in these three columns I wrote last year:

"Do 'Real' Photographers Print?"

"Custom Printing and Artistic Ownership"

"The Importance (or Not) of the Print(ing)"

Finally, here are a few samples of work I've done for one client, to give you a feel for what custom printing is all about. Some of the changes are subtle; some are quite dramatic. Most were made at the behest of the client; none were made without his approval. That's the essence of custom printing, getting to the photograph that the photographer wants and needs

Original		Custom Print

---

---

You can email Ctein at ctein@pobox.com
This material is Copyright ©2011 by Ctein. All rights reserved.