Photo Printing
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Discussion

greggers

Original Poster:

208 posts

227 months

Monday 20th June 2011
quotequote all
I'm looking at having some photos printed in large sizes to be framed and put up on the wall.

I've found a site that lists several different types of paper but have no idea about the relative qualities of each. These are the giclée papers they list:

Illford Pearl
Fotospeed Matt
Hahnemuhle Photo 188
Hahnenuhle Photo 308

The photos will be landscapes, city settings possibly with some artistic effects photoshopped in.

Does anyone have any reccomendations from the above list or any alternatives?

GetCarter

31,243 posts

308 months

Monday 20th June 2011
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Personally, I think you should be looking at the printers, not the paper. IMHO of course.

ian in lancs

3,853 posts

227 months

Monday 20th June 2011
quotequote all
Hahnemuhle paper is top quality - the Photo 188 is a fibre based (188gsm heavy weight) bright white matt paper. Photo 308 is same only heavier 308gsm. I have a pack of Hahnemuhle paper for special occassions!

For me I wouldn't print land or city scapes on Matt, just my taste of course. Pearl or gloss seems to work better. I print portraits on Pearl and sometimes on Matt for rich B&W high quality stuff.

Having said all that I agree with GetCarter - who's doing it matters more!



GetCarter

31,243 posts

308 months

Monday 20th June 2011
quotequote all
Just to add.. if you intend to put under glass, then gloss is a no, no - as the two layers that gloss paper use will usually cause problems (bumps/creases as heat makes them expand). Not under glass then it's down to personal preference.

greggers

Original Poster:

208 posts

227 months

Monday 20th June 2011
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies guys, any reccomendations of where to get it done mail order?

greggers

Original Poster:

208 posts

227 months

Monday 20th June 2011
quotequote all
On the mounting it under glass versus not using matt paper for landscape/cityscape...

I was going to frame under glass/acrylic for protection more than anything else and I was going to have a border mount all the way round the edge, I'm starting to re-think now.

GetCarter

31,243 posts

308 months

Monday 20th June 2011
quotequote all
I (like many in here) get them printed by www.photobox.co.uk. I then either mount them and bag them to sell, or get them mounted and framed to sell. Photobox are cheap enough to try one and see whether you're happy. I've never been dissapointed, and they'll reprint if you are not happy. Bear in mind, if your monitor is not calibrated, what you see on the screen might not be what comes out of a printer (any printer). Might be worth doing an A4 for a couple of quid to check

greggers

Original Poster:

208 posts

227 months

Monday 20th June 2011
quotequote all
GetCarter said:
I (like many in here) get them printed by www.photobox.co.uk. I then either mount them and bag them to sell, or get them mounted and framed to sell. Photobox are cheap enough to try one and see whether you're happy. I've never been dissapointed, and they'll reprint if you are not happy. Bear in mind, if your monitor is not calibrated, what you see on the screen might not be what comes out of a printer (any printer). Might be worth doing an A4 for a couple of quid to check
Either I'm missing something or they only do C-Type printing rather than giclée... I've found a place that will give me a sample pack of both types so I'll give them a whirl so I can see the difference properly.

GetCarter

31,243 posts

308 months

Monday 20th June 2011
quotequote all
It really depends how close you are viewing from, how you'll frame, or if you are trying to make a profit!

<Mercenary at work

greggers

Original Poster:

208 posts

227 months

Monday 20th June 2011
quotequote all
They're just for me, at home for on the wall so whilst I'd like them to be fairly reasonably priced, I'm not trying to make anything out of it. I just want them to look as good as possible.


tog

4,951 posts

257 months

Monday 20th June 2011
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greggers said:
Either I'm missing something or they only do C-Type printing rather than giclée...
Any reason for wanting inkjet not photo print? Or just personal preference? I'm usually the other way round.

greggers

Original Poster:

208 posts

227 months

Monday 20th June 2011
quotequote all
From what I've read you can get a more artistic effect with ink jet printing, so just wanted to try it out for something different, if it doesn't work I'll use c-type.

Major Bloodnok

1,561 posts

244 months

Monday 20th June 2011
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Printspace are very good, if a touch expensive. Whitewall are cheaper (still good) but have a long lead time. I recently ordered a 50"x40" aluminium dibond print from Whitewall and it was very, very good (and cost about half of Printspace's quote). If you want giclee, try Redcliffe. I've not used them yet, but their sample pack looks impressive.

As for using Hahnemuhle, I have to disagree with the poster above: I've seen lots of urban/industrial images printed on their Photo Rag and German Etching paper and it looks fabulous. The book I made for my college final project is printed on uncoated, eggshell paper and it looks much better than prints made on coated (semi-)gloss.

mcflurry

9,189 posts

282 months

Thursday 7th July 2011
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If anyone is after big prints, Photobox have a 2 for 1 offer until midnight tonight for posters, pro posters, collages and enlargements smile

The code is BIGPRINT