Custom Printing by Ctein

(and just what is custom printing?)

Important note: I no longer make dye transfer prints. If you wish to have dye transfer prints made, please email James Browning.

$95 for a Ctein-made custom print? Yes!

For details about my printing services, please read the information below the price list. If you have further questions, please email me.

There will be an additional charge for shipping. It depends on where you and what you're ordering, but it typically runs $10-$25 in the US. I'll let you know how much when I know the particulars of your order. You can pay with a personal check (preferred) or via PayPal. Payment is made at the time of order. All work is performed to my usual standards of excellence and provided with my usual 100%-satisfied guarantee.

Please email me to find out about my availability before you send me photographs to be printed, as my time is often heavily booked. I look forward to hearing from you.

Pricing for Services

Digital Prints
from film:

sheet print sizes       first print        additional prints
ordered at
the same time
additional prints
ordered at
a later time

11" x 14" $120 $35 $55

13" x 17" $180 $65 $90

17" x 22" $350 $110 $160

roll print sizes

20" x 24" $600 $200 $350

24" x 36" $800 $300 $400

36" x 48" $1,100 $400 $400

44" x 66" $1,500 $500 $500

(inquire if you need prints longer than 66")

from digital files:

sheet print sizes

11" x 14" $95 $35 $55

13" x 17" $165 $55 $80

17" x 22" $290 $110 $140

roll print sizes

20" x 24" $600 $200 $350

24" x 36" $800 $300 $400

36" x 48" $900 $400 $400

44" x 66" $1,500 $500 $500

(inquire if you need prints longer than 66")

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 22" on sheet paper on an Epson P800 printer using Ultrachrome HD inks. A multitude of papers are available for sheet prints; my current standard papers are Epson Exhibition Fiber, 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. For a slight additional cost, you can have your prints made on Epson Hot Press Natural, a truly luxurious matte paper. All of these 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 P9000 printer using extended Ultrachrome HD inkset. Currently, the only papers I print on are Epson Premium Semigloss (250) (until my stock runs out) and Semimatte, 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 22". The time and cost of switching the P9000 printer to matte ink is substantial. 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 mid 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 22" 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, as a download from my website or via Dropbox, as you prefer.

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:

"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